MAX WHEEL E9 Pro vs HECHT 5177 - Which "Budget Hero" Actually Deserves Your Commute?

Fast Answer for Busy Riders ⚡ (TL;DR)

The HECHT 5177 edges out the MAX WHEEL E9 Pro as the more rounded everyday commuter, mainly thanks to its established brand backing, simpler hardware, and fewer "surprise" gremlins over time. It feels more like a sensible tool you stop thinking about, which is exactly what most commuters secretly want.

The MAX WHEEL E9 Pro fights back with more comfort, slightly better real-world range and features like turn signals and dual suspension - it is the more pleasant scooter to ride when it behaves, and better suited to longer, cushier city hops.

Choose the HECHT 5177 if you value reliability, brand support and low-maintenance practicality above all. Choose the E9 Pro if you want maximum comfort and features per euro and are OK living with a bit more "budget scooter drama".

If you want to know which one will really make your mornings better - not just on paper, but after months of abuse - keep reading.

There is a certain charm to sub-300 € scooters: every brand promises "premium experience for half the money", and you already know somebody is bending the truth a little. MAX WHEEL's E9 Pro and HECHT's 5177 are prime examples - both claiming commuter glory, both weighing about as much as a bag of groceries, both clearly targeting the same riders.

I have spent time with both in the only testing environment that really matters: cracked pavements, wet tram tracks, badly timed traffic lights and the occasional panic stop when a dog decides the bike lane is his now. On paper they look very similar; on the road, their personalities - and compromises - show pretty quickly.

The E9 Pro is the "feature-loaded bargain" that tries to impress you with comfort and gadgets. The HECHT 5177 is the sensible tool that looks you in the eye and says: "I will not be exciting, but I will be there." Let's see which one actually deserves your hallway space.

Who Are These For, and Why Compare Them?

Both scooters live firmly in the budget commuter universe: light enough to carry up stairs, fast enough to keep up with city bike traffic, and (just about) cheap enough that you do not need a family meeting before buying one.

The MAX WHEEL E9 Pro goes after riders who want a "mini mid-range" experience without paying mid-range money: dual suspension, app tuning, turn signals, reasonably strong motor and a battery that can actually cover a proper day in the city. It is the pick for riders who care about comfort and toys as much as they care about getting to work.

The HECHT 5177 is clearly targeted at multimodal commuters and students: light, simple, easy to live with, coming from a brand whose natural habitat is hardware stores rather than Instagram ads. It is for people who see a scooter as a utility, not a hobby.

They cost roughly the same, they weigh the same, and they sit in the same legal performance class. That makes them direct competitors - and very easy to cross-shop.

Design & Build Quality

Pick them up and you immediately feel two different design philosophies.

The MAX WHEEL E9 Pro follows the familiar "Xiaomi-style" deck-battery layout: battery under your feet, fairly chunky deck, conventional stem. It is all-black stealthy with some red hints, and from a distance more than one person will mistake it for something more expensive. The aluminium frame feels decent enough, the welds are fine, and the folding joint looks reassuringly overbuilt for this price bracket. Still, up close, some components - the mudguard brace, the levers, the cable routing - remind you where the bean counters have been busy.

The HECHT 5177 goes for a different silhouette: slim deck, fat stem, with the battery housed in that chunky front column. It looks more tool-like, almost industrial, which suits a brand better known for chainsaws than for sleek gadgets. The deck is razor-thin, ground clearance is generous, and visually it stands out from the endless parade of generic Chinese clones. The plastics feel a touch more robust, and out of the box the whole scooter has fewer rattles and buzzes than many competitors - including the E9 Pro after a few weeks of cobblestone therapy.

Ergonomically, the E9's cockpit wins for me: wider bar feel, nicer grips, brighter, more colourful display. The HECHT's stem-integrated display is clean and functional but basic; it does the job, nothing more. Where the HECHT claws back is perceived solidity: the latch, stem and frame simply feel a bit more "mower-grade" and a bit less "AliExpress experiment".

Ride Comfort & Handling

This is where the MAX WHEEL E9 Pro pulls ahead quite clearly. Dual suspension on a scooter this light is unusual at this price, and you really feel it. Hit typical city imperfections - expansion joints, cracked tarmac, the odd shallow pothole - and the E9 Pro softens the blow nicely. Combine that with honeycomb tyres that have a little give, and you get a ride that is surprisingly easy on knees and wrists. After a handful of kilometres on battered pavements, I can still feel my fillings.

The HECHT 5177 takes a different approach: solid honeycomb tyres at both ends, but only the rear gets an actual spring. It absolutely helps - the rear shock stops the scooter from pogo-sticking your spine every time you cross a manhole cover - but the front end is still a rigid fork on solid rubber. On glassy asphalt, it is lovely; on cobblestones, your hands quickly remember why front suspension was invented.

