a Roomba with more Torque than your eScooter - King-Song 14D Pro Review
In this video
Links may earn 2outube a commission
KingSong 14D Pro — Great starter wheel, very decent price, quintessential micro-mobility
↗
Nami Burn-E scooter — Comparable incline performance to 14D Pro
↗
KingSong S19 — Big wheel with advanced functions
↗
KingSong F18 — Big wheel with advanced functions, magnesium shell
↗
Inmotion V11 — Heavier, but more performance, range, sturdiness; used more often
↗
Summary
This video reviews the KingSong 14D Pro electric unicycle, comparing it to its predecessor and other micro-mobility devices. It highlights improvements like a smart BMS, faster charging, and an upgraded motherboard, while also noting areas that could be better, such as lighting and the axle.
Key points- The KingSong 14D Pro is presented as a quintessential micro-mobility device that is small, portable, and suitable for all weather conditions.
- The wheel features a 420 watt-hour battery, offering a range of 20-30 km and a top speed of 30 km/h, with ample torque for inclines.
- Improvements on the Pro model include a smart BMS with cell voltage monitoring and temperature sensors, a faster charging option via a GX16-3 port, and an upgraded motherboard with features like Apple Find My.
- The pedals have been enlarged and feature milled-in studs, though the side pads are criticized for being uncomfortable and difficult to remove for maintenance.
- While the display is a welcome addition, its execution is described as an afterthought, and the lighting system, though featuring RGB, is not angle-adjustable and could be brighter.
- The wheel retains a plastic construction and a less robust axle compared to newer performance wheels, and the trolley handle, while functional, has potential durability issues.
Chapters
Notable quotes (4)
“And the KingSong 14D Pro is much faster than a robot vacuum.”
“I think this wheel is quintessential micro-mobility.”
“This is something that even e-bikes struggle with. 14D Pro does this exceptionally well.”
“I am uh I'm genuinely very impressed. Very, very impressed.”
0:00At first glance, it might look like a robot vacuum. But compared to a Roomba, this doesn't suck. Come on. Do something. Not only that, the KingSong 14D Pro is much faster than a robot vacuum. And in addition to that, it's much better than its predecessor, the 14D. Don't worry, I got my drone back and I enjoyed the KingSong 14D Pro a lot.
0:32So today, I'm going to tell you more about this. >> [music] >> First up, huge thanks to my eWheels for letting me test this wheel out and a bit brighter and check it out for quite a while. If you want to get a wheel like this in Europe, feel free to check out their site. It's linked in the description. I should have done this video really a long time ago. It's a long overdue, so stuff happens, long pipeline of reviews, so that's why we do it today. Full disclosure here, this is not my personal wheel. I just got it loaned by my eWheels and then I'll send
1:11it away. And [snorts] all of the opinions in this video are strictly my own. And if this wheel is full of you'll find out about it. And if it's the first time on my channel, feel free to drop a like, subscribe, and if you haven't ever seen an electric unicycle before, then just comment Roomba. I think this wheel is quintessential micro-mobility. It's small, it's portable, it's great in all weather, it's not that expensive, and in this form factor and this weight, it's hard to get more micro. And even with the original 14D being released well over 5 years ago, I still do think that this form factor is very important in
1:55the electric unicycle market. It comes equipped with a marijuana-sized battery, 420 watt hours, which should give you a range of between 20 to 30 km, a top speed of 30 km an hour, and actually plenty of torque. >> What is this torque for? Well, if you have a steep incline, you just can't get up the incline. This is something that even e-bikes struggle with. 14D Pro does this exceptionally well.
2:21>> All right, so this is my 25° incline. I don't think there'll be any issues, either. Plenty of a power reserve, actually, on this wheel. Unthinkable in the scooter world at this price. Backwards. No problem. Very smooth, actually. >> And you do need that torque in order to stay upright on the wheel. So, for heavier riders jumping from the 14D to the 14D Pro, you will feel a lot more power reserve on this wheel. And if you're coming from a scooter like this Bolt scooter, well, you are in for a treat because the 14D Pro, well, I have to test the maximum incline level, and it's as steep as the Nami
3:07Burn-E scooter. Check this out. >> How was your ride? Bad. Just don't like it, really. All right, so I wasn't thinking I'd be going here. This is my 35° incline. Without pads, without knee pads, so not a good idea. So, let's do it, I guess. >> And just for reference, this is the scooter in question. I know this video is ages old, but still, it just goes to show you that we are comparing a like 40-50 kg scooter with like I know, 5,000 watts of power to 14 kilo Roomba. And then with my phone in my hand, so very, very genius, so I can actually speak to the microphone.
