VMAX - VX4

The VMAX VX4, despite being single motor it should handle this hill no problem. As well as the VX2 Extreme. 1600W at your weight should get you up that hill at probably a solid 15-17mph. If price is not a concern and you want something really powerful you can look at a Nami Klima. That scooter will get you up that hill in no time.

Did you get a scooter yet? I live in Salt Lake and take my scooter up to the U of U and ride around in the avenues and Federal Heights area. I have a vmax VX4. It is a single motor scooter but does get me up the hills in Salt Lake. For reference, with my backpack on I'm around 225 lbs. I slow down on the steeper hills, but it has always made it to the top. I know of one guy with a City and he doesn't have any trouble getting up the hills either. You'll definitely want full suspension on Salt Lake roads and extra lights to be seen.

Problem is some people will tell you a brand is amazing and others it's the worst they've dealt with. Really you can't let someone tell you, you have to do alot of research. That being said I'm a someone and here's what I'll tell you: IMO Best of the best: Segway, Nami, Inmotion, Dualtron Don't be fooled they all still have their individual problems. This is generally speaking from my experience and what I've gathered from others. Great: VSETT, Niu, VMAX, Good: Kukirin/Kugoo, Roadrunner, Nanrobot, Aovo, Solar, Teverun, Alot of bad stuff I've heard from: Hiboy, Circooter, Apollo Missed a bunch of others but if you're in it for the long haul, please only go for the best and don't cheap out. And do a ton of research.

Very in depth review, anyone looking to buy one of these will appreciate it greatly I'm sure :) I just noticed what you said about the axles being off center and that sounds extremely unlikely, it would be unbelievably bad to fail on something that crucial. I can almost guarantee you that it's the tire causing the wobbling and vibrations, reseating it might help, but there will always be a slight wobble that you will only notice while the wheel is spinning freely in the air like that. And yea, the disc brake scraping is from the disc not being perfectly flat, it takes very little for that to happen and is easily adjusted with a screwdriver if need be. I didn't read the rest in detail but cheers for sharing your experience! Did you forget to explain beast/cruise mode at the end btw? :)

Has anyone else had electrical problems with the VX4 GT? I ordered my first one in July. After assembling it, the display froze on "ERROR 22" (something about the throttle), plus the headlights wouldn't turn on, blinkers worked. I disconnected, then reconnected the wires that you stuff into the stem several times, but it never worked. In the end, I got "ERROR 30". I sent it back for replacement. I got a replacement 3 weeks later. I had a great ride for a couple of hours until the display froze in "ECO" mode. Plus, the blinkers stopped working. I sent it back; they won't replace it or refund because it's "used" ( ridden for two hours). I was eventually told that the control board needs to be replaced. One month later, they still haven't gotten to it because they have many repairs ahead of me (first come, first serve). Rainy season begins in 4 weeks ... I'm trying to stay positive about this ....

If the screen is broken, the scooter will not function ... that was my experience. VMAX ended up replacing the second scooter as well, and the third VX4 has been great. Even though we're deep into the rainy season in the Pacific Northwest, there have been a few opportunities for some great rides. It handles well on various terrain (roads and trails). I don't want to expose it unnecessarily to rain and mud, so my experience has still been fairly limited (around 100 miles), but it's been great so far. I'll point out a few negatives worth considering: * the disc brake is slightly warped or bent. Every other ride (or so) I have to bend it back into position so it doesn't rub against the brake. I REALLY don't want to have to send it back again ... we'll see.... *It's heavy. I'm fit, 5'11", etc., but still, every time I carry it up and down the stairs to my house, I'm wishing that it was lighter. * The folding stem lock is stupid. It's easier for me to carry the scooter with the stem up. *It's difficult to operate the turn signal buttons with gloves. I suspect that with experience, I'll get better at it.

Thanks! This just really made my scooter search a lot easier! I was leaning towards VX2 Pro (and debating between than and the new Apollo) but I guess the VX4 is worth the extra money.

