Best Electric Skateboards – ElectricSkateboardHQ’s Recommendations

update 4th May 2019:
Winboard Panther is out, Backfire G2T is in.
Updated Budget Longboard Section.
update 21st August:
WINboard Panther and Lynx.
Backfire G2s and Ranger X1.
Exway X1.

update 1st June 18:
Added Boosted Mini.
Updated Gen 2 Meepo. 
Update Arc Aileron V2.

Update 2nd April 18:
Removed Spectra Series from portable board recommendation after reviewing them myself. 
Most Anticipated Penny/Nickel Board list is empty for now.

update 24th February 18:
Add in UnikBoards, Kaly.NYC and DIYeboards AT kits are valid choices in for the all-terrain needs.

update 9th January 18:
Mentions Metroboard Micro Slim in place of Metroboard shortboard as consensus is Micro Slim> Shortboard.
Winboard & community feedback -Winboard GT-M8 2.0 not for sale anymore.
Backfire G2 back on the menu as feedbacks are their customer service doesn't suck anymore.
 

There are a lot of “Best Electric Skateboard” posts out there, most of them, however, are more sensational than helpful to someone who is looking to purchase an Electric Skateboard.

Sure, Enertion Raptor 2 might be the best electric skateboard in consensus right now, but it would be insane for me to simply recommend it to anyone who emails me, without first understanding what they want out of their Eskate.

“Hey, I great blog! I just want to ask…”
“Enertion Raptor 2. Say no more.”

Among the hundreds of electric skateboard that I’ve researched/ tried on, there is often one or a few electric skateboards that fit best for certain people.

This is that list.

And of course, the list will be updated when a better option comes around and old boards fell out of favors.

So let’s get to it. The best board for those who are looking for the …

1) Best Penny/ Nickel board

To a lot of people, an electric skateboard is mainly a means to commute, and among these people, some value portability above everything else. There is no use to ride to a mall and ends up carrying a 20lbs longboard for the next 2 hours you are there.

There are portable options for both longboard and shortboard too, but for those who are looking for penny/nickel size board, these are the boards that are best in their categories.

Best in general:

Arc Board (899 SGD ≈ $699 + $80 FedEx international shipping.)

Arc Board is simply the best electric penny board you can get on the market right now.
It is penny board size with a 22 inch(55.9cm) deck and only weighs 7.7lbs(3.5kg).

The range and speed is nothing to write home about but it gets the job done.

With the help of the VESC, the acceleration and deceleration of Arc Board are very comfortable.
70mm wheels, however, means good roads and sidewalk only.

With that being said, electric penny board is best to be considered by those who are experienced, as balancing on such a narrow wheelbase is not going to be comfortable for beginners.

Every Arc Board is manually assembled by the Arc team in Singapore and hence the quality is assured. They also come with a 6 months warranty.

Check out ArcBoard

Best budget option:

With 28″ Meepo Campus discontinued and being replaced by 32″ Meepo Campus 2, there isn’t really any small budget electric skateboard that I can recommend on the market.
If there is any board that you feel fit this category, please let me know in the comment section so I can check it out!

These are the other boards that were considered but weren’t picked:

Bolt, Louboard, Winboard GT M8 Mini, Maxfind C

Acton Blink Lite is now known as Blink Go, it is a small, cheap, single hub motor Eskate. There was simply no reason to pick Acton Blink Lite over Meepo Campus as, for the similar price, the Campus has better performance and Meepo are way more reliable than Acton.

However, now that the Campus is discontinued, it left the $200 Acton Blink Go the only board 

I still wouldn’t dare to recommend an Acton because of their poor reputation on how they take care of their customers.

Acton Affiliate Link, if you wants to go against my advice and buy it anyways.

Bolt -899EUR ≈ $950 USD

At its price, there is little to pick Bolt over Arc Board. Arc Board has more range and bolt has a slight edge in speed.

But at the end of the day, I would choose Arc Board which has proved to have good product quality and customer service. Saving extra 200 bucks is just the icing on the cake.

Check out Bolt

LouBoards –$449, $790, $990

Turns out, Louboard is not the sure thing.

After months of delay, the backers of Lou board was disappointed by the actual product.
Quality, customer service aside, the main complaint is the board doesn’t perform as it boasted.

