Apollo Explore 20 vs KAABO Mantis X - Which "Goldilocks" Scooter Actually Delivers?

Fast Answer for Busy Riders ⚡ (TL;DR)

The KAABO Mantis X is the stronger overall package if you want performance, comfort and grin-inducing acceleration; it feels more like a "real vehicle" than a commuter that grew a big motor by accident. The Apollo Explore 20 fights back with better weather protection, lower maintenance and a friendlier, more polished commuting experience, but its price-to-performance ratio is harder to swallow next to the Mantis. Choose the Apollo if you care more about reliability, visibility and app integration than raw shove. Choose the Mantis if you want to fly up hills, carve corners and don't mind a bit more weight and maintenance.

If you want the full story - including how both of these "do-it-all" scooters stumble in their own ways - read on.

There's a particular kind of rider both these scooters are aiming at: the person who's had enough of flimsy rental-style toys but doesn't want to drag a small motorcycle into their flat. On paper, the Apollo Explore 20 and the KAABO Mantis X land in a similar "premium mid-range" space: serious speed, real suspension, proper lights, and real-world range that can actually replace public transport for many people.

In practice, though, they take very different paths. The Apollo leans hard into software polish, visibility and low-maintenance hardware; the Mantis X bets big on dual-motor performance and adjustable hydraulic suspension, then tries to sound sensible about it afterwards. One is a sensible commuter in gym clothes, the other is a sports scooter in a business shirt.

Let's dig into where each one shines - and where the marketing gloss starts to crack.

Who Are These For, and Why Compare Them?

Both the Explore 20 and the Mantis X sit in that awkward middle ground: too heavy to be "last-mile toys", too tame to be full hyper-scooters. They're targeted at riders with medium to long daily commutes, often with hills, rough tarmac and the occasional wet morning thrown in.

The Apollo Explore 20 is pitched as an "all-terrain commuter" for the super-commuter who wants one scooter to do everything: city streets, broken pavements, a bit of gravel. It's for someone who values reliability and low maintenance, and is willing to pay a premium for integration and polish, not just headline numbers.

The KAABO Mantis X is what happens when a performance brand tries to behave like an adult. Dual motors, aggressive stance, and adjustable hydraulic suspension scream enthusiast; NFC ignition, decent lights and semi-sensible range numbers whisper "you can still use me to get to work". It's for riders who are bored of single-motor commuters and want something that actually feels exciting on a Sunday, not just "adequate".

They compete because, if you're spending serious money on a mid-weight scooter that can realistically replace a car or public transport for many trips, these two sit right in the crosshairs. And to be blunt: in this bracket, you can't afford to buy the wrong compromise.

Design & Build Quality

In the hand, these scooters tell two very different stories.

The Apollo Explore 20 feels like a tightly integrated product. The tubular steel frame wrapping around the deck gives it a cohesive, almost "one-piece" feel, and the internal cable routing helps it look more like a finished vehicle than a parts bin special. The stem latch is chunky, industrial and undeniably solid; once locked, there's virtually no wobble. The overall look is modern and fairly refined - more "urban mobility device" than "DIY hot-rod".

The Mantis X, by contrast, looks like it's ready to jump a curb even while parked. The forged aluminium frame and the iconic C-shaped suspension arms give it an aggressive, technical presence. The finish is generally good; welds look solid, and the newer collar-style clamp on the stem is a huge relief for anyone who remembers older Kaabo wobble horror stories. It still feels a little more "mechanical" and less "consumer product" than the Apollo - you're more aware you're dealing with a small performance machine than a polished appliance.

In terms of perceived quality, the Apollo wins on neatness and integration - cleaner cabling, very slick lighting integration, app connectivity, and a display that feels purpose-built. The Mantis X pushes ahead in sheer robustness where it counts: the suspension arms, the folding joint, the deck and frame all feel like they've been engineered for repeated abuse.

Both are miles ahead of generic budget models, but neither is perfect. Apollo's heavy steel framing brings strength but also a weight penalty many riders will never fully exploit. Kaabo's cockpit layout and switchgear, while improved, can still feel a touch "parts shelf" compared to the Apollo's more curated feel.

Ride Comfort & Handling

After a few dozen kilometres on each, their comfort philosophies are obvious.

