Apollo City 2022 vs Kaabo Mantis 10 - Which Mid-Range "Muscle Commuter" Actually Deserves Your Money?

Fast Answer for Busy Riders ⚡ (TL;DR)

The KAABO Mantis 10 takes the overall win: it delivers more excitement, stronger hill performance and better value for money, even if it asks a bit more from you in maintenance and weather caution. The APOLLO City 2022 fights back with a more refined, integrated design, much better water protection and a calmer, commuter-friendly character that feels less like a toy and more like a small vehicle.

Choose the Apollo City 2022 if you want clean looks, low maintenance, strong rain resistance and a smoother, more civilised daily commute. Go for the Kaabo Mantis 10 if you care more about grin-inducing power, plush suspension and performance per euro than you do about keeping your trousers dry in a thunderstorm.

If you want to know which one will actually make your commute better, not just your spec sheet longer, keep reading.

There's a particular kind of rider who ends up agonising between the Apollo City 2022 and the Kaabo Mantis 10. You've outgrown the rental stuff and the wobbly entry-level toys, but you're not ready to drag a 40-kg monster up the garage ramp every morning. You want something quick, serious, but still just about sensible.

On one side you have the Apollo City 2022: slick, integrated, rain-ready, very much designed to look at home under a standing desk in a co-working space. On the other side, the Kaabo Mantis 10: a classic dual-motor hooligan in a relatively civilised weight class, beloved by enthusiasts and slightly feared by beginners.

Both promise comfort, decent range and proper speed in a similar price bracket. They just take very different paths to get there. Let's see which path makes more sense for you.

Who Are These For, and Why Compare Them?

These two scooters live in the same rough neighbourhood: mid-range price, mid-to-high performance, heavier than pure "last-mile" toys but far lighter than the huge off-road beasts. They're for riders who want to replace a chunk of their car, bus or train usage without lugging a small motorcycle around.

The Apollo City 2022 (we'll assume the Dual / Pro version here, because that's the only fair way to face off against the Mantis) aims at the serious commuter: someone doing regular city distances, who values comfort, weather resistance and minimal faff. It's the "I just want it to work" choice.

The Kaabo Mantis 10 targets the power-hungry upgrader: the rider who's already bored of single-motor scooters and wants real acceleration, supple suspension and that "I probably shouldn't be this fast on a scooter" feeling - without blowing the whole month's salary.

Same money, similar weight, same wheel size - but very different personalities. That's exactly why they're worth comparing.

Design & Build Quality

Put them side by side and the design philosophies could not be more different.

The Apollo City 2022 looks like a consumer product. Smooth bodywork, hidden cables, integrated lights, rubber deck - the whole scooter feels like it was designed as one piece rather than assembled from a scooter parts catalogue. It's clean, office-friendly and modern. The stem latch clicks into place with a reassuring clunk, the fenders don't look like they were added as an afterthought, and the IP rating is proudly printed because they know it matters.

The Kaabo Mantis 10 looks like a machine. Exposed C-shaped swingarms, visible hardware, a more traditional deck-on-frame look. It's not crude - the aluminium chassis is solid and the finish is decent - but it absolutely leans into its "performance toy" identity. The cabling is tidy enough but you won't be mistaking it for an Apple product any time soon. The clamp-style folding joint is sturdy when tuned properly, but you can feel it's a platform that's evolved through rider feedback and bolt-tightening rather than from a clean CAD sketch.

In the hands, the Apollo feels more cohesive and sealed. The Mantis feels more mechanical and modular - great if you like tinkering, slightly less charming if you want something you never have to touch with a hex key.

If you're the type who admires invisible cable routing and cares that the deck rubber wipes clean in two seconds, the Apollo gently wins this round. If you appreciate exposed suspension arms and don't mind a bit of "garage" character, the Mantis has its own rugged charm, but it's clearly the more old-school design.

Ride Comfort & Handling

Both scooters are in the "floating over city abuse" category, but they float in different ways.