3:51Let's see if it goes up. 35 Oh my god, it does. I went up a 35° slope on a 14D. Okay, time to go down, I guess. And on the Nami, I didn't go down. Insane. Okay, the Pro is definitely stronger than the 14D. Oh my god, that's actually very crazy. At this low speed? I am uh I'm genuinely very impressed. Very, very impressed.
4:22Don't be expecting to always use up the 25 km range. I mean, usually you just get this thing around the block, like 5 km, 10 km tops. If you want to go further, I mean, just use something else. This is not that comfortable. But hey, if you are really committed, you can do it. And you can actually quick charge this one.
4:41I'll talk about this later. I'll talk about this later. Now, of course, it is more difficult to learn how to ride an electric unicycle, but it is also more rewarding. And with your scooter, you always need to get off from it. You need to leave it somewhere. And with this guy, I mean, if it's safe, you can just ride inside, push it around, and you have your hands free. So, once you get your packages, you don't need anywhere to store them. You can just grab them into your hands and go.
5:10It's really a wheel perfect for those small tasks. If you just need to get around the block, grab something small, don't get a sweat on, and most importantly, you don't need to lock this thing anywhere. You just take it with you. It's a bit like a folding bicycle, but you only need to fold the pedals, or you can just push it around with the use of the trolley handle. It even works up a slope and down a slope. Or you can easily carry it down a set of stairs because it weighs pretty much as much as a usual city bike. Now, I'm not talking about like a lightweight Brompton or
5:49something, but 14.6 kilos really ain't that much. And you don't need to lube the chain, of course. Hate lubing a chain. Now, the opinion varies in terms of this being a good starter wheel. Some say you need a bigger wheel, some say this is right. For me personally, I do like this and with the bigger wheels, you can't do this.
6:13I mean, yeah, it's a bit tougher to push around a heavier cart, but I mean, it's kind of cool, isn't it? But since I already did do a review on the 14D, uh go check out that video if you want to find out more about like the form factor of this wheel, how it behaves. But don't go watching this other video now. Watch this one till the end first because that's what YouTube cares about and then watch the other one.
6:47Because yeah. Yeah. Just Just trust me, bro. Or sis. In today's video, I will tell you about eight things that have improved on the 14D Pro compared to the 14D and eight things that didn't improve that I would have liked to be improved, if that makes sense. So, yeah, let's let's just get into it. So, the first thing that has improved on the 14D Pro is that we finally get a smart BMS.
7:19Uh what that means is that you can check the voltages of the individual cell sets in the wheel. So, you can make sure that the wheel is in okay electrical shape and the battery pack is healthy. Additionally, there's even temperature sensors on the battery. I believe even a temperature sensor on the motor. Yeah, temperature sensor. A while ago, even very expensive Leaperkim didn't have that. And now the almost cheapest KingSong wheel has a smart BMS, all the temperature sensors, and also a UL certification. Nice. The second improvement comes in the charging department. Now, the stock charger is still the same, 3 to 4 hours for a full
7:55charge, but now with the GX16-3 port here, we can actually fast charge it up to 5 amps. So, under an hour for a full charge, perfect for going to visit another city, charge while you eat because this is just so inconspicuous, and then keep on riding. The third improvement that we got is a all new board. And essentially what that means is that all of your functions from the big wheels like the S19, F18, etc. are mostly also available in um the 14D Pro as well. So, you have acceleration assist, you have uh Apple Find My. I believe I made this a separate feature, but oh well.
8:40And some other nice goodies, and I guess it's more stable main board to top it all off. >> Oh, no, no, no, no. There is actually a lot more to this because this board has more powerful upgraded MOSFETs, which means that there's a lot more power reserve on this wheel compared to the 14D. This thing, well, it just flies, and it can do very steep incline. So, even for heavier riders, power speaking, speaking of power, I can also recommend this wheel. Awesome.
9:12>> The pedals have been also uh improved. They are much bigger now. They're much wider. A they and they have those milled in studs. I don't like them as much as MTB studs, but mostly they do the job well. They stay in place nicely. And yeah, it's a it's a nice improvement right there over the 14D. They did also update the side pads, but they updated them in a way that is absolutely horrifying. I have put just furniture tape onto it. And this is much better than the stock pads. The stock pads just make your calves cry. They're originally terrible, in my opinion. So, I did ride with the stock
9:54pads for a bit, but exactly this area here. Here, this one. It was digging into my calves so much. It was actually terrible. Like, without them, it's much better. And a downside of the design still is that you need to take off the pads to unscrew the side pieces. And the side pads are just glued with glue, instead of, you know, some sort of method that could be used a couple of times, instead of like re-gluing it every time you want to take the wheel apart.