I love the VX2 Pro and it honestly keep getting better and better :-). Very happy with my decision. I have a friend with the VX4 and he is also very happy. VX4 is an incredibly smooth ride with the suspension and large footboard and so on. Unfortunately it just weighs a little too much for me to use on a regular basis (the GT version I believe is like 60+ lbs). Other than that though I think it's an amazing scooter

Hey all, been lurking for a few months and finally got my first scooters recently (after riding Limes for months). I really wanted a UL-certified scooter with IPX6 water resistance and 20+ mph max speed, and from my research, there weren't a ton of great options out there, except for the VMAX VX4 (which has very few genuine reviews/discussions out on the Internet and on this subreddit). But I decided to take a chance on VMAX anyway! I've been riding both scooters for a while now, so I wanted to provide an honest review and comparison of the VMAX VX4 and VX2 Pro to help inform people's decisions! I'm also happy to answer questions about them if you have any! --- # The [VMAX VX4](https://vmax-escooter.us/products/vx4) ## Major Highlights - Battery is UL 2272-certified. - It’s less likely to explode and burn your house down! - 25mph max speed. - Good hill-climbing capability. - I can go up steep hills (about 15% slope, according to ArcGIS) at about 10mph. WAY better than rental scooters like Lime and Bird, which can’t do steep hills at all; I have to kick them up the hill manually. And I can do slight hills (~6%) at almost full speed (~24mph). Really steep hills (19%) can be done at about 7mph. - Though a dual-motor scooter would do way better, this is still pretty reasonable! Most of my commute is 10% slope or less, so going slowly for the short steep segments isn’t too bad. - Full suspension - You can roll over bumpy roads without feeling like you’re going to get bucked off! - Pneumatic tires. - Pneumatic (air-filled) for a smooth ride and good traction, compared to solid tires. - Good tire size (10″ for both front and back). - These make it easier to roll over small potholes and divots; smaller tires (like 8″) can get stuck in them more easily, increasing your chances of the scooter stopping suddenly and sending you flying over the handlebars). - Though honestly, I would have preferred even slightly larger tires, like 11″ or 12″! - IPX6 water resistance, so you can ride in the rain (just be careful!). - Brake light. - Doubles as a tail light; it shines red when the headlight is on, and becomes brighter when braking, just like a car. - Turn signals. - Both on the handlebars and above the back wheel. The handlebar turn signals shine bright yellow light 180° from front to back, so they can be seen from any angle. - Good customer support. - They sent me a VX2 Pro (for free) to use temporarily since my VX4 order got delayed by a few months. And they even paid for the shipping both ways on the VX2 Pro! ## Minor Highlights - The footboard/deck is large and comfortably fits even large feet and boots. - Fairly high ground clearance, especially compared to the VX2 Pro. - Rear disc brake. - Though it’s not shown on the website, the VX4 actually has a disc brake on the back in addition to the regen brake. I suspect this was a recent addition to the VX4. It adds a bit of extra braking power, which is nice. Though it also interferes with the regen ability; more on this later. - Having 3 brakes is great for safety. - You can lose one or two and still be able to brake. And the drum and disc brakes are both physically cabled, so the chances of both breaking at the same time is miniscule. - Multiple options on battery size (i.e. range). - This allows the user to customize their purchase a bit based on their needs and budget. - The bell works great, sounds great, and is satisfying to use (it’s a real bell, not an electric one). - USB-A port to charge your phone or power other small peripherals (e.g. dashcam, lights, etc.). - The max amperage is not specified, but I was able to get about 1.2A at 5V according to a cheap USB power meter. Not bad! - Customizable settings: - Can show speed in either km/h or mph. - Can set a custom max speed (between 12.4mph and 21.7mph, or just 25mph). - Can enable/disable kick-start in the settings, so you can choose whether you want the throttle to only work while the scooter is already going at least ~2mph (for safety, e.g. so you don’t accidentally accelerate suddenly while walking it down the hallway), or whether you want it to work immediately from a standstill. - Functional charger. - The light turns from red to green when charging is complete. - Functional kickstand. - Tire valves are easy to unscrew to check the pressure and refill as needed. - After weeks of riding, the tires haven’t needed refilling even once (aside from