Looking to make a statement by your choice of electric skateboard? Look no further than the Onewheel. This board powers up hills and over most terrain. It's comfortable to ride — once you get the hang of it — and has a sturdy build with solid brakes. It's got the fastest charge time of the bunch, and is a sure way to turn heads around town.
While not one of the overall top scorers, the Onewheel still did very well. We put these products through an exhaustive battery of tests, spread across 6 weighted metrics.
Speed was the most important metric that we looked at, contributing 25% to the overall score. The Onewheel wasn't the fastest board that we looked at.
This board did do well enough to merit a 5 out of 10 for this metric, boosted up by its snappy acceleration. It was the third fastest overall in our acceleration test, only being beaten out by the Evolve GT and Boosted Dual+. We tested both the top speed and acceleration of the board in similar ways, by timing the board on a test course. For the top speed test, we allowed plenty of runway for the board to hit its top speed before entering the course, and for the acceleration test, the board was started stationary. This model reliably hit about 13.5 mph in our top speed tests, and potentially exceeded this speed in small spurts, but it was almost impossible to maintain that increased speed consistently. While this model didn't quite go as fast as some of the other boards, but it actually felt almost as fast as some of the fastest boards, due to the unique nature of the Onewheel.
The Onewheel did about average when it came to range, earning a 5 out of 10. We evaluated how long it took to charge, as well as how far the board could go on a full charge on flat ground.
This model averaged about 9.3 mph in our test, running for 50 minutes before it died. We did appreciated that this board kept its speed up until the very end of the test, rather than falling off. It was the charging test where the Onewheel truly shined, taking a meager 35 minutes to completely charge, the fastest of the group.
Ride is a category where the Onewheel truly shines among the competition.
This model tied for the top position in this metric, with the Evolve GT and the Boosted Dual+, all earning a 7 out of 10. This board drives over most terrain without noticing, and is so much fun to ride that we were drawn to it over and over again. This board is about average in terms of comfort, as it's nice to ride, but your foot will get fatigued quickly. As this board can handle sand and snow, it was unsurprising that we barely noticed when we traveled over rough, bumpy sections of pavement or decently sized cracks in the road.
The Onewheel did exceptionally well in our hill test, just narrowly getting edged out of the top spot by the Evolve GT.
This board thoroughly deserved its 8 out of 10 in this metric, tying for the runner-up position with the Boosted Board Dual+. The Onewheel easily made it up a 15% grade, but did falter on our 23% test slope. This aligns well with the manufacturer's claim of a 20% hill grade being the maximum possible to climb. We did have to shift the board into “Elevated” mode for this test, as “Extreme” mode wasn't keeping the nose of the board high enough.
For this metric, we checked how difficult it was to adjust settings on the board, how responsive it felt, whether or not regenerative braking was present, and how heavy the board was. We also included how helpful customer support was in answering our questions, and how quickly we received responses.
This board weighed in at 24.5 lbs, a little on the heavy side and awkward to carry when compared to the other boards.
This board lacks a remote, as it is controlled by your body leaning, but does have a mobile app that allows you to easily change between riding modes. The board is very responsive to your body's inputs, and does have regenerative braking. There is both an email and phone number to reach the manufacturer, and a warranty policy listed in the Owner's Manual. Unfortunately, there is no return policy. We did find the support to be very helpful, as we did have to send in a malfunctioning model to be replaced.
The final metric, though definitely not one to be overlooked is braking. We compared the performance of these products in two categories: controlled hill descent, and necessary stopping distance on flat ground.
This model did great at controlling our speed on all but the steepest descents, but we wouldn't really feel that comfortable taking on anything steeper than 20% grade, up or down. You simply lean back to slow the board down, though this is made a lot easier by the fact that the Onewheel doesn't really coast at all when compared to the standard skateboard style models. This means that this model also stops very quickly on flat ground.
This test was conducted with an average build, adult male stopping the board when it was going about 12 mph.
How can you put a price on fun? While the Onewheel isn't a value option by any means, it can provide endless hours of amusement — provided you can foot the bill.
