The Boosted Mini is the best electric skateboard for everyone
There are three essentials you need if you want to become a successful vlogger like Casey Neistat: sunglasses, a camera on a selfie stick, and a Boosted Board.
You can maybe scrimp on the first two, but not on the Boosted Board. You gotta get the real deal to fully emulate him.
But until now, Boosted Boards have been kinda pricey — $1,300 or more depending on the range — and only came in the longboard variety.
That all changes with the new, smaller Boosted Mini. Starting at $750 for the Mini S and $1,000 for the Mini X, the new electric skateboards are both more affordable and easier to transport.
Just the right size
I have nothing but love for Boosted's electric longboards — they're the gold standard of electric skateboards — but I've always found them too large.
There's no way to discretely carry them around on the bus or subway. Bringing them into stores and restaurants is also generally frowned upon since there's no place to stash them. And I always feel like a complete tool propping the board up while recharging one at Starbucks.
I had no such problems with the Mini S. The 29.5-inch-long electric skateboard is shorter than Boosted's 38-inch-long electric longboards, which made it much easier to grab the trucks or deck and carry it with one arm.
You'd think a smaller board would also be lighter, but you'd be wrong. The 15-pound Mini S weighs about the same as Boosted's longboards. On the Mini X, the double-range battery adds an extra 1.8 pounds for a total 16.8-pound weight.
The Mini's weight isn't a deal-breaker especially since you should be spending more time riding on it than dragging it around. It's also not like Boosted couldn't have made the board lighter. It deliberately chose not to in order to deliver the same "vehicle performance" (as CEO Jeff Russakow calls it) on par with its electric longboards.
Boosted design and performance
One key point Boosted's Russakow and industrial designer Levi Price stressed to me when they first showed me the Mini was that it's not a toy, and it doesn't compromise on Boosted performance.
If you compare the Boosted Mini to other similarly sized electric skateboards, you'll see its performance greatly exceeds its competitors -- so much that Russakow doesn't even consider these "toy" electric skateboards serious rivals.
After shredding the streets of New York City — mostly in the borough of Queens — I could see the Mini isn't comparable to other small electric skateboards. Whereas most cheaper electric skateboards use a hub-driven motor usually found within one or two of its wheels, the Mini sticks to Boosted's belt-driven motor system.
Using a belt-driven motor means the Mini has an edge over other hub-drive electric skateboards in top speed and range.
On the Mini S I tested, the board is capable of a top speed of up to 18 miles per hour and a 7-mile range. If you pay up for the Mini X, you get a top speed of up to 20 miles per hour and double the Mini S's range for a total up to 14 miles on a charge. Both can support weight of up to 250 pounds.
A similarly-sized electric skateboard, like the $180 RazorX, doesn't even come close to offering the kind of power as the Mini S; it only has a top speed of up to 10 miles per hour, and the battery lasts up to 40 minutes. That's about half the amount of time the Mini S lasts, and translates to about 3-4 miles of range.
I was in love with the Mini's size from the moment I saw it. But as I rode it around the bumpy, pot hole-filled streets of New York City, I started to appreciated the quality of the board's materials even more.
Price already told me they'd re-engineered everything about its third-generation electric boards (Mini S and X, and Boosted Plus and Stealth) with Boosted-designed parts for increased performance and durability and he wasn't kidding.
Though not flexible at all compared to Boosted's electric longboards when you jump on it, the Mini's deck is designed for real urban riding in mind.
The board's made of a poplar wood that's surrounded by high-density foam. Price says this is the same kind of materials used in snowboards. So far, the board's held up pretty well.
The Mini's concave "deep dish" deck keeps your feet planted firmly (you want to place your feet over the two trucks' screws) and the kicktail — after a little practice and loosening of the trucks — is a fast way to make tighter turns. And the trucks are now even stronger than before since they're CNC'd from a block metal instead of cast.
All of these board updates may seem trivial, but they add up to a riding experience that's only rivaled by Boosted's more expensive electric longboards.
As I "boosted" in Long Island City, Queens -- an industrial area ripe with construction sites -- and glided over cracked streets, small rocks, and debris, and then through Sunnyside's bike paths, I couldn't help but notice how smooth my ride was.
It didn't matter if I was cruising down the streets or on bumpier sidewalks, the Mini S's large 80mm (diameter) rubber wheels rode right over it all with little vibrational shock to my feet and legs.
Boosting on the Mini S is just as fun and easy as on the Boosted's longboards. Pairing the remote is a simple process and so, too, is connecting the board to a smartphone app, which tracks data like trip distance, range, odometer, battery life, etc.
If you've ever used a Boosted Board before, the controls are the same: Hold the trigger and roll the dial forward to accelerate and backwards to brake. There's a button and LEDs on the remote for switching ride modes and checking battery life.
My Mini S is supposed to last up to 7 miles, but I actually managed to squeeze out even more: just a little over 8 miles. The extra mileage can be attributed to two things: regenerative braking and switching ride modes. I mostly rode in Eco mode (up to 16 mph), but you can extend the range and conserve battery power if you ride in Beginner mode (max 11 mph). Expert mode unlocks the Mini S's 18 mph top speed (20 mph on the Mini X), but also reduces its range.
Charging the board from zero to full takes 1 hour and 15 minutes and, though I wished the power brick was smaller and lighter, it's barely larger than one from an average 15-inch laptop. What I have a problem with is the remote's charging port: It uses Mini USB. What year is it?
USB-C should be the only port that's allowed to be included on any new gadget, but even microUSB would have been tolerable. But Mini USB? I was lucky to have a spare cable around (to charge the remote up with a battery pack on the go), but I still have to deduct points for using a port and cable that's not commonly available anymore.
The electric skateboard for everyone
Hands down, the Mini S is the best compact electric skateboard you can buy. It really isn't toy-like at all. No other electric skateboard in this class size compares to the Mini.
The Mini S is an incredible value at $750. But if you can, I'd buy the Mini X instead. It's another $150, but the doubled range means you may not have to recharge at all during a day of riding. The Mini X also comes with gray wheels, which are a whole lot more low key.
This is a true electric skateboard through and through from Boosted, a company with more experience building these kinds of rideables than anyone else. Something tells me the Boosted Mini is going to be one of the hottest products of the year.
Topics Reviews Mashable Choice
Raymond Wong is Mashable's Senior Tech Correspondent. He reviews gadgets and tech toys and analyzes the tech industry. Raymond's also a bit of a camera geek, gamer, and fine chocolate lover. Before arriving at Mashable, he was the Deputy Editor of NBC Universal's tech publication DVICE. His writing has appeared on G4TV, BGR, Yahoo and Ubergizmo, to name a few. You can follow Raymond on Twitter @raywongy or Instagram @sourlemons.
