NIU KQi1 Pro, KQi2 Pro, KQi3 Pro, KQi3 Max! Which One is the Best Value?

Let’s take a look at NIU’s most popular electric scooter models; KQi1 Pro, KQi2 Pro, KQi3 Pro, and KQi3 Max; and look at which models are the best bang for the buck. We’ll also take closer look at the new KQi1 Pro model to see if it worth consideration.

Introduction

Okay, we’re here with all of the new kqi models, all the way from the kqi1 pro, which is new, all the way up to the kqi3 max. Technically, this isn’t every single version of every single model in between KQi2 Pro and KQi3 Pro.

There should be the kqi3 Sport, and then there is a kqi1 Sport model. I don’t have the one because I didn’t really feel like I needed to review it. It doesn’t have a folding stem, so it doesn’t feel super practical, even though it is the cheapest of the lineup. And then the kqi3 Sport kind of has, what do you call it, middle child syndrome, where it has the specs of the cheaper version (KQi2 Pro) but the body of KQi3 Pro.

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So you’re basically just paying for upgraded looks, like 100 or 200 more. I’ll post the prices for all of these right now. I know that there’s lots of sales going on, so I will link all of these down below and any information about sales going on.

So let’s start with the NIU KQi1 Pro Electric Scooter because it’s actually the newest of the models, and I’m going to go through and kind of show the differences and show where the value comes from in each upgrade.

NIU KQi1 Pro Electric Scooter

So the NIU KQi1 Pro Electric Scooter here is the smallest and lightest of the models. It’s also the only model that has the battery here, rather than in the body of the scooter, and it has a very similar cockpit to all of the models, except when you turn it on, there’s no speedometer. So all you get is these lights that show you your battery level, that show you the speed you’re going, and I’ll jump on it in a second and show you that. But you’ll notice with these NIU KQi 2 Electric Scooter or higher model that you actually get a speedometer and a battery level bar and a mode bar, which I don’t really see why they couldn’t have put that on this KQi1 Pro, but it makes sense. I mean, you want to add value to the higher models.

The NIU KQi1 Pro Electric Scooter also has the smallest wheels and the smallest riding platform and naturally is going to be kind of the most bare-bones scooter. I’ll talk a little bit about performance in a second, but it is the slowest and also has the least amount of range of all of these models, which makes sense given that it is the bottom of the new line.

So it’s pretty obvious from just standing next to it and then getting on it that the NIU KQi1 Pro Electric Scooter is directed at a younger audience. It just, the handlebars are lower, the deck is smaller, it’s very much in this category of scooter that I’m sorry, I see more of that feels like it’s directed towards like middle to high school students and maybe college students that want something really small and don’t care too much about power, which makes a lot of sense because I’m seeing more and more parents getting electric scooters for kids to get around. So I think it’s a good scooter, but let me kind of show you some of the features on it and give you an idea of how it feels to ride as an adult rider.

So as I mentioned, you get a color bar on the right side that shows you your speed rather than like an actual speedometer. So I don’t know if it’s very visible, but it’ll show green when I’m going slow, and then as soon as I get any sort of pace, it turns yellow, and then once I get close to the top speed of 15 miles an hour, then boom, it turns red, somewhere around like 12 miles an hour would be my guess. I think it both makes sense and doesn’t make sense at the same time because you want to make the higher model seem better and more valuable, but also I think there’s enough better about the kqi2 already that if you just had a normal speedometer on here, I think I still would be recommending the kqi2. It’s not like the speedometer is like the make or break thing for the upgrade.

But like I said overall, it’s a very small scooter, similar to The Wasp or the Segway E2 or the, what other brands are coming out with smaller scooters, you get the idea. Like it’s a very just like a tiny little scooter, and as an adult rider, it’s not something that I want to ride more than just a couple of miles at a time. That’s not to say it’s not a quality product and it’s not cheaper enough than the kqi2 to justify not just upgrading to the kqi2 but Best for your kids

NIU KQi 2 Electric Scooter

So that leads me now to the kqi2 pro (NIU KQi2 Pro Electric Scooter Review), which is probably the best bang for the buck of the whole line. You’re kind of skirting that middle ground between the highest quality components and the most foot space and the kind of very small entry-level feel of the kqi1.

You get a standard grip tape on this because it got chewed up from my move a little bit. You don’t have the foot tail of the NIU KQi3 Pro Electric Scooter, but you do get the same display and throttle and the same brake levers. You only get the electronic braking plus the front drum brake, similar to the kqi1. So braking and kind of size-wise, this leans that direction, but performance and cockpit lean to this direction. And this one is on sale a lot. I regularly see it under $500. kqi1 retail is $500, so it seems to me to make a lot of sense to go for the kqi2 if you’re an adult rider. Kqi1 is okay if you’re looking to buy for a kid or you’re a smaller rider.

