What to look for when buying a hoverboard?

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This is the must have tech gift this Christmas. Hoverboards are flying off the shelf, and they’ve been selling far better than anyone expected. Many people thought they were going to be like the Segway. Lots of promotion but very little people actually going out and using them. This is not the case with the hoverboard – also known as the self-balancing scooter.

hoverboard

Many large multi national corporations have been hesitating to introduce the hoverboard because of safety concerns. We have seen stories from the United States of America where people have left their devices charging in their homes, before short circuiting and bursting into flames, causing great injury and distress. These tales coupled with videos appearing on YouTube of people seriously hurting themselves has also not given retailers that much confidence in the product. Many of them would be worried about a potential lawsuit from a customer who injured themselves on the device. There would be reputational aswell as great financial loss to these companies. Because of the lack of big retailers taking these self balancing scooters to market, this has left many independent stores directly importing these hoverboards from China to sell in their stores. Because these independent stores and individuals don’t have big budgets for health and safety, often sub standard hoverboards are sold.

buying a hoverboard

Therefore, it is important to buy from a reputable retailer. Make sure the hoverboard passes all the safety checks in your country. The last thing you want to do is to use a defective product which may cause you lasting injury or damage your home. If you are giving the hoverboard to your child, make sure you buy them a helmet, elbow, wrist and knee pads. Everyone using these devices at first will fall over so it is important you are well equipped to deal with any falls.

buying a hoverboard

In terms of the hoverboard itself, make sure it can cope with long rides. Some of the cheaper hoverboards come with batteries which don’t last long and so can maybe only travel 10km. This may sound like a lot, but when the hoverboard can take many hours to charge, you don’t want to have to worry about the battery running out.

buying a hoverboard

Also, the speeds of these devices are quite similar. Therefore, focus on the distance the hoverboard can travel aswell as the battery quality. Keep a look out for devices which comes with a Samsung battery, as these are the best devices! Replacement batteries are expensive, so watch out!