This week for tech yeah, we're taking a look at the Swagtron Swagboard T580 Warrior hoverboard, and we'll start with an overview - If you've seen a hoverboard, you know what the Warrior looks like. It's a flat board with pressure plates on either side that control the movement of the board. Lean forward to go forward, lean backward to go back. You get a ton of maneuverability, as long as you can keep your balance.
The Swagboard comes with bottom-mounted lights everywhere and Bluetooth speaker and infinity wheels. Infinity wheels are basically lined with led lights on the inside of the wheel and there's a mirror in there which reflects the lights indefinitely. It's hard to describe, so be sure to check out the photos below. The speakers and lights are bottom-mounted, plus there are additional lights on the front for illumination while riding. This board has a total of 30 lights mounted throughout and the lights can sync to the music which is pretty cool.
The wheels have a grippy texture that makes this suitable for a bit of off-roading, though I probably wouldn't recommend a lot of that if you can avoid it. We took the hoverboard out into the field a time or two and it behaved pretty well, even managing inclines I'd estimate are around 10 degrees or so. The tires will give you more grip than a typical road tire will, which is a "better to have it and not need it" kind of thing.
One area where hoverboards, in general, got a bad rep was in the area of battery, and Swagtron thinks they have this issue solved with what they're calling the safest hoverboard battery. They are not using typical lithium-ion, but rather they're using a lithium phosphate battery which combines the long life of lithium-ion with the safety of a sealed lead-acid battery. They're a bit more expensive than others, but Swagtron thinks the additional cost is worth it, and Swagtron is correct.
According to Swagtron, Lithium phosphate batteries can last up to 30x more charging cycles than lithium-ion, they won't combust or burn up, plus they can be stored for a long time and not lose energy. They are not as energy-dense as lithium-ion, but it's a fairly good tradeoff. The board tops out at 7.5 miles per hour so there are faster boards out there. If you're in a hurry…maybe just take a car. As for battery life, we got just short of an hour's worth of driving off and on before we had to recharge, that included some hills as well, so if you're on a flatter surface it might last longer for you.
So now we get to the price and it's around $219 dollars which all things considered is very not bad. It's a little more expensive than the cheapest ones out there, but for the market, this is a very fair price. Overall, I dig it, and I wish I could lay off the damn Twinkies enough to ride it for myself. As it is, you can pick one up with you want, I have a link below so give it a look and stick it in a stocking this holiday season…just as long as it's a very, very large stocking.
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