Review: Razor EcoSmart Sup

The beauty of electric scooters, to me, is how they can pack down into relatively small bundles for easy storage in a closet or behind a door. And, as they often weigh less and are much smaller than electric bikes, they're not too difficult to roll into a grocery store, so you don't have to leave your expensive ride outside where it can get stolen.

Razor's EcoSmart Sup, geared for those aged 16 and up, opts for the complete opposite approach. At 63 pounds, it's as heavy as the fat-tired foldable ebike I'm testing. What's worse is you can't fold any part of the scooter, not even the handlebars, meaning it takes up a chunk of valuable real estate in my already tiny New York City flat. But there is no such thing as a one-size-fits-all electric scooter. These two facets, which are important to me, might not matter at all if you live in a suburban home with a garage.

If that's you, and you've been hunting for an effortless (and eco-friendly) way of getting around—even if that means just doing masked-up grocery runs as we wait for vaccines to arrive—then this e-scooter will satisfy.

Photograph: Razor 

Razor ships the EcoSmart Sup in one box, and it arrives mostly in one piece. You only need to attach the T-tube and front tire. The first part is easy, but my tester's tire didn't perfectly align with the front fork, so it required a good deal of force to put it in place. Razor says there's a spring button on the back of the fork steer tube to help with this alignment, but it didn't help me.

The “Sup,” by the way, is not Razor's version of "How do you do, fellow kids?" It's short for “stand up,” because this model is the standing version of the EcoSmart Metro, which has a seat and a rear rack with a basket. Standing on it is comfortable. The bamboo deck is very roomy; I can easily fit my feet side by side, though I usually opted for one foot in front of the other.

Unfortunately, the handlebar stem's height isn't adjustable. It comes up around 45 inches off the ground and is too short for my 6-foot-4 frame, so yes, I probably looked like the Hunchback of Notre Dame riding it. If you're shorter, like my partner, who's 5-foot-2, you'll have no trouble.

The best part of this e-scooter is the riding experience. The rear hub houses a 350-watt motor that can power up and over the small hills of Crown Heights, Brooklyn, just fine, and the rear brake does well to halt the whole thing immediately when a car decides to suddenly pull into the bike lane. The 16-inch pneumatic tires deliver a surprisingly stable and smooth ride, even when you're forced to ride on a milled road or you veer into a pothole.

You'll need to kick off to start the motor, but twisting the throttle on the handlebar, even when I was rolling, didn't always engage it. A quick second twist usually did the trick, but that meant I awkwardly had to kick off hard a few times at traffic lights. The top speed of this e-scooter is limited to 15.5 miles per hour, which is perfectly fine for the short trips it's designed for, but I missed cruising at 20 to 25 mph like I did on the EcoReco L5+ I tested a few months ago.

Nevertheless, I used it to get to the post office, get around Brooklyn for several photo outings when I needed to test phone cameras, and … well, that's about it. That takes me to my biggest problem with it.

Razor says you can get 12 miles, or up to 60 minutes of continuous use, with the EcoSmart. Naturally, this depends on factors like terrain and rider weight. At 215 pounds, I'm very close to the max weight recommendation for this e-scooter, which sharply cuts into its range.

Whereas I had no trouble visiting my parents on the aforementioned EcoReco (they're about 4 miles from me), I didn't dare try with the EcoSmart. I usually was able to get around 7 or 8 miles on it before it became too slow to ride, so my trips were often very short. I couldn't just go off and explore; it forced me to stay in the immediate vicinity of my home, which was not the best feeling when I've been feeling cooped up all year.

It doesn't help that there's no display showing precisely how much battery is left. All you get are two LEDs, Full and Low, that flicker from green to red when the motor is under high load (like when going up a hill). It'll slowly shift to red as the battery depletes, but that isn't a lot to go on. Will I make it home, or am I walking back? (Yes, I can still kick and roll my way back, but that requires a good deal of effort—this thing weighs 63 pounds, remember.)

More annoying is how long it takes to charge the battery. Razor recommends 12 hours (yes, hours). Considering its range is so short for me, that meant I always had it plugged in, even after the shortest of trips. Unlike a smartphone you forgot to plug in overnight, a quick hour of charging in the morning really won't add much juice.

One more gripe: The retractable kickstand is sturdy and keeps the EcoSmart propped up well, but you need to be very gentle when you kick it back up. It smacks the metal frame hard, a surefire way to wake up your neighbors or housemates when you take it out on a midnight ride.

Photograph: Razor 

Frankly, the EcoSmart Sup hasn't been all that fun. When I'm out riding it, I'm happy for the first 2 or 3 miles, but the farther I stray from home, the more anxious I get. And when I'm home, I'm thankful I live in a building with an elevator so I don't have to lug all 63 pounds of the nonfolding scooter up the stairs, but I'm resentful that I'm forced to store it in an inconvenient spot near an available outlet for 12 hours to juice it back up, since the battery isn't removable.

When it's charged, I can't store it under a couch or prop it up vertically against a wall. It's just there, taking up room like an uninvited guest. It's clear this e-scooter isn't built for me. It's for someone in the burbs who is shorter, weighs significantly less, and has a garage. If that's you, then you'll be happy with this relatively affordable way to get around.