Apollo Phantom v2 versus Kaabo Mantis v2

HubertKim

Hi, which scooter is better?

PaulN

I have a phantom V1 with the V2 upgrades as well as a mantis 10 pro V1 (which is almost virtually the same as the V2 with cosmetic upgrades). I have put my thoughts on both scooters here on this forum before if you search though the various posts. I drive to and from work a couple of times a week when its warm out and not raining alternating scooters 25 km’s each way (50 kms a day - all terrains and road/sidewalk/bike path combinations). Today the Mantis is with me. The Apollo is heavier and built more robustly and has better lighting, the best stem folding lock IMO there is currently, A bigger display, but one that has had issues. It is not as quick as the Mantis in acceleration tests. However it’s a solid scooter and you won’t go wrong with either purchase except maybe availability. Apollo rarely delivers a phantom as per it’s promised date on their website and it IS frustrating. I waited 3 months to get a working scooter from them.

Both scooters have their pluses and minuses. Here is what I wrote a few months ago about the Mantis:

I have a Kaabo Mantis 10 pro. 60V - 1000 miles riding experience all conditions. I have 3 scooters it is my preferred of the 3 I own.
Pros :
Nimble - very easy to ride. Handles really well. (Apollo is more of a cruiser, handles well but needs more effort)
Great acceleration - easy to adjust down with P codes if it’s too strong - Tops out at 40 mph.
Easily tackles steep hills, even in one motor mode with 180 pound rider.
Good brakes,
Can handle grass and gravel situations. (Apollo P. wins this category)
Easy to fold + transport * (Apollo has better stem folding engineering)
Nice sized deck, and back step, overall looks great and I get compliments on the road all the time about it. (Usually on the Apollo I hear “ that’s a big scooter”…

Cons:
Lighting sucks for forward viewing as well as the brake lights are dim when activated, have to add your own headlight.
The stem… Kaabo claims they have upgraded it but IMO it still needs work It flex’s, creaks all the time, and the double lock clamping system IMO is Mickey mouse, and ruins a mostly good engineering design otherwise. Kaabo needs to design something like the Apollo system has for the stem latch.
Getting to top speed is quite a rush on this scooter, I believe in testing scores it always does very well against many other scooters in 0 to 40 time scores. However it tops out suddenly and the motors definitely have the power to take this scooter faster. Easily to at least 50 mph. Why is it limited? It’s a little frustrating for me personally but probably fine if the top speed works for you. Where I ride a lot of the roads just having a little extra speed for short spurts would be helpful.
Suspension seems to bottom out in situations where you would think it shouldn’t. Minor bumps will bottom it out.
Apparently does not handle water exposure well, hard to be a serious daily work commuter if you get caught in a little water somewhere.

Overall this is a really good $2000.00 USD scooter aside from a few small issues. It’s versatile, and has some big scooter performance in a lighter package.
I would be happy to reply to any specifics about the scooter, if you have more questions.

ItsAqua

PaulN Apollo super duper long wait time is the reason why I don’t consider Apollo scooters at all. I don’t like waiting long

Cattitude

The Mantis was my close second choice next to the Apollo Ghost. Now I’m wishing I bought the Mantis. I’d be on the road right now and not sitting in my easy chair looking at the warm sunny weather through my window.

I’m now fighting to get my money back after Apollo sent me a defective Ghost, and explicitly promised they’d ship me a new one as soon as they received my defective one under their 14 day warranty. It had zero miles on it. Then they changed their minds and decided to make me wait weeks while they look at other people’s scooters before they “determine whether or not it’s fit for a replacement, or can be repaired”. I didn’t send it in to be repaired, I sent it in to be replaced, which is my right under their 14 day warranty. Today I decided I’m done with Apollo, and I demanded a full refund. I fully expect to be forced to escalate this matter either to the Better Business Bureau or small claims court, or both.

A lot of people will rave about Apollo products, including their warranties. Those are the people who received working scooters and didn’t have to deal with their shady business practices. I’ve been waiting since early March for my working scooter.

If I were you, I wouldn’t risk dealing with Apollo and running into problems. I will never recommend Apollo to anyone again. Get the Mantis. I’ll be getting one too, if I ever get my $2 grand plus back from Apollo.

