Onewheel Pint Review

Spotting the Onewheel in the wild is an exciting experience. At first, you question what that weird board is. And then you start to wonder if it can possibly be as fun as it looks. Finally, you might wonder how you can possibly get your hand on one.

The Onewheel is a combination of snowboard, skateboard, and hoverboard. It’s one big central wheel embedded in a board. It’s completely strange, and it doesn’t look like it should be able to move. It’s also exhilarating, exciting, and surprisingly useful.

The Pint is the compact and slightly more affordable version of the Onewheel. Intrigued? In this guide, we’ve taken a look at everything about the Onewheel Pint, to tell you if it’s just as fun as you think it’s going to be. (Spoiler: it really, really is.)

What Is The Onewheel Pint?

Experience

Things were off to a pretty slow start for our Onewheel Pint testing phase, but that’s only because it takes two hours to charge. If you’re the kind of person who forgets to power up, then we highly recommend the Ultracharger, which cuts charge times in half.

After that, things picked up quickly. We found that the Onewheel Pint was easy to get used to, particularly if you have experience on a snowboard or skateboard.

But even if you’ve never tried anything like the Onewheel, you can work the Pint easily. Although, we’d suggest test riding somewhere you don’t mind falling over a couple of times.

You control every movement of the Onewheel Pint. There’s no remote control, no fiddling with switches — just lean in the direction you want to go, and move with the turn. Stopping and starting is just as easy. Lean forward to go, and back when you need to slow down.

The feel of the Onewheel Pint is excellent. Small and nimble compared to the larger Onewheel GT, it captures the easy freedom of the snowboard. You can negotiate crowds with ease, and the all-terrain wheel gives the Pint some real versatility.

Plus, it feels fun. So much fun. Addictively fun. During tests, we found ourselves taking the long route just for more time on the Pint.

Speed And Distance

The Onewheel Pint has a top speed of 16 mph, and a range of roughly 6 to 8 miles (10 to 13 kilometers) on a single charge.

The range isn’t bad, although it can be slightly prohibitive. If you plan on commuting with the Pint, consider keeping a charger at work. For general exploration, an 8-mile range can get you pretty far. But testing has shown the Pint can go further. 6 to 8 feels like a conservative estimate.

Speed is perhaps one of the biggest downsides of the Pint, especially if you’ve bought the board for recreation rather than commuting.

At 16 mph, the Pint can feel a little sluggish as you try to emulate the feel of slicing down a hill on your snowboard. And if you try to push the speed limit, the Pint can come to a fairly abrupt nose-up.

Portability

The Onewheel Pint is designed to get you places. It’s a commuter vehicle, not just a play thing. So, how well does the Pint actually work on the commute?

First, at 23 lbs the Pint is lighter, but we wouldn’t exactly call it light. You would feel the weight if you had to carry it all day.

That weight, however, is contained in a tiny and portable package. The Onewheel Pint is just 27 inches long, and can easily slide under a desk chair.

The magnetic handle, known as the Maghandle, is a real game changer. It pops out when you need it, and slides back in when the board’s in use.

With the Maghandle, the Pint can be carried like a briefcase. If you plan on carrying it a lot, upgrade to the Maghandle Pro. It’s more comfortable, and made of a durable rubberized aluminum.

Safety

Onewheel has SimpliStop and Pushback technology to make the ride of the Pint safer. SimpliStop allows you to lean back and stop the board, for easy dismounting that should prevent an awkward jump off.

Pushback is what happens when you try to make the Pint go too fast. It works like a break, and starts to kick in when you reach the upper limits of how fast the Pint can go.

It’s useful, and definitely preferred to nosediving. Pushback does sometimes kick in when you feel completely in control, which can be annoying.

If you plan on riding at night, the pre-installed lights are a huge plus. The Pint is quiet thanks to the Hypercore Motor, and at night you can feel almost invisible. With lights on, you can prevent some serious crashes.

Realistically, you’re going to fall off your Onewheel Pint — especially in the learning phase. It doesn’t feel like anything else on pavement, and that can take some getting used to. Pay attention when the board is telling you to pull back.

If you plan on using the Pint, a good helmet and wrist guards are a necessity. Consider knee pads and skate shoes as well.

Price

The basic, no frills, version of the Pint is going to set you back around $1000. Let’s be honest — this isn’t cheap. But we also don’t think it’s a bad price for what you get. The Onewheel Pint is fun, easy to use, versatile, and portable.

Also, the Onewheel Pint is addictive to ride. If you aren’t sure you’ll get much use out of it, then you might be in for a surprise.

During our tests, we couldn’t wait to get back on —- and that’s even after some nasty spills. We’ve heard of people racking up thousands of miles in just a few months, that’s how fun the Pint is.

If you’re struggling with spending all that cash at once, Onewheel offers a finance option that goes as low as $60 a month.

Bundles

Upgrade your purchase with a Onewheel bundle that offers accessories at a lower price.

The Essentials bundle adds a fender to your purchase, Ride More comes with fender, bumper, and rail guard. And if you want to go all out, the Ultimate bundle includes all the above, plus an Ultracharger and a Maghandle Pro.

The Essentials bundle is a small upgrade that we think is worth it. Ride More has some useful additions, but falls a little short.

The saving is decent, but we’re not sure how useful the rail guards and extra bumper are. Ultimate ups the price quite a bit, but it might be worth it for the charger and handle, particularly if you plan on using the Pint frequently.

Onewheel Pint Versus Onewheel GT

The Onewheel Pint is the smaller and more portable cousin of the Onewheel GT, and the GT is the upgraded sibling to Onewheel’s former flagship, the XR.

The GT is an impressive piece of equipment. It can reach a top speed of 20 mph, and has a range of up to 32 miles. It’s also twice the cost of the Pint, and several pounds heavier.

If you’re struggling to choose between the two, then consider what you’ll use it for. The Onewheel Pint feels like a mixture of recreational and commuter board.

It’s nimble and portable, while still being able to tackle rough terrain. The GT is for exploration. It can handle busy streets, but the extra weight can drag on the commute.

Onewheel Pint Versus Onewheel Pint X

The Pint X is the middle ground between the Pint and the GT. Only 27 inches long, it’s portable and maneuverable, but with a range up to 18 miles on a single charge, and a top speed of 18 mph.

You might think the X makes the Pint seem kind of obsolete, but it does have some drawbacks. First, despite being a portable option, it weighs 27lbs.

And if you want to charge your Pint X, be prepared to set aside almost four hours. Even with the Ultracharger, it takes the X 110 minutes to get to full battery.

Is The Onewheel Pint A Good Buy?

Maybe it’s just us, but you want the Onewheel Pint to be good. It looks like it should be good, but there are too many hoverboards and electric skateboards that have promised big and delivered little.

But the Onewheel Pint is fun. It’s so much fun, in fact, that you might wonder how you got around without one.

Improved safety features and a smaller size make it better for commuting, while that all terrain wheel still gives you freedom.

The Onewheel Pint may not be a cheap buy, but we don’t think it’s one you’ll regret.