Swagtron T580 Review
Pros: Solid customer support, smartphone companion app
Cons: Underpowered, short battery life
Bottom line: This budget board delivered an overall uninspiring performance
Editors' Rating:
Measured Weight: 20.8 lbs
Measured Speed: 7.3 mph
Manufacturer: Swagtron
Our Verdict
Finishing close to the back of the pack, the Swagtron T580 is far from our favorite hoverboard. It felt like this board has more fluff than substance and fell short in the tests that mattered most. It felt very underpowered, making it much less fun to ride, and didn't do very well when we evaluated its outdoor capabilities. However, it does have decent customer support and comes at a price that won't break the bank.
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Our Analysis and Test Results
Review by:
David Wise and Austin Palmer
David Wise and Austin Palmer
Last Updated:
Tuesday
February 27, 2018
Tuesday
February 27, 2018
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As mentioned above, this board finished very near the last place position, only outperforming the Razor Hovertrax. These boards both lacked power, but the T580 is far more stable than the Razor. The Powerboard performs very similarly to the T580, but lacks the built-in speaker and Bluetooth connectivity. However, the Powerboard has a much better battery life, earning it a higher overall score by just a few points when compared to the T580.
To determine which hoverboard truly bested them all, we bought all the top products on the market today and pitted them head-to-head, ranking and scoring their performance. We divided our test among five weighted rating metrics — Outdoor Capabilities, Fun Factor, Support, and Battery — with the text below elaborating on the performance of the T580 and how it ranked compared to the other hoverboards that we have tested.
Accountable for a whopping 50% of the total score, our Fun Factor metric is by far the most important of the test. Unfortunately, the T580 was far from the most fun board, earning a 4 out of 10 for its paltry performance.
While this board had plenty of fun features, it just didn't have the performance to back it up. This board has Bluetooth connectivity, allowing you to pair it with a smartphone and use its companion app. This app shows your current speed and battery level, as well as a few other riding metrics and some basic mapping functions. Additionally, you can also play music through the built-in speaker in the T580.
This board is also on the lighter side compared to the rest of the group — as shown in the chart below — earning it a few points.
However, this board is much slower than the others — significantly reducing the amount of fun that you have while riding it.
This board is only available in three colors: black, blue, and red. It's the standard hoverboard size, so it should fit normal third-party accessories.
Next, we assessed how much fun it is to actually ride the board around. This is where the T580 fell flat, severely hurting its score.
This board lacked the power of other products, making it seem slightly sluggish and less responsive. It lacked the acceleration for quick turns and couldn't keep up if we changed directions abruptly.
Our next metric, responsible for 20% of the total score, tested how well each board handled environments more extreme than a paved flat road. We took each board up and down a 14% grade, as well as running each one on grass, packed dirt and sand, cracked and bumpy roads, and over thresholds. The T580 again delivered a poor performance, meriting a 4 out of 10 for its showing.
This hoverboard lacked the power to get up the hill, frequently stalling and stopping. When it was driving up the hill, it moved at a snail's pace and was not terribly stable. However, it did reasonably well going down the hill.
It's lack of power again showed when traversing off-road terrain, with the T580 faltering on both grass and packed dirt. When it came to crossing a threshold or covering a crack, the Swagtron T580 did about average — the same as the other 6.5" wheel models.
This is the only group of tests that the T580 delivered an above average performance in, earning a 7 out of 10. This metric accounts for 20% of the total, with the score based on the included warranty, how helpful the customer support team is and how easy it is to contact them, as well as if the board exhibited signs of damage at the conclusion of testing.
This hoverboard includes a 1-year limited warranty and it is very easy to contact Swagtron, either by phone, email, or various social media accounts. To evaluate each customer support team, we sent in a common issue to each manufacturer and asked for assistance in troubleshooting. Swagtron responded within 48 hours to our technical inquiries and was very clear and helpful in their response.
This board also seems quite durable, only sustaining minor scrapes and scuff in our testing, even after multiple collisions.
For our final metric, worth the remaining 10% of the final score, we assessed and scored the battery system of each board. We looked at the maximum range each board had, its runtime, and how long it took to charge to award points. The T580 again delivered a lackluster performance, meriting a 3 out of 10.
To test runtime, we ran a series of obstacles with each board, requiring multiple starts, stops, turns in both directions, and rapid back and forth directions changes. We timed each board and scored based on when the battery was so depleted that the board was rendered inoperable. The T580 had one of the shortest runtimes, as shown below.
For our range test, we ran each hoverboard on flat level ground, scoring based on the distance traveled. As expected based on the previous test, the T580 also performed very poorly in this test, putting up one of the worst performances, evidenced below.
