Apollo Air 2022 vs Hiboy S2 Nova - Is the Cheap Hero Enough, or Do You Need a Grown-Up Scooter?

Fast Answer for Busy Riders ⚡ (TL;DR)

If you want a scooter that feels like an actual vehicle rather than a toy, the Apollo Air 2022 is the stronger overall choice: more comfortable, more stable, better finished and simply more confidence-inspiring on real city roads. The Hiboy S2 Nova fights back with a dramatically lower price and decent portability, but you feel the cuts in ride quality, traction and refinement pretty much every ride.

Pick the Hiboy S2 Nova only if your budget is tight, your rides are short and flat, and you mainly need a light, no-frills commuter that you can easily lug upstairs. Choose the Apollo Air 2022 if you care about comfort, safety and durability more than shaving a couple of kilos and a couple of hundred euro off the bill.

If you can spare a few more minutes, the real story is in the details - and they might save you from buying the wrong scooter.

You can tell a lot about a scooter within the first hundred metres: how it pulls away from the curb, how the stem feels when you hit that first crack in the pavement, and whether your brain goes "this is fine" or "this is a mistake". Riding the Apollo Air 2022 and the Hiboy S2 Nova back-to-back is a great example of that.

On paper they occupy a similar "commuter" space, but in practice they live different lives. The Apollo feels like an entry ticket into the grown-up scooter world; the Hiboy feels like a very honest, very cheap shortcut. The question is: which shortcut are you willing to take - on price, or on experience?

If you're torn between paying more for polish or saving money for something else, keep reading - this comparison will make the trade-offs painfully clear, before your knees and wrists do.

Who Are These For, and Why Compare Them?

Both scooters target everyday city riders who are sick of buses and shoe leather, not speed freaks looking to set land-speed records on the bike lane. They live in the "commuter" bracket: one motor, sensible top speeds, batteries big enough for a workday's running around.

The Apollo Air 2022 aims at the premium end of that class - the rider who wants a proper vehicle: suspension that actually works, a chassis that doesn't feel like folding lawn furniture and enough refinement to justify parking it in an office lobby. The Hiboy S2 Nova, meanwhile, is clearly built for people whose first filter is the price tag, with "still usable" coming shortly after.

They compete because shoppers see similar top-speed claims, similar ranges in the marketing blurbs, and think, "Why should I pay several times more for the Apollo?" On roads, in traffic, and over time, that "why" becomes quite obvious.

Design & Build Quality

Pick up the two scooters and the difference in intent is immediate. The Apollo's frame is a single, chunky casting that feels like it could survive a decade of curb drops and office parking mishaps. Welds are neat, cables are mostly hidden, and nothing rattles unless you go looking for it. The finish wouldn't look out of place next to mid-range e-bikes.

The Hiboy S2 Nova looks tidy enough at first glance - matte dark colours, semi-internal cabling, simple cockpit - but in the hands it feels more "consumer electronics" than "vehicle". The alloy is fine, just not confidence-inspiring when you start pushing into rougher asphalt. With kilometres under the belt, the Nova tends to develop the odd creak or tiny play in the folding hardware if you don't stay on top of bolt checks.

Design philosophy also diverges. Apollo went for a wide, stable handlebar, a thick, solid stem and a deck that actually accommodates adult feet. Hiboy prioritised compactness: narrower bar, smaller deck, slimmer stem, easier to store under desks but less forgiving when you need space to shift weight mid-corner or during a panic stop.

In short: the Apollo feels like something designed forward from the ride; the Hiboy feels more like it was designed backward from the price.

Ride Comfort & Handling

After a few kilometres of chewed-up city pavement, there is no contest. The Apollo's front fork suspension combined with large pneumatic tyres delivers a ride that is genuinely plush for the class. Expansion joints, cobbled crossings, sunken drain covers - you still feel them, but more as dull thumps than sharp punches. The front end tracks predictably even when you hit a bump mid-corner, which does wonders for your heart rate.

The Hiboy's comfort story is "better than it could have been, but still budget". The hybrid tyre setup - solid front, air-filled rear - plus a small rear spring does take the edge off compared with full-solid scooters. On smoother tarmac it's perfectly acceptable, even pleasant. Once you venture onto broken cycle paths or old city cobbles, however, the solid front tyre reports every insult directly to your hands. The rear does its best to keep your knees out of trouble, but the front reminds you where corners were cut.

Handling follows the same pattern. The Apollo's wide bar and planted chassis make it feel calm and predictable at its top speed. Quick swerves around delivery vans feel controlled rather than twitchy, and the front suspension helps the wheel stay in contact with the ground when things get messy.

