Are you ready for an Airwheel Review? If so you've probably been looking into getting one for yourself. It's amazing to see how far the technology has come for these electric self balancing little scooters. Just 5 years ago no one ever even heard of a “self-balancing” unicycle scooter. When you mention a unicycle most people still picture those contraptions clowns ride at the circus. They are nearly impossible for most people to learn to balance or steer.Comparing a unicycle like Airwheel to early prototypes of self-balancing unicycles is like night and day. The early inventions were large, cumbersome, and clumsy. Today however we see a far different picture. Scooters like the Airwheel Mars Rover are so small and compact - it boggles the mind to see how far they have evolved in such a short time.
It didn’t take long either for this technology to explode onto the marketplace. Especially in the last few years. With so many electric unicycle scooters out on the market today it can be hard to decide on the best, or more importantly, the safest ones.One problem is the sheer number of fake and dangerous knock offs that catch fire and explode, many of which look exactly like the high quality brand name scooters.Aside from safety issues though what does the word “best” really mean when we are talking about electric self balancing scooters? The fact is it can mean many different things to people. It all comes down to deciding what is best for yourself really.Regardless though you’ll probably want to know if there is anything unique or superior about the Airwheel X series scooters. Things that could make them the best in your eyes.Hopefully this review will help you to decide that because we are going to cover every single thing about these little electric one wheel self balancing spaceship looking scooters. What a Good Airwheel Review Should Contain
Before we get into the review first take a moment to think about your expectations. A lot of people are looking for reviews to tell them everything they want to hear. They might want to know all about things that make a product awesome so they can convince themselves to make a decision to buy it.The reality is every product has it pros and cons. A good Airwheel X series scooter review should tell you all about
both the good and bad points of the products and/or the company that makes it.If you’re thinking about buying an electric self-balancing unicycle you will need to decide which products have the most of what you do want, and the least of what you don’t want. With the correct information you can make the best informed decision for yourself. This of course will be based on to your own needs and wants.You can rest assured this Airwheel review will cover pretty much everything about these scooters. We can guarantee you that you won't find a more extensive review on Airwheel X series scooters anywhere. If you don't believe us then just try and scroll down the page. You will find that it is a VERY long web page! To help you with this we have installed a Table of Contents with links you can click (which you will see shortly down the page).
What We Include in Our Reviews That You Won't Find Anywhere Else
Part of the hidden work we do for every review on this site is digging deep into our research so we can uncover hidden problems with the company and/or dangers with the products themselves. These are things most other reviewers are never aware of because they failed to do the research.We are not just some kid on YouTube driving around on a scooter telling you how we think it feels. That’s not enough to give a good review for a product like this. An electric battery powered scooter needs to be judged by more than how it looks, feels, or rides. It needs to be judged on quality and safety first and foremost. Otherwise you could be buying a ticking time bomb and then storing it in your house. This is not an exaggeration. If you keep reading below you will see proof of the hazards of buying fake cheap scooters.For this Airwheel review in particular we put a lot of time into contacting the company and its distributors to look for answers about the products safety, and things like what the customer service is like. Keep reading below for the complete break down.This is a very extensive Airwheel review article. We suggest you use the Table of Contents button below if you are looking for specific information about the scooters. Click the button to expand the list. You can click a link to jump ahead. Then click the back button in your desktop browser to return to the Table of Contents.
