Xiaomi are well-known for producing some of the best electric scooters in the world, which is why I was incredibly eager to get my hands on the new Xiaomi Mi scooter.
I am pleased to say that it is one of the best I have ever had the pleasure of riding.
Review: Xiaomi Mi review
Quality
Price
What we like
- Fantastic customer support
- Premium quality build
- Stylish look
- Incredibly responsive handlebars
- Easily portable
What we don’t like
- Doesn't perform well on uneven surfaces and bumpy roads
Max speed: 15.5 mph
Range: 18 miles
Max weight: 220lbs
Summary
The Xiaomi Mi Electric Scooter is an excellent choice for someone who is on the lookout for a commuter scooter of premium quality.
It offers great quality, high speeds, a decent range and is easily portable, so don’t hesitate to go for this model if your way to work or college includes some tram or train rides.
Who is the Xiaomi Mi Electric Scooter For?
As with most electric scooters on the market, the Xiaomi Mi Electric Scooter has been designed for a specific purpose. This is to commute to and from work.
Now, I am not saying that you will not be able to do a small amount of ‘fun’ things with it, but if you expect your scooter to be able to traverse over landscape which is uneven, then you have another thing coming.
It is one thing for an electric scooter to be able to traverse slightly bumpy roads, and another for it to travel through an area which has been ravished by stones.
While you could feasibly pull off a few ‘tricks’ with this scooter, it hasn’t really been built for that. As with most commuting scooters, this one has been designed to handle really well through stability.
This means that I doubt that you are going to be able to move it around enough for you to do anything too epic.
Coming in at a few hundred dollars, this scooter is ideal for those who want something of an exceedingly high quality, but do not fancy paying through the nose for it.
If that sounds like your sort of thing, and I have no doubt it does, then read on. You are going to be introduced to one of the finest electric scooters on the market right now.
Fantastic Customer Support
I have seen a lot of electric scooters on the market, and I have reviewed a decent number of them too.
However, I have never seen a company quite like Xiaomi when it comes to their customer support. If you look online, then you will see how much they clearly enjoy interacting with their customers.
If a customer has a complaint, then it seems that a member of the Xiaomi team pops up and helps them to deal with it pretty quickly. You can see this on many of the Amazon reviews out there.
I genuinely do love a company that shows they care for their customers.
Sure, you are going to pay a little bit more for the customer service (this is built into the price of the scooter), but in the unlikely case that the scooter ends up failing on you, you are going to be glad that you paid that extra cash.
Build quality
I don’t know if you had ever heard of Xiaomi before, but if you hadn’t, then you will be pleased to know that this is a company which is revered for its build quality.
Sure, scooters are going to break eventually. You could be spending thousands and thousands of dollars on your electric scooter, but eventually it is going to fall apart and certain parts of it will need to be replaced.
That is the aspect of the beast. However, I would not be surprised if you got years and years of use with the Xiaomi Mi before you need to start replacing some of the moving parts.
When it comes to that, you can be sure that the customer service team are going to be there to help you.
In fact, it is likely that the only part you will ever need to replace on this scooter will be the battery, although that is going to be a good few thousand charges before you get to that point.
Thankfully, replacing the battery is pretty affordable, and the battery you do have is going to give its absolute all until the last possible moment.
In fact, this is probably one of the best batteries I have ever seen featured in an electric scooter.
The Design
I am going to talk a little bit about some of the design aspects of Xiaomi Mi throughout this page, but I do want to point out at the start that the design of this electric scooter is one of my favorites in a long while.
The Xiaomi MI scooter is not necessarily breaking the mold when it comes to how it looks.
It is a scooter. There is little you can do to really shake up the design, otherwise you don’t really have a scooter any more.
Now, I know that a lot of people out there are not going to like the design of the Xiaomi MI, but I do.
It is a black scooter with incredibly ‘retro’ handlebars. They are not that padded, which may cause some issues for some people, but boy do they look fantastic.
If I was recommending an electric scooter based upon looks alone, then the Xiaomi Mi would be at the top of the list. Alas, I am not recommending a scooter on looks alone. That would be rather foolish of me.
Top speed of Xiaomi Mi
This scooter clocks in at a rather hefty 15.5mph. The best part is that, unlike other electric scooters on the market, you stand a reasonably good chance of being able to hit that top speed.
Granted, you are going to need to have a lot of straight road ahead of you, and there needs to be nobody there so you are not slowing down too much.