On the Hiboy, low-speed handling is light and nimble - great for weaving around pedestrians or bike racks. But as you creep towards its maximum speed on rougher surfaces, that solid front end skips more, and the narrower bar gives you less leverage to correct surprises. It's rideable, just not something you instinctively want to push.

Performance

Neither scooter is out to rip your arms off, but the way they get you moving is different. The Apollo's stronger rear motor gives a noticeably firmer shove off the line. You don't get that comedy wheel-spin of high-power scooters, but you do pull ahead of bike-lane traffic with reassuring ease. On small city hills, it keeps a decent pace without sounding like it's auditioning for a blender commercial.

The Hiboy's smaller front motor is fine on flat ground: it builds speed steadily and hits its top pace quickly enough for city commuting. In a straight line on smooth bike paths, it feels lively enough for what it is. Start adding hills or heavier riders, and the motor runs out of enthusiasm sooner. You'll get up moderate inclines, but you will feel the scooter working hard and see your speed drop more decisively than on the Apollo.

Braking is another split. Apollo pairs a sealed drum at the front with genuinely usable regenerative braking at the rear, tuned to be progressive rather than "on/off". In practice, you can do most of your slowing with regen and save the drum for emergencies, and the chassis stays nicely composed under hard stops.

Hiboy also uses the drum-plus-regen combo, but with less finesse. It still stops you reliably, but the transition from electronic to mechanical braking isn't as silky, and on loose or wet surfaces that hard solid front tyre does you no favours when you're asking it to grip and steer while decelerating.

Overall, the Apollo feels like it has a bit in reserve - performance aimed at everyday confidence, not adrenaline. The Hiboy is more "just enough" - acceptable for short commutes, but you're very aware of its limits when you hit them.

Battery & Range

Manufacturers' range numbers are about as believable as estate agent floor-plans, so let's talk real-world. The Apollo's larger battery gives you a meaningful buffer. Ridden briskly - full speed where allowed, normal stop-and-go, a mix of surfaces - it comfortably covers what most people would call a decent day's commuting with some margin. You'll likely plug in at night out of habit, not panic.

The Hiboy's smaller pack can manage typical short-to-medium urban runs, but you need to be more honest with yourself. If your daily round trip is on the longer side and you ride mostly in the faster mode, you're going to see the gauge dropping earlier than you'd like. It's fine for "down to the station, then across town and back", less great if you're also running errands on the way home.

On the flip side, the Hiboy does recharge faster, so topping up at work is easy. The Apollo's bigger pack needs a full working day or overnight to go from flat to full, which is normal for its size but worth factoring in if you're the forgetful type.

Range anxiety is therefore very different. On the Apollo you mostly worry when you've really pushed it. On the Hiboy you start doing mental maths a bit sooner: "Do I still nip by the supermarket, or is that going to be an eco-mode crawl home?"

Portability & Practicality

This is where the Hiboy finally gets to swing back properly. It is lighter on the scales, but more importantly, it feels lighter when you actually carry it. The folding mechanism is quick, the stem clips neatly to the rear, and the overall package is slim enough to slot between train seats or disappear under a small office desk without much drama. One flight of stairs is a shrug; several flights are a "why didn't I move closer" kind of workout, but still manageable.

The Apollo, despite its "Air" name, is more of a grounded citizen. You can carry it - I've grunted my way up enough staircases with it to confirm - but you won't enjoy doing so regularly. The wide handlebar doesn't fold in, so while the length shortens, the folded footprint remains broad. Under a desk it's more "colleague-trip-hazard" than "neatly tucked away". In a car boot it's fine, but pairing it with lots of multi-modal hopping on crowded public transport is not its strong suit.

In daily use, though, that extra heft buys you a more planted feel and a generally more robust structure. The Hiboy is nicer between your hands when folded; the Apollo is nicer between your feet when rolling.

Safety

Safety is where differences in tyres, chassis and brakes stop being theoretical and start to matter. The Apollo's big pneumatic tyres, combined with that front suspension and wide handlebar, give it a much larger safety envelope. You have more grip, more stability and more time to react when the city throws you the usual nonsense - wet metal covers, surprise potholes, badly patched tarmac.

The Hiboy does have proper brakes, decent lights and a sensibly rigid frame, and at moderate speeds in dry conditions it feels fine. But that solid front tyre is always the asterisk. On painted crossings in the rain, or dusty corners, you can feel it squirm in ways that air-filled rubber simply doesn't. Add in the smaller wheel size and lighter front end, and you get a scooter that demands a bit more caution exactly when you need confidence.

