Kid E-Scooter Showdown: ZINC Formula E Kids vs JETSON Relay - Which First Ride Actually Deserves Your Money?

Fast Answer for Busy Riders ⚡ (TL;DR)

The JETSON Relay edges out overall for most kids in the target age range, mainly thanks to its slightly higher headroom for older/heavier riders, a more "grown-up" design, and genuinely practical features like a front light and very usable folding setup. It feels more like a mini real scooter than a flashy toy, which matters once the initial novelty wears off.

The ZINC Formula E Kids fights back with better "wow" factor, nicer branding, and more playful features - lights, music, and dual-mode riding - making it a better pick for younger kids who value spectacle over seriousness and for parents who want a very gentle, controlled introduction to e-riding.

If you want your child's first e-scooter to feel like a proper, if modest, vehicle, go Relay. If you want something that will light up the garden and your kid's face on Christmas morning, the ZINC has its own charm.

Read on for the full road test comparison - because the spec sheets absolutely don't tell the whole story.

There's a moment every scooter-obsessed parent knows: your kid looks at your electric commuter with wide eyes and asks, "When can I have one?" The ZINC Formula E Kids and the JETSON Relay both try to answer that question without sending anyone to A&E or bankrupting the family holiday fund.

On paper, they're near-twins: compact, low-power kids' e-scooters with similar speeds, ranges, and weights. In practice, they take very different approaches. The ZINC leans hard into Formula E branding, glowing decks and Bluetooth tunes - it's basically a rolling party. The Jetson Relay is more sober: a bare-bones, lightweight little scooter that wants to be taken (almost) seriously.

One is the entertainer of the cul-de-sac; the other is the modest understudy trying to be a "real" scooter on a tight budget. The interesting bit is where those roles overlap - and where they really don't. Let's dig in.

Who Are These For, and Why Compare Them?

Both scooters live in that awkward but important space between toy and vehicle. They're aimed squarely at primary-school to early secondary-school kids who've outgrown plastic three-wheelers but aren't ready for adult-grade torque and speed.

The ZINC Formula E Kids is pitched from around six years old upwards - think first proper e-ride for a smaller child who still loves lights, music and big logos. The Relay, with its taller bars and slightly higher weight limit, is more comfortable from roughly eight to early teens, provided they're still on the lighter side.

They share similar claimed ranges and top speeds, and both are light enough for a kid to haul up a few stairs. Both use small solid tyres, both require a push-off before the motor engages, and both are happiest on smooth private pavement. In short: if you're shopping for a first e-scooter and these two haven't turned up in your searches yet, they will.

Design & Build Quality

Pick them up back-to-back and you immediately feel the family resemblance: compact decks, skinny stems, no-nonsense welds. But the design philosophies are miles apart.

The ZINC looks like someone shrunk a Formula E paddock. Sharp decals, bright colours, LED deck that lights up like a pit-lane at night, and that big Formula E badge proudly shouting "licensed product". The frame mixes steel and aluminium, giving it a slightly denser, "toy-plus" feel in the hand. It doesn't feel flimsy, but it doesn't feel overbuilt either - perfectly serviceable for a kid's machine, just not something you'd want an adult jumping off kerbs with.

The Relay, in contrast, has gone for the "I'm totally a serious scooter, mum" look. Plain aluminium frame, slimmer lines, more muted colours - especially in the black version. The camo edition tries a bit harder, but overall this is a scooter that wants to blend in, not light up the street. The welds and joints look about what you'd expect from a mass-market big-box product: fine, but with an air of "built to a price" rather than "over-engineered". Cable routing is a bit on the external side, and the plasticky throttle/display unit feels a little more discount-bin than design-studio.

In the hands, the ZINC's slightly lower weight and shorter proportions make it feel more "kid sized", while the Relay's taller steering column and more elongated stance make it look like a shrunken adult scooter. If your kid wants a toy that looks like a race car, the ZINC wins. If they want to look like a micro-commuter, the Relay does a better impression.