Outside of Kickstarter campaign, Lous don’t have that attractive of a price anyways. 

I don’t think anyone is looking for a highspeed penny board but Lou 3.0 is basically the penny board with highest top-speed if you are into that kind of things… …

Check out Lou …

Maxfind C

Reviews had shown that Maxfind C is weak, has poor quality and breaks easily. It is more like a toy than an Eskate.

Check out Maxfind C

WinBoard GT-M8 mini – not for sale anymore.



2) Best Shortboards

Shortboard lovers are in luck.

There was a time when there is not much option in the electric shortboards market.

Not anymore, there are a lot of new players joining the shortboards niche and it is a red ocean out there.

Best in general:

There are so many good shortboards in the market that it is difficult to pick a best in general.
So I will cheat a bit by subcategories them into different motor drive – Belt, Geared, and Hub and pick the best amongst them.

WINboard Lynx ($699-829) -Hub drive

At this point in time, still relatively unknown, Lynx is a treasure to be discovered.

One of the first product put out by Eskate manufacturing giant WINboard, it has all the benefit of a China Board – Great price for performance; while not suffering from the lack of finesse in control, build and design that is characteristic of Chinese electric skateboard aggregator company.

And that unibody carbon fiber design that is shared by the Predator Banshee? Gorgeous.

Light, powerful, refined, there isn’t much of the Lynx that I can pick on.
Well, perhaps the lack-of kick tail might be the deal breaker for some.

With their customer support now properly set up, I wouldn’t hold back to say Lynxes are the best electric shortboard available right now.

Check out our review on the Lynx Challenge

Boosted Mini X ($999) -Belt drive

Boosted Mini X is the exception from the high price, high polish but low-performance stereotype that we know Boosted for.

At 20mph(32kmh) top speed and 14miles(22.5km) range, the Boosted are just slightly behind its competitor in specs, something that the quality, polish and brand name definitely more than made up for.
Comparing to it’s weaker brother Mini S($749), Mini X has better value/dollar ratio as it has 2 times the range for just $250 extra and should be the first consideration.

The only downside of the Boosted Mini X would be the weight. At 16.8 lbs(7.6kg), it was really heavy, especially for a shortboard.

If weight is not an issue for you, (then why not buy a longboard?!), Boosted Mini X should be among your first consideration when shopping for an electric shortboard.

Check out my summary on the Boosted 3rd Gens

Arc Aileron V2 ($1249 + $80 FedEx international shipping)

– Geared Drive

Arc Aileron V2 is one of my favorite electric shortboards!

The board from reliable Arc team nailed almost every aspect that makes a good electric skateboard from quality to performance. The big 90mm wheels (which is compatible to 107mm wheels upgrade!), a light 12.1lbs(5.5kg) weight, and geared motor that free-rolls like dream, Arc Aileron is the perfect board for a lot of people.

Its only weakness should be the torque. As always, a single drive has its limitation.

Check out my review for Arc Aileron V2

Best Budget Option:

Meepo Campus 2 ($299 US only)

For those who are in the US, Meepo Campus 2 at $299 is a no-brainer for anyone looking for a budget electric shortboard.

Besides the limitation in torque, the Meepo Campus 2 has an all-rounded spec, making it a fine choice for anyone who doesn’t care about speedy acceleration and crazy top speed.

The polished that came with the 2nd Gen Meepo’s also is something rarely seen at this price range.

My 2nd favorite boards of all time, I would recommend the Meepo Campus 2 to anyone who is not looking for torque.

Check out my full review of Meepo Campus 2.

For those who need more torque or if Meepo Campus 2 is yet to available in your area, my budget recommendation would be the 30″ Meepo V2P, or the Wowgo Mini 28″depending on which deck suits you best.

(Wowgo remote seems to have finer control than that of Meepo, but with some sacrifices in features. Meepo has the better track record in post-sales service, that’s why I always suggest Meepo first.)

These are the other boards that were considered but weren’t picked:

Pulse Echo, Predator Banshee, Arc Aileron V1, Riptide R1 and R1 Elite, Metro Micro Slim, DIYelectric Torque Speedster, Acton Blink S1, S2, Yuneec Ego-2, Huger Classic, Huger Travel.