immediately after checking the pressure, since that caused air to leak out). - If I had wireless tire pressure monitors installed, I imagine I could go for quite a while without refilling the tires! ## Neutral Points - Decent battery life/range. - The advertised range is 34 miles for the base (LT) VX4 model, which is what I have. However, that’s presumably for flat travel and on Eco mode. I travel in Sport mode (higher acceleration) and have a super hilly commute, which uses more power. I usually travel at 15-25mph, and have many starts and stops on my commute. I personally have noticed this discharge profile: - Starts at 100% - After commute to work (2.6 miles downhill): Still at 100% - After commute to home (2.6 miles uphill): ~78% - Back to work: ~62% - Back to home: ~40% - This means that the battery indicator isn’t quite perfect; the commute to work definitely uses power, as of the 4th line, but it doesn’t show any usage if it starts at 100%. Overall, based on this pattern, I would expect about 15 miles of range with intense usage, which is a bit under half of the advertised max range. Seems decent to me. If I needed more range, I could have just ordered the GT instead of the LT. - Tubeless tires. - Tubeless tires are tougher and less likely to leak, and also go flat less quickly if there is a leak. - But the tubes on tubed tires are easier to replace. “Seating the bead” on tubeless tires can be difficult. - Decent headlight. - It’s not amazing in terms of brightness and reach, but it’s much better than nothing on a very dark street. It’s not good enough to want to go max speed at night unless there are streetlights. It’s worth considering an aftermarket headlight. ## Minor Lowlights - Neither the manual nor the website come with much info about the scooter’s features, maintenance requirements, etc. It doesn’t even mention some of the hidden features (like beast mode and cruise mode); I had to talk to support to figure out how to activate them. - See the end of this article for info about how to activate them, in case you end up buying one of these scooters! - There’s also no indication of when cruise mode or beast mode are on. - The wheels were not machined exactly correctly. - The holes for the axles seemed to be drilled off-center by about 1mm, so the tires wobble a bit. If you run it with the rear wheel raised off the ground, you can see that the entire scooter vibrates/jiggles very noticeably. However, it isn’t very noticeable when riding, so it’s not a huge deal. - On my VX4, the disc brake makes a slight scrape/scuff noise on the calipers once per revolution; possibly related to the wheel wobble mentioned above, or something else (like a warped disc). - The USB charging port only works if a device is plugged in when the scooter starts. If you plug in or turn on a device after it’s started, you have to turn the scooter off and on again for it to charge. - I feel like the straight handlebars are slightly less comfortable/ergonomic than the swept-back handlebars on some other scooters (like the gen 4 Lime scooters). - The scooter’s torque and max speed decrease as the battery gets lower, becoming noticeable when under 70%. This is most noticeable on very steep hills. - The tires don’t come with tire slime/sealant; you’ll have to buy and squeeze it in yourself. - The included apps are mostly useless. - They mostly just show basic info that’s already on the scooter’s screen, though the VX4 app also has some sort of trip planner/navigator. - It’s easy to accidentally leave your turn signal on. - It makes no sound and doesn’t turn off automatically after a while, and there is no noise when it’s on. And the indicator on the screen flashes very slowly, so there is no easy way to glance at the screen to see if it’s on—you have to wait a second to see the flash (which means taking your eyes off the road for a while). - I also feel like it doesn’t always turn on when I hit the button. It “clicks” but doesn’t actually turn on. The tactile feedback just needs a total redo. - Installing the handlebars (which came in the box detached from the stem) was quite difficult, as there was lots of extra slack in the thick wires and a very narrow hole to stick them through. It took quite a lot of effort to figure out how to cram the wires down into the stem far enough to leave room for the handlebars to slide on, and the manual didn’t give any tips. I eventually was able to jam them in most of the way using the handle of a wooden soup spoon, and then I curled the final couple inches of slack into a coil inside the stem. - Also, the front reflector gets in the way of the hex wrench (if you use the included one), so it’s a little annoying to screw in the front screws. - Otherwise though, the initial setup was very easy! I basically just checked that all the other screws were tight