Hover-1 Alpha Electric Scooter Review

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The Hover-1 Alpha is an entry-level scooter. At least that’s what it says on paper. You don’t often see $400 scooters with large pneumatic tires and 400W motors. So the Hover-1 Alpha is an interesting find.

In this Hover-1 Alpha review, we’ll unravel the electric scooter to decide whether it’s a rare entry-level find. Or is it a mediocre scooter hidden behind a strong build and good ride quality?

MSRP: $450

Overview

To Whom?

At its current price, the Hover-1 Alpha scooter has ‘beginner’ written all over it. It has very good tires, but there’s no suspension system. That tells you that it’s not built for rough roads, even though it does a good job of muting bumps.

You can consider it if you want a comfortable and inexpensive scooter that will get you from point A to B. Bear in mind that it’s a heavy scooter to carry.

Hover-1 Alpha Specs

Where to Buy Hover-1 Electric Scooters?

• Amazon
• Official Hover-1 Online Store

Performance

Speed and Acceleration

The surprises start with the Hover-1 Alpha’s top speed. The manufacturer claims that it tops out at 18 MPH (the onboard speedometer won’t go higher than this). Yet some user tests show that it’s a few miles faster.

With enough road to speed up, it has a top speed of 21 MPH. To put that into perspective, the proclaimed “best scooter on the planet,” the Xiaomi MI M365, has a top speed of 15.5 MPH.

The advantage comes from its beefier 400W brushless motor. It is more powerful than you’ll get from any other scooter at this price point.

Acceleration is good, but it’s not “soul-lurchingly” good. You can’t expect that from a budget scooter like this, which can only manage 0 – 15 MPH in just over four seconds (still perfect).

Battery and Range

You’ll be able to get between 9 – 12 miles of range from the Hover-1 Alpha’s battery.

Switching from Sport Mode to Standard Mode will make it even slower, but it will extend your range by a few more miles. However, it’s going to be a sluggish ride at top speeds of 12 MPH.

Charging the battery from dead to full will take 4 – 6 hours, which is decent even for a daily commuter.

Brakes

The Hover-1 Alpha only has one brake, and it’s not very good.

The rear disc brake is controlled by a lever on the left handlebar. It feels too weak even after tweaking it, and that’s a problem because this scooter is quite fast.

Many users have had to drag a foot along in a last-minute attempt to stop in time. In other words, this is not a scooter that will stop on a dime.

Design and Features

Build Quality

Despite its shortcomings, the Hover-1 Alpha electric scooter is remarkably built. It feels solid from the handlebars to the rear fender and boasts a spacious build.

The stem is thick and wobble-free, and the deck feels strong and stable. It almost feels like it can carry more than the recommended 264 pounds.

Grip tape adorns the top side of the deck to give you traction when your shoes are wet or dirty.

The folding mechanism is simple and very secure. But the thick stem may need two-handed lifting, especially if you have small hands.

Functioning front and rear lights are part of the package, but the LED-lit X logo on the deck will be far more noticeable.

It has some of the best wheels you’ll see at this price point. It’s also worth noting that the fenders do their job well.

Is Hover-1 Alpha Waterproof?

Disappointingly, the Hover-1 Alpha scooter lacks an IP rating. Its lack of water protection makes it very vulnerable when riding in wet conditions.

As such, you should avoid riding in the rain or over puddles as much as possible.

Portability

The folding mechanism brings down the stem towards the deck, after which you can hook it up to the rear fender. It’s a design that works, especially since your biggest concern will probably be the scooter’s height.

When folded, the length and the weight remain the same (36.2 pounds), so it’s still on the larger side. Therefore, it’s safe to say that it’s not very portable.

Wheels and Tires

The Hover-1 Alpha has excellent wheels. They’re 10-inch air-filled tires that do a great job of damping bumps.

They’re so good that you’ll barely notice the lack of a suspension system if you never go off-road.

Pneumatic tires can get flats, but other than that, they’re always the better choice. They just dramatically improve ride quality.

