Budget Electric Skateboard Archives - Electric Skateboard HQ

May 2, 2022May 21, 2022 by Paxson Lim

Tynee Board Classic Review – ‘safest choice’ under $500?

There are a lot of options for budget electric skateboards for less than $500. You’ll be spoiled with different combinations of specs, and it’ll be up to you which eskates match your style. The top pick at this time would no doubt be the WowGo 2s Max and the Meepo V4, but we’re not at the finish line yet. Say hello to the Tynee Board Classic, competing for the third spot. And who knows, for some rider it might even be THE board to get.

How good is the Tynee Board Classic? Well, spoiler alert, we think it is the boring safe choice for anyone looking for a comfortable budget electric skateboard. It also embodies the current standard for entry-level electric skateboards. First, let’s go through the specs.

Build and Specs

ESC: 10s Hobbywing ESC with smart power-on
Batteries: 5 Ah – 10s2p Samsung 25R; 8.7 Ah – 10s3p DMEGC 29E cell
Marketed range: 5 Ah – 12 miles or 19 km; 8.7 Ah – 22 miles or 35 km
Motors: 350W Hobbywing
Marketed top speed: 23 mph or 38 kph
Trucks: Tynee PE Trucks; upgraded from Paris V3
Wheels: 90mm street wheels; Cloudwheel Donuts compatible

Let’s begin with the electronic speed controller. Tynee Board Classic uses 10s Hobbywing ESC with smart power-on. For those who don’t know, Hobbywing ESC is now the most common choice and safe choice for speed control. It has always provided smooth and intuitive speed control.

As for the battery, there are two options. The Tynee Board Classic at $449 uses a 5 Ah Samsung 25R. This is a fairly common and good choice. The battery configuration is 10s2p, meaning it has a 180wh pack. Pull up the bubble chart, and you can see that 180wh is the median battery size you can expect from a sub-$500 board.

Good Deal for DMEGC 313wh Battery Pack

The other option at $509 is a bigger 313wh pack, configured at 10s3p with DMEGC 29E cell. While DMEGC cells are not well-known, a 313wh battery pack for $500 is a good deal.

The review unit we received at the headquarters is the 5AH Tynee Board Classic. This version has a marketed range of 12 miles or 19 km. When we tested it out, our 210lbs/95kg test rider managed to get 7.5 miles or 12 km out of it.

Both the marketed range and the tested range are typical for electric skateboards under $500. We weren’t able to test out the 8.7AH version, but it has a marketed range of 22 miles or 35 km.

To check out our review on the Tynee Board Mini, click here.

Cloudwheels Donut Compatible

Next, let’s talk about the motors. The Tynee Board Classic uses a set of 350W motors from Hobbywing. These are pretty average motors for this price range. The top speed is 23mph or 38km/h, which is again, typical.

As for the wheels, Tynee Board Classic has an option for 90mm street wheels and is also compatible with Cloudwheel Donuts.

The deck uses authentic Canadian maple with medium flex and mild concave. This is great news for those who enjoy a flexible deck for its smoother ride and better carving feel. Major competitors in the sub-$500 category chose stiffer decks.

Now, let’s go to the trucks. The Tynee Board Classic uses its proprietary Tynee PE trucks. From our previous reviews, these trucks have been fairly decent and consistent with stability. The Tynee PE trucks are also upgraded from the Paris V3.

The $449 and $509 versions of Tynee Board Classic weigh 15.4 lbs or 7.0 kg and are rated to be IP54 waterproof. Again, a waterproof rating doesn’t mean much in the electric skateboarding world. Perhaps the Tynee Classic is a tad bit more waterproof than its competitors, but we would never recommend riding the board when it’s wet outside.

Classic Specs for a Classic Ride

At this point, you might notice that the Tynee Board Classic has simply gone with what’s known to work. Besides offering an 8.7 Ah version, which is a great value for the price, both the motor and ESC are just typical choices that are common for the board’s price.

What sets Tynee Board Classic from its competitors would be its choice of electronic parts. We bet seasoned eskaters can already imagine what kind of ride profile the board has just by going through the specs on paper.

To check out our review on the Tynee Board Ultra, click here.

Riding Experience

Unsurprisingly, the Tynee Board Classic has super smooth acceleration and brakes thanks to Hobbywing ESC. Both acceleration and brakes are nice and strong. The 350W hub motors are quiet and competent. Although they are not the most powerful or thrilling motors, inclines are handled pretty well.

The board is quite nice for carving. The Tynee PE trucks, while inferior to branded premium trucks in responsiveness, are still nice and responsive with a good return to center. The trucks provide a stable ride even when going at full speed. I think most casual or beginner riders would appreciate Tynee going with a stable truck that allows an easy and relaxing ride.