The Apollo Explore 20 is tuned for plushness. Its triple-spring suspension - dual at the rear, single at the front - and 10-inch tubeless tyres soak up city nastiness impressively. On cracked pavements and cobbles, you get a soft, almost hovering sensation; the scooter politely erases most of the chatter before it reaches your knees. The downside is that, at higher speeds, that softness can translate into a very slightly floaty feel - not dangerous, just less connected than some riders might prefer when pushing close to its top speed.

The Mantis X, thanks to its adjustable hydraulic shocks and wider 10x3 tyres, levels up the suspension game. Once dialled in for your weight, it gives you that "cloud-like" ride people rave about, but with noticeably better control when you start riding harder. Hit a pothole at speed and the chassis rebounds in a controlled way instead of pogoing. Tip it into a fast corner and the contact patch and damping make it feel planted, not nervous.

Handling follows the same pattern. The Apollo is predictable and confidence-inspiring at commuter speeds. The non-folding handlebars feel solid, steering inputs are calm, and the deck offers enough room to find a stable stance. For weaving through urban traffic or cruising bike lanes, it's easy and relaxing.

The Mantis X is more eager - and more rewarding. Wide bars and that dual-motor traction invite you to carve. It feels like a "rider's scooter": lean, adjust weight on the kickplate, and it responds instantly. It's still stable, but there's clearly more performance lurking underneath, and the chassis communicates that to you.

If you prioritise plush comfort and a relaxed, forgiving ride, the Apollo edges ahead. If you care about comfort and dynamic handling, the Mantis X simply has more depth once you start riding like you mean it.

Performance

This is where their philosophies collide head-on.

The Apollo Explore 20 runs a single rear motor with a clever controller. Off the line, it feels surprisingly punchy for a solo motor; there's a smooth, insistent shove rather than a violent lurch. In traffic, it gets up to urban speeds fast enough that you're seldom left behind. Its top speed is perfectly fine for legal or semi-legal city use - you're ahead of bicycles and most rental scooters, but you're not exactly terrorising the outer lane of a ring road. Hills are handled with respectable determination: it won't rocket up, but it also doesn't feel like it's dying halfway. You feel the motor working, but you're not forced to kick along like you forgot to charge.

Step onto the Mantis X and the story changes. Dual motors plus sine-wave controllers mean that, in its sportier modes, throttle application produces a proper surge. The scooter leaps forward in a way the Apollo simply can't match. From traffic lights, you'll easily clear cars and other scooters if you want to. Top speed climbs into the "you really should be wearing armour now" bracket, and at that point wind, not just bravery, becomes a limiting factor.

Hill climbing is where the Apollo's single motor shows its limits. It manages, but there's no escaping physics. The Mantis X, by comparison, treats serious inclines as a test of your nerve more than the scooter's strength. Maintaining car-like speeds up steep sections is well within its comfort zone. If your daily route includes brutal hills, the difference is dramatic.

On braking, things get interesting. The Apollo's dual drum setup plus strong regen is deliberately conservative. The mechanical brakes won't rip the tyre's grip away suddenly, and the regen throttle becomes your primary speed control once you're used to it. Stopping distances are decent for its performance envelope, but the feel is more "sensible commuter" than "performance anchor".

The Mantis X's disc brakes, backed by electronic braking, deliver more aggressive deceleration. You can scrub speed quickly enough to match its higher performance, and the modulation - once you've adjusted levers and cables to taste - is reassuring. Purists will still pine for full hydraulics on all trims, but the baseline is strong, especially combined with the big tyres and longer wheelbase feel.

If performance thrills you even a little, the Mantis X is on another level. The Apollo is "quick enough", but in this price bracket, "quick enough" feels a bit apologetic next to what the Kaabo can do.

Battery & Range

On paper, both promise ranges that most urban riders will rarely, if ever, fully use in a single day. In the real world, it's more nuanced.

The Apollo Explore 20's battery sits in that sweet middle size where you can commute decently far without lugging around a small power station. Ride it like a normal human - mixed modes, some hills, occasional full-throttle bursts - and you're looking at a solid medium-distance round trip without needing to beg for a wall socket at work. Ride it like it owes you money, and the range shrinks, but not embarrassingly. The scooter's controller manages power pretty well; it doesn't suddenly feel anaemic at half charge, and you don't get that nasty surprise where the last stretch home is spent crawling.