10:24We also get Apple Find My now, so you can add it to your list of Apple devices and track it wherever you want to go, which is super awesome if you're a iPhone user, but not useful at all if you're an Android user. But, I guess I welcome the addition for all of the Tim Cook people. Man, I need to ditch my iPhone. I just I want an Android, but I got this because it makes good video.
10:51But, yeah. It has Apple Find My. We also get a display now, which is super bright. Shows you the speed or the battery if you're stationary. It also shows you how the battery is sort of charging when the wheel is plugged in. Super nice to have this addition, but honestly, the execution looks like a bit of a you know, afterthought. Just make a hole in the wheel and then put a display into it. I hope it's like 100% water resistant. The wheel should be, but it just doesn't feel that premium. I'm super happy it's here, though.
11:28It's nice to see it in broad daylight. I would probably like to have some sort of dark cover over it so you don't see like all of the diodes. And in the night, if you just push this thing around and you want to have the lights off, this thing is like hyper bright. So, slightly annoying, but just a minor inconvenience. Would be cool though to have some sort of brightness setting for this thing.
11:49But yeah, a notable upgrade on the Pro. Because before we didn't have any display at all, only the side LEDs, which are still here on the 14D Pro. And the last upgrade that I've listed in my notes is stickers. Well, this thing is just packed with stickers now, I guess to distinguish it from the non-Pro. I don't really like them so much. Like, maybe the the the lines here are fine, but do I need such a huge KingSong logo?
12:18I don't know. It feels like one of those t-shirts that has just a too big logo. So, meh. All right, but what are the things that did not change that I would have liked to be changed or improved? Well, first up, it's got to be the lights. So, the KingSong 14D has those lights that work sort of both ways. You can have it this way or this way.
12:44And based on how you're balancing, which way you're riding, it will become a red light or a white light. It's not angle adjustable. So, if you tilt the EUC up, it will blind others. So, you need to sort of ride like this with the EUC down or in a hard mode in the night. And those lights are just like not as bright if you compare it to like the modern MOSFETs, Leaperkim wheels. So, yeah, the lighting department, front, back, definitely could be better.
13:11I do like the RGB still though. They move when you're riding, and uh they [clears throat] also showed you the battery level when stationary. Huh? KingSong always loved LEDs. Another thing that I miss on this wheel is a kickstand. Most of the small Begode wheels now do come with kickstands, but this thing you need to either lean against the wall or just put it down like a Roomba.
13:43So, yeah, would be nice to just have something where you could just lean the wheel back and have it stand. Like it sort of does now but it's not that sturdy. And the speed didn't improve either. If you look at the display here, I can actually technically select 35 km/h here. Let's see. Boom. Here. Boom. But, it doesn't actually allow me to keep it. So, if I go back and then I go into the speed setting once again, it's back to 30. So, it's not really faster, but it's also not slow either.
14:24And with cities getting more and more strict about speed limitations, it might be actually a good thing that No, officer, this wheel doesn't free spin 250 km/h. It's just a cute, quaint commuter. Please leave me alone. I lost all my other wheels. I just have one left. I am here to do no harm. Let me go. Come on. Like, what the hell are you doing? Like, you should be doing something else. Like, I'm just riding my wheel here. Okay, I got carried away.
14:54One of my biggest gripes with most of the older wheels, which have been improved by manufacturers, is that they don't come with a robust axle. They don't come with a hollow motor or a big steel axle, and this is the same thing. If you would look inside here, there's just like a thin shaft. And as we all know, we prefer thick, girthy shafts because they're just more sturdy. So, you don't jump with this wheel, and I guess the lifespan of such a cast iron axle, because it is sadly cast iron would be around, I guess, 10,000 km depending on how you ride, what's your weight, etc. I mean, we all know that
15:29this is a part that needs upgrading, and we all know that people are just annoyed by those axles. I don't know why KingSong didn't change them, but here we are. The trolley handle has not been upgraded either. Now, don't get me wrong, I love this trolley handle, and I love the design that you can just like pull on it, and then the lift switch engages, so you can lift up the wheel without uh spinning the motor.
15:54The thing is, though, that those things can break because they're mounted just by some metal clips on the inside, which are screwed in by Phillips head screws, and the whole shell is made out of plastic. So, over time, the handles might break. I think they could have improved the design just to make it uh maybe a bit more sturdy. With that said, I got to still give credit to KingSong because this Samsonite sort of inspired, I guess, design with the handle going also across is um is awesome to hold, well, if you're right-hand.
16:28And um yeah, very practical to just move the wheel around. Just make sure that you come to a complete stop before picking up the wheel. And another thing that I don't really, really don't like on this wheel, and Ninebot have been amazing at fixing this issue, is the valve access. Like, it's very difficult to put anything here. It's even hard to unscrew this valve cap.