What the Tynee Board Classic is bad at would be what all dual-hub boards are bad at—fighting road vibrations on rough pavements. Still, the Tynee Board Classic does a better job at it than most other dual hub boards thanks to the flexible deck. The flexible deck absorbs part of the shock, but it’s still very uncomfortable and will convince you to spend on Cloudwheel Donuts.

To check out our review on Cloudwheel Donuts, click here.

THE VERDICT

All in all, the Tynee Board Classic has competitive specs, adequate power, smooth acceleration, and stable rides, but is not exactly the most exciting board in town. It is, however, an affordable, comfortable, and competent electric longboard that suits someone who just wants a relaxing ride.

While the same praise could be sung louder for its competitor, WowGo 2s Max AKA our pick for the best budget electric skateboard at the moment, Tynee Board Classic offers a different ride taste with a flexible deck instead of WowGo’s stiff deck. Another flex the Tynee Board Classic has would be its bigger battery if you choose the 8.7 AH version.

If you’re the type to prefer a classic approach on eskate parts that have worked throughout the years, then the Tynee Board Classic is definitely a good choice for a good price.

RIDE SAFE, GUYS.

For more reviews, news, and discussions on electric skateboards, visit Electric Skateboard HQ!

March 10, 2022March 11, 2022 by Paxson Lim

Wowgo 2S Max Review – The best budget electric skateboard.

Not too long ago, we crowned the Wowgo 2S Pro as the best budget electric skateboard under $500. So imagine our surprise that just after 7 months, Wowgo find the need to one-up themselves and released Wowgo 2S Max as an update for the 2s Pro.

From Wowgo 2s Pro to 2s Max:

The obvious key changes are

slight upgrade in motor wattage (500W -> 550W) and top speed (25mph ->28mph),
giving the option of 105mm Honeycomb wheels for an extra $120.
update in ESC

Unfortunately, the improvement doesn’t come free, as the $479 Wowgo 2S Max also saw a small price bump from $429 of the 2S Pro to $479.99 for the 2S Max. While it is a pretty foregone conclusion that the 2S Max will inherit the throne of being the best budget electric skateboard, we will have to examine if there is any flaw to the package.

As usual, let’s run through the specs to be clear about those theoretical upgrades…

Build and specs – Wowgo 2s Max

Deck: Canadian Maple, bamboo, and fiberglass; subtle concave with no camber/rocker
ESC: Hobbywing ESC; 4-speed modes, smart power-on
Marketed Top Speed: 28 mph / 45 kph
Motors: 550 W * 2 hub motors
Batteries: 12s2p, 5.0Ah, 50.4V
Marketed Range: 14.3 miles / 23 km (90mm wheels)
Trucks: Poseidon Trucks
Wheels: 90mm street wheels / 105mm honeycomb wheels
Board Weight: 18lbs / 8.2kg

Design & Deck – Wowgo 2s Max

The WowGo 2S Max’s deck is a combination of Canadian Maple, bamboo, and fiberglass. It only has a mild flex to it, and it’s even slightly stiffer than the 2S Pro. It also has a wide but subtle concave and is flat without any camber or rocker. As an upgrade, Wowgo put on a foam grip tape to improve vibration absorption for the 2S Max. However, this made the concave of the deck less prominent and our feet felt less secure during carving and rides.

The design on the grip tapes and the backside of the deck is pretty nice, too. The trident graphic gets to stay, and there’s another option of a new black design which looks pretty cool as well.

Trident underneath the deck (photo of 2s Pro)

For the electronic speed controller, the WowGo 2S Max used the 12s Hobbywing ESC which received minor updates from the one on 2S Pro. It also has the smart power-on feature, of course.

Hobbywing ESC Turbo

It is a given that speed control with the 12s Hobbywing ESC is going to be strong, silky smooth, and intuitive, but we are still looking to see if the “minor update” did anything to improve on that.

There are 4-speed modes, with the highest speed mode named Turbo.

And per usual, it uses the elegant remote that comes with telemetry.

Now, let’s look at the trucks. These are the same Poseidon trucks that Wowgo developed for the Wowgo 2S Pro. The trucks look to be Caliber II clones, are 8- inches 50° with 85 A bushing. From our previous review, we know it is a truck that prioritizes stability over maneuverability.

To check out our Wowgo 2S Pro review, click here.

Wowgo 2s Max have one of the strongest hubs

As for the motors, the 2S Max received a 50W boost per motor and now uses 550W dual hub motors. Judging by the numbers on paper, 550W motors will be amongst the strongest hub motors of all entry-level hub boards, with only the Meepo V4 Shuffle beating it at 620W x 2. To give you more context, most entry-level eskates use 400-450W hubs.