Cockpit

The left side of the cockpit features the brake lever, while the right side has a simple thumb throttle.

The display sits at the center and shows the scooter’s battery life, riding mode, and speed, albeit with some level of inaccuracy.

The thumb throttle, hard as it is to imagine, is a nightmare.

Its position demands that you constantly flex your hand to apply pressure with your thumb, which earns you hand cramps every few minutes.

Other than that, it’s a pretty standard cockpit.

Ride Quality

The Hover-1 Alpha is very comfortable to ride on asphalt, pavement, and other smooth surfaces. The large pneumatic wheels help a lot.

They’re wider, so the scooter rides more stably. Thanks to the air cushion, you won’t feel most bumps (in the least, they won’t vibrate your wrists and ankles to death).

These wheels offer better control at speed since the tires conform to the road surface to provide a more secure grip.

The wobble-free stem keeps it turning briskly, and you can nimbly weave your way in and out of crowds with relative ease.

Though the manufacturer may have skimped on some necessities, it’s almost worth it because the ride quality is excellent at this price.

Customer Reviews

Positive Reviews

• Easy to assemble – Only 4 screws to attach
• Good hill climbing ability.
• Pneumatic tires make the riding smoother.
• Good top speed – 18mph as promised in the spec sheet. Some even say that it goes faster than 20mph.

Negative Reviews

• Poor customer support – Many customers have said that they got no response from support. Some say that it took several weeks before Hover-1 support replied.
• Impossible to remove a rear tire – It is really hard to repair a flat tire because the motor is in the rear wheel hub and it’s impossible to disconnect a throttle cable.
• Brakes are too soft.
• Some problems with build quality – There are some 1-star reviews that say that scooter broke down within the first week of use. However, most of the comments are couple of years old.

Comparisons

Hover-1 Alpha vs Journey

Since Hover-1 Alpha costs about $100 more, it has some advantages over its smaller brother Hover-1 Journey.

Alpha is more powerful and is also capable to reach higher top speed. Another pro of Hover-1 Alpha is bigger tire size. Since none of those scooters have suspension, 10-inch tires provide much better ride quality than 8.5-inch tires.

However, Hover-1 Journey trumps the Alpha in terms of range. With Hover-1 Journey, you can enjoy 4 miles longer journey than with Alpha.

Also, the Journey is a bit more portable because it weighs about 7 pounds less than the Alpha.

Hover-1 Alpha vs Alpha Pro

Alpha and Alpha Pro are basically the same scooters except for some minor differences.

Alpha Pro has a little bit bigger motor but it doesn’t add anything to top speed, which is the same 18 mph. However, Alpha Pro has a little bit better mileage.

Also, Alpha Pro has much better brakes. In addition to one mechanical disc brake, Alpha Pro has an electric disc brake at the front, which improves the stopping power.

Hover-1 Alpha vs TurboAnt X7 Pro

It seems that we have a clear winner here and it is not the hero of this article. TurboAnt crushes Hover-1 in almost all categories.

Hover-1 Alpha has a more powerful motor and 1 hour shorter recharge time and that’s it. TurboAnt X7 Pro rocks every other category.

X7 Pro has slightly better top speed but a much better range. You can ride with TurboAnt X7 Pro almost double the distance Hover-1 Alpha can.

In terms of stopping power, Hover-1 has nothing to put against the X7 Pro. TurboAnt has 3 different brakes, while Hover-1 has just 1.

Alpha is about $100 cheaper and we still think that it is worth the money. But if you have that extra hundred, we would recommend TurboAnt X7 Pro.

Hover-1 Alpha Review Conclusions

The Hover-1 Alpha is what you get when you want to spend less for speed and comfort.

At its current price, it offers incredible value to casual riders and last-mile commuters.

There’s no ignoring the lack of suspension or the sub-par braking. You can almost forgive these omissions when you realize that it’s faster and almost as comfortable as the M365.

Overall, buying the Hover-1 Alpha is money well spent, but only if you know not to expect too much.

Rachel Best

A freelance writer and copywriter.