So there’s definitely a night and day difference between the kqi1 and kqi2 as far as getting on the scooter and riding. You can tell that this was catered towards an adult. You know, have my feet feel a little bit more spread. The handlebar is a little taller, and mostly you can feel the extra amount of zip that this scooter has. It gets up to a top speed of, I believe, it’s around 17 or 18 miles an hour. It gets up to those higher speeds a lot quicker than the kqi1, and this is kind of if you’ve got five to six hundred dollars to spend on a scooter, this is my recommendation. Not only within the kqi line but just in general. I think this is still the best scooter at this price on the market, especially considering there’s a lot of time where you can get discount code you can get it for 470. It just has a much more commuter feel; it’s got better range. The I would say the ride comfort is the one thing that doesn’t have that isn’t hugely different across the whole line.

There’s no suspension, and there’s only a small bump up in wheel size across the whole line, but for street riding and sidewalk riding, I think that the tubeless pneumatic tires that they have on all the scooters except the kikoi one might be two, but the fact that they’re tubeless means that you get some of the cushion but you don’t get as many of the issues with flats and stuff.

NIU KQi3 Pro Electric Scooter

So I said the NIU KQi 2 Electric Scooter is the best bang for the buck, but I think this is the best balance of price to performance. You don’t get a huge jump of performance just straight up raw specs-wise over the kqi2, but you get the larger riding platform; you do get a little bump in top speed; you get the new color options; you get just overall you get what feels like a more well-built, well-rounded package at kind of the price point where I suggest people look for their first scooter, at least adult riders.

So with the NIU KQi 3 Pro Electric Scooter, once again, you’re looking at a jump in performance but not as much of a jump as the kqi1 to kqi2. This one, I think you feel it the most in the acceleration; this one has even more punch than the kqi2, and I think you get a very slight upgrade in the top speed, like two miles an hour. To be fair, though, I think each model only jumps up about two miles an hour. Once you get to the top of the line, that adds up, but from each one, the top speed feel isn’t a humongous jump.

Where you feel the biggest difference is in the riding platform and just the overall build quality. That’s not to say the kqi2 or kqi1 is not built well because at their price, they are the most well-built scooters. But the kqi 3 Pro just, it has just everything is just a notch above, and the extra riding platform size and also rear deck tail give you way more options for how to position yourself and keeps you really comfortable and like on longer rides. It also has a much more solid, planted feel on the ground while riding. It doesn’t hop around as much from little bumps and stuff; it’s got a more weighty, solid adult scooter feel to it.

NIU KQi3 Max Electric Scooter

And then the kqi3 max is probably my favorite scooter under a thousand dollars; the new Segway G2 Max is it? I don’t think it’s going to be under a thousand dollars once it actually comes out, but pre-order is under a thousand dollars, and that one has a little bit of an edge in the riding feel and kind of the app integration side of things. But the kqi3 max is just like my go-to recommendation for an all-around fun; it takes all the boxes for both commuting and for recreational riding. It’s kind of, you get a jump up in performance that is worth the extra one to two hundred dollars, in my opinion, and I think it’s the best looking of all the models. I love the red accents here, and it’s just such a stable, solid scooter that I love to ride. And of all of these, this is the one that if I’m just going to grab one of these to go out and ride around or to go do an errand, I’m going to be grabbing the max because obviously like the bump in speed makes a lot of sense for getting to the destination quickly, but it’s not so fast that it feels like you need a bunch of extra suspension or anything like that.

The NIU KQi3 Max Electric Scooter is a scooter that first off, I absolutely love it. It is a ton of fun, and it’s obviously the fastest of all of them, has the best brakes of all the models. It crosses the line from practical commuter to recreational scooter. Like this, this is going to appease a lot of people; that 22-23 mile an hour mark is kind of where people, a lot of people start to go, okay, that’s enough speed, you know, 50 miles an hour might not do it for you, but if you get this one out of the gate with the different riding modes and the way you can customize it in the app, you can work up to these top speeds, and this is a really fun scooter to just take out and ride around. If you have the money for the upgrade over the pro, I think it’s worth it, but I also don’t think you should feel too bad if the pro, if getting the pro and saving a couple of hundred dollars is more appealing to you.

Conclusion

So obviously, this wasn’t an in-depth look at every single scooter. I will post of these three (KQi 2, KQi 3 Pro, KQi 3 Max) on Quality Tech Blog, and this one I don’t anticipate I’ll be doing a full review of unless you guys really want to see one since generally my advice is to just go with the kqi2 if you’re an adult rider. But I did want to make this video to kind of showcase the new kqi1 and show how it stacks up against the lineup because they actually kind of developed these in a weird order where the kqi3 was the first one, and then the kqi2, and then the Max, and then the kqi1 came out. I don’t know how they, I don’t know if that’s the order they developed them in or if that’s just the order they released them in North America in, but it is interesting to see the choices they’ve made as each new one has been released, and generally every release makes a lot of sense.

Watch full video here