Table of Contents (Click Here To View)
This Airwheel X Series Review Will Cover the Following Topics:1. Airwheel fire safety and quality
2. Airwheel vs Hoverboard, is it the same? – Will Airwheels explode or catch fire?
3. Airwheel X3, X5, X6 and X8 specs
4. The Pros (everything we love about these unicycles)
5. Technology in Airwheel scooters6. Airwheel Mars Rover X3 through X8 performance
7. Are Airwheel unicycle scooters waterproof?8. Airwheel X3 – X8 price
9. Airwheel X3 vs X8, X5, and X6 Comparisons
10. X3 Mars Rover Overview and Comparison
11. X5 Mars Rover Overview and Comparison
12. X6 Mars Rover Overview and Comparison
13. X8 Mars Rover Overview and Comparison
14. Airwheel battery and charger
15. Airwheel automatic protection safety systems
16. The Battery Management System (BMS) - what you need to know
17. The cons (what we don’t like about Airwheel X3, X5, X6 and X8)
18. Airwheel Android and iPhone mobile app
19. Airwheel customer support - What is it like?
20. Ninbot One vs Airwheel21. All the pros and cons taken together – Our Final Verdict on these scooters
Airwheel Fire Safety
Prevention against fires and explosions should be your #1 concern with Airwheel or any other
electric battery powered scooter. Sometimes people get so caught up with the features and performance of a product they forget the most important factor. Fire safety should trump any other points of interest. Why? If it’s not safe enough to be stored in your home you shouldn’t even consider it. We hammer this point over and over because it is the biggest problem in the industry right now. The fact is - over the past year hoverboards have been catching fire and exploding left and right. Don’t let it happen to you! We use software to scan the news stories daily for stories about battery powered scooter fires. Unfortunately we are seeing reports about another electric scooter fire literally every day. This is because of cheaply manufactured scooters made with substandard parts and practices. Nearly all of the fires are caused by the hoverboard 2 wheel standing scooter types. Those are being sold mainly by startup companies who are all buying from the same dangerous factories in China. But some scooter fires are also caused by the one wheel electric unicycles (although this is much more rare).Despite new US government scooter safety regulations and regulations in other countries, the cheap dangerous scooters continue to be sold all over the world (as if the laws don’t even exist). The only way you as a consumer can protect yourself against this is to take matters into your own hands. You must do your own research on the electrical safety of a scooter before buying it.We are trying to do our part in educating people so we can help put a stop to this madness. A major part of every review we do is about the products fire safety. But don't get the wrong idea. Not all scooters are dangerous. So we need to determine which ones are the safe ones.
Airwheel vs Hoverboard, is it the Same? – Will Airwheels Explode or Catch Fire?
For this hoverboard vs Airwheel comparison let’s take a look at the company history of Airwheel. This will help us to determine if the company has a trustworthy track record for producing scooters that are safe against fires.Airwheel has been around long before the invention of the popular electric 2 wheel self-balancing scooters (which are mainly the causes of most of the explosions).The actual company name is Airwheel Technology Holding Co., Ltd which is a China based company established in 2004. They have offices in LA., Colorado, and China.The Airwheel electrical technology that is present present in both its unicycle style scooters and the Airwheel Segway type scooters, has been implemented in the scooters since 2011. That’s about a half a decade of making and selling scooters with the current type of Airwheel electrical systems inside them. This is a good amount of time we can look at to give us an idea on the quality of the products they make.As mentioned above part of all the reviews we do on this website is to try to find bad reports on the products. During all the time Airwheel scooters have been sold we have not been able to find ANY reports of fires caused in the scooters after looking and researching for days about this. We searched every area including forums, social media, news sites, other review sites, reviews on sites selling Airwheel, and many more places. No stone was left unturned.We did find one news story of a certain unicycle fire incident. But we were not able to substantiate that it was an Airwheel model. Many people call all similar looking unicycles an Airwheel because it is such a popular name. Even when you search in Google you will see many generic scooters using the name Airwheel falsely. The video footage in the news story we found mentioned the word "Airwheel" one time, but didn’t really establish if it was indeed a real brand name Airwheel. They only said the word Airwheel one time really quickly.In fact there is evidence to show that it probably was NOT a real Airwheel. For one thing we are aware of many unicycle scooters which look exactly like Airwheel. They have the same shapes and sizes of the Airwheel designs. It would be easy to confuse them with the real Airwheel brand name scooters. In fact here is one such scooter called an IPS 101 that exploded in a hallway and ejected the rider from it:
As you can see the shape of it looks almost exactly like an Airwheel X3. Here are the images of the IPS scooter explosion - which according to IPS was caused by some type of paper deposited around the battery pack:[caption id="attachment_1007" align="aligncenter" width="684"]
We are not saying that IPS is necessarily bad because they have since fixed the cause of this. But the point is that by the look of the scooter it can be mistaken easily for an Airwheel (as can many others).It is unlikely the scooter we mentioned in the news story above was a real Airwheel. In the 12 years of the company’s existence we have not been able to find any other references of ones catching fire.Also another point to take into consideration is just because something catches on fire does not mean it malfunctioned on its own due to a defect.We have written extensively on this site about the fact that any lithium-ion battery powered device has the potential to explode when it is abused or mistreated. Even iPhones have exploded and killed people due to persons using the wrong charger.With an electric scooter things like jumping ramps or doing high impact tricks can indeed damage or puncture the battery so that it could malfunction causing a fire.We searched high and low looking for any trace of malfunctioning Airwheels that caused fires. The good news is we couldn’t find any besides the story mentioned above (which was probably not really an Airwheel).The track record of Airwheel proves they have a history of making safe products
that won’t explode or catch fire.If a company is selling dangerous faulty products common sense tells us they wouldn’t be in business very long. Airwheel has been in business for over a decade with no bad reports of malfunctioning scooters. Therefore we are confident in recommending Airwheel as one of the best fire safe electric scooter brands on the market due to their time tested track record. The proof is always in the pudding as they say, regardless of any certifications or testing.For most electric scooter brands we don’t even bother to review them on this blog. The market is literally saturated with copycat cheap dangerous hoverboards and scooters that all look exactly the same.They are being sold for prices that are even lower than what a quality battery pack inside the scooter would cost. The price alone tells you all you need to know about its safety. People pushing that crap either don’t have a clue or have no conscience. They are literally putting people’s lives at risk.But with an established company like Airwheel (that has a track record of making reliable trustworthy products) we think it’s worth looking into. So keep reading below for everything you need to know about Airwheel unicycle scooters.
Airwheel X8, X6, X5, and X3 Specs
The Pros (What We Love About Airwheel Mars Rover X series Scooters)
There are a lot of things we like about the X3 – X8 scooter models. If we were to list them all here
this review would be more like a book than an article (in fact it’s close to that point now). So we’ll instead need to stick to a list of the most important things we liked, which we think most people would want to know about these scooters.
Airwheel is Driving Innovation in the Scooter Industry
Airwheel is one of the few companies in the battery powered personal transportation niche that is developing its own
innovative technologies and designs. Most other brands look like cookies cutter copies of all the other products out there (because they are). They don’t have anything unique or better to offer and are just the exact same thing with a different name stamped on the product.Also as we mentioned these cookie cutter replicated scooters are mostly made from cheap dangerous parts that can cause fires and explosions!Although some of the Airwheel scooter models look a lot like other brands in some ways, they also add their own unique twist in design, features, software, and materials. This is unlike almost all hoverboard scooters, which look exactly the same with the same cheap parts.The importance of this point goes beyond just innovations because innovative unique scooter technology is a sign of a safer better built product.
Airwheel Advanced AI Self Balancing Technologies
All Airwheels contain an artificial intelligence software program and a "smart chip" to go along with it. This system uses advanced logic algorithms to mimic human thinking processes. The AI technology is included in the X3, X5, X6, and X8 Mars Rover models as well.It allows the scooter to balance itself upright and to better respond to your movements in conjunction with the motor and gyroscope pressure sensitive mechanisms. Even if you dismount off the unicycle, it will be able to continue to stand upright on its own and won’t fall over (as long as it is powered up). This capability is the result of a very advanced technology.Airwheel Mars Rover Riding and Performance is Exceptional
The X series unicycle series offers a very smooth, quiet, and sturdy ride. In fact we think this is one of the quietest motors for any electric scooter we have seen so far.