16:52Uh it's a tube tire, and that is fine, but just to pump it up is a bit of a headache. So, if they would make it tubeless, or, you know, change the tire, or do something about this valve, it would be awesome because this is just a nightmare to put air into. Uh you just get like a extender, and your problem is pretty much mostly solved but yeah just quality of life things. Another thing that didn't change is that this wheel is mostly made out of plastic. Now, it is nice for weight and of course the parts are just a bit cheaper to replace, but
17:27does sound like plastic a little bit. However, like those wheels, especially from the inside, um if you look at the area here, here's like an L hanger, a metal piece that goes into the wheel and then is screwed onto the shell of the wheel. Those can break. There There can be also some other cracks from the inside if you crash on the wheel and crashes on a electric unicycle are sadly very probable. So, yeah, nice that it's cheap to replace, but those can crack, they can deform. You just need to make sure like every once in a while, especially if you crash, open it up and make sure that the wheel
18:03is still like doesn't have any cracks from the inside because this also compromises the water resistance. The newest wheels come with a design that is mostly based on a magnesium shell. Even those at KingSong, like the F18, and I think this design would be very beneficial to this wheel or at least have some sort of metal bracket around the L hanger in order to make this area a bit more safe and durable. And the last thing is a con, well, depending on the way you look at it.
18:31The charger is still what, 2 amps? So, it's not a fast charger. Uh well, it is a faster charger compared to scooters, definitely at this price price point. But, yeah, I would like to have something 3 4 amps, especially that the wheel now can take 5 amps. To make this feel really really like a portable wheel you can take on to some longer adventures as well when you go to a different city or even have the charger built into the wheel. But, still this has no fan.
19:01>> [music] >> It's very quiet and you can set up in the wheel when it stops charging. So, for example, 90% or 95% battery. So, yeah, just a con depending on the way you look at it. All right. So, these were the what? Almost 16 things that I wanted to mention in this video. Uh I have always been a big big fan of the 14D line.
19:24Always liked those wheels. I had like five of those basically because usually I buy them, I ride them, and then I give it to a friend of mine, and then give it for free for them to keep, or just borrow it for a long time, and then it just gets passed around at different new riders. It's a great starter wheel, and there is no better way uh to peer pressure someone into starting to ride a electric unicycle than to just give them one basically, or at least borrow them one.
19:56So, that's why I had so so many. I just gave them away or sold them for cheap so my friends could ride a wheel. Yeah. Anyway, with this one, it's a bit different actually because now we have the Inmotion V11 we have a bunch of new performance wheels that are getting lighter, and I found myself not using this wheel all that much just because it's I know it's 6 kilos heavier, the Inmotion V11, but I just use it more often even though it's heavier because it has more performance, a lot more range, and it also feels a a lot more sturdy. So, occasionally I still keep using this
20:33wheel if I need the absolute smallest thing ever, but at the same time sometimes at this point I just take my skateboard because, you know, uh it's even lighter than that. So, um I still find that this wheel has a purpose in the market. It's a micro mobility device. It's awesome to take into, you know, a shopping mall, and if you know that there will be like very little space somewhere, then you just take this wheel, and uh if you want to go to a train, you can basically fit it in a like overhead compartment, in a car, it it fits without any issues like
21:08behind the driver seat or behind the passenger seat. So, the form factor definitely makes sense and you know, there's space for wheels like this on the market, but I just found myself to use it less and less because I just make reals as well. I I go make groceries with either my bike or just walk there. It's walking distance for me, so I'm in a very favorable position right there. So, I don't really use this wheel all that much as I thought I would. But for a certain use case, like this wheel is still very awesome.
21:42You got to be careful with it. You don't push it downstairs. You don't make tricks with it except for flat ground tricks. Yeah, I'm happy that KingSong keeps making it, but really it's about time to make something new, KingSong. It's about time to make like a nice upgrade. Might be more expensive then because this is just 600 euro and for a wheel, I think that's a very very decent price. So, yeah. A lot of information.
22:07Take from it what you want to take from it. And if you're still here, leave a like on the video. Subscribe to see more content like this. I'll see you in the next video. See you soon. Oh, and please let me know what you think about this video. I've came back to my I've come back to my old camera, to lower resolution and it's been really fun to make a video like that again. So, let me know what you think. No lavalier mic, just a shotgun mic here.
22:33Just a simple camera. Maybe simplicity is king. Let me know. >> [music]
Works on any YouTube video.
Swap youtube.com for 2outube.com in the address bar — or paste a link.
Read another video