The Xiaomi Ninebot Plus Scooter Arrives Today
The autonomous scooter will outperform previous models.
Chinese tech giant Xiaomi rang in the debut of its autonomous, self-balancing scooter, the Ninebot Plus, with a dreamy promotional video on Monday, complete with young couples in love, dramatic fog machines, and Corgies.
The scooter will be available for purchase in the the Xiaomi China market on Tuesday, according to Xiaomi’s initial announcement about the new scooter made two weeks ago.
The new scooter will have a higher top speed, a longer battery life that increases the scooter’s range from 13 to 21 miles per charge, and will have several new features. For example, in addition to the remote control that came with the Ninebot Mini, the NineBot plus will be able to follow you around autonomously.
The Ninebot Plus improves upon the company’s Ninebot Mini, which was released in 2015.
It can also be outfitted with a high-quality, wide-angle camera on the deck to photograph or film whatever it is you’re doing (“just don’t point it upwards,” advises Xiaomi). In the promo video released on Monday, the company shows off the camera taking some sick knee-level footage of some teens doing skateboard tricks.
Ninebot acquired Segway back in 2015, and since then has been using their technology developing new self-balancing vehicles. While the new Ninebot Plus claims to improve upon the Mini, it remains unclear whether or not the new design will improve upon some of the older model’s glitches — which include faulty Bluetooth connectivity that can make it difficult to unlock the device.
Until someone takes the scooter for a spin, we won’t know whether these problems have been fixed since the Ninebot Mini came out two years ago, or whether the autonomous functioning (which you can use to carry your bags if you feel like walking) will have similar issues.