Even better the motors and tires are designed to be rugged enough for most off-road terrains. Depending on how extreme of a terrain you need to ride on - the higher up you go in models, the more powerful and smooth the ride will be on rougher terrains. This is due to the stronger motor and heaver weight of the scooters.But with all the X series scooters you can take them off road.You couldn't even dream of getting a regular hard 2 wheeled scooter where the Airwheel can go. That is one of the main advantages of an electric unicycle with this type of design.
Overall all the X series models offer a quiet, smooth, and super fun ride.
Extremely Light Weight and Easy to Carry - So You Can Take Them Anywhere
All Airwheel Unicycles in the X series are compact, lightweight, and easy to carry. They have a convenient carrying
handle on the top of the device.Even better they are so small you can carry them inside a backpack or shopping bag. For the best carrying option Airwheel designed a special backpack that's round inside to conform to the scooters shape. You can get it as an accessory if you wish.
Also if you are riding public transportation like on a bus Airwheel unicycle scooters are so small they will fit easily underneath your seat. If you are shopping inside a store they will fit underneath or inside your shopping cart. For better peace of mind just take them wherever you go - without the hassle of worrying about parking it, watching it, or worrying about someone stealing it.
Airwheels Are Waterproof and Dustproof
All Airwheel models have an IP56 waterproof and dustproof protection rating. This means the scooters electrical systems are protected against dust entering and damaging the unit. Also the rating means that it has been tested to withstand strong jets of water from any direction and not get damaged.
This does not however include submersion in water. Do not submerse the scooter in any water deeper than 10mm. Very shallow puddles are OK but generally it is best to avoid puddles regardless if it can be submersed or not. Puddles can be much deeper than they look causing a sudden stop and ejection from the vehicle. Our best advice is never go through puddles whether you are on a bike, scooter, skateboard, or whatever.
Super Light Weight Aviation Grade Foot Pedals
All Airwheel X and Q series scooters come equipped with slip resistant textured foot pedals. They are constructed of a high quality
lightweight aluminum metal alloy (which resists corrosion). The last thing you want is rusted heavy foot pedals that are cumbersome and add a lot of weight to the scooter.The pedals easily fold up for hassle free carrying and storage.
Airwheel X3 – X8 Price is Very Reasonable
The price of Airwheel scooters is much cheaper than a lot of comparable brand names. Airwheel X3 and even the X8 are priced significantly lower than Ninebot One unicycles for example. It is not the cheapest (which you don’t want anyway due to fire hazard) but it is not the most expensive either. It is medium priced unicycle that is very affordable by most standards. If you are someone who is shopping by price this is one of the few cheaper electric scooters that you can buy which is safe to use.We don't want to list the prices here on this page because prices can fluctuate and change often. Instead please click the "Buy Now" buttons you see on this page to check the current prices. There is one button just below this part of the page. Scroll down a little and you will see it.Airwheel X3 vs X8, X5, and X6– Comparing the Different Mars Rover X Series Models Shows a Good Range of Choices
Airwheel X3 Overview and Comparison
The main differences in all the X series models are the batteries and motor power. They all look very similar besides the colors which are black, white, carbon fiber, and orange for the X3. Depending on your needs and budget you have a good variety to choose from.All Airwheel models have slightly different powered motors but all can safely go uphill on a 15° slope for a person with an average adult body weight. For people or kids weighing less than 132 lbs. (60 kg) the scooters can easily and safely go up an 18° slope. Going downhill re-charges the battery.Generally speaking all Airwheel models can go off-road over gravel and grass. But as you go up in the more expensive models (with more powerful motors) they will be able to better tackle the more extreme gradients and terrain.All of the X series models have only a single wheel, which makes them a true unicycle or solowheel. These one wheel X Series models are a little harder to learn to ride because you need to have more balance from left to right. But once you learn them they are more agile, and easy to turn on a tighter radius. The exceptional maneuverability of these types of self-balancing unicycles make them super fun to ride.If you are looking for a scooter that’s easier to learn to ride (or if you have bad balance) you might want to check out Airwheels Q series scooters. The Q series scooters are actually dicycles because they have two wheels close together (as opposed to the one wheel of the X series), giving them a wider base that is easier to balance on.
