Review

Introducing Boosted’s New $750 Electric Skateboard – Mini & Dangerously Buyable

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Smaller than its older brothers, and cheaper too – The Boosted Mini has it all going for it.

While ‘hoverboards’ have mostly come and gone, electric scooters literally litter the streets of San Francisco, but the most iconic electric last-mile transportation device is most likely the orange-wheeled Boosted Board. Up until now, you’d only find the electric skateboard in one form factor: the big ol’ 38-inch longboard that would easily set you back a grand. The barrier to entry has now been dropped considerably with the board’s cheaper, smaller little brother: the Boosted Mini.

The announcement by Boosted covered a whole new third generation of boards, but we found the Mini the most compelling. In relation to its traditional longboard predecessor, the Mini is a significantly smaller ‘cruiser’ style board; at 29.5 inches, it’s approximately the length of a board you’d find Tony Hawk riding. If you’re six-foot, it’s short enough to carry vertically by the front wheels without scraping the ground. Despite it’s small size, transportation is still key in its design. The wide board curves up either side to lock your feet in position, while the kicktail is designed to help you over the occasional curb (but not necessarily to ollie up onto rails).

Importantly, the most significant specs of the bigger, second-gen Dual+ are kept in the Boosted Mini. It still has dual-motor belt-drive wheels with a range of up to 7 miles. The 20% max grade, and 18mph top speed are a little lower than its big brother, but smaller boards aren’t suited to higher speeds anyway. Most exciting of all however, is the price. At a mere $750, the Mini is the cheapest board Boosted have made so far, and falls into the sweet spot where it costs as much as you’d pay for an off-contract smartphone.

Along with the new smaller Mini, the rest of Boosted’s lineup has received a refresh, splitting small & large boards into standard & pro variants. The Mini X, the $1000 version of the standard Mini, comes with a slightly higher top speed and twice the range. Out of the gate, both of the new 38-inch boards feature a 14-mile range, while the premium Boosted Stealth comes with an all-time high top speed of 24mph, frankly too fast for all but the real speed demons out there.