The Apollo City 2022 uses a triple spring setup and 10-inch tubeless tyres with self-healing goo inside. On bad city tarmac - patched asphalt, expansion joints, typical Euro cobbles - it takes the sting out nicely. The chassis is quite stiff, the geometry conservative, and the steering predictable. It's more of a "planted glide" than a playful dance. You feel confident weaving through traffic, but it's not begging you to attack every corner.

The Kaabo Mantis 10, by contrast, feels like it was tuned by someone who rides for fun first and commutes as an excuse. Those dual swingarms and springs give you generous travel, and the 10-inch pneumatic tyres add another cushion layer. It's more bouncy than the Apollo, but in a controlled way when properly set up. On rough asphalt and even light off-road - gravel paths, packed dirt - the Mantis simply shrugs and keeps you smiling.

In corners, the Mantis is the livelier one. The rounded profile of the tyres and slightly sportier geometry encourage you to lean and carve; it feels closer to a small motorbike in attitude. The Apollo prefers smooth, composed arcs - very stable, less eager to play. After a few kilometres of spirited riding, the difference is obvious: the Mantis makes you look for curves; the Apollo makes you look for shortcuts.

Comfort wise, both can do 30-40 minutes without your legs staging a protest, but the Mantis has the edge on really broken surfaces and occasional off-piste detours. The Apollo's advantage is the tubeless, self-healing setup: fewer puncture dramas, at the cost of a slightly less plush feel than a well-inflated, traditional pneumatic with tubes.

Performance

This is where the two start to diverge quite sharply.

The dual-motor Apollo City 2022 is quick, no doubt. Off the line it pulls with enough urgency to leave rental scooters vanishing in the mirrors, and it keeps building up to a speed that is more than enough to keep pace with city traffic. The throttle mapping is very civilised - power comes in smoothly, and low-speed control is excellent. It's the kind of power delivery that keeps new-ish riders relaxed and lets you thread through pedestrians without feeling like a sneeze on the trigger will launch you into a shop window.

The Mantis 10, on the other hand, is more direct. Dual motors, lighter frame, and a sportier tune mean that when you pull that trigger, the scooter answers immediately. In its full "Turbo + Dual" setting, it lunges forward with a satisfying shove that you feel through your back foot on the deck. You can still tame it with the lower modes, but the whole point of a Mantis is that you very rarely want to. Hill starts that make single-motor scooters wheeze become a non-event - you just lean forward a bit, hear the motors hum, and you're at the top before your brain has finished the complaint.

At higher speeds, both stay impressively composed for their class. The Apollo feels slightly more locked-in, with that rigid stem and conservative steering keeping wobble at bay. The Mantis feels freer and more eager to respond to weight shifts - excellent for experienced riders, slightly more demanding if you're heavy-handed or tense.

Braking is another character split. Apollo's dual drums plus dedicated regen throttle give you a very controlled, low-maintenance stop. You can do most of your slowing with the regen lever and save the mechanical drums for emergencies, which keeps things consistent in the wet and massively cuts down on tuning and pad replacements. Mantis relies on mechanical discs assisted by strong electronic braking; the stopping force is excellent once dialled in, but the system expects you to occasionally adjust and swap pads. It feels more powerful, but also more hands-on.

If your commute is mostly flat and you like smooth, progressive power, the Apollo feels like the more grown-up scooter. If you want that addictive punch and hill-eating ability - and you're willing to respect it - the Mantis is the more entertaining performer.

Battery & Range

On paper, the Apollo City Pro has the noticeably larger battery pack, and you feel that in real riding. Ridden enthusiastically in its faster modes, it still delivers a solid, real-world city loop with a safe buffer - enough for a typical day's commuting plus a detour for errands without instantly worrying about where the nearest socket is. Ride more gently, use eco and regen sensibly, and you can stretch it well into the kind of range figures that manufacturers like to print on brochures.

The Mantis 10, with its smaller pack, naturally can't match that at full beans. Hammer it in Turbo + Dual and you slide into the lower end of its real-world range fairly quickly. Calm down, drop to Eco and maybe even Single motor for the dull bits, and you can reach respectable distances, but it always feels like you're nudging the scooter slightly away from its natural personality.