As for the Airwheel Mars Rover X3 it is the original base rate unicycle model. It is the cheapest cost scooter out of all the Airwheel scooters. And it is also the lightest weight model. X3 is a great model to start off learning to ride electric unicycles with. It can go 10 to 14 miles in distance. But (as with all battery powered scooters) this depends on the weight of the rider, the speed you are going, the type of terrain, the temperature outside, and the inclines.Also if you are looking to buy your kids a gift the X3 Airwheel model might be a good scooter to get for kids since they can handle a lighter weight and will travel farther with a lighter load. Plus the size is a little smaller which is better for kids.
Airwheel X5 Mars Rover Overview and Comparison
This section is short because there is not a lot of difference in the X3 vs X5 aside from a few minor differences. The X5 is the big brother to the X3. It is a very similar model. It is slightly wider at the top of the scooter shell to accommodate a slightly larger battery pack. It can go for a distance of approximately a 10-14 mile range. The Airwheel Mars Rover X5 is similar in weight to the X3. You can see all the weight and dimension differences for the models in the “Airwheel Specs” section of this article.The X5 can be great for commuters who are looking for a moderate range personal transportation device.
Airwheel X6 Mars Rover Overview and Compairson
The X6 is a step up from the X5 in its size and has the bigger 16 inch tires (like the X8). It has a larger body than the X5 and closer to the size of the X8. But the speed and range are basically the same as the X5. However the X6 is a newer model and hard to find for sale as many authorized distributers don’t carry it. Basically the X6 seems almost the same thing and very close to the X8 in size and weight but with a step down motor and battery.
Airwheel X8 Mars Rover Overview and Comparison
The Airwheel X8 is the premiere model of the X series. It’s got a strong carbon-fiber shell casing with beautiful distinctive glass-like patterns. In our opinion the carbon-fiber shell is the nicest looking material out of all the Airwheel scooters. Not to mention it is the strongest material.
The X8 can go about 15 miles out of a single battery charge (on average) with a max range of slightly over 17 miles. So this is the professional model that has the most powerful motor and longest battery range out of all the X series models. It is a little heavier than the X3 and X5 models at 11.5 kilograms in weight.The wheel of the X8 is slightly larger at 16 inches. The motor and battery pack are also larger and more powerful as well (which is the reason for the increased weight).The stronger motor of the X8 is going to give you faster acceleration, a smoother ride (because it is heavier), and will handle better in a more responsive and controlled way over rougher off road conditions.
Overall Comparison of Airwheel X3, X5, X6, vs X8
In our view when taking all the differences and features of each model into consideration we feel as though the best two models to get is either the X3 or the X8.The price differences of the X3 compared to the X5 is minimal. The same goes for the X6 price compared to the X8. If you want a stronger top of the line model we recommend that you go with the best model which is the X8, because it doesn’t cost that much more than the X5 and X6.If you are fine with the weaker smaller motor of the X3 (for example if you don't weight a lot), it is the lightest weight, most economical scooter. So it really comes down to a simple choice of X3 vs X8 in our view. But you be the judge on that.Airwheel Battery and Charger are High Quality and Safe From Fire
All Airwheel scooters have brand name batteries with names that you will recognize and trust. The most used
batteries in Airwheel are Sony and Panasonic which are Japan made batteries. The X3, X8 and the rest of the X series models have these batteries. They are not cheap knock off batteries, but manufactured from trusted long established companies. Having a high quality battery and charger is the single most important factor that will prevent fires and explosions in any electric scooter. Don’t underestimate the importance of this. It is a major plus in our book.