and that the tires were filled up to the proper pressure (2.5 bar for my body weight). - No good electronic locking mechanism. - The only way to lock or unlock the VX4 (other than with a physical bike lock) is with a very clunky 4-digit PIN entry directly on the scooter’s screen, which is frustrating to use because there’s no touchscreen or number pad, only left and right arrows and an enter button. And in fact, even after painstakingly entering in my proposed PIN, there was seemingly no way to lock it in, and the password was ultimately not set. I still don’t know how to set it! But this isn’t a major concern for me personally because I have a secure place to store it both at home and at work. And I don’t trust any locking mechanism enough to leave it locked up outside anywhere anyway! - It would be useful if there was a way to reliably and securely lock the scooter via the companion app, or even better, a dedicated keyfob that you can keep on your keychain. ## Major Lowlights - One of the screws that attaches the handlebars to the stem stripped very easily when using the included hex wrench. I didn’t even tighten it that hard. Hopefully I never need to remove the handlebars… # [VX4](https://vmax-escooter.us/products/vx4) vs [VX2 Pro](https://vmax-escooter.us/products/vx2-pro) ## VX4 Pros (compared to the VX2 Pro) - Slightly higher max speed (25mph vs 24mph). - More torque (reach max speed sooner and go up hills faster). - The max wattage on the motor is about 19% higher, which translates into a couple extra mph when going up extra-steep hills. - The suspension! Though honestly, the suspension didn’t make as big of a difference as I thought it would. The pneumatic tires on the VX2 Pro provide a surprisingly smooth ride even without a suspension, so I would say that it’s not a must-have (though it is nice if you can afford the extra cost and weight of the VX4). - The tires seem like they have better grip and are less likely to skid on asphalt, especially wet asphalt. The VX2 Pro tires handled wet asphalt worse than Lime gen 4 scooters, in my experience. - The VX4 feels more “stable” than the VX2 Pro, as though it requires less effort to keep from falling off it. Though they don’t feel quite as stable as the gen 4 Lime scooters, for comparison purposes. - On the VX2 Pro, neither the rear regen brake nor the front drum brake (even on max “tightness”) can bring the scooter to a complete stop. This is especially noticeable on hills. Once you get down to like 1-2 mph, you’ll have to stop the rest of the way (and stay stopped) with your feet. The VX4 fixes this problem, as the rear disc brake is more effective and works at all speeds. ## VX4 Neutral Points (compared to the VX2 Pro) - The VX4 is 5 inches taller and 4.5 inches longer and the VX2 Pro. The extra height is partly from the suspension (giving it a higher ground clearance) and partly from the adjustable screen (which can make the scooter taller depending on how you angle it). - The front brake is on the right for the VX4, but on the left for the VX2 Pro. - I found it very odd that they were opposite from each other! I usually use the rear brake for general braking (to make use of the regen) and both brakes at once for harder braking, and I personally didn’t have much trouble switching over, so no big deal to me. In fact, I like it better, because I can use my right hand for throttle, and my left hand for primary brake (instead of using my right hand for both, while also trying to hold the handle, which is a little difficult). - VX4 looks a bit less “slick” than the VX2 Pro due to the chunky, boxy footboard/deck and non-integrated “bolted-on” screen. Though on its own, it looks fine. The VX2 Pro just happens to look especially cool. - Also no good electronic locking mechanism. - Unlike the VX4 Pro’s 4-digit PIN mechanism, the VX2 only allows locking through the companion app. The app allows you to lock/unlock your scooter with the push of a button, but literally anyone with the app can connect to your scooter and unlock it, which is a major security oversight; there’s no password or account tied to the lock. It simply requires connecting via bluetooth and hitting the “unlock” button in the app. - And oh yeah, the Android app takes quite a long time (>20 seconds) to connect on bluetooth anyway, often requiring clicking the “rescan” button multiple times (at least on my Pixel 8). And it seems to not work reliably if you have bluetooth headphones connected to your phone already. One time, it took so long to connect that I thought it never would, and that it would stay permanently locked! I stopped using the feature after that. ## VX4 Cons (compared to the VX2 Pro) - The folding system. - The upper lock (which keeps the stem vertical) on both scooters is robust and easy to use. It feels sturdy and like it