In practice: if your round trip is comfortably under the middle of the Mantis's realistic range and you have easy charging at home, you're fine. If you're flirting with those limits or you hate thinking about range at all, the Apollo is the more relaxing partner. Range anxiety just creeps in later on the City, especially in stop-start traffic where its regenerative braking quietly refills the tank by a noticeable margin.

Charging is another small but real difference. The Apollo's pack charges from empty in notably less time than the Mantis's, given the size. That faster turnaround means lunchtime top-ups are genuinely useful. The Mantis's standard charger, by comparison, is solid but leisurely - very much an "overnight" approach unless you invest in extra charging hardware.

Portability & Practicality

Let's be blunt: neither of these is "toss it over your shoulder and dance up four flights of stairs" material. They are medium-heavy, serious scooters, and your back will remind you of that any time stairs get involved.

The Apollo City 2022, depending on version, sits just shy of the Mantis in weight, but not by enough to radically change the experience. The difference you feel more is in how each one behaves when folded. The Apollo's latch is quick and positive, and the way the stem locks to the deck should make carrying easier - except that the hook can occasionally unseat itself if you don't balance it just right. It's not dangerous, just mildly infuriating when you're halfway up stairs and the front end swings loose.

The Mantis uses the classic clamp-and-fold system with the handlebars hooking to the rear. It's a longer, slightly more awkward package, and because the bars don't fold in, it's also wider to manoeuvre in tight spaces or shove under a desk. But once you've got the stem properly adjusted, it stays together reasonably well when carried. You simply won't enjoy that carrying very often.

Where practicality swings decisively is weather and maintenance. Apollo's IP rating isn't just marketing fluff; you really can ride it in proper rain without clenching every muscle in fear for the electronics. Add the drum brakes and self-healing tyres and you've got a scooter that's happy living outdoors, doing real commuting, with minimal garage time.

The Mantis, on the other hand, wants a drier, more pampered life. It will survive the odd shower, but you don't buy this to leave it in a puddle. You also sign up for regular inspections: bolt checks, brake tuning, suspension noises that want a squirt of lube. For many enthusiasts, that's part of the charm. For someone who just wants to plug in, ride and forget about it, it can be a nuisance.

Safety

At the speeds these two can reach, safety is more than just a paragraph in the manual.

The Apollo City 2022 feels like it was designed by people who thought a lot about everyday risk. Dual sealed drums plus a strong regen throttle mean consistent stops in dry and wet, with almost no adjustment fuss. The IP rating means you can brake confidently in the rain without wondering if your electronics will suddenly decide they've had enough of life. The high-mounted front light and integrated rear indicators make you reasonably visible in traffic, though the headlight is still better for "being seen" than lighting up a pitch-black rural lane.

The Mantis 10 goes for a more performance-oriented safety set-up: mechanical discs with electronic assist that can haul you down from speed quickly, provided you keep them in tune. Grip from the tyres is excellent, and the chassis stays composed under hard braking. Where it clearly loses to Apollo is weather confidence - both in terms of IP rating and fender design. Hit a wet day and you're not just worrying about traction and electrics, you're also wearing whatever the rear tyre flicks at your back.

Lighting on the Mantis is stylish but flawed. The low fender-mounted headlight is bright enough in theory, but throws shadows and doesn't track your steering the way a bar-mounted light would. Side deck lights look great and help visibility, but you'll probably want to add a proper handlebar lamp if you ride fast in the dark.

In pure braking and dry-road grip, the Mantis can feel more "sporty safe" - strong, immediate, lots of feel. In wet, cold, daily-driver reality, the Apollo is the calmer, more predictable package.

Community Feedback

Price & Value

Both scooters live in the "serious purchase" bracket: more than a toy, less than a (decent) used car. The Kaabo comes in a bit cheaper, and given that you're getting a dual-motor performance platform with very lively acceleration, the value proposition is genuinely strong. For riders who judge by how much speed and power they get for their euro, the Mantis is hard to ignore.