As a result, this 550W gave an improved marketed top speed of 28 mph (45 kph) and it did exactly that on our top-speed test.

There are also 105mm hub-sleeves and semi-all terrain wheels available. We will talk about how they perform later.

For the standard wheels, WowGo 2S Max is using 78A soft PU wheels, which is pretty usual for entry-level boards.

And when it comes to power, Wowgo 2S Max uses a 12S2P 5.0 AH battery. This gave a battery pack of 216wh in size and had a marketed range of 14.3miles (23km).

With regular street wheels, our 200lbs (90kg) test rider managed to get only 10miles(16km).
With the 105mm honeycomb wheels installed, our test rider got 8.6miles (14km) out of a full charge.

The range is exactly the same as what we get from the previous Wowgo 2S Pro which has very similar battery stats at 5.2AH. Although Wowgo kind of overstated the range, 10miles is the usual range for boards below $500, so we weren’t exactly disappointed or surprised here.

Battery size vs price, you can see that everybody <$500 has a similar battery size.
(Bubble size = motor wattage, bigger is more powerful)

The board weighed in at 18 lbs (8.2kg) and comes with a 6-month warranty.

Riding Experience of Wowgo 2s Max

Now that we know the build and specs, it’s time to ride!

First, let’s talk about speed control. Wowgo 2S Max’s speed and speed control are perfect as expected of the 12s Hobbywing ESC. Both acceleration and braking of the 2S Max are buttery smooth and intuitive. The brake strength is very strong, even stronger than the previous 2S Pro. This is great news as most riders eventually learn to love and prefer strong brakes, especially when the brakes are smooth and intuitive like they always are with Hobbywing ESC.

To know more about electronic speed controllers (ESCs), click here.

Powerful Even With Semi-AT Wheels

When it comes to the torque, the 550W hub motors perform incredibly well. By using one of the strongest hub motors amongst the entry-level hub boards, Wowgo 2S Max is powerful enough for any hills on your path. Although the torque and thrill are still a step behind what a set of powerful belt motors could offer, the Wowgo 2S Max is still one of the strongest hub boards amongst all the entry-level boards we’ve tested.

Having a powerful motor is important especially when you plan to put on the bigger 105mm wheels. With the semi-AT wheels, torque, and braking from Wowgo 2s Max goes from quite strong to just “strong”. A board with lesser power would have a ride feel of “no power” at all if installed with semi-AT wheels.

Stability over responsiveness

When it comes to maneuvering the board, it was, unsurprisingly, the same as it was with the older 2S Pro. Carving is fairly fun but more on the tight side, as the Poseidon trucks prioritized stability over maneuverability. The board has a good return to center and feels very stable at high speed.

Honeycomb Wheels Reduces Around 20% of Road Vibrations

The honeycomb wheels are alright, too. On smooth roads, it’s less fun to carve with the 105mm honeycomb wheels as it takes away the silky smoothness of soft urethane wheels. On rough pavement, however, the honeycomb wheels definitely had an impact in reducing vibration at around 20%, in our opinion. This, plus the foam grip tape makes Wowgo 2S Max a good board for those who have the unfortunate fate of living where roads are terrible.

However, if we were to compare these Honeycomb wheels with the Cloudwheels Donut, we would prefer the Donuts over this ‘Cloudwheel-clone’, as Donuts are better in vibration dampening.

The VERDICT – Wowgo 2s Max

So, the verdict seems like the brand with the funny name has done it again. Wowgo is going to retain its throne three times in a row for making the best affordable electric skateboard (first, the Wowgo Knight, then the 2S Pro, now 2s Max.)

Wowgo 2S Max has the performance that either matched or outmatched its competitors, the ride feels that leads the affordable segment and the polish that is much beyond the asking price.

Simply put, for any rider who wants an entry-level affordable hub board, Wowgo 2S Max (for now) should be the first consideration.

If you are interested in buying the Wowgo, be sure to check out our affiliate discount link here and use code: “ESKATEHQ” to receive 5% off during check out.
It will help you get a small monetary discount and help us out too. On top of that, you’ll be tagged as an Electric Skateboard HQ customer and probably be treated better. Cheers!

September 23, 2021September 23, 2021 by Paxson Lim

Tynee Board Pro Review — 8.7AH, Belt-drive, $500?

You can say Tynee Board Pro is an Exway Flex Riot’s clone.
However, for a dual belt-drive electric skateboard to have an 8.7AH battery while only asking for $519, it deserves a closer look.

Tynee Who?

It is common for engineers from well-known and established brands to break away from the company they work with to craft something of their own.