In corners, both are stable enough at legal speeds. The E9 Pro's slightly more planted, "sofa on a stick" feel gives you more confidence on broken surfaces; the HECHT feels sharper, more direct, but also more nervous when the road gets ugly. For weaving through crowds and tight cycle lanes, the HECHT's slightly slimmer deck and nimble steering are nice. For longer, less perfectly paved commutes, the MAX WHEEL simply beats it on comfort.

Performance

Both scooters use a similar-rated motor, and you feel that: off the line they are in the same league, with enough punch to get you away from traffic lights ahead of most bicycles, but not enough to be genuinely wild. If you are coming from heavier, rental-style scooters, both will actually feel more responsive, simply because there is less mass to move.

The MAX WHEEL E9 Pro, however, does have a bit more "enthusiasm" in its step. Its controller tuning gives it a slightly stronger shove at low speeds, especially in the sportier modes. Unlock the speed (where legal...) and you notice that there is still some headroom in the motor: on flat ground, it keeps pulling with reasonable authority. Hill starts are acceptable for an average-weight rider; steeper, longer climbs will see speeds sag, but you rarely feel completely abandoned unless you are pushing the weight limit or live on a hill that cyclists avoid on principle.

The HECHT 5177 is more conservative. Acceleration is smooth and predictable, not snappy. It reaches its capped top speed at a decent pace, then just sits there in a very calm, almost dull way - which many commuters will secretly like. On gentle inclines it copes fine, but once slopes get serious you are contributing with your foot unless you are quite light. Think "flat city or mild suburbs" rather than "Alpine village".

Braking is where the HECHT surprises positively. With a rear disc brake, electronic front brake and even a foot brake on the mudguard, you have redundancy galore. Modulation is decent, and the overall stopping performance inspires confidence. The E9 Pro's combo of electronic front braking and one rear disc is fine - better than many in its class - but that system is more dependent on the electronics behaving themselves. When everything works, both stop safely; the HECHT just feels more straightforward and a bit more predictable on the lever.

Battery & Range

On claims alone, the MAX WHEEL E9 Pro promises more distance, and its battery pack is indeed larger. Out on the road that translates, unsurprisingly, into a meaningful extra chunk of usable range. Ridden briskly in the faster modes, the E9 Pro still gives you a comfortable urban day of mixed use: morning commute, lunchtime dash, evening ride home, without permanent range anxiety. You do notice the usual slow fade in punch as the battery empties, but it is within the normal range for this class.

The HECHT 5177 sits a step below. Its smaller pack is fine for short and medium hops: a few kilometres to the train station, coffee run, back home, done. Stretch the route and you are much more conscious of the remaining distance; heavier riders especially will start thinking about chargers once the day's total starts creeping into the mid-teens. For the use-case it is clearly built for - short, repeatable urban transfers - it works. For spontaneous detours and "oh, I'll just ride across town instead of taking the tram", it feels limited.

On efficiency, both behave as you would expect from compact, light scooters with modest motors and solid tyres: neither is a power hog, but neither is a miracle. The E9 Pro's KERS helps a little in stop-and-go traffic. Charging times are comparable; plug them in when you get home from work and they will both be ready the next morning. The only practical difference is that with the HECHT you will be plugging in more often if you ride a lot.

Portability & Practicality

On the scales, it is basically a draw: both hover around that magic dozen-kilo mark. That means "carryable but not exactly featherweight" - you can haul either up a couple of flights of stairs without training for it, but you will not be doing biceps curls with them for fun.

The MAX WHEEL E9 Pro's traditional layout means the weight is mostly in the deck. Carrying it by the stem feels fairly balanced, and the latch-to-rear-mudguard system when folded works well enough. The folding motion itself is quick once you get used to it, and the scooter is compact enough to slide under a desk or into a car boot without any Tetris.

The HECHT 5177, with its stem-battery architecture, feels more front-heavy in the hand. When you first pick it up, it wants to swing nose-down until you learn where to grab it. Once you do, the low overall mass saves the day. Folded size is similarly tidy, and again you are not wrestling it into public transport. For truly multi-modal commuting - in and out of buses, trains, trams - the difference between them is marginal; both are viable where heavier scooters become a daily annoyance.

Where the HECHT scores a small but real win is "liveable practicality". The USB port in the cockpit is genuinely handy, and the simpler hardware means fewer fiddly parts to keep an eye on. The E9 Pro answers with app customisation, more riding modes and nicer lighting - clever, useful, but also more things that can misbehave.

Safety

Safety on small scooters is all about three things: how they stop, how they grip, and how well others can see you.

The HECHT 5177 plays it conservative but competent. Triple braking gives redundancy, and the mechanical feel at the lever is reassuring. The solid honeycomb tyres remove the "sudden puncture at speed" risk, which is no small thing. Grip on dry tarmac is absolutely fine; on wet paint and cobbles they behave like any small hard tyre - grip is there, but you ride with some mechanical sympathy.

The MAX WHEEL E9 Pro counters with better lighting and electronics. Integrated turn signals on the bars are a real safety upgrade in dense urban traffic; being able to indicate without flailing an arm is both safer and more civilised. The headlight throws a somewhat better beam than the HECHT's stock unit, and the rear light is nicely visible. The dual braking system works well when dialled in, and the overall chassis stability is good enough for its speed class.