The Mantis X carries a noticeably larger battery, and it shows. Even accounting for the extra weight and twin motors, its real-world range tends to outpace the Apollo when ridden in similar styles - especially if you're willing to cruise in single-motor mode on flatter stretches. Use the full dual-motor fury all the time and you'll burn through juice quicker, but you'd have to be actively trying to drain it on a typical urban day.

Charging is where neither shines. The Apollo's stock charger is a long overnight affair; the Mantis X is even more leisurely. Both can be sped up with aftermarket or optional fast chargers if supported, but that's extra cost on already not-cheap scooters. If you're the kind of rider who routinely does long days back-to-back, planning your charging becomes part of your life either way.

Range anxiety? On the Apollo, you'll start eyeing the battery bar earlier if you push it hard. On the Mantis X, you're more likely to get bored before you get stranded, as long as you're not running it flat every commute.

Portability & Practicality

Here's the awkward truth: both of these are "portable" in the same way a small motorbike is "pushable". Possible? Yes. Fun? Not really.

The Apollo Explore 20 is a hefty single-motor scooter. Carrying it up a flight of stairs is doable if you're reasonably fit and not wearing your nicest work clothes; more than that and it quickly becomes a daily punishment. The folding mechanism is solid but not exactly dainty. And because the handlebars don't fold, its folded footprint is fairly wide, which makes it more of a "park it under a big desk or in the hallway" device than a "sneak it into a crowded train" option.

The Mantis X weighs even more, and you feel every extra kilo when lifting it. The saving grace is that it folds down into a slightly tidier, more carry-able package, with the bars hooking into the rear fender so you can use the stem as a handle. For short lifts into a car boot or up a couple of steps, it's manageable. For a multi-floor stair session, you'll quickly start browsing estate agent listings for flats with lifts.

For day-to-day practicality, the Apollo pulls ahead for pure urban commuting: IP66 weather resistance, tubeless self-healing tyres and app-based locking make it feel genuinely daily-driver friendly. You can get caught in a downpour, ride through salty winter slush, and largely shrug. The Mantis X's IPX5 protection is respectable, but you'll think twice before subjecting its exposed discs and tubed tyres to repeated weather abuse.

On the flipside, the Mantis X's better folded shape and wider deck are friendlier if you're frequently loading in and out of cars or doing longer leisure rides. It's the better "weekend away" companion; the Apollo is the better "grim Tuesday commute in sideways rain" partner.

Safety

Both brands clearly know that riders are now paying attention to safety and not just headline watts, but they approach it differently.

The Apollo Explore 20 is a visibility monster. The high stem light is right up in drivers' eye-line, and the 360-degree lighting - deck, rear, indicators - makes you look like a small, mobile Christmas tree in all the right ways. In grim winter conditions with impatient drivers, that matters a lot. Add in the IP66 rating and grippy, tubeless tyres, and you get a scooter that feels composed when everything is wet, dirty and generally miserable.

Braking, as mentioned, is tuned for predictability. The drums won't win any pub debates about ultimate stopping hardware, but paired with strong regen they give a very controlled, low-maintenance experience that suits its performance envelope.

The Mantis X counters with better "see the road" lighting. Its main headlight actually throws a usable beam ahead, which makes night riding on unlit paths far less of a guessing game. Indicators and deck lighting help with being seen, though the overall package isn't as all-encompassing as Apollo's safety light show. Where the Kaabo makes its safety case is in chassis stability and braking capacity at higher speeds: the solid stem, big contact patch and strong disc + EABS setup work together to keep things composed when you're pushing well beyond typical commuter velocities.

In short: if your main fear is being overlooked by a distracted SUV driver in the rain, the Apollo has the better armour. If your main risk is over-enthusiasm at speed, the Mantis X gives you more braking headroom and chassis stability - assuming you respect it.

Community Feedback

Price & Value

Here's where things get uncomfortable for the Apollo.

The Explore 20 sits firmly in the premium single-motor bracket. You're paying a significant amount for one motor, a mid-sized battery, and a lot of refinement: best-in-class weatherproofing, self-healing tubeless tyres, integrated lighting, and a polished app ecosystem. If your mental calculator is "watts and battery per euro", the numbers don't flatter it. If your calculator is "how much faff will this save me for three winters of daily use?", it starts to make more sense.