That’s how the brand Tynee Board was born.

Although Tynee is a new brand, an eskate industry veteran founded the company, so you can trust that the product will skip the painful trial and error phase and be great right from day one.

To prove how ready they are, the lineup of Tynee Boards is anything but tiny.

They have lots of options for their collection, and today we will be reviewing the Tynee Board Pro.
Tynee Board Pro has two variants: a 5.0AH set-up for $489; and 8.7AH for $519.

The founder is more proud of the 8.7AH and that’s the one we will be reviewing today.

Tynee Board Pro 8.7AH – Build and Specs

The Tynee Board Pro’s deck is made of original Canadian maple with a mild flex and concave. The camber or rocker is flat, so you can expect that the board won’t be as flexible as Exway Flex Riot.

To check out our review on Exway Flex Riot, click here.

For the electronic speed controller, Tynee Board Pro uses Hobbywing ESC with a very handy and convenient smart power-on feature. Also, the controller has your usual 4-speed modes.

Motors – Hobbywing 5250 belt motors

Now let’s go to Tynee Board Pro’s motors. This eskate uses Hobbywing 5250 belt motors.

The board’s top speed is 23.6 mph or 38 km/h on a full charge, or 21 mph or 34 km/h on a half-charged battery. Not bad!

Battery – Bigger than average.

As mentioned, one of the specs that caught our attention is the battery size.

Tynee Board Pro also uses an 8.7 AH battery with 313.2 watt-hours. And frankly speaking, the version with 5 AH for $489 is not worth considering as everybody should just pay the extra $30 and go for the bigger battery pack.

For the 8.7AH version, it’s marketed range is 21 miles or 35 km but unfortunately, our tested range is 11 miles or 18 km with a 200 lbs or 90 kg rider.

Although we can only conclude that Tynee Board Pro’s marketed range is grossly overstated, but 11 miles is probably what everyone should’ve expected from an 8.7AH battery on a belt-driven board. (Need I remind you that the Boosted had a similar battery range too?)

Trucks – Proprietary Trucks based on upgraded Paris V3

On maneuvering the board, Tynee Board Pro made their own proprietary truck – “Tynee PE trucks”. These trucks are based on the Paris V3. Although there’s no information on the bushing type, you can be pretty sure that carving is pretty nice thanks to a good return to the center.

It might be a tiny bit inferior to, let’s say, Exway Trist Trucks. The trucks have a good return to center and are biased towards stability.

For the wheels, Tynee Board Pro uses 90 MM x 62 MM wheels with a 78A in the durometer. This means that the Tynee Board Pro aims to soften the vibrations of rough roads. We’ll know later if it does the cushioning job right during the riding experience.

Another feature of the board is its IP 55 water resistance. Don’t go crazy with water, though. We all know that the water-resistance certification on eskates shouldn’t be fully trusted.

Now that we know the specs, it’s time to ride!

Riding experience

So, how does this baby rides?

As expected from Hobbywing ESC, the acceleration is buttery smooth, and the power is decently strong. You’ll also feel silky smooth braking, while still maintaining a strong hard stop. No surprises here.

Next, let’s talk about torque.
Well, you know you will never have to worry about torque with a dual belt set-up. Tynee Board Pro might not have the crazy torque as some belt-driven board such as the Beastboard Viper or Meepo NLS Belt, but it is on par with any belt drive that is not torque-obsessed (eg. Exway’s Flex/ Backfire Zealot) and stronger than any electric skateboard with hub motors.

Basically, not much of an adrenaline rush, but going uphill won’t be a problem.

The deck is on the stiff side with only mild flex, and I will leave it for you to decide if that speaks to you.
A stiffer deck gives the board a responsive control and felt more stable as compared to a flexy deck.
On the downside, vibrations from rough roads were less comfortable, even with 78 A durometer wheels, as the stiff deck didn’t help absorb the road vibrations. Still way better than hub-driven boards though!

Overall, the riding experience on the Tynee Board Pro is quite nice and rivals boards from the mid-market segments ($600-$700) – an impressive feat.

Now that we know the specs and ride feel, is Tynee Board Pro worth choosing over big famous brands?

THE VERDICT

As you can probably tell by now, we were very impressed with the price to value ratio.

If you’re shopping for a belt-driven board with a budget of $500, Tynee Board Pro is an easy recommendation and one of the best picks right now.

For its asking price, Tynee Board over-delivers both on the specs and on the riding experience.

To check out other budget boards this 2021, click our Youtube Video here.

Usually, we tend to be more reserved in recommending a new brand, but as Tynee is run by industry veterans who know what they are doing, that part is easily forgiven this time.