Pulse Echo ($999) – Hub Motors

At one point, Pulse Echo was considered best shortboard on the market right. It is fast (25mph/40kmh), it has a decent range (12mil/ 19km) and has all the important features such as VESC, swappable battery, swappable PU sleeves and water resistance.

However, it seems like the board was never ready for purchase. Early reviews have been positive for this boards, but it is still undergoing refinement and improvement. The lack of availability really makes it a difficult board to recommend.

Pulse founder is from the Eskate community so there is a lot of faith in the product and company.

Check out Pulse Echo

Predator Banshee ($1099)

Predator Banshee has a problem- Winboard Lynx exists now.

Q’s Predator Banshee has a different philosophy than the Winboard Lynx.
Catering more to speed demons and thrill seekers.

Similar looks aside, both of them are only sharing deck and battery.

With Winboard Lynx undercutting Predator Banshee in price while also being equal in performance…

Check out Predator Banshee

Riptide R1 and R1 Elite – ($599, $729)

Eric Birkemeier’s Riptide R1 and R1 Elite are dual belt-motors electric shortboard.
They are powerful, fast and light in weight.

It rides pretty well too.

However, priced @ $599 and $729, the Riptide R1 are the victims of a new Boosted Mini series.
It’s hard to see anyone pick the R1 over Boosted for $150 and a few pounds lighter. The quality, customer service, and comfort of the Boosted brand make going the Boosted way a more logical and common choice.

The long-standing concern of battery quality and recent woes of quality concern wasn’t helping too.

Check out our Riptide R1 Elite Review

29″ Metroboard Micro Slim – $1099

Metroboard has been around for a long time and is known to build quality belt motor boards.

Unless you are in love with the design, there is little reason to go with the heavy 29″ Metroboard Micro Slim today. The other boards I mentioned were either faster, lighter or cheaper or in some case just better overall.

Check out 29″ Metroboard Micro Slim

Acton Blink S1, S2 – $449, $999

Ughh, Acton…

When I first came to the eskate scene, Acton’s board is a company I like. They have boards in every tier and always edge out the competition in pricing.

As more and more good budget eskate came to the market, Acton no longer has the edge in pricing.
On top of that, the bad reputation of Acton for their customer services and board quality makes me uncomfortable in recommending any of their board.

While there are a lot of “this is the best board I have ever ridden” video, there is, even more, posts of “My Blink S2 broke…”

Would not recommend.
However, if you want to buy at your own risk: Here is the Affiliate link & discount code<— XD

DIYelectric Torque Speedster -$774

At one time, DIYelectric Torque Speedster is my go-to recommendation for a budget electric skateboard.

A year back, it was the best performing budget board.

Nowadays, there is a lot more budget and better boards, leaving Torque Speedster without a niche.

And as mentioned, Diyelectricskateboard are putting the production on hold for now so you couldn’t buy it anyways…

Check out Torque Boards

Huger Classic -$449

Only a few have received Huger Classic after a 2 months delay in their Indiegogo shipping.

So being a new brand (that I have no confidence in), I would not start recommending it before the review comes in.
Even if it is all it promised, at $449, Riptide R1 would still be an all-around better purchase.

Check out Huger Boards 

Huger Travel– $799

Poor riding experience due to the short wheelbase. Preview and early review are all negatives.

Just avoid it.

Check out Huger Boards 

Yuneec Ego-2 ≈$340

Yuneec Ego and Ego-2 have been the staple of the budget electric skateboard for a long long time.

There are quite outdated at this age.
In comparison with the new budget boards, it is slow with unreliable quality and customer service. There is no reason to recommend Yuneec Ego-2 to anyone anymore.

Check out Yuneec Ego-2 on Amazon



3) Best Longboards

Too many grounds to cover here, we will go down the price list:

Cost: A Kidney

La Croix  ($2299)

You know what’s costing 2 grand yet sells like a hot cake? La Croix. 

Range: 37.5 mile/60km
Speed: 18mph-22mph (30km/h to 35km/h)

All terrain wheels, very flexy deck, carbon fiber enclosure.

And a waiting list.

Check out La Croix official page

Custom Trampa Build ($2200 Onwards)

You can build a powerful beast with Trampa deck, and the most known way to do it right now is to go to Kaly.nyc for it.

