TurboAnt X7 Pro E-Scooter Review: Should You Buy It?

Although the COVID-19 epidemic has made working from home more popular than ever, some of us still need to commute 5 days a week. As the summer drew in, I decided to give my car a break. Since public transport was out of the question, I decided that an electric scooter was the way to go.

After a bit of research and word of mouth, I bought the TurboAnt X7 Pro. 

Why? Because I wanted something inexpensive and simple to use but comfy enough and with plenty of power. 

Here’s what I think about this e-scooter after several months of daily use. 

TurboAnt X7 Pro Review: A Detailed Overview

Minimalistic Design

On the other hand, a detachable battery means you can easily replace the empty one and keep riding, and also charge it indoors.

Since the motor, the battery, and the controller are in front, there are no visible wires showing, which is a huge plus for me.

User-Friendly Display and Controls

And when I discovered that holding it for 10 seconds engaged the cruise control, I had a big smile on my face all the way home.

You need to cruise at a constant speed while doing it, though.

Pressing the second button on the throttle cycles between three ride modes:

Thanks to these three modes, the X7 Pro is a flexible and versatile platform. A good first e-scooter and a reliable commuter.

The LED display is set right in the center and is easy to read, even in strong sun. It gives me the essentials: speed, battery life, and the mode I’m riding in. 

Still, I’d like to see a battery percentage icon instead of the 5-bar charge status. 

Holding both throttle buttons while the scooter is powered up opens the “hidden menu” that lets me switch between mph and km/h, enable or disable automated cruise control, and limit the speed. 

This last option is especially interesting if you live in the UK or an EU country where the maximum legal speed for e-bikes and e-scooters is 20 km/h (12 mph). 

Top Speed and Acceleration

Across the European Union and some other places, e-scooters have an electronic limiter set at 15.5 mph. This is how your X7 Pro will be set right out of the box. 

And this is for Sports mode. In Eco, the max speed drops to 10 mph, and in Beginner, all the way to 6 mph. 

If you’d like more “horses” from your scooter, enter the hidden menu and set the limiter to the max, which should be somewhere around 20 mph (32 km/h).  

I also noticed that the maximum speed also depends on the battery charge — when the juice is down to 50%, the scooter struggles to go above 17 mph. At 25% charge, the speed caps down to 15 mph.

At this price range, the X7 Pro gives a solid acceleration of about 7.4 seconds for 0-15 mph. The acceleration curve is for the lack of a better word "conservative."

Even in Sports mode, it’s too slow for my liking. 

If you don’t have experience, this might be a problem and even a hazard in real heavy traffic. I’d very much appreciate it if there was a “hidden option” to unlock the acceleration, as well.  

A thing I noticed about the TurboAnt X7 Pro is that even at top speed, the motor is barely audible. Any noise you may hear while rolling down the street comes from the tires. 

Double the Range with a Spare Battery

If you need to drive in actual traffic as I do, you’ll be using Sports pretty much all the time. In that case, the maximum range drops at around 15-16 miles.

You may still ride beyond that mile marker, but the acceleration becomes horrible and you risk damaging your battery by forcing it to deliver on low voltage.

Now, on the upside, the X7 Pro has a removable battery pack, which allows me to double the range if I care to put the second one in my backpack.

I know people who regularly remove their scooter’s batteries when leaving them on the street, as an extra safety measure.

Going Uphill!

This is a feature you don’t think about until you need it. The math is simple — the more powerful the motor and the more aggressive the acceleration, the steeper inclines the scooter can handle. 

If you live in a hilly area, make sure to check the maximum incline the scooter can overcome.

I can confirm that the X7 Pro can make it up a 15° slope and, for the record, I weigh 171 pounds. I’m not so sure about handling inclines with the maximum rider weight of 275 pounds.  

On the other hand, I’m sure that as the battery charge drops, so does the climbing ability. 

To conclude, the TurboAnt X7 Pro handles hills just as well as any other e-scooter in this price range.

Three Ways of Braking

The main brake on the X7 Pro is a standard rear-wheel disc brake. Now, mine was a little weak right out of the box, but it wasn’t too difficult for me to tighten the pads and find the sweet spot. 