Ride Comfort & Handling

Neither of these scooters has suspension, and both ride on small, solid wheels - so we're already in the "your knees are the shock absorbers" category. That said, they don't feel identical.

The ZINC rolls on smaller wheels and a slightly lower deck. On freshly laid tarmac, it feels pleasantly planted and reassuring for smaller riders; the low centre of gravity helps nervous kids feel less wobbly. The moment you venture onto cracked pavements or rougher slabs, though, that comfortable glide turns into a tingly rattle. After a few kilometres of bumpy estate paths, younger kids usually shrug it off; adults riding along will be mentally composing letters to the council about surface quality.

The Relay's slightly larger wheels help a touch with stability at its modest top speed, but they don't perform miracles. Hit expansion joints or patchy concrete and the vibrations come straight through the stem into the bars. Handling is light and nimble - perhaps a bit too twitchy if your child has the subtle steering inputs of a Labrador puppy. On the positive side, the width and shape of the handlebars give a slightly more "grown-up" control feel than the ZINC, especially for taller kids.

In tight turns and slow manoeuvres, the ZINC's shorter wheelbase and lower height make it easier for smaller riders to correct mistakes. The Relay feels more at home once the rider is a bit taller and has decent balance already. Neither likes sudden direction changes on rough ground - those tiny solid tyres will happily remind you of basic physics if you get cocky.

Performance

Let's be honest: neither of these is going to rip your arms off. The ZINC's motor has a little more grunt on paper, but both sit firmly in the "gentle shove" category rather than "hold on tight".

The ZINC's motor wakes up only after a decent push-off, then eases the scooter up to its limited top speed with a smooth, predictable pull. For a lighter six- or seven-year-old, it feels surprisingly sprightly; for a heavier pre-teen at the top of the weight limit, it feels... fine. Acceleration is linear rather than exciting, which is exactly what nervous parents want and impatient kids tolerate. Once rolling, it keeps pace with a relaxed bicycle, but there's no extra headroom if they want to "race" friends on anything more powerful.

The Relay is even more conservative. The tiny motor provides a gentle nudge more than a surge - as if the scooter is saying, "I'll help a bit, but you're doing some work too." On flat private surfaces, lighter kids get up to its modest top speed reasonably quickly, but the moment you add hills or a near-limit rider, the motor checks out of the conversation. On my test with a more solidly built child tester, the Relay slowed to an almost comic crawl on modest inclines unless they kicked along.

Both scooters use simple speed modes as a sort of electronic "learner plate". ZINC's stepped modes make sense for genuinely young beginners: walking pace, then "nice and safe", then "okay, that's enough". On the Relay, kids tend to click through to the highest mode and leave it there within a couple of rides; the lower modes feel more like parental reassurance than something riders actually keep using.

Braking on both is sensibly cautious. The ZINC's electronic brake is gentle and pairs well with the rear fender brake; kids coming from friction-brake toys adapt instantly. The Relay's motor brake has a slightly more pronounced "drag" feel when you first touch it, but still nothing that will pitch a rider forwards. Again, this is more about building confidence than emergency-stop prowess.

Battery & Range

On paper, their batteries look almost identical in capacity, and the advertised ranges are basically the same. In real use, both are "several laps of the park and home again", not "all afternoon adventures".

On the ZINC, a light child puttering around in the lower speed modes on flat paths can flirt with the optimistic range claims, especially if the light show and speaker aren't being hammered constantly. Turn everything on, run it hard in the top mode, and you're realistically looking at a decent play session rather than an epic outing. Toward the end of the charge the motor loses a bit of enthusiasm, but the scooter remains usable.

The Relay behaves similarly but gives you slightly more of that sinking "range anxiety" dashboard experience. The basic display tends to drop bars quickly under load, which can panic both child and parent even though there's still some energy left in the pack. Practical riding time at full speed for a mid-weight kid is generally around the "go out, ride hard for a bit, come back because you're bored, not because it's dead" mark - which, to be blunt, is enough for most children's attention spans.