Intelligent Automatic Protection Systems for Tilting and Speed Control
All X and Q Series Airwheel Models Have Multiple Safety Systems Built in to Prevent Injury and damage to the scooter.A lot of people have been injured on all types of electric scooters because they don’t want to take the time to learn what they are supposed
to know and how to use it the right way. It’s just human nature to want to rush into things. About 15,000 people have been sent to the hospital that last year alone due to electric scooter related injuries. This is small in comparison to some other activities but still significant enough to be aware of the need to ride in a safe way.Airwheel has taken this into consideration and developed systems to prevent certain things from happening. Things that can injure you or your scooter. Automatic tilting protection – when the scooter tilts more than 45° sideways the motor will stall to protect the rider from injury from the wheels spinning out. All Airwheel units have a built in safety automatic motor stalling switch.In addition if you jump off the scooter or fall off when riding it the motor will also stall to protect the scooter from damage.Automatic speed control system - prevents the scooter from traveling at unsafe speeds. If the speed exceeds 12 km/h (7.5 mph) the pedal will tilt itself gradually as you go faster and faster to prevent you from accelerating too fast. If the speed exceeds 16 km/h (10 mph) the pedal will tilt to 10° preventing any further speed increase.If you are a speed demon you might hate this. But the design of this type of scooter cannot handle super-fast speeds. Electric unicycles are usually faster than the 2 wheeled electric scooters, but they still have limits. If you want something much faster you might want to look into our electric battery powered skateboard reviews. They are designed to travel at significantly faster motor speeds and can go downhill at super fast speeds.Or you might want to check out our Ninebot One Review page. It is a similar unicycle scooter that can go slightly faster than Airwheel and with some additional added features as well.
Unicycle BMS Safety System and Automatic Shutoff – What You Need To Know
All Airwheel models contain a Battery Management System or BMS (as do most all electric unicycles). The BMS monitors battery power levels. Low power levels can cause the unit to overheat and catch fire.If the battery gets too low in power the scooter will automatically shut off once a certain low level threshold for the
battery power is reached. This is a safety feature to prevent serious damage to the battery packs. Damaging the batteries can cause them to not work, or even worse to catch fire. This shut off feature can prevent dangerous electric failure due to overheating and possibly a battery explosion.Unfortunately the BMS which protects the battery is the same system that can possibly cause random shutoffs and bodily injury to the rider of the scooter. You don’t want a scooter to just shut off suddenly with no warning. Sudden automatic shutoffs will cause the wheel to lock up causing the rider to be thrown forward off the scooter. As you can imagine a sudden shutoff like this can cause the rider to be seriously injured.
How Does Airwheel Deal With Sudden Automatic BMS Shutoff?
Airwheel has built in warning systems to prevent riders from being injured by an automatic shutoff. The warning system is three fold and will alert you to dangerously low power levels.First it is important that you always pay close attention to the battery levels. The best way to avoid automatic shutoff is to be able to anticipate when this could occur. That means don’t push the scooter to extreme battery levels below 10%!Warning Level #1 - The warning system will first start to make an audible beeping sound when the battery falls below 15% power. This is your first warning. It starts doing this well ahead of time before it would ever shut off. Pay attention to the beeps! If it is beeping continuously when you are not leaning sideways that means it is dangerously low on power.Warning Level #2 - The other part of the warning system is the blinking LED light system on the top of the scooter. If it is windy outside and you can’t hear the beeping sounds this second level warning sign will serve as the backup warning. The four LED lights on the top of the scooter will flash when battery levels fall below 15%. If you have been riding for several miles make sure to look down at the LED lights to check for flashing.