PaulN

Cattitude
Now you are experiencing what i experienced last summer. Sorry to hear that. I keep saying Apollo over delivers on marketing and underdelivers on product delivery, quality, and service interaction. They must have hired a PR firm as well because they are botting negative comments on their YouTube channel now as well. It’s sad really.

When you are ready for your Kaabo I highly recommend Epic Cycles locally here, They treated me really well every time i interreacted with them, and they have stock on hand…

ItsAqua

Cattitude sorry to hear about your problem with Apollo. That’s just really sad how they won’t do anything to change. They have to give your money back to you since you request it and sent the scooter back to them. Honestly I don’t even liked Apollo scooters because they’re really pricey for their stats even though they sell quality scooter you can find better scooters at the same price of their scooters. I heard Voromotors does the same thing with bad reviews on their scooter but I actually don’t know if that’s true or not. I hope you get a scooter you like

Cattitude

PaulN I have now learned that Apollo has no business ethics whatsoever, including publishing warranties on their website and then refusing to honour them. They only have two people on their customer service team, they hide behind a spam bot on their chat software, and they’re advertising for a “social media manager”. I’m sure that job entails running around deleting negative posts about Apollo from social media and YouTube. Well, they won’t be able to delete my negative reviews from the Better Business Bureau, Trustpilot, Sitejabber, and Google Reviews among others. I know they will try to ignore my demand letter for a refund, and I’ll have to keep hounding them to get my money. Throughout this debacle I’ve had to follow up with them days later to get a response to anything.

I’m very familiar with Epic Cycles, in fact I had their site open when you posted! I really like their Bluerev Cobra, but it’s six and a half feet long and won’t fit in the elevators of my apartment building. So I was admiring the Mantis Pro again. My only concern about it is the lack of water resistance. It would be nice to just hop on the bus, go to Epic and leave with a Mantis when I like. But I don’t think the box would fit in the bus. 😆

I’ve also been looking at a couple of Dualtron models from MiniMotors Canada, the Victor and the City. I like the City because it has 15 inch wheels with tubeless tires, and a swappable battery.

PaulN

Cattitude
That’s funny I saw that “cobra” in the store when I picked up my Mantis. I thought what a weird looking bike?
When I bought my Mantis last summer, there was another guy there same time picking a Wolf Warrior and ton of safety gear to go with it. I’m sure you can get the box delivered to your house with an Uber van Cattitude. I just don’t ride in the rain and go across puddles gingerly.
I’m on the hunt for something unique looking with reasonable quality and price with a top speed of at least 55mph. Still deciding Maybe the Yume X7 or a dualtron or something

PaulN

ItsAqua I’m unhappy with a lot of things about Apollo but i would think the Phantom is priced in the range of other scooters correctly. It does have unique + good features, it has a solid ride with the quad suspension, + the concept is good, It has the best folding mechanism for sure. Their a victim of their own marketing success. I think their sales far outstripped their production, and the quality control has failed as well. They can’t keep up with demands and it’s hurt them. It’s too bad really I hope they can actually become what they claim to believe in on their official videos about themselves. Currently there is a big gap there.

Cattitude

PaulN You can always check out the MiniMotors Canada website if you’re interested in a Dualtron. They have the entire line along with all the accessories. I would like either the City or possibly the Victor.

I’d love to just buy a scooter right now. But I can’t really afford to buy another scooter. I financed the Ghost and I have to make the payments on it unless Apollo issues a refund. I can’t request a chargeback. If I put another scooter on my credit card I will have to make payments on that as well. I downloaded the chat transcript from Apollo where they promised they’d send me another new scooter, and I sent it to them today. No reply of course. It could take weeks for me to get this sorted out while I sit at home. Oh well, today I’ve already talked two people out of buying from Apollo on social media by telling them what they did to me. Next week the complaints to Better Business Bureau and the Ontario consumer ministry will be filed.