Check out Kaly.nyc

Premium Tier:

Enertion Raptor 2.1 ($1785)

I have to agree with the consensus that Enertion Raptor 2 is the overall best electric skateboard on the market right now.

Fast, Powerful with great range, Enertion Raptor 2 is the complete package.
The ability to switch between 90mm, 98mm or 100mm wheels is just icing on the cake.

Early reviews of the Raptor 2 are overwhelmingly positive.

I think the best on-hand review of the Raptor 2 is done by Michael Gatti.

All in all, a great performing board that is made of quality parts by a reputable company.
Raptor 2 is an easy recommendation.

Affiliated discount link for Raptor 2.

Boosted Stealth ($1600)

As long as the Boosted Stealth’s rather limited range can get you where you need, it should be among the first consideration when shopping for a premium board.

Going Boosted is about putting all your money in to ride comfort, board quality and … well… brand name.

My buddy Samuel James has a very good article written about his rationale on getting a Boosted Stealth, take a read to see if that resonate with you.

Boosted Stealth – The Decision (by Samuel James)

Best middle high-end:

Exway X1 ($900)

Exway X1 has been around for a while, and it has largely flown under the radar.

In a world that China Boards are frown upon for being raw, unrefined with poor customer care.
Exway X1 is none of that.

With the performance, ride feel, control, quality and service that rivals that of the Boosted, while asking only for two-thirds of the price. Is EXWAY X1 THE BOOSTED KILLER? (Oh my gawd what did I just said, I sound like the rest of them now!)

Check out our Review on the Exway X1

Best mid-tier:

Backfire G2T ($599)

Backfire G2T has made alot of noises this year, and rightfully so.

It has a perfectly smooth control thanks to the Hobbywing ESC.
It has a powerful torque when the Turbo mode is activated.
It uses great Samsung 30Q batteries which provide range while eliminating voltage sag.
It uses Caliber II trucks that delivers stable and comfortable rides.
It comes with both 83mm and 96mm wheels which allows the board to be versatile in any road type.

It’s hands down, the best board at $599.

Check out our Review on the Backfire G2T

Best Budget Option:

I define a budget board as a board that are asking for less than $500. With the rise of Chinese brands, we are spoiled with choices and for that, I have made a separate list introducing and comparing boards in this price range.

You can click here to read about it.

But my personal favorite in this segment goes to Meepo Classic ($399)

Click to read the review of Meepo Classic here.

Best for portability:

Linky (999USD)

*Marketed as a longboard, the Linky is only 31.4inch(80cm) in length, it is more like a shortboard actually.*
*credit to Armin from Discord community who spotted this*

I think it goes without saying that the only electric skateboard that can be folded and put into a backpack is the most portable electric longboard.

After few months of delays, Linky was finally delivered to fellow Indiegogo backer in December 2017. Too bad there wasn’t review out to know how well the board rides.

It is 12.1lbs(5.5kg) in weight only, and can be folded into a 15.8inch(40cm) package that can be easily stored in backpacks.
Linky is also packed with features – phone app, swappable battery, LED lights and is waterproof.

It is the most special electric skateboard I have researched on so far.

For your information, there are a lot of fold-able decks in the China Market, an attempt to copy Linky’s design. A friend who tried out those board reported that those counterfeits were very very heavy, definitely not on par with Linky in the portability sense.

Check out Linky

Best off-road:

1) Evolve Carbon and Bamboo series

If you are looking for doing any real off-roading, Evolve Bamboo and Carbon AT series is about your only choice.

Unless you are planning to break the bank and go for a custom build Trampa. Or the La Croix.

The Evolves are great performing board made by a great company. (With a known case of remote connectivity issue and notorious problem with voltage sag on battery.. well.)

Check out Evolve Boards
Buy it from Amazon Here.

2) Backfire Ranger X1 ($699)

Early reviews of the Ranger X1 has all been positive, making it the most affordable option for All Terrain.

Check out Backfire Ranger X1

3) One Wheel

Is one-wheel an electric skateboard? Well …it is electric and we skate on it so.. yes?
Check out our review on OneWheel here.