Warning Level #3 - The final and third level of protection tied to the Battery Safety Management System (BMS) is that the scooter will gradually force you to slow down by tilting backwards when the power is below 15%. For your own safety it forces you to slow down before it shuts off. If all other warning signs fail for you this one will ensure you are not going as slow as possible if and when the scooter has to shut down.
Do Not Ignore the BMS Airwheel Warning Systems
If you feel the third protection system kicking in (as it starts to eventually tilt the scooter back to slow you down), don’t try to force it to speed up! You should be slowing down more and more in anticipation to an automatic shutdown should the battery be completely drained. If the unit shuts off you will be thrown from the scooter and could have a serious accident.As long as you obey the warning signs and stop riding the scooter when the battery is too low you should be fine. It's common sense that the best course of action is to stop riding the scooter once you hear the beeping and see the flashing LED lights.Tips to Avoid BMS Automatic Shutoff
If you have a backpack or purse we recommend you carry the charger with you when traveling longer distances. That way you can charge it back up if you can find a plug. It is a very small and light weight charger. So it should be easy to carry.Another tip is to plan out your rides for the distance you will be traveling. Look up on the internet where you plan to go. A service such as Google Maps with GPS on your phone will tell you how far you have cruised and where you are in relation to your destination. If you know how far you want to go, and the range of your scooter, you can avoid going so far that you run dangerously low on power.If you are still worried about the automatic shutoff and are not satisfied with a warning system you might want to check out our Ninebot One Review. Ninebot will prevent operation of the unicycle when the battery gets dangerously low. So you won’t be able to ride it to a point where it will shut off suddenly due to the BMS system.Some people think Ninebot One shutting off while standing still is an indication that it will shut off while moving. This is not the case. It stops working and shuts off when the battery is too low so that you can’t ride it and get ejected form a sudden BMS stop.
The Cons (What We Don’t Like About Airwheel X Series Scooters)
No Airwheel Mobile App For the X Series ModelsNone the X series unicycle scooters work with the Airwheel app for iPhone or Android. Airwheel has a 
mobile Bluetooth app that can connect to some of its scooters. The ones that have Bluetooth connectivity will work with the app. But none of the X series have Bluetooth and so won’t work with the app. It’s disappointing that the company failed to add such a simple thing when they already made the app. It doesn’t seem to make a lot of sense.The app could be invaluable in simplifying the calculation of the distances traveled. This would help to more easily avoid the BMS automatic shutoff mentioned above. It would also be a great way to check the exact battery level at a glance.
All of the X Series Models Have the Same Max Speed
We would have liked to see a faster speed in the X8 vs X3. Although the range is longer and the acceleration is faster on the higher end models, the top speed is the same.No Airwheel Customer Support – You Can Only Call Distributers = Bad Customer Service
This point is going to be a major deal breaker for some people. It almost was for us and a huge disappointment in Airwheel’s customer service.
For one thing Airwheel has made it almost impossible to call them from any country besides China. They only have Chinese phone numbers listed on the main company website. Those phone numbers are only to call the factory if you are interested in becoming a distributor or are already one and looking to buy wholesale in bulk. But they have NO phone number listed anywhere for product inquiries, or for customers to call.Also we tried to call the Chinese numbers listed on the main website multiple times at our own expense. The only thing we got was a very short one sentence voice message in Chinese. A few seconds after the recorded message was played the line was automatically disconnected with no way to leave a message. In fact we called multiple times, on different days, and during Chinese business hours. The phone was never answered any time we called.This makes no sense because Airwheel is doing business all over the world in different countries. You would think when they open up a country for distribution they would hire a representative to answer the phone from a number that people in that country can call.
Nope you can’t call them. We spent a lot of time researching and trying to find a number to an office for the company. Unfortunately they seemed have worked very hard to hide the corporate headquarters phone number and don’t want any potential customers trying to contact them on the phone. We have not been able to find any phone number to call for any offices besides the number for the factory in China.