As with motor braking, this TurboAnt doesn't have the kinetic energy recovery system (KERS) which would use some of the braking force to charge the battery. 

Now, this is good news and bad news.

You lose battery regeneration, which is bad, but without KERS there is less resistance when you’re kicking the X7 Pro in manual mode with the motor off. I have to admit, it happened to me quite a few times while running errands around the town. And no-KERS has saved my skin. 

After all, when it comes to e-scooters, regenerative braking is more of a nice-to-have than anything else. 

Finally, if you ever need to come to a sudden stop, you can always hit the old rear fender, activating the unsophisticated but effective “foot brake.” 

Rides Smooth Without Springs 

The tires on the TurboAnt are tubed, which are more affordable than tubeless tires.

This decision, along with the lack of spring suspension are the ways the TurboAnt managed to squeeze a solid all-rounder into a budget e-scooter market.

Still, although 10-inch pneumatics offer decent shock absorption, this is by no means an off-road scooter. It will handle an average dirt track but nothing more than that.

Lights On!

As an upgrade from the X7 model, the X7 Pro comes with a decent 3W LED headlight that will help you navigate most urban scenarios. Still, if I was to ride through poorly lit streets on the way home, I’d invest in a more powerful headlight. 

The headlight has a default downward angle so you don’t have to worry about blinding the incoming traffic. 

There are reflective strips on both sides of the front and rear forks. 

The Pro version also has a brake light on the rear fender to warn the road users behind you that you’re slowing down. 

On the Portable Side

At 33 lbs, the X7 Pro is definitely on a more portable side. It folds at the stem so you can carry it.

However, if you had experience with deck-battery scooters, carrying one with a stem battery pack might come a little awkward.

On the bright side, you can always detach the battery and carry it separately.

If there’s anything I’d change portability-wise, it’s that handlebars fold as well. This way the whole package would take much less room.

Rain Rider

Before I tell you about the X7 Pro’s water resistance rating I have to tell you a story of how I got interested in e-scooters in the first place. 

A few years ago, I visited Israel with a couple of my friends. Whoever’s been to Israel can confirm that e-scooters are the way of life over there. Literally, everyone rides them: kids, soldiers, grannies, office people, you name it. 

The traffic is heavy and it’s hot, so I guess the e-scooter is the best way to get around. Then, one day it got overcast all over and heavy rain started. “I wouldn’t want to be in their skin now,” I thought as I was watching the rain from the safety of a covered coffee bar. 

Then out of nowhere, a lone rider appeared. They were wearing a biker-style jacket, a tightly wrapped shawl, and a full-protection motorcycle helmet — and just kept buzzing through the congested traffic, never minding the rain.  

At that moment, that person was the coolest living thing in Tel Aviv as they made slaloms between the halted cars. 

That’s when I decided I have to have an e-scooter one day. 

Back to 2021, our TurboAnt has a water-resistant rating of IPX4. In layman’s terms, it means that it protects against water splashes from all sides including low-pressure water jets. 

Built to Last

The regular TurboAnt X7 electric scooter was praised throughout the industry for its robust and user-friendly design. The new X7 Pro builds on that legacy and strikes the right balance between build quality and competitive price. 

The body of this action scooter is made of aluminum alloy that is a bit heavier than carbon fiber that we can see on some high-end scooters. On the other hand, the stem needs to be solid and sturdy enough to house the battery pack, so aluminum was a logical choice. 

I’ve read that some users complain of a rattle. Maybe the quality control has improved, or it was just the one I bought, but there is no rattle that you could expect in e-scooters in this market range. 

The folding mechanism is reliable as it can be — it consists of a clamp that locks the stem in place and a clamp cover that slides into place, making sure that the clamp doesn’t undo itself as you ride 

TurboAnt X7 Pro Benefits

Great Mileage

These scooters can go from 20 to 30 miles on a single charge. While it’s never the same actual mileage, depending on where I go and how much stuff I’m carrying in my backpack, the X7 Pro gives me plenty of travel time for commuting and going about my business. 

I definitely have nothing to complain about in that department, especially for the price I paid. Still, being a prepper from the earliest age, I leave nothing to chance and always pack an extra battery.