Note: In the more DIY side, many Eskate makers offers custom all-terrain builts, famously with Trampa boards. You can check out UnikBoards or get in touch with Kaly.nyc for that.
These makers tend to provide top of the line service and quality.

On the other hand, although I am not particularly a fan of www.diyeboard.com, their 6″ Wheels All-terrain Electric Skateboard DIY Kits 10S2p @ $599 is probably the cheapest AT setup available. I have strong opinions against how they conduct their marketing campaigns, but consensus is that their products and customers services are solid.

Most anticipated longboards:

1) JED Dual wheel drives & All-Wheel-Drives ($1199, $1599)

JED Board was founded by Jeremy Bogan and incorporated in Singapore.

JED Boards are designed to be outstanding.

JED boards have a lot going for it.

  1.  Minimalistic design
  2. It uses a self-designed direct drive which enables it to
    1. Allow the use of standard longboard wheels (=thicker PU in motor wheels)
    2. Eliminate the use of belt
    3. More efficient power delivery
    4. Better Free-rolling
  3. Using very good parts for Trucks, Bushing, Bearings, Remotes.
  4. Very light.
  5. 2-year warranty.
  6. Good specs with good price.

With the downside of being very loud.

JED board is due for early 2018 delivery.

Check out Jed Boards

2) Carvon Evo and REVO 4WD ($1999, $2999)

Carvon Evo and Revo 4WD have booked their place as the champions of high-speed electric skateboards.
After months of delay in their Kickstarter delivery date, they are estimated to ship in February 2018.

The Carvon Evo and REVO 4WD are too rocking a different kind of direct drives and have most of the same benefit such as power efficient and allow the use of standard longboard wheel.

Best on-hand review for Carvon Evo from an early backer can be found here.

(This time, I am not going to list down all the electric longboard that were considered because there is just too many of them!)

Check out Carvon

Final words:

If there are any boards that you felt should be the better for any section, please let your opinion be heard in the comment section.

Again, this post will be updated from time to time as new boards releases.

I did not mention most of the electric skateboard from the China market, you can read about them in my piece on China Board where I tried to cover all the big name electric skateboard brand from China.

Wanna see how all electric skateboards spec charts and how they stack up against each other in a big top speed vs range chart? It’s on the Comparison Chart and the infographic page.

What about the Huger Boards? Huger Classic, Huger Travel & Huger Racer Preview

Huger Tech, a new startup company launched an Indiegogo campaign back in July 2017 bringing us not one, not two but three new electric skateboards.

Introducing the Huger Trio

Huger Classic – A $499 budget friendly E-skate that still provides decent speed and range. It also has the skateboard kick tail – Hence ‘Classic’.
Huger Classic is $349 for Indiegogo backer.

Huger Travel – A $899 e-skateboard that sits somewhere between cheaper Huger Classic and pricier Huger Racer. Calling it Huger Travel is a misnomer because it weighs 14.5lbs (6.5kg). A heavy board for such a small body – Most likely you aren’t going to travel anywhere with it.
Huger Racer is $699 for Indiegogo backer.

Huger Racer – A $1199 e-longboard that provides good specs. It’s going to compete with the top dogs such as Boosted, Evolve and Inboard.
Huger Racer has a huge discount for Indiegogo backers at $899.

Huger is looking to deliver all three of them by October 2017 – a short timeline.
I don’t think they can make it for all three of the boards.

It will be clear why I thought so by the end.

Overview

The first thing that struck me when seeing a Huger boards for the first time is how good the finishing is.

Actually, everything that Huger Tech does looks pretty. The board’s finishing, the packaging and well, the advertisements are all very well done.

They are just some beautiful, beautiful boards.

It also looks like Huger Tech is trying to distinguish their boards by packing in lots of features.

A horn that is controlled by the remote?
Swappable battery for Huger Travel and Racer?
LED lights that include brake light and turn light?

No other board in the market are fancy like that.

Huger also undercuts the competitor of similar specs in term of pricing, aiming to be the first consideration for every price range.

Watch out, Acton! A new company is coming to eat your cake!

Huger Classic

Huger Classic is a skateboard size electric skateboard that comes with a good price.
($499 retail price, $349 Indiegogo backer price)

An easy way to think about Huger Classic is, a nicer Acton Blink Lite.
On paper, it has the specs of Acton Blink S but in reality, it seems to be only as strong as the Blink Lite.