Cattitude

PaulN Apollo carries some decent scooters but what they did to me (and other customers) is unconscionable and inexcusable. I won’t rest until I receive a satisfactory response - my money or the scooter I ordered. If they’ve got money to make fancy marketing videos they’ve got money to make things right with customers when there’s a problem. You’re right, it’s a shame that their claims and promises don’t hold any water, and people like me are getting burned as a result. I used to wonder why so many people hated Apollo and told people to avoid them. Now I know, and I wish I’d taken their advice.

ItsAqua

PaulN I can say that some stuff Apollo does to their scooter is pretty cool but the fact that they hype up their scooters but can’t even sell it makes no sense to me. My Hiboy S2R sucks in a few area but Hiboy got a lot of complaints about their customer service and they changed that. I still waited like 8-10 hours for a reply but I know that they will try to fix the issue I’m having. I just don’t understand why Apollo won’t try to fix the problems they created. It’s sad because eventually the company is going to fall apart

Cattitude

PaulN Tonight I finally got a message from Apollo. They saw my evidence of their promise to send me a replacement scooter. They don’t have any Ghost hydraulic but offered me a partial refund if I take a non hydraulic model. I suspect they’ve discontinued the hydraulic version. They also offered me the option of a full refund. I’m taking the refund. Once they credit the finance company I can go and finance a Dualtron. MiniMotors uses the same finance company as Apollo.

PaulN

It may be a Dualtron, It may be the Bluetran Lightning if I seen a verified test it reaches 55mph. It could be the YUME cool looking ride at a low cost for features. Maybe a Nanrobot. Something a little futuristic looking.

Cattitude

PaulN I’d never heard of Bluetran until I looked it up, looks like a nice scooter! It isn’t featured on Minimotors Canada (yet?). I’ve always liked the look of Nanrobots but I’ve read that their quality is poor. Still, they’re less expensive than Dualtrons. I have to admit I’m also a sucker for cool light displays and futuristic looking scooters. That’s what attracts me to the Dualtrons. I also want to customize my scooter, if I ever get one. I had already bought things like frame sliders and was looking at custom grip tape, reflective tape for the rims and maybe new covers for the wiring.

ItsAqua

Cattitude bluetran has its own website for some reason but it’s made by minimotors mostly same quality if a dualtron but some components are cheap but a freaking awesome looking scooter.

ItsAqua

Cattitude smart choice are you going for the dualtron city?

Cattitude

ItsAqua It’s pretty expensive, just like any Dualtron. Minimotors Canada offers financing but it’s with the same company I financed the Ghost. I don’t think they’ll allow me to finance the Dualtron until the Apollo loan is closed. Knowing Apollo, that could take weeks. And, given the price difference between the Ghost and the Dualtron, they may decline the application. I have room on my credit card to buy it, but I’d lose points on my credit score because of the high balance.

I was actually looking at the Emove Cruiser today. I could easily afford to buy it. It’s not a beast scooter but it has great range, it’s powerful enough to climb hills, is water resistant and has tubeless tires. It’s not as fast (45 kph) as the Ghost but let’s face it, I’ll be riding it in the city on fairly bad roads, and on park trails. I’m unlikely to need to go much faster than 45. The only thing that sucks is that I’d like a purple one, but they’re not sold in Canada and I’d have to pay an extra $200 shipping fees to import it from Voro motors. I guess I’d have to settle for the orange instead.

ItsAqua

Cattitude the Kaabo mantis pro SE from Voromotors is on clearance sale if that interests you

ItsAqua

Cattitude plus the new Emove cruiser is going to drop by the end of the year (hoping it looks like the speedway 5 which would eliminate the half fender in the front) not sure if you wanna wait for it. I also heard that Voro is trying to do split rims and self healing tires to go with it.

Cattitude

ItsAqua Unfortunately Voro motors is out for me. I’m in Canada. They ship to Canada but charge high shipping fees. They act as a marketplace seller at Best Buy Canada, but even then they include the $200 shipping fee into the price of the scooter.

I can get a Mantis 10 pro plus from a seller here, it’s on sale There are a couple of Mantis models I can get for decent prices.

I’m hoping to get a scooter as soon as possible. Thanks to Apollo I’ve already missed a month of the short Canadian riding season. It’s been sunny and 80 degrees for the past few days.