Pure Air4 Pro eScooter review: Not quite perfect, but still a great commuter ride

Pure’s Air scooters offer a balance of simplicity and luxury, and while this fourth-generation model may look basic it has some enviable features, including a beefy motor and a good degree of rain-resistance – ideal for the British climate.

Those benefits apply to both the regular Air4 Pro and the Pro scooters we tested, while the latter edition also features a new active steering stabilisation system, plus handlebar indicators that are much more visible than the usual ground-level ones.

In practice, I wasn’t won over by every aspect of the design, but it’s overall a very enjoyable riding experience, and certainly a more refined one than you’ll get from other scooters in this price range. If you’re a regular scooter commuter (or planning to become one) the Pure Air4 Pro is a great choice of conveyance.

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Pure Air4 Pro review: What do you get for the money?

The Air4 and Air4 Pro are the cheapest scooters Pure sells. Priced at £449 and £549 respectively, they’re competitive with rivals from the likes of Acer and Xiaomi. Pure’s other options include the outdoorsy Escape+ (£599), the foldaway Flex (£899), the Pure Advance+ (£649) and a selection of slim, stylish models dubbed “Pure x McLaren”, at prices ranging from £899 to a round £1,200.

For most people, though, the Pure Air4 models will fit the bill just fine. Both versions have a powerful 710W motor and boast IP65 protection against dust, rain and puddles – a great plus point, as rival brands typically offer only IP54 rating against occasional splashes, if they have an IP rating at all. The deck has an improved rubber covering too, ensuring you won’t slip even if the heavens do open, and the 150-lumen headlight can help in poor visibility, along with a separate rear brake light and reflectors on every corner.

Range depends on which model you go for. The Air4’s 7.2Ah Li-ion battery will purportedly get you 30km on a full charge, while the bigger 9.6Ah version in the Pro promises an additional 10km. That’s some way short of the claimed 60km range of the Acer AES015, but far enough that you won’t be continually chained to the mains adapter. The Pure Air4 Pro is lighter than the Acer too, at 17kg. I was able to carry it up and down stairs without too much discomfort.

When not in use the Pure4 folds down quite neatly. With the steerer column collapsed, the neck sticks up to a height of just under 48cm; in fact it’s wider than it is tall, since the handlebars extend from the sides to a maximum width of 55cm.

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Pure Air4 Pro review: What’s it like to ride?

Taking the Pure Air4 Pro for a few lengthy spins around Finsbury Park, my experiences were mostly very positive. The scooter offers three performance settings, with top speeds of 5km/h, 20km/h and the maximum 25km/h. Personally, I found 25km/h a little too speedy for comfort, while the more sedate 15km/h mode provided by Xiaomi and others felt just a little sluggish – so the 20km/h setting was perfect for me.

Knowing the power rating of the motor I was expecting a sporty ride, but I was pleased to find that the Air4 Pro doesn’t leap forward as soon as you press down on the accelerator with your thumb: the acceleration curve is a bit gentler than that, which is probably a lot safer. Once you’re moving, though, the scooter accelerates confidently, its powerful motor romping over rough terrain and inclines without any hint of a struggle. I found even hill starts weren’t a problem.

I didn’t love everything about the handling, however. When you ease off the accelerator the scooter slows down quite sharply, and while I’m sure the steering stabilisation has some measurable effect, I didn’t feel any more balanced on the Air4 Pro than on any other scooter.

Ergonomically, too, the Air4 Pro is a mixed bag. The “gum” handgrips feel good – firm but not plasticky – and the accelerator and brake handle were perfectly positioned for my hands, enabling me to zip up and down for ages without stretching or straining. Sadly, my lower half wasn’t so comfortable: the deck curves up at the front, giving you only 46cm of flat platform to stand on, which to me felt rather cramped.

The snazzy handlebar indicators were a bit of a letdown, too. The design seems much smarter than putting them around the rear wheels, as on most electric scooters, but the buttons that turn the blinkers on and off weren’t at all in the right place for my left thumb. What’s more, I wasn’t always confident I’d successfully activated and cancelled my signal, because the scooter beeps when you press a button to activate the indicator, and then makes the same noise when you press the same button to turn it off. I found myself repeatedly glancing down at the LED dashboard display to reassure myself that I’d correctly cancelled my turn signal.

On that note, the LED dashboard display is gloriously bright and informative – I had no problem seeing my speed and remaining battery charge even in glaring sunlight. However, rather than being angled toward the rider it faces up to the sky, so you gaze across it rather than at it. It’s not a terrible experience, but nor does it feel natural. The large clip attached to it is oddly conspicuous too; this holds the steering column in place when it’s folded down, but when you’re riding the scooter it just sticks out inelegantly.

A final feature worth mentioning is cruise control. When enabled, this kicks in (with a nice clear beep-beep alert) after you’ve been scooting at a constant speed for five seconds, and keeps the scooter moving at that speed when you let go of the accelerator.

In principle, I love the idea of being able to find a speed that’s comfortable for any given terrain and then automatically stick to it. In practice, though, I wasn’t always able to activate cruise control when I wanted to, because it turns out that keeping a steady speed for five seconds can be tricky. Often, I’d get to three or four seconds in, then hit a bump or an incline that made my speedo wobble. Still, the accelerator is so easily at hand that sticking with manual control is really no hardship.

To enable (or disable) cruise control you need to install and connect the Pure smartphone app, which is also used to periodically update the scooter’s firmware, switch the display between kilometres and miles, and engage the optional PIN lock. Thankfully, though, you don’t need to be constantly digging out your phone to access basic settings. The scooter’s lights and performance modes can be directly controlled by tapping or double-tapping the power button.

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Pure Air4 Pro: review: Should you buy it?

Even after four generations it feels like Pure hasn’t quite perfected the everyday e-scooter formula. While the Pure Air4 Pro is overall a very enjoyable ride, little irritations abide, from the slightly squished riding stance to the finicky cruise control.

Even so, the Air4 Pro is still unarguably one of the best electric scooters on the market – while for casual use the cheaper Air4 is a strong alternative. A 30km range is still jolly decent, and I’m not convinced that the new steering stabilisation technology really adds a lot anyway.

Whichever model you choose, the powerful motor and comfortable controls make it fun and effortless to zoom around the park, while the clear, bright dashboard means you’re never in doubt of your speed and remaining range. What more can you ask for?