Segway miniPRO Personal Transporter

BACKGROUND I owned a Segway X2 (the all-terrain, full size Segway) for almost 4 years. I loved riding the X2. The beefy tires softened all of the bumps and it was a total pleasure to ride. But I sold the X2 last week and used some of the funds from the sale to buy two miniPRO’s. Why? Because we needed something more portable. It’s a lot easier to transport two miniPRO’s than it is to transport one X2. And then there’s the battery replacement cost. The end of life for my X2 batteries was possibly in the near future. Replacing the battery in the X2 would set me back about $1,500-$1,900. Yikes! I understand that the miniPRO replacement battery is under $300. That’s a lot easier on the wallet. ORDER/SHIPPING/DELIVERY I was lucky enough to buy our miniPRO’s during Amazon’s Prime Day. No issues with the shipping and the units were delivered on the stated delivery day. The product box was inside a shipping carton that was inside the usual Amazon Smile box. That was nice because the box didn’t advertise that it contained a cool Segway. UNBOXING/BUILD QUALITY The unit was nicely packaged. I followed the instructions and when I powered up my miniPRO (white) I had a good/bad experience. The good was that I saw that the unit came fully charged (thank you Segway!). The bad was my unit had no working rear lights. The headlight worked fine. But the rear lights were totally dead…right out of the box. FAIL. I am used to the build quality of the USA built X2. The build quality of the miniPRO was what I would expect from this generation of Segway. I assume the miniPRO was built in mass quantity (in China). Although we hope that 100% of the units leaving the factory will be perfect, there’s a chance that some units will slip by that's not up to par. Unfortunately for me, I got one of those units. But I may have gotten two bad units. My wife’s black miniPRO has had a sporadic issue since we unboxed it. We are still trying to identify the source of the problem. At times, we can hear a scraping sound as if the tire is rubbing against the fender. It doesn’t always happen but only happens when a rider is on-board. Is it a tire/fender problem? We don't know at this point. Another issue happened, albeit minor, when I glided into the garage and stopped. Nothing harsh, nothing aggressive about the speed or “braking.” I just stopped and one of the red caps popped off the wheel. I examined the part and did not see any sign of damage. I popped it back on the wheel. No biggee. But why did it pop off? I guess that’s why they give us extras. If the caps are prone to pop off, that's a design flaw. I do feel that it needs a kickstand (I had one on my X2 – it was an option). I tried a Kensington lock in the miniPRO’s Kensington lock slot. The “T” on the Kensington lock did not protrude/extend out far enough so I could attach the lock to the miniPRO with the steering bar attached. The lock only worked when I removed the steering bar. Attention Segway: Are there compatible locks available today? CUSTOMER CARE I contacted the seller about the non-working rear lights. They gave me the phone number for Segway. I called Tech Support and learned that I was the first one to report dead rear lights. Oh, joy – lucky me. Segway had me complete a Service Request form. They said that one of two solutions would happen: 1) A new Segway would be shipped to me. Or 2) I would have to ship my Segway to their service center for repair. Personally, I feel that there’s only one solution - Segway should send me a new unit. After all, my unit was defective from the start. If my unit was within specs when I got it and later developed an issue during the warranty period, I could then see sending it in for repair. But a bad unit from the start should be replaced...automatically. As of this writing, I am waiting to hear if I have to send my miniPRO in for repair or if I can expect a new unit. [SEE UPDATE] SMARTPHONE REQUIREMENT Instead of using our iPhones with our miniPRO’s, we are using iPod Touches. I was concerned that we might drop the iPhone during a fall, or it might slip out of the hand, etcetera. So I’d rather drop an iPod Touch than an iPhone. The iPod works fine as long as you have iOS version 7 or later. (Oh, we are using Otterboxes on both the iPhones and iPod Touches.) THE RIDE I love riding the miniPRO. I did find that riding the miniPRO took a little more time to get comfortable as compared to learning the X2. For me, steering with my knees took time to get used to. Some reviewers have commented about how the miniPRO leans back when you go too fast - the lean back safety feature. The X2 has the same feature. But on a full size Segway, the handlebar pushes against your torso as the unit leans back to tell you to slow down. I have no problem with