The Mantis X, by contrast, arrives with dual motors, a bigger battery and more sophisticated suspension at a noticeably higher but still competitive price. In raw spec terms, it frankly embarrasses a lot of scooters in its range. You get more speed, more climbing ability, more "future headroom" for your riding skills. The compromise is a bit more complexity and maintenance, plus slightly lower weather and puncture resistance out of the box.

If every euro must translate directly into performance, the Mantis X is the better deal. If you put real value on low-maintenance commuting and not having to think about rain, punctures and fiddly hardware, the Apollo's price becomes easier to tolerate - though still not exactly generous.

Service & Parts Availability

Both brands are reasonably well established, but they play different roles in the ecosystem.

Apollo operates with a more centralised, brand-driven approach, particularly in North America and increasingly in Europe. You get official parts, structured support channels and an app ecosystem built in-house. They've had teething issues historically, but by now the Explore line benefits from that learning curve. Availability of specific parts will depend on your region, but you're at least dealing with a brand that designs and supports its own platforms.

Kaabo, on the other hand, is backed by a very wide global distributor network. In Europe especially, it's usually not hard to find pads, tyres, fenders, and even major components through multiple retailers. There's also a vast third-party ecosystem: tutorials, upgrade kits, custom parts - everything. The downside of this "open" ecosystem is occasional inconsistency in after-sales experience depending on which retailer you bought from.

For DIY types and tinkerers, the Mantis X's aftermarket and community support ecosystem is a big plus. For riders who want a more controlled, brand-managed experience, Apollo has the edge - though you will sometimes pay extra for that privilege and you're more tied to official channels.

Pros & Cons Summary

Parameters Comparison

Final Verdict - Which Should You Choose?

If we strip away the marketing gloss and the fan-club noise, the KAABO Mantis X comes out as the more complete scooter for riders who want real performance and long-term headroom. It accelerates harder, climbs better, rides more controlled at speed and offers genuinely impressive suspension and chassis competence for its class. For the rider who wants their commute to be the best part of the day, not just something to "get done", the Mantis X is simply more rewarding.

The Apollo Explore 20, meanwhile, is the more sensible - and more constrained - choice. Its strengths are real and not trivial: outstanding weather protection, genuinely low-maintenance hardware, superb visibility and a very polished overall feel. For a rider who lives in a rainy city, parks outside, and values not having to think about flats, rusty discs or app hacks, that matters. The issue is that you're paying a healthy premium for a single-motor scooter whose performance envelope feels modest once you've ridden something like the Mantis X.

So, who should get what? If you are a performance-leaning rider, do not overthink it: the Mantis X is the scooter that will keep you satisfied for years, both for commuting and weekend fun. If you are a daily commuter in brutal weather, more risk-averse, and you prize predictability and simplicity over thrills, the Apollo Explore 20 remains a defensible - if not spectacularly good-value - choice. Just go into it knowing that, somewhere in the back of your mind, you may always wonder what the extra motor would have felt like.

Numbers Freaks Corner

These metrics are purely mathematical lenses: price per Wh and per km tell you how much energy and range you're buying for each euro. Weight-normalised metrics show how much battery and performance you're hauling around. Efficiency (Wh/km) indicates how gently each scooter sips from its pack, while the power-to-speed and weight-to-power ratios hint at how "muscular" the drivetrain is for its performance envelope. Average charging speed simply tells you which pack refills faster per hour at the wall.

Author's Category Battle

Overall Winner Declaration

In the Numbers Freaks Corner, the APOLLO Explore 20 scores 6 points against the KAABO Mantis X's 4. In the Author's Category Battle, the APOLLO Explore 20 gets 22 ✅ versus 28 ✅ for KAABO Mantis X (with a few ties sprinkled in).

Totals: APOLLO Explore 20 scores 28, KAABO Mantis X scores 32.

Based on the scoring, the KAABO Mantis X is our overall winner. In the end, the Mantis X simply feels like the more satisfying machine to live with if you enjoy riding as much as you need to commute. It has that extra reserve of power and composure that turns every trip into something you might actually look forward to, rather than just endure. The Apollo Explore 20 counters with a very likeable, low-drama character - it's the scooter you trust on a filthy winter morning - but it never quite escapes the feeling that you're paying a premium for sensibility rather than capability. If your heart and your stomach both get a vote, the Kaabo is the one that's harder to walk away from.

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.