All in all, we like Tynee Board Pro and would recommend it to everyone.

Ride safe guys!

If you are interested in buying the Tynee Board, be sure to check out our affiliate discount link here and uses code: “ESKATEHQ” to receive $10 off during check out.
It will help you get a small monetary discount and helps us out too. On top of that, you’ll be tagged as an Electric Skateboard HQ customer and probably be treated better. Cheers!

August 20, 2021October 2, 2021 by Paxson Lim

Meepo V4 (Shuffle) Review – A new direction? (Updated)

Finally, Meepo launched Meepo V4 on 20th August.

After the wildly successful launch in 2017, the original Meepoboard kick-started the era of affordable eskate and soon earned itself a notorious reputation for being the most frequently refreshed product in this niche. Within 6 months, we saw Meepo V1.5 which was immediately followed by Meepo V1.51 then V2, V2 Plus, and finally V3 in 2019.

For a company that’s so addicted to rolling out marginal improvements in short succession, we were more than surprised when 2020 rolled past without a Meepo V4. Finally, in the fourth quarter of 2021, Meepo finally is putting up a new iteration for their best-selling line-up.

It has been a while, so this better be good.

Unboxing Meepo V4

And, Oh god this box is not a great start. I didn’t realize Meepo is selling from Toy’R’us now.

Luckily for Meepo this should be easily changed once they realized we are buying eskate for ourselves and not for our kids. If you like the design of the box, please leave a comment below to make your support known, or otherwise, I bet it wouldn’t last beyond the first batch.

Thankfully, the design of Meepo V4 is nothing like the box.

Meepo V4 Review – Specifications

Let’s take a quick look at the spec now.

Board name: Meepo V4 (Shuffle)
Deck Length (inch and cm):36 inch (91.5cm)
Motors: 2 x 620W hub motors
ESC type (LingYi/ Customize/ VESC/ Others) :LingYi (LY-FOC 1.0)
Wheel: 90mm; 72A Durometer
Battery Type: 10S2P 2000mah , 144Wh
Marketed Top Speed in mph & kmh: 29mph /46KMH
Marketed Range in miles & km: 11 miles/18KM (Depend on riding style, weight, terrain, and weather. )
Charging time: 3.5-4H (30min with 8A fast charger)
Weight in lbs and kg: 17.2lbs /7.8KG
Warranty Duration: 6 months (180days)
Price: $469

Meepo V4 – Build

It has been quite a while before we reviewed our last Meepo, and it is a pleasant surprise to see the build quality and polish continues to improve as the year went by. Meepo V4 is a very polished board despite the $469 price tag.

Deck

The Meepo V4 deck is a combination of 8 plies Canadian maple and 1 ply fiberglass.

It has a pretty aggressive W concave, mild flexibility, and a slight rocker profile. I love decks with rocker profiles, I’ll explain later. The deck is also slightly shorter than most longboards, at 36” (typical e-longboard = 38”) which is supposed to help with storage.

Deck of Meepo V4 — Nice aggressive concave (but not too aggressive! unlike the one on Exway Flex)

Electronic Speed Controller (ESC)

For the electronic speed controller, Meepo V4 uses the latest-redesigned LingYi ESC (LY-FOC 1.0).

As always, it comes with a push to start feature. As always, LingYi ESC allows 4 acceleration modes and 4 braking mode to be set independently from each other. When it comes to smoothness, LingYi has been playing catch up with Hobbywing ESC since 2018. As the year goes by, they come close, and hopefully this time they manage to be as smooth as Hobbywing.

Battery

And when it comes to battery, Meepo V4 uses a 10S2P 4AH that’s rated at 144wh. 10s2p battery has been the standard for entry-level board eskate, but a slight disappointment when some of the latest budget eskate, like Meepo’s nemesis Wowgo’s 2s Pro is rocking 12s2p battery.

Anyhow, Meepo promised a modest 11miles or 18km range for the V4, and our range test yielded us 10 miles or 16 km.

On a related note, the battery allows fast charging which can reach a full charge in 30 minutes.

Trucks – Shredder trucks

For the trucks, Meepo re-do the mold for their proprietary Shredder truck. It’s a pair of 7 inches trucks that are 45°. The bushings are 90A. Meepo says they made a new, more precise mold, which they say should improve its performance. What I can say for sure is that it sure the hell looks better.

Hub and wheels

For the motors, Meepo V4 uses 640W dual hub motors. Typical Meepo, always trying to one-up everyone else when it comes to motor power. For reference, WowGo 2s Pro uses dual 500W motors; Backfire G2 Black uses dual 400W hubs, and the old Meepo V3 uses a pair of 540W hubs.