However, safety is also about predictability and reliability. The E9's occasional error codes and the extra dependency on the app and electronics mean that, while it has more safety features, there are more potential weak points. The HECHT may be blander in this respect, but its simplicity is part of its safety story.

Community Feedback

Price & Value

Both sit in almost identical price territory, which makes life easier: you are really choosing concept and priorities, not your wallet.

The MAX WHEEL E9 Pro offers a lot of scooter for the money: larger battery, dual suspension, turn signals, richer app, more comfort. If you list features per euro, it wins. The question is how much you value long-term polish and support. The underlying platform is common in the low-cost ecosystem, so parts are generally available, but official support can be a lottery depending on the retailer.

The HECHT 5177 is a little more expensive on paper for less battery and fewer bells and whistles. But you are also buying into a known European brand with physical presence, established spare-parts channels and a reputation built on decades of selling machines that just work. For many buyers, that "boring" value - being able to get a brake lever or charger locally in two years - is worth more than a second suspension arm today.

If you are extremely price-sensitive and comfortable with minor tinkering, the E9 Pro feels like the hotter deal. If you prefer paying slightly more for a calmer ownership experience, HECHT's package makes a lot of sense.

Service & Parts Availability

Here the roles reverse somewhat.

MAX WHEEL as a label lives in the broader universe of generic Chinese commuter scooters. The upside: many key parts - controllers, tyres, stems, even entire wheel assemblies - are shared across models and easy to source from big online marketplaces. The downside: official, structured support can be patchy, and you rely heavily on community guides, YouTube and your own willingness to wield a hex key when error codes appear.

HECHT, by contrast, has an actual European service footprint. They understand spare parts logistics; they have been supplying blades and belts for lawnmowers long before scooters were cool. You are more likely to find official parts and authorised service in your own language, which matters once the honeymoon period is over and things start to wear.

So while both can be kept alive without too much drama, HECHT clearly wins the "I just want a normal warranty and someone to call" contest.

Pros & Cons Summary

Parameters Comparison

Final Verdict - Which Should You Choose?

Neither of these scooters is perfect; both make deliberate compromises to hit their price point. The question is which set of compromises suits your life better.

If you mainly ride in a flat or moderately hilly city, do regular trips rather than micro-hops, and care about comfort and safety features, the MAX WHEEL E9 Pro is simply the nicer scooter to be on. The dual suspension, bigger battery and turn signals make everyday riding more pleasant and less fatiguing. You will feel less beat-up after a week of commuting, and you will have a bit more range in your pocket for detours and "just one more errand". You do, however, accept a slightly more fragile, "DIY-friendly" ownership experience: it is great value but demands a bit of patience when the occasional glitch shows up.

The HECHT 5177 is the more rational purchase for the classic multimodal commuter who just wants something light, simple and supported by a real-world brand. It gives up range and some comfort, and it is not the scooter you choose for long days in the saddle. But it feels straightforward, unpretentious and mechanically honest, with decent service backing and no attempt to pretend it is anything other than a small city tool.

For most buyers who are replacing short car or tram hops and want stability and support more than toys, I would lean toward the HECHT 5177. If you are willing to trade a little of that "sensible appliance" feeling for better comfort and more capability per euro - and you do not mind occasionally tightening a screw or coaxing an app - the MAX WHEEL E9 Pro stays very tempting.

Numbers Freaks Corner

These metrics look purely at how efficiently each scooter converts euros, kilograms and watt-hours into speed and range. Lower cost per Wh or per kilometre generally means better value on paper. Weight-related metrics tell you how much scooter you are carrying around per unit of performance, while power-to-speed hints at how "understressed" the motor is for its top speed. Charging speed simply reflects how quickly you can refill the battery relative to its size. None of this says how nice they feel to ride - but it does reveal which one squeezes more out of every euro and every watt-hour.

Author's Category Battle

Overall Winner Declaration

In the Numbers Freaks Corner, the MAX WHEEL E9 Pro scores 10 points against the HECHT 5177's 3. In the Author's Category Battle, the MAX WHEEL E9 Pro gets 29 ✅ versus 12 ✅ for HECHT 5177.

Totals: MAX WHEEL E9 Pro scores 39, HECHT 5177 scores 15.

Based on the scoring, the MAX WHEEL E9 Pro is our overall winner. Riding both back to back, the MAX WHEEL E9 Pro is the one that makes you grin more - it is softer, livelier and feels like you snuck a mid-range ride out of a budget bin. The HECHT 5177, in contrast, never really excites, but it also never really scares; it is the steady hand on a Monday morning when you are late and just want your transport to behave. In the end, the HECHT takes it for me as the scooter I would actually trust to depend on every workday, while the E9 Pro is the one I would reach for when I feel like enjoying the commute a bit more - as long as I am prepared to live with the occasional budget-scooter quirk.

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.