My 8 year old daughter had been after a hover board for quite sometime, but I didn’t want to get her a cheap one that would just die after a few weeks. It’s also for an 8 year old, she’s not using it to commute around town, and she doesn’t have a smart phone, so I didn’t want something with bluetooth and a bunch of things she wouldn’t need/use. After doing loads of research, I took a chance on this one. It was a bit more than what she was originally looking at, but again, I didn’t want something that would break after a few uses. I decided to take a chance on this one, and I’m completely happy with it.
Pros:
Keeps the charge for a good while. I only have to charge it every few days. She rides it outside, rides it around the block when I walk the dog, and pretty much every chance she gets. I just need to put it on the charger every 3 or 4 days.
It lets off a beep when the charge is getting low. This is good in case we’re away from the house because it weighs about 25lbs. (more on that in a bit.) So if starts beeping saying the charge is low, we’ll head home. It’s not something I want to carry for blocks. Side note, if you are going a little too fast, it will also start to beep as a warning that you’re reaching top speed (7 mph) so be careful.
It’s very sturdy. During her initial learning curve, she went a bit fast and jumped off and the hover board went rolling down the street. Aside from a few nicks and/or small scratch, it was perfectly fine. She was able to jump right back on and continue, this time a little slower.
There are skins (decals) for it. My daughters first choice was another hover board that was very colorful. I wasn’t sure about the quality of the hover board. This one is all black, but you can get skins for it and customize it to your taste. She picked out something with a myriad of colors and is extremely happy with it.
Cons:
It’s not really a con, considering that the weight is because the battery is encased within a metal frame, but it does weigh about 25 lbs. So make sure it’s charged if you plan on going out for a long ride. You don’t want to have to carry it all the way back home if it runs out of juice. It’s not extremely heavy, but a little cumbersome because the two sides act independently to turn. The manual says you should get about 5 miles out of it on a full charge. She hasn’t gone that far on a single trip yet.
Overall:
She loves it. It took about 10 minutes for her to get her balance and ride slowly. About 20 – 30 minutes to get pretty confident and after a couple of days she was bolting up hills, spinning around and dancing on the thing. It does say that it will hold approximately 187 lbs give or take. I weigh 170 and gave it a whirl. If you’re about 170 or more I would probably opt for one that can carry a heavier load even though I wasn’t hitting the max. It is loads of fun though.
Final thoughts:
My six year old is learning to ride it, so I see a second one in my future pretty soon. I would suggest making sure kids have protective gear on, helmet, and wrist guards at the very least, knee and elbow pads for further protection. At least in the very beginning if they are new to this.
I am really happy with this, and have no complaints. Great product, my daughter loves it, loads of fun.