• The Segway E3 Pro e-scooter straddles the line between affordability and utility as a commuter scooter.
• While weaving through traffic, the responsive brakes and quick acceleration are perfect for the chaos of a busy street.
• The ambient lighting under the board also helps keep the entire scooter well lit for nighttime rides.

If you’ve ever lived in a big city, you know the headache that is navigating through or around traffic or trying to find a half-decent parking space. This was my life for a few years until I learned to love electric scooters. I find they are the perfect mode of getting from point A to point B when space for gear isn’t a priority.

Of all the electric scooters I’ve tested over the years, the Segway E3 Pro is the best. What I like so much about the E3 Pro is how well it does the simple things. The scooter accelerates well, has responsive braking, and folds down compactly enough for the office. While its top speed isn’t anything to write home about, it more than does its job for the everyday commutes and quick trips to the store or to visit friends.

Electric scooters might all claim to be portable, but most are too big and too bulky, even when folded down, to be taken with you everywhere. The Segway E3 Pro is light and compact enough that I can fold it down and carry it in one hand while walking up stairs or getting on the bus. It also fits just fine in the trunk of a car.

It weighs 40 pounds, which is comparable to or lighter than the majority of other electric scooters I’ve tested. (The exception was my Best Value pick, the Gotrax XR Elite Electric Scooter.) I was able to carry it up and down the subway steps, even while also carrying a backpack.

As part of my testing process, I ride all electric scooters from Midtown Manhattan across the Queensboro Bridge into Queens and back. This allows me to get a sense of the handling and braking while weaving in between cars and gauge speed and acceleration across more open roadway on the bridge.

Several Manhattan streets don’t have any protected bike lanes, so I ride alongside traffic. Even with my helmet on, that is always a precarious situation. I often have to stop on a dime as cars cut in front of me. No scooter I’ve tested has brakes that are as responsive as the E3 Pro. I was able to slow down at a moment’s notice with a firm squeeze of the hand brake.

When lights turned green, a quick kick of the leg and push down on the throttle brought me back up to speed. This allowed me to get in front of traffic going through intersections and not hold up cars behind me. While the drive mode only goes 15 mph, for New York City traffic, that is more than fast enough.

When reaching the bridge, I swapped into sport mode, which boosts the top speed up to 20 mph. The extra kick helped maintain high speeds even when going up the incline of the bridge. My only real issue with the scooter is that I had to take my hand off the throttle to swap to sport mode and engage it. On my first ride, I ended up stopping completely to figure it out. While it isn’t a huge issue, it means that you need to be prepared to swap ride modes prior to any large hills or straightaways to not lose momentum or speed.

What I love most about the electric scooter is the attention to smaller details. The board is lit underneath, which adds visibility at night and a big aesthetic boost (colors are customizable). The elastomer suspension, which uses rubber shock absorbers instead of metal springs, and large tubeless tires made every ride smooth, even as I barreled over potholes and manhole covers. The scooter is even rated IPX5 for water resistance, so it won’t get damaged riding in the rain and through puddles. The display is also simple, clean, and gives me all the basic information I need about speed and battery life.

Any electric scooter that’s powerful enough for commuting is a real investment. If you plan on buying a new one, you want something reliable, speedy, responsive, portable, and durable. The Segway E3 Pro succeeds on all these points. Especially for street traffic, there are few electric scooters I felt more in control of than the E3, and, as a result, safer.

It doesn’t quite have the juice to speed through straightaways like our best-for-speed pick, the Navee UT5, but it kept up well with e-bikes and advanced riders when in sport mode. That said, make sure you’re prepared for the change in drive modes before you need it. For folks just looking for an easy way to get to work and around town, the Segway E3 Pro is an obvious choice.

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