Segway Ninebot eKickscooter Zing E10 review

Some youth e-scooters stand out from the crowd, and Segway’s Ninebot eKickscooter Zing E10 is one of them.  With multiple riding modes, great functionality and a lightweight foldable design, this scooter is bound to provide years of fun and performance.  At $229, it’s a little more expensive than other youth scooters, but provides advanced features such as underdeck lighting and water-resistant electronics. The Zing E10 is a great fit for both beginner and intermediate riders.

For this Segway Ninebot Zing E10 review, Mia, our energetic and opinionated 7-year-old, tested the scooter for four weeks in all different riding environments to see if it deserved a spot on our best electric scooters for kids page.

Segway Ninebot eKickscooter Zing E10 review: Price and availability

The Zing E10 originally went on sale in 2021, but as of 2024, is being phased out. In its place is the Zing E12 ($329, Walmart), which is made for kids 8-14, has a top speed of 11.2 miles per hour, and a range of about 6.2 miles.

The Zing E8 ($199, Amazon)  is designed for kids ages 6-12, and comes in two colors, pink and blue. It has a top speed of 8.7 miles per hour, and a range of about 6.2 miles.

Newer models also include the Segway C2 ($249, Amazon), which as a top speed of 9.9 MPH and a range of 6.8 miles, and the Segway C2 Pro ($299, Amazon), which has a top speed of 12.4 MPH, a range of 9 miles, a built-in Bluetooth speaker, ambient lights that can be synced with your music, and an intelligent voice assistant.

Segway Ninebot eKickscooter Zing E10 review: Design

With a sleek gray body, blue racing stripe and color-changing under-deck LED lighting, the Ninebot Zing E10 is a sharp looking scooter. “I adore the lights and wish there were more colors,”  Mia said. The scooter has a long deck and 33.5-inch high handlebars measured from the top of the deck, making it best suited for riders within the 4’3”-5’3” height range.

Segway was able to squeeze an impressive 6-mile range and a strong motor into a remarkably light 18.7-pound unit.

Unlike the Razor E100, the Ninebot Zing E10 is foldable, making it convenient to store and carry when not in use.  “I like that it folds and is easy to pick up.” said Mia.  However, the foot-operated ‘folding pedal’ button on the frame required considerable pressure to release.  After many attempts, Mia was unable to apply enough pressure to get the scooter to fold.  It was even difficult for her full-grown father to get the lock to release, but it became easier over time to the point where Mia could do it. Thankfully, getting it to unfold and click back into riding position again was relatively easy for Mia.  

A green, yellow & red battery indicator is visible on the side of the scooter to tell the rider how much charge is left.

Segway Ninebot eKickscooter Zing E10 review: Setup

Assembly of the Ninebot E10 was very straight-forward and took less than 5 minutes. In fact, there were only two screws that required tightening in the whole process. Upon inspection, the scooter appeared to be in great shape — it was very solid and had no loose parts after assembly. After a four-hour charge time, it was ready to go.

Despite the great features and easy assembly, the instructions on how to get the Ninebot Zing E10 started were severely lacking and incredibly frustrating. The instructions say “Please activate the scooter before your first ride.” However, it doesn’t tell you how to do that. Simply turning the scooter on is not enough to make it work the first time. If you look around the scooter, there is a tiny QR Code sticker on the handle bars that says ‘Scan to Activate’, but the code never worked despite trying two different code readers.  I went online to get the answer, and apparently I was not alone. There were whole discussion threads devoted to figuring out how to get it started. I eventually found partial instructions in the Q&A section of Amazon’s Segway Ninebot Zing E10 page and finally got it activated.

Once it was activated, I didn’t realize that the initial speed was limited to 6.2 mph despite toggling between riding modes. Mia got pretty frustrated that it was so slow. I thought maybe it was defective, so we turned it off and we tried it again an hour later. This time, the full power of the Ninebot E10 was unleashed and Mia was able to cruise at 10MPH with a big smile on her face.

Why the activation instructions are not included with the user-manual is beyond me. For your reference, the official activation instructions from Segway are copied below:

• Power On: Turn on E10, The buzzer will sound, indicator light will flash. Until activated, the vehicle is initially locked in at 3.1 mph.
• Activate: Press the accelerator and brake at the same time until you hear two beeps. Then, release the accelerator and brake. Once it has been activated, the alarm and the indicator light will stop, the speed limit will be set at 6.2 MPH.
• Restart: Restart the E10 by holding the power button to turn off, and then press again to turn on.

Segway Ninebot eKickscooter Zing E10 review: Performance

It was now time to witness the power of this fully activated and operational e-scooter. The Zing E10 has a thumb operated throttle control and two braking options. You can either use the standard foot brake or its EBS energy recovery handbrake that charges the batteries while slowing down the scooter. 

The user can toggle between three riding modes; Turbo, Cruise or Safe.  Turbo mode has a top speed of 10 mph and is controlled by the throttle.  Cruise mode is a hybrid-scooting mode where your speed is determined by how fast you can kick your scooter, with a max speed of 10 MPH.  Safe mode is for beginners with a maximum throttle speed of 6.2 MPH.  Each mode has its own unique LED light display under the deck that can be seen at night.  “I like that it has a slow mode to learn, and then you can change it to go fast,” Mia said, adding that the buttons were easy to use.

The Zing E10 worked very well on every terrain Mia could find and could even handle moderate hills with ease. It was perfect for going around the neighborhood, buzzing down our farm road and across our lawn. Its quiet motor made it easy for Mia to hear traffic and her parents. Mia had to get used to controlling her speed on tight turns, but eventually got the hang of it. 

The Zing E10 features front suspension and Mia was impressed with the smooth ride that it offered. “It doesn’t hurt my hands when I drive down our road,” she said. The screws on the handlebars had to be tightened twice over the period of a month as the scooter was broken-in while riding over rough roads. 

The fact that this scooter is water resistant was a relief to both Mia and myself, “If you’re going around the block and it starts to rain, you can still use it to get home without breaking” she said.  No matter how much you tell kids to avoid puddles and wet grass while scooting, they will eventually ride through some.  It’s nice to know that the scooter won’t short-circuit if that happens.

Segway Ninebot eKickscooter Zing E10 review: Safety features

As a parent, there are some safety features I feel are missing from this scooter. Although the Zing E10 has all the figurative bells and whistles you could want in a scooter at this price range, it lacks the literal ones. It would be nice if it had a horn or bell feature to alert other riders. There are no reflectors on the front or the sides of the scooter, giving it limited visibility to traffic as it gets dark. The underdeck ambient lighting is nice and looks cool, but forward and rear-facing lights would provide greater safety benefits.

Segway Ninebot eKickscooter Zing E10 review: Verdict

The Segway Zing E10 is a dependable, rugged, and all-around great electric youth scooter. Once you get past the confusing activation process, this scooter offers just about everything a beginning and intermediate rider would want. It has quickly become Mia’s favorite scooter, and is one of the best electric scooters for kids.

If you’re looking for a scooter for a younger rider, Segway does offer the Ninebot E8, which is slightly smaller and offers a top speed of 8.7 MPH. 

At $229, the Segway Ninebot eKickscooter Zing E10 is more expensive than many of the other best electric scooters for kids, most of which cost between $100 to $150. But if you’re looking for an electric scooter that can grow with your child, it’s worth the investment. And, once they grow up, you can get them Segway's electric go-kart.