Where the ZINC quietly beats the Relay is what happens after the electrons leave the building. When the ZINC's battery is done, it reverts to being a reasonably pleasant kick scooter with minimal drag - the fun doesn't end, it just changes tempo. The Relay can also be pushed manually, but it never feels quite as natural, and the deck/geometry make it more obvious that you're propelling a scooter designed for a motor that's currently on strike.

Charging is equally unexciting on both: plug in, wait several hours, repeat. Neither supports anything that remotely resembles "fast charging". With both, you need the family rule: "back in the house, plug it in". Leave either parked flat for a whole winter and you're playing Russian roulette with small lithium cells; both communities report sad springtime surprises when scooters won't wake up after months in a cold garage.

Portability & Practicality

Carrying either of these around is refreshingly un-dramatic compared with adult scooters. Both are light enough that an average kid can wrestle them up a step or two, and parents can juggle scooter plus shopping without needing a gym membership.

The ZINC feels a touch lighter and more compact in daily faffing. Its frame is shorter and slimmer, and kids can angle it through doors without collecting every doorframe on the way. The folding mechanism, though, can be annoyingly stiff when new; I've seen more than one parent give it the "why won't you just fold?" face. Once folded, it tucks neatly into a car boot or under a bed.

The Relay's folding design is arguably more mature: the stem swings down cleanly against the deck and forms a convenient carry handle. The latch itself is simple and reassuringly solid. For throwing several scooters into a family car or stacking them in a hallway, the Relay's overall packability is excellent. The bars don't fold, but the footprint is still small enough for domestic harmony.

In day-to-day use, both are low-maintenance as long as you accept their terrain limitations. Solid tyres mean no puncture dramas; the trade-off is that neither tolerates off-road adventures. Grass, gravel, or rough cobbles will have both scooters protesting and the riders wobbling. In wet weather, the Relay's tyres feel especially skittish, while the ZINC's low ground clearance makes deep puddles a strict no-go if you like your electronics functioning.

Safety

Both brands clearly know parents read the safety blurb first and the fun bit second. You see the same pattern: kick-to-start motors, modest top speeds, dual braking options, and plenty of grippy deck surface.

The ZINC leans heavily into visibility. That LED deck isn't just a party trick; it does make your child absurdly easy to spot in low light from any angle. That said, it oddly skips a proper front headlight, which limits its usefulness beyond late-afternoon garden sessions. Braking is confidence-inspiring for the target age: the electronic brake isn't aggressive, so panicky grabs don't result in drama, and the familiar rear fender is always there as a mechanical back-up.

The Relay adds one genuinely practical safety feature: a front LED headlight. No, you shouldn't be sending an eight-year-old out in the dark, but for murky winter afternoons or shaded paths it noticeably improves visibility both for the rider and for others. The grip tape on the deck is good, and the brake combination (e-brake plus rear fender) mirrors the ZINC's logic: give kids new tech, but keep the old habits available.

In terms of stability, it's a draw with caveats. The ZINC's lower stance suits smaller kids who are still learning how their body moves at speed. The Relay's taller setup suits slightly older children with better balance, but the harsher ride on sketchy pavement means there's a bit more opportunity for hands to slip if they hit a surprise bump. In both cases, a helmet and some basic pads should be considered non-optional kit.

Community Feedback

Price & Value

The ZINC sits a touch lower in price, the Relay a little higher - but we're talking the difference between a video game and a couple of pizzas, not mortgage territory. The real question is what you actually get for that money over a couple of years of use.

With the ZINC, you're paying for the show: licensed motorsport branding, the LED deck, the integrated speaker. If you've ever watched a kid unwrap a glowing, music-blasting scooter, you know how powerful that first-impression value is. Mechanically, it's decent but unspectacular: adequate motor, modest battery, sensible safety touches. If it survives three or four seasons as a mix of e-scooter and kick scooter, it earns its keep without ever pretending to be more than a well-dressed toy-vehicle hybrid.

The Relay's value proposition is more utilitarian. You don't get the disco, but you do get a slightly more "real scooter" template with a front light, a teeny bit more space for taller kids, and a very easy folding system. On good days and flat ground, it delivers convincing e-scooter vibes for not much money. The trouble is, reports of charging and battery issues add a layer of lottery to the ownership experience - the difference between "this was a bargain" and "we got six months out of it" can come down to how kindly the battery has been treated and whether you drew a good unit.

