Turboant M10 Lite Review

Cockpit

At 19.7 inches, the handlebars are surprisingly wide. Measuring 3.2 inches wider than the typical budget scooters that we’ve tested – including those from Turboant – the M10 Lite feels natural to control. This is further enhanced by grippy rubber handgrips that ensure you have a firm hold.

Previously, the Turboant M10 was fitted with a small trigger-style finger throttle, and while it was easy to use, it has been replaced with one of the thumb variety. The ergonomics of the thumb throttle are far better.

Elsewhere, on the left, you’ll find the brake lever, the latch that snaps into the hook on the rear fender when folded, and in the center is the display.

Displays these days come in many wonderful shapes and sizes, and the one on the M10 Lite hits the nail on the head. Not only is it anti-glare – meaning you can read it in direct light – but its simple presentation of data is easy to consume at a glance. The four curved bars on either side of the speedometer show your battery level. Based on our tests, bars one, two, and three roughly have a few miles each, while the last bar turns red indicating you have just one more mile left in the tank.

USB Charging Port

Positioned below the display is a USB charging port. Now, we’ve tested quite a few scooters that have this feature, but the success rate of the ports working has been around 50%.

Thankfully, the port on the M10 Lite works, meaning you can use it to charge all your devices (we tested it with an iPhone 11). This is the first time we’ve seen this feature successfully implemented on a budget scooter, and as a result, it receives great praise from the ESI team.

It must be noted, though, that we only recommend using the port in times of desperate need, or if you only plan on riding a couple of miles. Using it saps large amounts of energy from the battery.

Frame

What else could you expect from Turboant besides a frame that not only looks good but can survive wear and tear? Made from an aluminum alloy, it’s both lightweight and robust. The stem, meanwhile, is solidly built and free from wobble.

Aesthetically, the frame also gets a thumbs up. Everything from the handlebars to the stem and deck seamlessly flows into each other. The attention to detail for a scooter so cheap is impressive. In fact, when standing the M10 Lite alongside its predecessor and more expensive model – the M10 – it’s easy to think that the Lite could be the more premium scooter of the two since its design and build quality have the edge.

Deck

Lined with a deeply-treaded rubber, the deck packs a punch where style and flair are concerned, but it also delivers on the practical goods. This is another area of the M10 Lite’s design that supersedes its sub $400 counterparts. Often, we find that scooters in this price range cut corners and are equipped with a thin rubber matt that's not been fitted with the greatest precision (i.e. they can be a bit rough around the edges). With the M10 Lite, there’s none of this whatsoever.

While testing the scooter, we noticed that the deck was on the short side, though. There’s enough room to position your feet in an L-shape, and you can, at times, use the reinforced rear fender as a kickplate (so long as you don’t put too much weight on it). By comparison to other budget models, you lose around 2-4 inches of available foot space.

Tires

A crowning glory in the M10 Lite’s arsenal is its 8.5-inch pneumatic tires. Years ago, air-filled tires were rare to find on a budget scooter – many brands would opt for solid rubber tires to keep costs down, but these lacked any form of shock absorption. Those on the M10 Lite, however, provide ample cushioning to soak up the irregularities of streets and sidewalks.

Their smaller size is great for maneuverability and they even feel stable while riding at 16 mph. Plus, thanks to their pliable design, you’re able to lean into corners at speed since they maintain traction when rolling from side to side.

Portability

As a confessed commuter scooter, you’d expect the Turboant M10 Lite to cut no corners when it comes to portability. I can confirm that this is correct – though it’s not an entirely clean rap sheet.

The 3-step folding mechanism is exceptionally quick and simple to operate. To fold the scooter, you rotate the safety catch to free the folding lever. You then pull down on the lever, lower the stem, and latch the handlebars to the rear fender.

However, we did find that the latch on the handlebars occasionally came loose out of the anchor on the rear fender, meaning you had to reattach it before attempting to pick the scooter up. For future models, it would be great if the latch could have a stronger spring-loaded mechanism so it clicks into place as opposed to having to manually attach it.

Once compacted, the M10 Lite has a small enough profile to fit in a car trunk or under your desk with minimal fuss. Plus, it weighs just 30.9 lbs, meaning it's relatively easy to carry.

Load

The question that most riders have is whether or not the scooter will perform the same for them as it did for us, and this, ultimately, comes down to your riding conditions with the biggest factor being how much you weigh.

When testing the scooter, I (Josh, here) weigh roughly 190 lbs. If you weigh less than this, then you should see better performance, if you weigh more, then you may see worse.

So, when we take into account the M10 Lite’s ability to support riders up to 220 lbs and the results from our performance tests, we can confidently say that riders up to 190 lbs will experience a good level of performance. However, if you weigh more than this, then we recommend checking out the Turboant X7 Max and its 275 lbs load capacity.

Lights

Equipped with a 3W headlight, we measured the brightness of the beam and it came to approximately 300 lumens. This is bright enough for riding in well-lit areas during low-light conditions, but we recommend attaching an additional clip-on headlight if riding at night is going to be a regular occurrence.

As for the taillights, it has two that line either side of the deck at the rear. However, while they wrap around the deck, it would have been nice if they were more visible. Here, an improvement would be for an additional taillight to be attached to the rear fender as we saw on the Turboant M10 and X7 Max.

Build Quality & Durability

As we’ve already alluded to, the M10 Lite looks, feels, and rides like a scooter that costs more than its low-cost price tag. Everything is solidly set, while all the wiring is hidden within the frame to improve aesthetics and safety.

The bonus of an IP54 water-resistance rating – and long fenders – also means you’ll be protected from water splashes. When we filmed our review it snowed and rained, yet the scooter held up its end of the bargain performing just as it had promised.