However, higher wattage doesn’t always mean better torque, especially when paired to a modest 10s2p battery. Something our ride test later would test..

These hub motors are currently not compatible with Cloudwheels donuts, but there is always a chance that they develop one.

The durometer for the front wheels are 72A, pretty soft, and the PU sleeve is rated to have 82A durometer.

Misc

It is worth mentioning that Meepo V4 does have IP6X certification which means dustproof and some water resistance.

Now that we know the build and specs, it’s time to ride!

Riding Experience on Meepo V4

The things Meepo V4 did well

After getting on the board for a while, it becomes apparent that V4 is designed with stability as the priority.

Let me explain:

The deck has an aggressive W shape concave and that helps to lock in our feet.
The rocker deck adds another level of comfort giving as the rocker curve gives our foot something to push against during speed changes.
Only having mild flex on the deck further adds to stability.
On top of that, the rocker deck also means lower ride height which further improves stability. Too bad the lower riding height is a double-edged sword as it also means a very low 44mm ground clearance, causing the enclosure to kiss the floor when we ride over speed bumps.

Meepo V4 enclosure scratched — Scratched

Meepo’s 45° Shredder truck was geared towards stability as compared to 50° trucks which was more carvy (eg: Wowgo 2s Pro’s Poseidon truck). All in all, the new Shredder truck is pretty good. While it does not rise to the level of branded trucks such as the Caliber II or Paris, it’s definitely as good as any other proprietary truck amongst affordable eskate. Decent for carving, good return to center, and absolutely stable to ride at top speed.

So,
the deck is great for stability, and the trucks are geared towards stability, how’s the ESC? Will the LingYI ESC, which traditionally leans towards raw and powerful, screw up the stability theme for Meepo V4?

Surprisingly, no! I am happy to say that, after 3 years and countless iterations, we finally reach the point where this (LY-FOC 1.0) version of LingYi ESC is indistinguishable from Hobbywing ESC when it comes to control-smoothness. The speed control of Meepo V4 is now as smooth as it can be while still being as strong as it always was.

Finally.

Typical Meepo, this board is freaking strong

Initially, I even found the new LingYi ESC to be boringly safe, with no ‘punch’.

Yes, it’s now as smooth as a Hobbywing ESC, but this was actually a disappointment for a Meepo die-hard who loves Meepo for its obsession with power, torque, and thrill.

If you recall, Meepo V3 was and still is one of the if not the most powerful entry-level electric skateboard out there. Meepo was so obsessed with power that it was willing to sacrifice ride comfort for it when they reduced the hub wheels PU sleeve’s thickness in order to make space for a pair of giant 540W motors. Some Meepo diehard love them for it, and those diehard fans would probably feel disappointed here.

And then, just after I posted my article review essentially calling the Meepo V4 a “PG 13 beginner-friendly toy”, I was informed by the Meepo team that I wasn’t sent the production ESC. The prototype ESC that all of us reviewers get had its power capped, and wouldn’t give us the full power that the real V4 in production would.

So, our team decided not to make assumptions and waited for the real ESC.

After switching over to the new ESC I found myself cursing the Meepo team, because I now had to rewrite half of my review, as my conclusion on its power did a 180.

After changing to the actual ESC, the Meepo V4 showed its true colors, unleashing the absolute beast that we always expect Meepo to be.

Going for the highest speed mode, the board is freaking strong, with powerful acceleration that would knock you off if you are not prepared for it. The braking is very strong too, smooth, but very strong. Thankfully, for those who prefer relaxing rides, the third acceleration mode and 2nd brake mode have kept their gentle profile.

In the end, the Meepo V4’s modest 10s2p did not end up bottlenecking the dual 640W motors, as the hubs still delivered some of the most powerful acceleration you can find amongst hub-driven boards, and this is now the most powerful hub board we know of at the sub-$500 price point.

To put the torque in context, the Meepo V4’s acceleration is about 30% stronger than its fiercest rival, the Wowgo 2s Pro. Being hub-driven, the Meepo V4 might not have the torque that a typical dual belt drive eskate has, however, the Meepo V4 does have a steeper acceleration curve, giving it a more thrilling start than an average belt-driven board when drag racing on a flat surface.

Writing undertneath Meepo V4 — You don’t say

Some other stuffs:

When designing the V4, Kieran (Meepo founder) says he notices his team members favor shorter boards when picking their ride. A longer board although should provide more comfort, his team member ends up always picking shorter boards as they are more practical to use: easier to bring around, fit more car trunks, and allowing tighter turns in urban commute. Hence, when he designed Meepo V4, it was aimed to have all the practicality of a shortboard, and compromised on that by adding 6 more inches for more comfortable rides.