I have managed to hit the top speed on this scooter several times, and considering I am closer to the heavy side, I reckon that somebody who is a great deal lighter than me will be able to hit it with even more ease.
Since this scooter is going to travel about the same speed as a bike would get through the city, albeit with a lot more portability (you can fold an electric scooter up, after all), then I would highly recommend this for that alone.
Sure, cycling a bike is going to burn a lot more calories, but if you are heading into work, then I seriously doubt that weight loss is going to be the first thing on your mind.
Range of Xiaomi Mi
The maximum range of the scooter caps out at 18 miles. However, it is unlikely that you are going to get too close to this range.
This is because when you are commuting in, you are likely going to be slowing down almost constantly on your scooter, which is really going to be eating into the battery life.
If you live no more than a few miles from the office, then this is no doubt going to get you there and back without needing to be charged.
Not that it is going to cause that many issues to charge it up. The battery lifespan on this scooter is pretty decent, and it only takes a few hours to charge it up fully.
Having ridden this scooter around quite a bit, I think I capped out at about 16 miles range most of the time.
This is with all the stopping and starting, and I think that is going to be more than enough for the majority of people out there.
If you are commuting more than 16 miles to work, then you probably wouldn’t be riding an electric scooter anyway.
Handling of the scooter
As I said previously; this scooter is not really built for impressive tricks or anything like that.
It has been built solely for commuting, and when it comes to commuting, you need an electric scooter which handles well. Thankfully, it is able to deliver well on that front.
The handlebars of the scooter are incredibly responsive. You can make some pretty sharp turns on the scooter, perhaps to avoid somebody who didn’t get out of the way on time, and there is no risk of falling off or anything like that.
The turning action is pretty smooth too. I have seen a few cheaper electric scooters on the market which seem to jut about a little bit when you turn. Suffice to say, this is not the most pleasant experience in the world.
Sooner or later you are going to need to slow down quickly on your scooter. Thankfully, the Mi makes this as simple as possible. There are two quality disc brakes built into the scooter.
This means that you will be able to slow down instantly in a single action. In fact, this scooter probably boasts one of the best braking systems I have ever seen.
That being said, it is rare that you will really need to test the braking system on a scooter unless you are in an ‘emergency’.
However, I am fairly confident that the Mi will slow down fast enough.
Portability
The Xiaomi Mi electric scooter has won several different awards for its design.
I am not quite sure whether these awards were tied specifically to the portable functions of the scooter, but I would not be surprised if they were.
This scooter folds up nicely. Obviously, since this is an electric scooter it is probably not going to fold up as neatly as the majority of kick scooters out there, but most people do not expect it to do so.
This is because you have wires hanging about everywhere, which you can’t really detach without breaking the scooter.
I don’t think any company out there has designed an electric scooter which allows you to fold up the same amount as a kick scooter anyway.
I digress. With this scooter, you can fold down the handlebars in a matter of seconds. In fact, it takes a single movement. This makes it one of the fastest folding electric scooters available to buy.
It should fold flat enough for you to be able to carry it under your arm for short periods of time, or maybe slot under your desk. It doesn’t really fold flat enough for you to stick it up against a wall.
You will still need to keep the wheels on the floor during storage. If you do not have the space in your home to do that, then maybe this scooter is not going to be the best choice for you.
When the scooter is standing up, you will be able to make use of the integrated kick stand which keeps its nice and sturdy.
In fact, the kick stand makes it nigh on impossible to knock the scooter over unless you are really trying. I can’t imagine why you would willingly knock your own scooter over, though!
Other features
As with many electric scooters nowadays, there is an additional app that you can download for your Mi.
If you wish to use the cruise control functionality of the scooter, then you need the app. It is the only way to trigger it. Bit irritating, but it is fine.
The app will also record details of your ride, including the maximum speeds you can hit.
On the front of the scooter is a LED headlight which is exceedingly bright. It makes the scooter ideal for night riding.
Is it worth buying the Xiaomi MI electric scooter?
I feel you have already picked up on what I really think about the Xiaomi Mi electric scooter.
I have peppered this review with positivity galore, with only a little bit of negativity thrown into the mix. This means that I am hardly going to say that you shouldn’t buy it at this point…so I won’t.
All you really need to know is that this is going to be one of the best electric scooters on the market. In fact, I have seen a few scooters that are hundreds of dollars more than this one and the Xiaomi Mi still functions a whole lot better than them.
This product is getting a ‘fully recommended’ from me, and I don’t see that changing in the near future.