wouldn’t accidentally come undone or break, while also being easy to engage and disengage. - However, the lower lock lock (which keeps the stem horizontal, for storage or carrying) on the VX4 is terrible compared to the VX2 Pro (which has a great one). The VX2 Pro’s lock is easy to attach (just fold it down and push the hooks together) and detach (just pull back the stem’s hook and unfold it). The VX4’s mechanism, on the other hand, requires awkwardly pushing the footboard’s hook a very specific distance and holding it there, while simultaneously aligning the stem’s hook with it, and then just scraping them together until they click into each other. And then it automatically unhooks as soon as you remove upward pressure, so it just falls apart if you try to e.g. fold it and then push/slide it under a desk or something. You have to slide it while maintaining adequate upward pressure the entire time (which is not easy), and then hope it’s stable enough in its final resting place so the handlebars don’t twist off to the side. And then pulling it back out is of course very difficult as well, since the lock is no longer engaged at all at that point. So the lower hook on the VX4 is basically only usable for carrying, not for storage. And believe me, at over 60 lbs, the VX4 is NOT easy to carry! - VX2 Pro appears slightly more water-resistant, especially around the screen area. - The VX4 screen has wires going into a hole in the top that water could easily fall into as well, filling the stem with water eventually. I’ll probably fill this hole with silicone caulk at some point. However, I haven’t had any problems yet—though I’ve only ridden the VX4 in light rain for short periods, and dry the scooter in front of a fan afterward. - I might also consider installing a cover over the main screen, just to be safe. - The turn signal buttons on the VX4 are difficult to use without looking, as it’s hard to tell when your finger is on the correct button (or even on a button at all). There are some very small raised bumps, but they’re impossible to feel with gloves on. In contrast, the VX2 Pro’s turn signal unit is completely separated from the housing and has a much more tactile rocker switch, so it’s much easier to manipulate “by feel”—though it’s also a little difficult to turn off reliably, since it’s a 3-way rocker switch; you have to put it into the middle position to turn it off, and if you push it too far, you end up turning on the opposite turn signal instead of turning it off. I’ve found that pushing my entire thumb onto the middle helps reset it without going too far in either direction. - The VX4 always starts in Eco mode, while the VX2 Pro remembers whether you were in Eco mode or Sport mode. Minor nit, but still worth mentioning. - The VX2 Pro is cheaper, lighter, and more compact. ## TLDR Overall, it seems like VMAX really nails it on integrating all of the most important features of a scooter. But they could improve in terms of build quality, as well as polish on their UI, website, datasheets, and manuals. Just a little rough around the edges! But I was pleased with them both! The VX4 has a little extra power and range, along with suspension. I enjoy both of those features because the roads here are bumpy and steep. So I kept the VX4 and sent my VX2 Pro back. :) Also, the new [NIU KQi 300X](https://shop.niu.com/products/niu-kqi-300x-electric-scooter) looks pretty competitive with these guys. It's just got a bit less power and a lower IP rating (IPX5 vs IPX6), along with a few other minor differences. I think I'm still happy with the VX4 for now, but if it breaks, I'd consider the KQi 300X. --- The full(er) review at https://thereadyist.com/2024/03/24/vmax-vx4-and-vx2-pro-electric-scooter-review-and-comparison/ has some photos and extra notes if you're interested, along with a feature comparison table for quick specs.

I've MacGyver'd two bigger keyrings into the steering column latch that hooks into the folding hook at the rear footrest; right underneath that hook is another 'hook' that you can latch the keyring into to STAY latched, even when put down. That way the hook in the board doesn't stick out when you jam a pen into it, to stay up. A carabiner keychain will work too. As for the charger, it's a standard 2 Amps charger, which takes its sweet time. I replaced it with a standard 4-5 Amps charger off Amazon.

The Vmax VX4 is a solid scooter with good water resistance and arguably best in class turn signals. Solid acceleration too, it handles Seattle hills just fine, so NYC should be no problem. Top speed of 25mph, so it barely hits your speed requirement, but everything else on your list it solidly checks. Half a year ago I would've recommended the Kaabo Mantis X, but it died on me 4 months in due to water damage from taking it out in the rain, so yeah... Nope