Meepo V4 on poor road — Imagine riding through this with an electric shortboard

And the V4 is indeed more comfortable than a shortboard especially when riding on rough pavements. On poor road, it is ‘merely uncomfortable’ due to the dual hub and stiffer deck, as opposed to agonizing when riding through the same road with hub-shortboards.

Verdict – Who should get Meepo V4?

So, to summarize. The Meepo V4 might not have the biggest battery for its price, but when everything is said and done, it’s more well-rounded, more versatile than ever, while still being as thrilling as we always wanted it to be.

While its nemesis, the Wowgo 2s Pro (another top pick for an entry-level board), has a slight edge in battery size and carving fun; the Meepo V4 excels on both sides of the extremes.

On the one hand, new riders will value the gentle ride and stability the Meepo V4 provides, with its stable trucks, lower ride height, and relaxing control in the lower speed modes. At the other extreme, the V4 became a thrilling beast once you turn the speed and brake modes to the max. Thrilling acceleration, strong brakes, everything that gets your adrenaline pumping.

The Meepo V4 might also be well suited for another often-forgotten group, the eskate commuters. This is due to its 30-minute quick-charge option; as well as it’s shorter length, allowing for tighter turns on sidewalks, easier handling, and a better fit in a car trunk..

All in all, for under $500, the Meepo V4 is among the top 2, if not the top choice in the market right now.

If you are interested in buying the Meepo, please do support us by using our affiliate link here.
It will help us out too and you’ll be tagged as an Electric Skateboard HQ customer and probably be treated better. Cheers!

July 9, 2021July 22, 2021 by Paxson Lim

Wowgo 2S Pro Review- the gold standard of budget eskate??

Today we will be reviewing the WowGo 2S Pro—a $429 electric skateboard that aims to be the leader of the best budget boards in the market.

Before the WowGo 2S Pro replaced WowGo Knight on the shelf, WowGo Knight was our reigning champion for the best budget electric skateboard.

So being a theoretical upgrade over the Knight, 2S Pro should inherit that throne, right?

As usual, let’s run through the specs.

Build and specs:

Wowgo 2s Pro specification chart — *red = tested number

Deck: Canadian maple + Bamboo + Fiberglass; mild flexible deck; wide mild concave; flat camber/rocker
Electric speed controller: 12s Hobbywing ESC with smart power-on; remote with telemetry, 4 speed modes
Trucks: Poseidon Trucks by WowGo, 50° front truck, 8 inches, Reverse Kingpin
Bushing type: 85 A
Motor: 500W dual hub motor (not compatible with Cloudwheel Donuts)
Marketed top speed: 25 mph or 40 kph
Battery: 12S2P 5.2 AH battery
Marketed range: 15-16 miles or 24-28 km
Wheels: 78 A soft PU wheels

The deck of WowGo 2S Pro is a combination of Canadian Maple, bamboo, and fiberglass. A mild flex can be expected on this board. To secure your feet, the board features a wide but subtle concave, and it’s flat without any camber or rocker.

Most entry-level boards try to put as much flex on their deck as possible, unlike the 2S Pro. At the end of the day, your personal preference would probably decide on how you feel about the choice, but after reviewing so many budget electric skateboards that went for the similar flexi-deck ride feel, we are just happy to see variations among entry-level eskates.

You can also notice that the design underneath the board is a head-turner.

If you’re familiar with the Loaded Vanguard, WowGo 2S Pro feels like it has the same approach in design. Do you like it? We think it’s dope!

The WowGo 2S Pro also uses the 12s Hobbywing ESC with a smart power-on feature for the board’s electronic speed controller.

We all know how silky smooth the 12s Hobbywing ESC is, and how convenient the smart power-on feature is for your rides.

It’s no surprise that WowGo went with what works. If it ain’t broken, why fix it?

Stable at turbo mode

There are 4 speed modes, with the highest speed mode as Turbo, and the remote is the generic Hobbywing ESC remote with telemetry.

The WowGo remote’s design has always been our favorite. It’s not different from your generic remote when it comes to function, but the way it looks is elegant.

The trucks, on the other hand, are something more special. These are reverse kingpin trucks especially made by WowGo and they call it the Poseidon Truck. The Poseidon Trucks are 8 inches and are 50° at the front. It also has a bushing type of 85 A.

Poseidon Trucks

These trucks look like a Caliber II clone instead of the Paris clone that was on the previous entry-level WowGo boards.

With this kind of choice, we bet the Poseidon truck is more likely going to prioritize stability over maneuverability. We will go deeper into that when we talk about the riding experience.

