Raise your hands if you’ve ever smiled while gawking at someone riding a Segway. Sure, just a few people can afford them but if you’re a fan of the strange, yet uber cute travel device, we have some great news for you: a Chinese company called Xiaomi has just launched a small Segway alternative dubbed as the Ninebot Mini, and this one costs just $315 (£203). I’m sure you’re smiling already!
Xiaomi is a major investor in Ninebot, the Chinese company which recently purchased Segway, that’s why things are starting to make sense, right? So its only right for this to be the first device the company launches since the major acquisition.
Although not impressive when it comes to performance, the self-balancing scooter resembles the original while costing less than 20 times we’ve been used to. It will go at up to 16km/h (10 mph), tackle 15 degree hills and run up to 22 km on a single charge.
Since it weighs just 12.8 kilograms (28 pounds), it can be considered portable – hardly. Xiaomi says that customers may also upgrade the firmware and monitor speed, traffic data and systems via a smartphone. The self-balancing device is coming to China on November 3rd, and it seems that Xiaomi has plans for hitting the European market and, eventually, the US. Bold move, that’s for sure.
