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With China churning out new electric scooters in every shape and size every day, it’s hard to find one that has built some kind of reliability reputation.
One of the most known and used electric scooters out there is, without a doubt, the one I currently use – the Xiaomi M365 Scooter.
For this reason Spin & Bird use these scooters (https://www.spin.pm/ & https://www.bird.co/).
With its large wheels, decent battery size and range and reasonable speed, coupled with a pretty competitive price, this might just be the first choice on your list.
If you’re already too excited and want to skip to Amazon, here is a quick link.
In the past, Chinese products might not have been renowned for their reliability, but rest assured, this scooter is top quality, and in fairness, Xiaomi’s products are pretty high up with the big boys when it comes to products quality.
This scooter comes in 2 variants:
- the longer-range one (M365) – up to 18.6 miles range.
- the shorter range one (the Youth edition) – up to approx. 12 miles
(this is based on a rider of approx. 165 lbs / 75 kg, heavier users will see slightly lower values).
Both the M365 and the Youth look the same.
Weight
The scooter weighs 12.5 kg, while that is not a lot by any standards, please don’t expect this to be the easiest thing to carry with one hand.
So if ultra-portability is your thing, this scooter will be a bit too heavy for you, however heavy-ish as it is, it does make up for it in sturdiness, this thing is seriously well build and reliable.
With its larger wheels and inner tube tires, it will be a pretty fast and smooth ride, much more than you’d expect initially.
I would recommend taking it slow until you are used to it because I have been overwhelmed by it at the beginning.
Speed
It has 2 modes – normal and eco. Eco basically doubles the range and, unsurprisingly, cuts the speed down quite a bit but it’s still at least 2.5 times faster than walking fast even on the eco mode.
Top speeds on this scooter can reach about 15 mph realistically, and in my opinion, you shouldn’t need more speed than that on this sort of scooter, it can feel pretty exhilarating as it is.
It comes with an included light that packs quite a punch.
This scooter is not the lightest or the smallest, but it is definitely the most reliable at this price point.
Unboxing this bad boy is a breeze, simply screw on the handle using the included screws and the screwdriver and you’re ready to ride it.
Charging it fully takes about 5 hours, the charger looks like an old laptop charger, nothing crazy, no big surprises.
Make sure you buy spare tires/inner tubes for this puppy because you will very quickly fall in love with the practicality of it and the tires are the only real weak part.
Due to the rather unorthodox 8.5” size of the tire, it will be a pain finding inner tubes in your local bike shops.
Tires
I personally suggest buying full tires instead of the inner tubes and replacing them asap; even though you’re losing some of the cushiony smoothness, if a flat should happen, changing a tire on this thing on the street is not a simple job, so the sooner the better.
Luckily there are plenty of flat tires out there to have just in case the inevitable will happen.
You can get 2 of these and never have to worry about it again.
Once the unpacking is done, all you have to do is to install the Xiaomi mi home app, or alternatively, you can use the Ninebot app, both available on the Google/ Apple stores.
For those geeky die-hards, there is an additional app – M365 freedom – Android only – that can overclock the scooter’s top speed to a whopping 20 miles per hour (after enabling CFW & BMS107).
Specs
| Power output | 250-500W |
| Battery | 280Wh |
| Charging time | 5.5hours |
| Tire Diameter | 8.5 inches (front & back) |
| Dimensions | 1080mm x 430mm x 1140mm (unfolded) |
| Max climb angle | 14° |
| Max mileage 25km | 30km |
| Max speed | 25km/h |
| Max carry load | 100kg |
| Weight | 12.5kg |
Customer impressions
Most users like it because it’s designed for short distances, it fits easily in the boot of the car or even on a crowded train/ bus.
You needn’t wear special clothes on it, you won’t sweat on it.
It’s super fast to fold and unfold, and it looks very stylish.
Pros:
- Very good price for the quality
- Very easy to find parts for, since it’s one of the most popular scooters on the market
- Good range
- A very fast ride
- Easy to fold up
- Stylish
- Comes in black or white color
Cons:
- A bit heavy to carry
- Not the most compact electric scooter on the market, even when folded up
- You need to stock up on inner tubes or buy a full wheel because it’s not easy to find them in most bike shops
- The footrest is a bit heavy because it houses the battery, therefore if you stop suddenly and lift it, it’s easy to get your ankles hit by it (happened to me many times).
If you want to see real user reviews, check them out on Amazon here.
Conclusions
A tried and tested model, fairly priced for the features, in my opinion, the Xiaomi MI electric scooter is the best scooter on the market.