this feature. It is a unique feedback and there's no mistaking that it's triggered by going too fast. Without it, a person could continue to lean forward to a point where it exceeds the balancing capability of the miniPRO. The result is a face plant. I don’t aggressively accelerate so that lean back is gradual. If you’re thrown off because of it, I think it’s because you tried to go too fast, too hard. Slow down. [Please no comments about how the engineers could have used a different alert method. I'm just saying why the lean back feature works for me.] Some other reviewers have talked about the speed restrictions. I do wish that the miniPRO’s max speed was raised to 12.5 MPH. Maybe it will be in a firmware upgrade. Or maybe the Segway engineers found that 10 MPH was the top speed the unit can safely handle. Either way, for those miniPRO users in California, please note that the California Vehicle Code does specify that the maximum speed for an Electric Personal Assistive Mobility Device (EPAMD) is 12.5 MPH (see California Vehicle Code Section 313). So why doesn’t our miniPRO go that fast? I don’t know. Again, I wish it did. CONCLUSION It’s not an X2 nor was it meant to be. But at this price point and given the portability factor, Segway has a potential winner. I do miss my X2 but when it comes time to transport my EPAMD, I’m sure glad I have the miniPRO! But at this point I feel compelled to give a rating of only 3 stars based on my experience. Depending on how Segway or Segway’s service company addresses my issues, I will adjust my star rating accordingly. Stay tuned for my update. UPDATE 7/18 I received a shipping label from Segway's service company. It would appear that they want to repair the miniPRO instead of replacing it. As stated earlier in my original review, I do NOT find this as the appropriate solution. I would have to wait for the miniPRO to be shipped to Michigan, repaired, and then reshipped back to California. And they are using ground level shipping service versus an expedited shipping service. This means a down time of at least 2-3 weeks. Rating downgraded to 1-Star. I called Amazon and explained my situation. Because this was not sold by Amazon, a simple return/replace could not be done. I had to return the miniPRO for a refund only. Then I had to order another one at the $999 price. And then Amazon refunded the price difference. Thank you Amazon for stepping up to the plate and doing the right thing. UPDATE 7/19 The seller, Segway Distribution of North America, reached out to me. He admitted that a replacement should have been sent and apologized for the way my case had been handled. He made no excuses. Although he was a day late to my party, he was genuinely apologetic and wanted to make it right. I believe that SDONA understands that the success or failure of their business is dependent on customer feedback. Our society is too quick to blame others. Refusing to take responsibility seems to be the norm. So it was refreshing to see SDONA take ownership of the problem without excuses. This to me speaks volumes and my confidence in the company and the product is restored. I, therefore, have amended my rating. UPDATE 7/20 My replacement miniPRO is here. Unlike the first shipment, this one did not come in the Amazon Smile box. It was just the product box in the shipping carton. If you track your package and the shipping weight is around 42 pounds, then it should be in the Smile box. If the weight is about 38 pounds, it'll just be the shipping carton. Why does that matter? The Amazon box doesn't have any markings that would advertise that a Segway is in the box. The big news is that the rear lights on this one works. Yay!! UPDATE 7/21 – CAMERA ACCESS There’s a feature in the app that you may or may not know about. There are two screens (that I know about) that allows you to view a live view from your smartdevice’s rear camera while viewing the screens data as an overlay. So as you are reviewing the data, you can still see where you are going as long as you have your smartdevice pointed forward. Please note that I am using the iOS version and I allowed the app to access my camera. [I’m saying “smartdevice” because I am not using a smartphone. I’m using an iPod Touch.] When you are viewing the primary screen, tap the speedometer (right over the large numbers). Your camera will turn on; you turn it off by tapping the same location. This works whether you are moving or not. To switch to the secondary screen, swipe up from the ^ found at the bottom of the screen (above the device’s HOME button). To activate the camera you must be moving. Tap the speedometer (right over the large numbers). The camera will turn off when you stop. To return to the primary screen, swipe down starting at the speedometer (the large numbers).