A new year means a new chance to ride some fun hoverboards. Join me today as I review the XPRIT 8″ Gold Self-Balancing Hoverboard and give you all the details of its look, specs, and performance. This board is heavy, and heavy duty! Read on for full details.
The XPRIT 8″ Gold Self-Balancing Hoverboard
If you want a solid hoverboard that’s meant for all-terrain use, the XPRIT 8″ Gold Self-Balancing Hoverboard might just be the model for you. Weighing in at nearly 28 pounds, and with a weight capacity ranging from 20 to 100 Kgs (that’s about 45-220 lbs), this board is ready to roll on a variety of surfaces that not every hoverboard is necessarily equipped to handle.
One reason for this versatility is the XPRIT’s 8-inch tires, which aren’t afraid to tackle a variety of different surfaces, such as grass and gravel. This board can supposedly even handle mud and sand, though I didn’t have the occasion to try it out on some of these surfaces myself (more on that later). The XPRIT also boasts a top speed of 12 Km/h, with a maximum driving distance of roughly 13.5 Km (depending on things like the characteristics of the driving surface and rider weight). It fully charges in roughly 3.5 hours.
Also featuring a Bluetooth speaker that works with both Android and IOS based devices (to stream whatever music you like to ride to), LED lights (to give it some extra bling), and my personal favourite feature: Auto-Levelling (aka, self-balancing). This board has everything you need to have a great time scooting about town, but does it live up to its claims?
Note: I should also quickly mention that this board is UL2271 certified, which is a safety certification pertaining to the energy storage capabilities of lightweight vehicles like hoverboards and scooters. It essentially means that you don’t have to worry about the battery for this board as it’s been deemed safe by Underwriters Laboratories—an organization with over a century of experience testing and certifying products for safety.
My Experience Riding this Board
I took this board down to the neighbourhood tennis courts—my standard testing area, and definitely had a lot of fun with it. Although my weight approaches the upper limit of its carrying capacity, it had no trouble hauling me around the courts, and I found it extra easy to stand and balance on due to its very large top surface (see photo below).
I don’t really think that I got it up to its top speed though so my weight may have had some effect on things … it’s very difficult to tell exactly how fast you are going on one of these boards, but it didn’t really feel overly fast for the most part. This was never more true than when I was trying to make a turn.
Steering this board works just the same as with any other hoverboard—it’s all about the lean. By leaning forward just a bit with either foot, that foot will speed up the corresponding wheel on the board (i.e., if you press forward a bit with your left foot, the left wheel will speed up a bit), and you will begin to turn in the opposite direction.
In other words, if your left wheel is going a bit faster than your right wheel, you will begin to turn to the right. At least this is my perception of how the steering works. It’s certainly not difficult, though I did seem to have some difficulty turning at higher speeds, so most of my turns were rather slow and methodical.
This, of course, can mostly be explained by my inexperience riding this board. In all of my testing of hoverboards so far, I have found that I get used to them fairly quickly, but my second or third time out is always better than my first. In this particular case, I had 2 boards to test at once, so I only got one good testing session with each.
As for trying it out on sand and other soft surfaces, I don’t live close enough to a beach for that. Still, in my experience on soft, sandy gravel with other boards, my heavier weight just caused me to sink in and not really go anywhere. I suspect that a much lighter rider than myself would have better luck on such surfaces, but not on really dry, loose sand, which would likely sink anybody.
As for riding on grass, these boards are surprisingly good at that—particularly a model with larger wheels like this one (see photo above). Of course, this only works if the grass isn’t super long, but that’s just common sense.
Bottom line, this board isn’t really stretching the truth too much with its all-terrain claims, but that only holds true to a certain point. You’re certainly not going to use it in the same sort of places that a mountain bike can go.
As long as your expectations are realistic, there’s a pretty good chance that you’ll really enjoy this board.
Examining the Video Evidence
Please take a few minutes (just 3 or so) to check out my brief video overview of the XPRIT 8″ Gold Self-Balancing Hoverboard. This video is the best way for you to get an up-close look at the board from multiple different angles, as well as to see me actually riding on it:
Final Thoughts
If you’ve been thinking of picking up a hoverboard of your own, the XPRIT 8″ Gold Self-Balancing Hoverboard is certainly is a worthy choice. As I said above, I had a lot of fun riding it, and I certainly didn’t feel as conspicuous as I did riding the bubblegum pink model that I tested at the exact same time.
This board also has a significantly higher weight capacity than the pink model, and that just goes to show that even though it may seem like it, not all of these boards have the same features and capabilities.
As such, if you are in the market for a hoverboard but aren’t really drawn to this one, be sure to do your research and make sure that whatever board you choose is capable of carrying you, and has the additional features you’re looking for.
All of your needs related to Hoverboards, Skateboards, & Accessories can be met by visiting Best Buy Canada online today.