Lighting is acceptable on both, with both benefiting from an extra clip-on headlamp if you regularly ride unlit paths. The Apollo's bigger, more stable platform makes night riding less fatiguing, whereas on the Hiboy you tend to back off more because you can feel the tyres and chassis reaching their comfort zone earlier.

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Price & Value

Put bluntly: the Hiboy is dramatically cheaper. You can buy it for a fraction of the Apollo's price, and for many first-time buyers, that single fact drowns out every nuance of ride feel, safety and longevity. For short, flat commutes and light riders, it can be "good enough" at a wallet-friendly cost, and in that narrow scenario it earns its keep.

But value isn't just price; it's what you get for it over years of riding. The Apollo may cost several times more, but it offers a much higher ceiling of comfort, stability and long-term satisfaction. You're paying for a more serious frame, a bigger battery, better tyres, and overall refinement. If you plan to rely on your scooter as daily transport rather than an occasional toy, that extra outlay translates into fewer "I really wish I'd spent a bit more" moments.

So the Hiboy wins the headline "cheapest decent scooter" game, but in terms of what you actually experience per ride, the Apollo justifies its price better than the spec sheet suggests.

Service & Parts Availability

Apollo operates more like a proper vehicle brand, with structured support, established parts channels and a fairly engaged community in Europe and beyond. Need a new drum assembly, display or latch? You can usually source it without trawling dubious marketplaces, and there's no shortage of owner guides and videos.

Hiboy is also a known name, not a mystery logo that vanishes after Black Friday, and you can get spares - especially common wear parts like tyres and brakes. But the experience leans more into the mass-market electronics model: acceptable, sometimes slow, sometimes template-driven. Quality of local support varies a lot by retailer, and for anything beyond straightforward parts swaps you often end up in DIY land faster than with Apollo.

In practice: both are serviceable, but Apollo treats the scooter more like a vehicle platform; Hiboy treats it more like a consumer gadget.

Pros & Cons Summary

Parameters Comparison

Final Verdict - Which Should You Choose?

When you put both scooters through a week of real commuting rather than showroom admiration, the Apollo Air 2022 clearly emerges as the more complete machine. It rides better, feels sturdier, stops more confidently and gives you a wider comfort and safety margin on the kind of battered infrastructure most of us actually deal with. It's not an exciting scooter in the "hold my beer" sense, but it is very easy to live with and easy to trust.

The Hiboy S2 Nova has its place: if your budget really cannot stretch and your use case is gentle - short, flat, mostly smooth rides; lots of carrying; first dip into scooters - it offers a viable path into electric commuting without torching your bank account. Just be honest about its limitations: harsher front end, more modest range, weaker hills and a narrower safety envelope in bad conditions.

If you see your scooter as day-in, day-out transport, the Apollo Air 2022 is the one that behaves like a small vehicle rather than a powered toy. If you're mainly chasing a low entry fee and can live with compromises, the Hiboy S2 Nova will get you rolling - just don't expect it to feel as grown-up once the honeymoon ends.

Numbers Freaks Corner

These metrics strip the scooters down to pure arithmetic: how much battery and speed you get per euro, how much weight you carry for each unit of energy or performance, and how quickly they recharge. Lower values in cost and weight metrics indicate better efficiency or value, while higher values in power and charging speed show stronger performance or faster turnaround between rides.

Author's Category Battle

Overall Winner Declaration

In the Numbers Freaks Corner, the APOLLO Air 2022 scores 5 points against the HIBOY S2 Nova's 5. In the Author's Category Battle, the APOLLO Air 2022 gets 34 ✅ versus 13 ✅ for HIBOY S2 Nova (with a few ties sprinkled in).

Totals: APOLLO Air 2022 scores 39, HIBOY S2 Nova scores 18.

Based on the scoring, the APOLLO Air 2022 is our overall winner. In the end, the Apollo Air 2022 simply feels more like something you can trust and enjoy every single day, rather than just tolerate. It turns grimy city kilometres into something closer to a glide, and that matters more than spec-sheet bragging rights. The Hiboy S2 Nova earns its place as an ultra-budget gateway into scootering, but once you've ridden something as composed as the Apollo, it's hard not to notice everything you gave up to save money. If you can stretch even a bit, your future self will likely be happier stepping onto the Air every morning.

That's our verdict when we try to stay objective – but hey, riding is mostly about emotions anyway, so pick the one that will make you look forward to your commute every single day.