The Apollo asks you to pay a touch more for refinement rather than raw thrills. You're financing that custom frame, higher water protection, self-healing tyres, integrated lighting and the whole "commuter appliance" approach. If you consider skipped workshop visits and fewer puncture dramas as part of value - and you ride year-round - that premium starts to look less unreasonable. If you just want maximum fun per euro and don't mind a bit of spanner time, the Mantis feels like the better deal.

Service & Parts Availability

Apollo's business model leans heavily on brand-direct support and a Western-style customer service experience. In much of Europe you'll find official partners or at least straightforward parts ordering, and they do listen to community feedback. That said, proprietary design also means some parts are Apollo-only, and you're not going to bodge in any random fender from AliExpress and call it a day.

Kaabo, conversely, benefits from sheer scale and years of popularity. Mantis parts - everything from swingarms to controllers and aftermarket upgrades - are widely available from a host of European resellers. The flip side is that service quality depends a lot on which shop you bought from. On the DIY side, though, the Mantis is easier to live with: more standardised components, huge online knowledge base, and a thriving mod culture.

If you want to deal with one brand and their ecosystem, Apollo has the edge. If you like the idea of buying pads, tyres and controllers from three different shops and wrenching on a Saturday, Kaabo is the more flexible platform.

Pros & Cons Summary

Parameters Comparison

Final Verdict - Which Should You Choose?

The truth is that both scooters sit in that slightly awkward middle ground where they try to be "real vehicles" yet still carry some of the compromises of their class. Neither is perfect - but one will match your compromises better.

If your riding is primarily urban, all-weather, and you want something you can rely on day in, day out with minimal tinkering, the Apollo City 2022 Pro is the safer bet. Its better water protection, sealed brakes, self-healing tyres and smoother throttle make it easier to live with and harder to kill. It won't thrill you like a race scooter, but it will quietly do the job, which for many commuters is exactly what they need.

If, however, you're the kind of rider who takes the long way home because there's a hill you like, who enjoys feeling the suspension work and doesn't mind tightening the occasional bolt, the Kaabo Mantis 10 is the more satisfying choice. It rides better when pushed, climbs harder, and simply delivers more fun for the money - as long as you accept its weaker wet-weather manners and higher maintenance appetite.

In my book, the Mantis 10 edges it overall as the more rewarding machine, but if my daily life involved regular rain, lots of stop-and-go city traffic and zero interest in spanners, I'd quietly pick the Apollo and never look back.

Numbers Freaks Corner

These metrics give a purely numerical look at efficiency and value: how much battery you get for each euro, how efficiently that battery is used, how heavy each scooter is relative to its power and speed, and how fast the chargers refill the pack. Lower "per something" ratios generally mean more efficiency, while higher power-to-speed and charging power scores show stronger performance potential and quicker turnarounds between rides.

Author's Category Battle

Overall Winner Declaration

In the Numbers Freaks Corner, the APOLLO City 2022 scores 4 points against the KAABO Mantis 10's 6. In the Author's Category Battle, the APOLLO City 2022 gets 21 ✅ versus 18 ✅ for KAABO Mantis 10.

Totals: APOLLO City 2022 scores 25, KAABO Mantis 10 scores 24.

Based on the scoring, the APOLLO City 2022 is our overall winner. Between these two, the Kaabo Mantis 10 ultimately feels like the more memorable scooter to live with - the one that turns ordinary journeys into little rides you actually look forward to. It's not as polished, not as weatherproof and certainly not as "appliance-like" as the Apollo, but it delivers that extra spark that makes you forgive its rough edges. The Apollo City 2022 Pro earns respect rather than love: it's the dependable partner that gets you to work without drama, even when the sky opens and the roads are miserable. If you want your scooter to disappear into your routine, it's the smarter pick; if you want it to be the best part of your day, the Mantis 10 is the one that will keep you sneaking in "just one more lap" before you go home.

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.