Yes, you can double and even triple your range with the TurboAnt thanks to the:

Removable Battery

I always carry an extra battery in my bag and never worry about running out of juice. This wasn’t even something I thought about when I started to research which e-scooter to buy. 

At first, I thought that all scooters have batteries molded into their decks and that the only way to charge one is to run your scooter inside, to the nearest AC outlet.

With a second battery in waiting, my scooter is ready for weekend explorations.

I have nothing to hide — the removable battery was one of the biggest features that swung me to the X7 Pro. 

My tip is to replace the battery whenever the capacity drops to a single bar. 

This way your battery will last longer and you’ll have more responsive acceleration for evading traffic. 

Fast Charging

The battery takes between 4-6 hours to charge. This is in the upper range of all e-scooters that I considered. 

There’s no magic to it: the lower the capacity, the faster the charging, but also the shorter the range. 

For example, the Xiaomi M365 Pro and Pro2 have a similar maximum range but take up to 8 hours to charge. 

If you take your X7 Pro on vacation, you can effectively ride it all day as you explore new places — you have one battery running, another in your bag, and the third taking charge in your room. 

Comfortable Ride

I’m not ashamed to say that roads in my part of town are far from ideal. On my way to work I have to deal with cracked concrete, rolled or sunken asphalt, potholes, you name it. 

And then there are those “Lego” tiles which are immensely helpful for visually impaired people, but a punishment to scooter riders. 

I haven’t owned an e-scooter before this one, but I have tried several of my friends’ ones. Believe me when I say that neither of them came even close to the X7 Pro in the comfort department. 

The 10-inch wheels and tubed tires bring on a whole new level of plushy ride. 

These things are smooth!

Water Resistance 

If you read my short story about the encounter in Israel you can tell that I was impressed by the fact that these scooters are pretty much all-weather transport. 

I may get wet and soaked all over, but my TurboAnt shakes water like a duck off its back.

It’s not like I enjoy riding in the rain, but more about knowing that I can leave it locked outside in any weather. 

The IPX4 water rating also means resistance to low-pressure water jets. Yet, I don’t advise you to use a pressure washer on your scooter. 

TurboAnt X7 Pro Shortfalls

Deck Grippy but Narrow

The first complaint I have to make about this scooter is concerning the deck. Since the battery is in the stem, the deck has good clearance, but it’s too narrow for my taste. It’s 5.5 inches wide, which isn’t enough for an adult to stand comfortably. 

Luckily, it’s 17.5 inches long so I learned to use the “skateboard stance”, which also gives the best stability. 

On the other hand, if you like to put both feet next to one another, you may try several other models. 

This isn’t a dealbreaker for me, but just a small annoyance.

On the upside, the deck is super-grippy, covered with quality silicone rubber. 

Jerky Disc Brake

As I already said, the rear disc brake came a little loose on my X7 Pro, so I had to tighten it up. It lets me stop at low to medium speed, and has a good response. 

However, sometimes I still feel that it could use a bit more traction. Sure, there’s always the “emergency” fender brake, but even at this price range, I’d expect TurboAnt to offer a better quality brake. 

Pro braking tip: The rear brake seems to have a better grip if your weight is towards the rear. If I want a more effective main brake, I was told to take the active rider stance (bend my elbows and knees and balance weight over my rear leg).

Front-Heavy

Unfortunately, the stem battery placement that I like very much creates another issue — much of the weight is in the front. I’ve only ridden scooters with deck-mounted batteries and I found them much easier to ride in the beginning, because their center mass is much lower.  

To say the truth, this front-heavy design isn’t such a big deal, but I’m a little biased here:

On one occasion, the battery on my scooter died and I haven’t bought a second one yet. To cut the long story short I had to push the scooter uphill and it kept tipping over, driving me mad. 

I felt as if I was walking a stubborn dog that keeps lying down every once in a while.  

I guess that is the same case with all e-scooters with stem-mounted batteries. 

Pros and Cons Summary of the TurboAnt X7 Pro 

Comparing TurboAnt X7 Pro with Other Popular Electric Scooters

FAQ

The TurboAnt X7 Pro: Should You Buy It?