This board does charge relatively quickly, taking a little over an hour to completely charge in our tests.
This board isn't a great value, as there are less expensive boards that perform similarly.
All in all, we were far from impressed with the performance of the T580. It wasn't a ton of fun to ride and couldn't handle extreme terrain very well. This board might be alright for a very petite rider or for children, but we found it to be too weak to be worth it for most adult riders.
The Swagtron T580.
Performance Comparison
To determine which hoverboard truly bested them all, we bought all the top products on the market today and pitted them head-to-head, ranking and scoring their performance. We divided our test among five weighted rating metrics — Outdoor Capabilities, Fun Factor, Support, and Battery — with the text below elaborating on the performance of the T580 and how it ranked compared to the other hoverboards that we have tested.
The T580 received minor scratches during testing.
Fun Factor
Accountable for a whopping 50% of the total score, our Fun Factor metric is by far the most important of the test. Unfortunately, the T580 was far from the most fun board, earning a 4 out of 10 for its paltry performance.
While this board had plenty of fun features, it just didn't have the performance to back it up. This board has Bluetooth connectivity, allowing you to pair it with a smartphone and use its companion app. This app shows your current speed and battery level, as well as a few other riding metrics and some basic mapping functions. Additionally, you can also play music through the built-in speaker in the T580.
The Swagtron app can show you your current speed; Keep your eyes on the road.
This board is also on the lighter side compared to the rest of the group — as shown in the chart below — earning it a few points.
However, this board is much slower than the others — significantly reducing the amount of fun that you have while riding it.
This board is only available in three colors: black, blue, and red. It's the standard hoverboard size, so it should fit normal third-party accessories.
Next, we assessed how much fun it is to actually ride the board around. This is where the T580 fell flat, severely hurting its score.
This board lacked speed compared to some of the other models.
This board lacked the power of other products, making it seem slightly sluggish and less responsive. It lacked the acceleration for quick turns and couldn't keep up if we changed directions abruptly.
We were pretty sketched out riding the board up and down steeper hills.
Outdoor Capabilities
Our next metric, responsible for 20% of the total score, tested how well each board handled environments more extreme than a paved flat road. We took each board up and down a 14% grade, as well as running each one on grass, packed dirt and sand, cracked and bumpy roads, and over thresholds. The T580 again delivered a poor performance, meriting a 4 out of 10 for its showing.
This hoverboard lacked the power to get up the hill, frequently stalling and stopping. When it was driving up the hill, it moved at a snail's pace and was not terribly stable. However, it did reasonably well going down the hill.
It's lack of power again showed when traversing off-road terrain, with the T580 faltering on both grass and packed dirt. When it came to crossing a threshold or covering a crack, the Swagtron T580 did about average — the same as the other 6.5" wheel models.
We felt the T580 lacked in fun compared to other boards.
Support
This is the only group of tests that the T580 delivered an above average performance in, earning a 7 out of 10. This metric accounts for 20% of the total, with the score based on the included warranty, how helpful the customer support team is and how easy it is to contact them, as well as if the board exhibited signs of damage at the conclusion of testing.
This hoverboard includes a 1-year limited warranty and it is very easy to contact Swagtron, either by phone, email, or various social media accounts. To evaluate each customer support team, we sent in a common issue to each manufacturer and asked for assistance in troubleshooting. Swagtron responded within 48 hours to our technical inquiries and was very clear and helpful in their response.
This board also seems quite durable, only sustaining minor scrapes and scuff in our testing, even after multiple collisions.
Battery
For our final metric, worth the remaining 10% of the final score, we assessed and scored the battery system of each board. We looked at the maximum range each board had, its runtime, and how long it took to charge to award points. The T580 again delivered a lackluster performance, meriting a 3 out of 10.
To test runtime, we ran a series of obstacles with each board, requiring multiple starts, stops, turns in both directions, and rapid back and forth directions changes. We timed each board and scored based on when the battery was so depleted that the board was rendered inoperable. The T580 had one of the shortest runtimes, as shown below.
For our range test, we ran each hoverboard on flat level ground, scoring based on the distance traveled. As expected based on the previous test, the T580 also performed very poorly in this test, putting up one of the worst performances, evidenced below.
This board does charge relatively quickly, taking a little over an hour to completely charge in our tests.
Value
This board isn't a great value, as there are less expensive boards that perform similarly.
Conclusion
All in all, we were far from impressed with the performance of the T580. It wasn't a ton of fun to ride and couldn't handle extreme terrain very well. This board might be alright for a very petite rider or for children, but we found it to be too weak to be worth it for most adult riders.
—
David Wise and Austin Palmer
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