App Profile: Segway-Ninebot

David 941

Rating: 2/5

The Ninebot S appears well-designed and engineered, however the overall experience is greatly inhibited by this app and the auto-braking feature. Although the advertised top speed is 10 mph, this speed can never be reached as the device will aggresively tilt back and slow down to about 6 mph everytime you are about to reach the speed limit. Rapidly shifting your balance is extremely dangerous and the only time I fell off this device was due to this correction. Top speed should be electronically limited and able to be maintained while cruising, and not constantly over-corrected by aggressive auto-braking.

Herschel

Rating: 5/5

In order to slow, the device has to place your center of gravity behind you, just like when moving forward, it has to be placed ahead of you. You’re essentially “falling” in the direction you want to go, which advances or reverses the wheels. With no physical brakes, the system HAS TO TILT YOU BACK to slow or stop. The other thing it has to do is manage power. If the top-speed was unlimited, it would not be able to bank enough reserve power to put impulse torque on the wheels when demanded for safe braking, etc. These are necessary evils. If a Russian hacker has in fact, increased the speed limit via firmware, your stopping distance may end up being longer than acceptable. The company does not want this kind of liability, so they keep it reasonable. They also cap it at around 10mph to reflect max speed for EPAMD devices in target markets.

CRP6/30/10

Rating: 1/5

There are so many great things about this Segway but one major flaw really ruins the experience. As one approaches the device’s max speed the Segway automatically starts breaking and tilts backward slowing your speed by 30% or more. After it drops down to around 6 MPH it starts picking up speed again then immediately breaks itself back down to 6 MPH or so. It will continue to do this over and over and as it does it will reduce the max speed you are allowed to travel until you start riding at a slower average speed over a long period of time. I understand the need for a speed limit, however, the device should just cap-out at the speed and stay at it, not break and speed up and break and speed up over and over. It’s far more dangerous doing so as it tilts you back and forth in the process. It has so much potential to be a lot of fun but instead it forces you do ride at an average of 8.2 MPH even though the limit can say up to 12 MPH (or advertised as 10 MPH).