The one reason that I chose Walnutt Spectra

Since I first seen a video of an electric skateboard on Facebook back in 2015, I was hooked.

Can you blame me? Eskates are much cooler than hoverboard, Segway, bicycle or a scooter.  It’s the future of transportation, fitting perfectly with the urban commute.
Sadly, even though I had done lots of researches and wrote tons of reviews on electric skateboards, I had yet to come down from the fences to buy one (They are expensive to me!)

I felt that Eskates has not matured yet. The perfect board for the perfect price has not existed yet.
As a fellow Redditor said (and I Paraphrase): Boosted need to fix its battery, Evolve need to fix it’s remote, Mellow needs to be cheaper, Arc board should have hub motor and on top of that, every board should have a removable battery and be waterproof!

Luckily for us, competition in the eskates world seems only to intensify with time and a lot more choices have popped up. Since my preview of 2017 board at the start of this year, 2 more boards has been announced in Kickstarter and Indiegogo. Walnutt Spectra and Lou Board.

I decided to get either one of them, and I am losing sleep choosing between them.

But at last at the ending of their Kickstarter campaign, I made my decision and backed Walnutt Spectra Mini.

Walnutt Spectra Mini

4Models

I first got to know Walnutt Spectra when I was writing a post about Eskates in CES 2017.
Walnutt then started IndieGoGo campaign in May and was scheduled to ship as early as August (wow?).

I was primarily ogling at Spectra Mini for its price and its size.
It has decent Stats too. 17 inch, 7.5lbs, 12.4 mph speed with 6.5 miles range. 14% hill climb.
(That will be 43cm, 3.4kg, 20kmh, 10km range).

It cost me 299USD plus 35USD shipping to Malaysia.

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You can find more individual electric skateboard stat chart here.

So, what does Spectra offers?

Spectra most unique feature would be its Posture Control: The board moves according to where you put your body weight on. Lean in to move forward, lean back to brake- which I was told to be a bad idea cause it is easier to lose my balance if I roll over a bump while leaning forward.

 

Nevermind, Spectra can connect to phone to use it as remote too.

 

At least when things go wrong, I have the option to jump off immediately. Spectra will brake itself. Can’t tell you how many time I have to chase after my penny board after an emergency exit.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The board also packs those standard features that nowadays most eskates have such as:
– Regenerative Breaking (Which electric skateboard nowadays don’t have it?)
– Speed Modes (duh)
– Application to go along with it.
– Water/weather resistant (I’ll believe it when some 3rd party tested it)
– LED indicator (I actually agree it is nice to be seen at night)

 

The features above tells me that Walnutt Spectra is not going to be inferior compares to other small eskates like the Blink Lite, Arc Board, Bolt and Lou Board. However what gets me interested is the fact that this board has a software in it, and its firmware can be updated.

So is this going to be the first smart electric skateboard on the market? (Or would the software be dumb and gets in the way instead?) I was sufficiently intrigued to put money in to find out myself.

However, there was Lou Board, on the other hand, campaigning in Kickstarter with the similar price (299$). Equally as good stats wise, with a removable battery (Spectra’s could not), with better water protection, it is very difficult to decide between them.

Ultimately, it was THIS that made me chose Spectra.

Portability. (In gif is Spectra Pro, Spectra Mini is 2.4 inches shorter!)

Portability.

I measured:
17 inch or 43cm means Spectra Mini can fit into most backpacks.
I knew by experience that the primary reason I didn’t bring my penny board everywhere I went was that it was still too big to be carried easily in a backpack or most grocery bags.

If “the best camera is the one that’s with you”, the best eskates for me is the one that I will actually carry around.

So before I take the plunge and get myself my dream board Linky, I will just have to settle with my little Walnutt Spectra Mini first.

I hope I have better luck using it than  Caisey Neistat in his vlog.

Link to Walnutt Spectra IndieGoGo Campaign.
Link to Walnutt Official Webpage.
Link to Walnutt Facebook Page.

 

I have my worries about its ‘posture control’ and its small size. But this girl seems to be riding it smooth enough.

 

 

13 thoughts on “The one reason that I chose Walnutt Spectra

  1. I am realllly looking forward to your review of this as a paid owner. Any idea when it will arrive? I’m especially interested in how 2D Step works versus having to use the app.

    1. You and me both buddy, you and me both.

      Looks like I will have to wait till december though 🙁 am not the earliest backer.

  2. Saw your ionboard reddit comment so I was wondering if you have an ETA on the Spectra yet? I hope you still have good riding weather. NYC is forecasting snow for tomorrow (12/10)!

    1. Hi Mike! I am still waiting.

      Walnutt was only going to ship the first batch of Spectra Mini next week if there is no further accident.
      I don’t think I am from the first batch so probably will have to wait even longer.

      I am from Malaysia so it is summer all year round! Checkmate!

  3. Man, the waiting is incredible! Two inches of snow here Saturday. Now the nights will be in the 20sF for the next several days. So jealous of your weather! I look forward to your eventual review of it. Most people on YouTube have been silent after their first video!

    1. Well, Swagtron is reselling Walnutt Spectra Pro, can’t be a good thing.
      Mini is not out yet, if Swagtron is reselling Mini before I receive mine then I will get my pitchfork,

      Anyway, I never heard Swagtron being exemplary in customer service but are they really a “bottom-feeding company”?

  4. Yes, I think Swagtron is. They were once called Swagway and in the middle of the hoverboard controversy. Aside from the Spectra, most of what they sell is buy-the-cheapest-from-China stuff.

    Hey, there are just FIVE days days left in February! Any word on your Spectra yet? I hope you’ll leave a post on Reddit when it’s arrived.

    1. The pressure you put on me, man! Haha.
      It’s listed as fulfilled in my order details, haven’t got a tracking.
      Just sent an email to the Walnutt team for inquiries.

      Will surely announce it to the world when I receive it.

  5. I got my Mini a month or so ago but weather here in Boston has not cooperated on the days I needed it to so far. I can say it seems very solid and well built. I also have to say that I never have even ridden a regular skateboard. I plan on learning skateboarding when the weather is nice on this one. So far I have ridden it about a yard forward in my kitchen and that’s it. The charge cable connects to it via a magnet so no fumbling with having plugs upside down.
    I am on the petite side so I am likely to get more range and speed out of it than you big guys. My only other sport is tennis so I am at least somewhat athletic and balanced. I just hope I can get the hang of this fast, it looks like so much fun. I am hoping to be good enough at it soon so I can use it as a last mile solution too. Anything is better than being in a car/cage and in good weather I ride my motorscooters until the first snow or a bit after.
    I have other electric vehicles on order too. A scooter, an e-bike, and an e-bike converter kit. They are all extremely delayed projects I backed in crowdfunding. I have great confidence in 2 of the 3 being shipped but the third might wind up being a scam.

    1. Hey Victoria!
      I just unboxed my Spectra Mini today and was only able to test out it in my apartment corridor.
      So far, your impression of the Mini is same as mine. But so far, I have problem with braking. Couldn’t get the board to stop once it gets going… Granted I only have 30 minutes or so to play with it, so far.

      Really hope there is something I’m doing wrong.

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