The board itself doesn’t provide much torque and kick-push from a stand still is needed to get the board starts rolling.

Range(6mil/9.6km) and speed(15mph/24kmh) are on par with the electric skateboard this size and this price.
And Huger Classic is really light.
At 8.6lbs/ 3.9kg, Huger Classic is more travel-friendly than most e-skate, and the Huger Travel.

Reviewers consensus for the Huger Classic has been mostly positive.
Well let’s be honest, you can’t be too critical for a board at this price.

Overall,
it is a budget electric skateboard that also looks very nice.

Huger Classic should fit nicely for someone on a budget, wants an E-skate that is light and with a small deck and doesn’t have much needs for the power, speed, and range.

Competitors: (Skateboard/Penny Board that are cheap)

 

One thing for sure though,
if Huger Classic can deliver what it promised, there would be little to no reason left to buy an Acton Blink S or Blink S Lite.

Huger Travel

Huger Travel is made to be the filler between budget Huger Classic and the higher end Huger Racer.

$699 for Indiegogo backers and retail @ $899, the board has the specs of Acton Qu4tro (minus the torque)!

However, with the current design, the testers hate this little board.

The riding-experience-sucked!

Top speed of the board is 20mph/32kmh but trying to go that fast on Huger Travel is asking for trouble.
Every Youtuber that tried on Huger Travel complaint that the wheel base is too narrow, making it dangerous to balance on.

The Huger Travel also seems to be disappointing in torque despite the on paper specs and the top speed.

At the end of the day, riding experience is more important than any specs.
Huger Tech may and may not be able to change the design at this stage of development.

And if nothing was changed, Huger Travel is a bad bad board.

If you are looking for a budget electric skateboard with good speed and range, looks elsewhere.

Competitors: (Skateboards of the similar price range)

Huger Racer

Huger Racer is how Huger Tech plans to challenge the top dogs of E-skate world.
Can Huger Racer beat the likes of Boosted, Evolve, Inboard and the Metroboard?

For $1199, it is already a few hundred bucks cheaper than the big names.
And you can get it at $899 if you back them at Indiegogo.

Better yet, Huger Racer often came out on top when it comes to specs and features.

25mph/ 40kmh top speed with 20miles/ 32.2km range is on par with Evolve Bamboo GTX, Enertion Raptor 2 and Acton Qu4tro and totally blew Boosted dual out of the water.

Usually, you will be looking at a China Boards such as Backfire G2 or Koowheel if you want this kind of spec on the cheap. (Here is my comprehensive guide on the China Boards.)

To put the icing on the cake, Huger Racer is armed with features up to the teeth.

Waterproof, swappable battery, smartphone apps are the usual suspect.
LED lights that include brake lights and turn lights are gimmicky but nevertheless fun to have.
And that remotely controlled horn? That’s just a cute and funny feature that stuck with me.

The deck is not as flexible and the riding experience definitely won’t be as nice as the flexible deck of Boosted boards, but reviewers opinions on the Huger Racer are mostly positive.

To sum it up, Huger Racer positioned itself quite nicely.
If you are wallet conscious but still want a board with a great top speed with great range (and you don’t want a China Board) – then Huger Racer might be the board for you.

Competitors:( Longboards that are cheap/ top of the line.)

Huger the Company

The company behind the product is definitely as important as the product itself especially when it comes to electric skateboard.
Boards have to be maintained, broken parts have to be repaired so chances are you will definitely require some kind of assistance from the company down the road.

It is unsure what kind of E-skate company Huger will turn out to be.

Best case scenario, they follow the lead of Boosted, Evolve and Inboard to be great in both in selling and caring for their customers.
On the flip side, the worst thing Huger Tech can be is to become a company like Acton – poor communication with customers, repeatedly break promises, and just simply inconsiderate at times.

There is not much out there to judge what company Huger Tech will be but there are some warning signs that make me uncomfortable.

1) Huger Tech doesn’t seem like a by E-skater for E-skater company, but a company run only by businessmen.

None of the marketing material put out by Huger mentioned any about why they got into this market.
The team member of Huger doesn’t seem to be skaters, they are designers, marketers, and campaigners.