We ended up sending a contact request to the Skype username listed on the main company website. Suffice it to say the experience we had with the representative on Skype was very bad. The lady took days to provide any kind of a reply and in the end was very rude and seemed incompetent to answer any questions we had about the products. She made it clear she didn't want to talk unless I was either a distributor or wanted to become one. She refused to answer any questions about the products or give out any information on who else I could contact for help. She would not even tell me where I could go to buy the products.
Airwheel supposedly provides online product support via live chat on the main website. But that is only for people who want to become a distributor. not for anyone who bought the products, or people who are interested in the products. We tried to use the website chat box as well. But still no reply for the four times we sent a message through it. It's basically a fake live chat.The feeling we continually got when contacting the company is that it’s virtually impossible to get a hold of anyone to talk to about the products, either before or after you buy them. If you do happen to somehow get a hold of someone you had to jump through hoops for days to make that happen.
So finally the last resort was to contact the email addresses listed on the website. We tried to send several messages to those emails with NO reply after a week of sending the messages.If bad or non-existent customer support is a deal breaker for you then we are sorry to have to break the bad news. Check out the next subheading below for a Ninebot comparison. The customer support for Ninebot is an excellent alternative if this is something important to you.
Ninebot One Segway vs Airwheel - What You Gain in Airwheel’s Lower Price You Lose in Features and Customer Support
Although Airwheel scooters are priced significantly lower than a scooter like Ninebot One, Ninebot One models have more features and vastly superior customer support (through Segway).
All of the Ninebot One models come standard with Bluetooth, a mobile app connection, and remote control from the app unlike with Airwheel X series scooters.Ninebot One has a higher price, but also a higher max speed as well. Ninebot unicycles are designed to go faster than Airwhel unicycle scooters. As you go up in Ninebot models the speed capability continues to increase. Top speed for Airwheel is 11.18 miles an hour, while the top speed for Ninebot One is 14 mph. If you want more extensive information on Ninebot unicycles go to our Ninebot One series review page.
Airwheel and Ninebot Range Comparison
Airwheel Ninebot differences don’t stop there. The most significant difference in Airwheel vs Ninebot One performance is that Ninebot One has a much farther traveling range than Airwheel X. For example the Ninebot E+ top model can go about 5 miles further than the Airwheel X8 top model. That is a significant difference.Ninebot vs Airwheel Customer Support
And last the main advantage of Ninebot over Airwheel is that Ninebot/Segway customer support is stellar. You will have no problem getting a hold of friendly knowledgeable people who will answer all your questions or concerns.Airwheel in contrast has virtually no customer support, aside from its distributors that you might be able to call. Calling a distributor does not make up for not being able to contact Airwheel directly. The distributor gets all its information from the company who makes the products. If an Airwheel distributor can't answer a question or concern then you are out of luck.It seems obvious Airwheel is saving a lot of money by cutting off the customer support and so are able to have lower priced products as a result. But we would rather have better customer support with a higher priced scooter. We think it is a terrible business strategy to eliminate customer support so that the price of the products can be lower.The Final Verdict on Airwheel X Series Unicycle Scooters
Overall as far as the products themselves are concerned we give it a very high rating for the safety and quality of the products. They have a good array of scooter models to choose from at reasonable prices. This includes the X3, X5, X6, and X8.As for the features we would call this a mid-range level scooter. It doesn’t have as many features as something like Ninebot One but it has enough of all the main safety features and riding performance to give it a good thumbs up. It is smooth, easy to control, has a decent range, and a moderate top speed. It handles itself well in wet weather as well as off-road conditions. It is also compact and easy to travel with. So it is a good all-around quality scooter you can use to commute or just to have fun with.If you don’t mind bad customer support then Airwheel unicycle scooters might be a good choice for you to buy and enjoy.Airwheel Mars Rover X3 vs X8, X5, and X6 Electric Unicycle Scooter Comparisons and Review was first seen on Hoverboards Electric