Service & Parts Availability

Zinc has the advantage of being a major UK-centric brand with lots of presence in mainstream retail and online stores across Europe. That makes getting hold of another ZINC product fairly easy; getting the exact spare part you want can still take patience. Community anecdotes suggest that simple bits like wheels or mechanical parts are reasonably obtainable, but battery-specific support can feel less generous.

Jetson is heavily focused on North America, and while importing into Europe is possible, you're suddenly relying much more on online support and cross-border logistics. When everything is working, that's fine. When you need a proprietary charger or want warranty help on a failed battery after a winter in the shed, the distance becomes irritating very quickly. The sheer number of Jetson owners out there means DIY tips are plentiful, but you shouldn't have to join a troubleshooting club for a kid's scooter this simple.

In both cases, these are not lifetime machines with ten-year spare parts programmes; they're consumer electronics on wheels. But if you're in Europe, the ZINC's brand footprint is at least playing on your home pitch.

Pros & Cons Summary

Parameters Comparison

Final Verdict - Which Should You Choose?

If I had to distil both scooters into a sentence each: the ZINC Formula E Kids is the crowd-pleasing lightshow that happens to move, while the JETSON Relay is the pared-back runabout that quietly tries to feel like a real scooter.

For younger, smaller kids who are just making the jump from a manual scooter, the ZINC is generally the better fit. The lower stance, friendlier ergonomics for short legs and arms, and that all-important dual-use as a kick scooter make it a reassuring, approachable first step into electric riding. The playful LEDs and music might make adults roll their eyes after a week, but they're exactly what gets many children excited enough to go outside in the first place.

For slightly older kids - eight, nine, ten and up - who care less about flashing lights and more about feeling like they're on a "proper" scooter, the Relay starts to make more sense. The taller cockpit, headlight, and clean folding design make it a more convincing daily little runabout, as long as your local terrain is flat and you keep expectations realistic about hills and range.

Given a flat neighbourhood, a child already comfortable on a scooter, and a focus on straightforward riding rather than party tricks, I'd nudge most families toward the JETSON Relay - with a clear warning to treat the battery kindly and not expect miracles. If you're buying for a smaller, younger rider and want guaranteed smiles the second the box is opened, the ZINC Formula E Kids still earns its place, even if it never quite escapes the "nicely made toy" category.

Numbers Freaks Corner

These metrics break down how efficiently each scooter uses your money, weight and energy. Price-per-Wh and price-per-km/h show where your cash goes in terms of battery and speed, while weight-based figures highlight how much "scooter" you lug around for each unit of performance or range. Wh-per-km captures how thirsty the scooters are; lower is more efficient. Power-to-speed and weight-to-power show how muscular each scooter feels relative to its size, and average charging speed tells you how quickly they refill their tiny tanks.

Author's Category Battle

Overall Winner Declaration

In the Numbers Freaks Corner, the ZINC Formula E Kids scores 8 points against the JETSON Relay's 2. In the Author's Category Battle, the ZINC Formula E Kids gets 26 ✅ versus 15 ✅ for JETSON Relay (with a few ties sprinkled in).

Totals: ZINC Formula E Kids scores 34, JETSON Relay scores 17.

Based on the scoring, the ZINC Formula E Kids is our overall winner. Between these two, the JETSON Relay is the one that ultimately feels closer to a "real" scooter in miniature, and for the right child that matters more than any light show. It's the better choice if you want a straightforward, no-nonsense first e-ride that behaves predictably and doesn't scream for attention. The ZINC Formula E Kids, though, is undeniably the charmer - it may not be perfect, but it has a knack for getting kids outside and grinning, which is half the point of buying a kids' scooter in the first place. If practicality and a more grown-up feel trump spectacle, go Relay; if sheer delight and playful energy are the priority, the ZINC will probably win your household, even if it doesn't win every spec comparison.

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.