The WowGo 2S Pro also uses 500W dual hub motors. This is where WowGo took a tiny step back by going with a weaker motor than its predecessor, WowGo Knight, which was using a 540W motor. Still, this 500W is quite good compared to other budget boards.

For reference, WowGo’s fiercest competitor such as Meepo V3 uses 540W hubs, but Backfire G2 Black only has 400W hubs.

To check out Meepo V3’s review, click here.

The marketed top speed is 25 mph or 40 kph and in our tested top speed, it hit 26 mph or 42 kph. Awesome!

As for the sleeves of the hub, it’s sad to say that they aren’t compatible with Cloudwheel Donuts.

Don’t worry though, because WowGo is working on a similar semi-AT sleeve which will be released in a couple of months.

For the wheels, WowGo 2S Pro is using the standard for entry-level boards—78A soft PU wheels.

And let’s not forget about power. The WowGo 2S Pro uses a 12S2P 5.2 AH battery. The marketed range is 15-16 miles or 24-28 km and our tested range reached 11 miles or 17 km.

WowGo kind of made an overstatement with the range, but also note that 11 mph is the usual range for most entry-level boards that have a 2p configuration. This is nothing new for us.

Another thing we observed is that WowGo 2S Pro didn’t provide any waterproof certification.

We learned not to trust the “water certification,” anyway, so it doesn’t mean much.

Basically, WowGo is just emphasizing that it’s never a good idea to ride when it’s wet outside.

For a sneak peek at how WowGo 2S Pro can ride on dry pavements, click here.

Riding experience

All build and specs considered, it’s time to ride!

As expected of the 12s Hobbywing ESC, WowGo 2S Pro’s speed and speed control are perfect.

Both the acceleration and braking of the 2S Pro are silky smooth and intuitive. The brake strength is pretty strong, too.

The 500W hub motor’s torque also performs well. By using one of the strongest hub motors amongst the entry-level hub boards, WowGo 2S Pro can conquer any humps on the road.

Although the torque and the thrill are still a step behind what a set of powerful belt motors would offer, WowGo 2S Pro is still one of the strongest hub boards amongst all the entry-level boards we tested.

When it comes to maneuvering the board, carving is fairly fun but more on the tight side.

The Poseidon trucks rebound to center well, and are very stable at high speed.

WowGo 2S Pro definitely favors stability over maneuverability, as it is often the case with Caliber II clones.

To help you picture it out, Poseidon trucks are not as good as genuine Paris Trucks or genuine Caliber II trucks.

But when put alongside with entry-level boards, the Poseidon truck is definitely on par with other good proprietary trucks such as Exway’s Trist truck or Meepo’s Shredder Trucks.

To round up the riding experience, WowGo 2S Pro is a great ride that both beginners and veterans will enjoy.

The wide deck with mild concave is comfortable and helps with both control and knowing your foot position.

The board is both powerful and smooth in speed controls.

The stability from the trucks allows us to go on turbo speed with confidence. The stiffer deck also adds to that stability.

Carving, while not experienced to the fullest, is still very enjoyable thanks to the decent trucks.

For a better comparison, WowGo 2S Pro rides pretty similarly to the WowGo 3. But with a more flexi-deck and genuine Paris truck, WowGo 3 obviously is more fun for carving.

We should also note that the 2S Pro freerolls well, so we guess they probably used good bearings for this one.

If we were to nitpick anything on the 2S Pro, it would probably be its vibration dampening ability, which again, is no surprise for a hub board.

The soft wheels and composite deck did a bit to cushion all the vibration from riding over rough roads. It’s… better than we expected, but we did have a pretty low expectation on this part, to begin with.

We are hoping that, in the future, the Cloudwheel-ish PU sleeves that WowGo is developing will be a good option for those who couldn’t tolerate the vibration.

So, what’s the verdict on the WowGo 2s Pro?

THE VERDICT

Did WowGo 2S Pro inherit the throne from the WowGo Knight as the best budget board?

Well, yes.

It seems to me that WowGo knows what they are doing with WowGo 2S Pro. After all, they were the first among the earliest and most reputable budget brands.

When it comes to entry-level boards under $450, Wowgo 2S Pro now replaced the gold standard that was previously set by the WowGo Knight.

The board’s performance definitely matches its competitors, and the ride feel leads the affordable segment. WowGo 2S Pro’s polish is much beyond the asking price.

Simply put, for any rider that wants an entry-level affordable hub board, Wowgo 2s Pro, for now, should be the first consideration.

Ride safe, guys!

If you are interested in buying a Wowgo, be sure to check out our affiliate discount link here and receive $5 off during checkout.
It will help you get a small monetary discount and helps us out too. On top of that, you’ll be tagged as an Electric Skateboard HQ customer and probably be treated better. Cheers!