What’s more, the company emphasized that it is based on Orange County US while tries to avoid mentioning the parent company IDT International which is based in Hong Kong.

Just look at the about page of Huger Tech and the Indiegogo Campaign page and ask yourself how you feel about the company.

Definitely not a company founded just for the purpose of making e-skate.

Logically, this should not be a concern.
The motive of the company shouldn’t matters, what matters is how good the product is, and how well the after-sale services are. Right?However, in the E-Skate world, a company that prioritizes on profit often makes questionable product decisions.

I would hope so.However, in the E-Skate world, a company that prioritizes on profit often makes questionable product decisions.

However, in the E-Skate world, a company that prioritizes on profit often makes questionable product decisions.
They cheap out on quality, use customers as guinea pigs, making false claims and provide horrible post-sale services.

On the flip side, E- skater’s company always tried to do their best to perfect the board and the result speaks for itself.

Sanjay Dastoor of the Boosted, Ilan Sabar of the Metroboard, Jason of the Enertion Raptor, the Arc Board team, DIYelectricskateboard, Unik and my pal Kieran of the Meepo Board are all good examples. They see their board as their pride.
Try telling Jason his Raptor 2 suck and wait for his reaction, it’s clearly not just about profit.

2) The noises coming from Youtube.

If you ever searched ‘Electric Skateboard’ in Google, you definitely know how active Huger Tech has been in advertising.
It is the only ad I see on Youtube and Facebook through Huger’s campaign month.

Huger Tech also has been busy sending YouTubers such as Big Kids, Press Reset, Dylan Kowalski, FabTrav its board for ‘their input to help improve the end product’.

And the result is confusing.

We see the board couldn’t brake going downhill (Regenerative braking overcharging the battery again perhaps?), LED lights malfunctioning and almost everyone spotted the same problem: Huger Travel has too small of a wheel base to be safe.

Everyone but people from the Huger Tech.

It really begs the question: Does anyone in Huger Tech rides their own board?

And, could they even change the truck placement this late in the production?
They seem to have electronics in the deck where the truck should move to so can it be done?

If they are changing the design, could they make the Indiegogo date of delivery?
If they are not, what does it say about the company?

And also, according to the Indiegogo timeline, this is supposed to be the final testing stage, why are the board still having this much of a problem?
Wasn’t this kind of review and testing suppose to be done behind closed door and problems sorted out before the board is being marketed?

If Huger Tech dare to send problematic boards to the influencers, what can regular folk expect to get?

3) Bad PR

I like to feel the personality of a company to better understand the electric skateboards they put out.
It has been difficult trying to get to know Huger.

The official site www.HugerTech.com is basically the extension of their Indiegogo campaign.
Not much info there.

And when I came across the representative of Huger in the forum, they always came across as sale-sy when promoting and dodgy when tough questions were asked.

The best part? I reached out to Huger Tech through email and after some back and forth, I was promised an interview with someone from team Huger and then never saw an email reply to finalize the date.

I reached out to Huger Tech through email and after some back and forth, I was promised an interview with someone from team Huger and then never saw a reply again to finalize the date.

Verdict:

Even though I am shorting Huger Tech as a company, some objective suggestion can be made.

Huger has the help of its parental company – IDT International and hence manufacturing and delivering the Huger boards should not be a problem, as evident by the quality of their packaging and finishing. They should have no problem delivering to their IndieGoGo backers on time barring design changes.

Meaning, they should have no problem delivering Huger Classic and even Huger Racer on their Indiegogo delivery date.

However, it’s hard to see how Huger is able to change the design of Huger Travel and meet the October 2017 deadline at the same time.

My recommendation:

Huger Classic, a board rated well by consensus is a recommendable board if it suits your need.
However, a $349 Indiegogo price is not a huge discount from the $499 retail price and hence you could just play safe and buy when it’s out.

Huger Racer has garnered good review too and the discount from $1199 to $899 is reasonably tempting. If you like what you see from Huger Racer and is comfortable with Huger Tech, well, go for it.

Avoid Huger Travel.

Continue reading “What about the Huger Boards? Huger Classic, Huger Travel & Huger Racer Preview”