Xiaomi 4 Pro vs Xiaomi 4 Pro 2nd Gen - Same Badge, Different Beast: Which "Pro" Scooter Actually Deserves Your Money?

Fast Answer for Busy Riders ⚡ (TL;DR)

The Xiaomi Electric Scooter 4 Pro 2nd Gen is the stronger overall package: more grunt on hills, better traction thanks to rear-wheel drive and traction control, wider tyres, and a noticeably more planted, confident feel at speed. It makes more sense for heavier riders, hilly cities, and anyone who treats their scooter as a daily vehicle rather than a tech toy.

The original Xiaomi 4 Pro still works if you're lighter, mostly ride on decent bike lanes, and want something a touch lighter and a bit easier to wrangle in tight spaces or short stair sections. It's the "safe, familiar" option rather than the exciting one.

If you can live with a little extra weight and don't mind paying for the newer design, go for the 4 Pro 2nd Gen. If weight and occasional carrying are your biggest headaches, the older 4 Pro remains acceptable.

Stick around - the real differences only show up once rubber meets road, and that's where things get interesting.

Electric scooters have finally grown up from wobbly toys into real transport, and Xiaomi's Pro line is one of the main reasons why. The Xiaomi 4 Pro was the company's "we're serious now" statement: bigger chassis, better brakes, self-sealing tyres, and a ride that no longer felt like a folding scooter from a supermarket bin.

Then Xiaomi did what big brands do best - iterate. The Xiaomi Electric Scooter 4 Pro 2nd Gen looks almost the same at a glance, but moves the power to the rear, fattens up the tyres, and quietly tweaks the formula in ways you only appreciate after a week or two of commuting.

The 4 Pro is for riders who want a refined, predictable commuter they can live with every day without thinking too hard. The 4 Pro 2nd Gen is for those same riders once they've spent a winter on hills and sketchy tarmac and realised they'd quite like more traction, thanks.

Let's dig in and see where each one shines, and where the marketing gloss wears a bit thin.

Who Are These For, and Why Compare Them?

Both scooters sit in the same general class: mid-priced, "serious commuter" machines aimed at people doing several kilometres daily rather than once-a-week joyrides. Think office workers, students with longer campus commutes, and car-ditchers in dense European cities.

They share the same basic recipe: relatively compact folding frame, no mechanical suspension, road-focused geometry, and speed capped to keep you on the right side of local regulations. They both want to be your Monday-to-Friday transport, not your Sunday track toy.

Where they differ is philosophy. The 4 Pro is Xiaomi's aluminium, front-wheel-drive refinement of the classic formula. The 4 Pro 2nd Gen leans into robustness and traction: steel frame, rear motor, wider tyres, more hill muscle. Same segment, different emphasis - which is exactly why they're worth comparing head to head.

Design & Build Quality

In the flesh, both scooters look very "Xiaomi": minimalist matte black, subtle accents, tidy wiring. Park either one in an office corridor and nobody will accuse you of bringing a toy to work.

The Xiaomi 4 Pro uses an aluminium alloy frame. It feels solid enough - classic Xiaomi stiffness, reasonably light for its size, and no alarming creaks when you yank the bars around. That said, after many kilometres you do start to notice the "light commuter" DNA: it feels competent rather than indestructible.

The 4 Pro 2nd Gen switches to a carbon steel frame. On the road and in the hands, it feels denser and more "vehicle-like". The stem and hinge have that reassuring, slightly overbuilt vibe; there's a sense that if a car door clips it at low speed, the door might be worse off. The trade-off is obvious the first time you lift it: this is not a featherweight.

Both have neat integrated dashboards in the stem. Both are annoyingly easy to scratch if you're even slightly enthusiastic with cleaning cloths; the 2nd Gen is particularly notorious for soft screen plastic. Neither's cockpit is glamorous, but they're clean, legible and functional - think "decent smartphone, no case", not "luxury watch".

In the hands: the 4 Pro is the one you don't mind manhandling in and out of a car boot. The 4 Pro 2nd Gen is the one that feels like it'll shrug off years of abuse but makes you choose your parking spot more carefully because moving it is a small event.

Ride Comfort & Handling

Neither scooter has mechanical suspension, so your knees and ankles are the shocks. Comfort is all about tyres, geometry and frame flex - or lack thereof.

The 4 Pro runs on tall, tubeless 10-inch tyres with Xiaomi's self-sealing gel. On decent bike paths and city tarmac, it glides surprisingly well. It smooths out the usual cracks and seams, and for short rides you don't really miss springs. But hit a stretch of older cobblestones or those charming "historic" pavements some cities refuse to fix, and the rigid frame lets you know exactly how much your dentist charges per filling.

The 4 Pro 2nd Gen still rolls on 10-inch tyres, but they're noticeably wider. That extra width and volume make a real difference: you get more cush, more stability, and less nervous twitching when you cross tram tracks or worn-out asphalt. It's still not a magic carpet - big potholes remain big potholes - but the ride feels less brittle, especially over longer distances.

Handling-wise, the older 4 Pro turns in light and easy. The front motor gently pulls you through corners; it feels nimble, if occasionally a bit eager to follow imperfections in the road.

The 2nd Gen's rear motor changes the whole balance. The steering is calmer, the front wheel feels less overloaded, and mid-corner bumps are less likely to unsettle the scooter. Combined with the fatter rubber, it gives you that "okay, this thing has my back" feeling, particularly on wet mornings when leaves are pretending to be black ice.

If your regular loop is smooth bike lanes and short hops, comfort-wise both are fine. Stretch that to 30-40 minutes on mixed surfaces, and the 2nd Gen's extra tyre volume and more planted handling start to earn their keep.

Performance

On paper, both scooters look similar: mid-class motors, legally limited top speed, healthy torque. On the road, they don't feel the same at all.

The Xiaomi 4 Pro has a front hub motor that pulls smoothly off the line. Acceleration in its sportiest mode is perfectly adequate for beating bicycles away from the lights, but it doesn't exactly punch. It's tuned for predictability: gentle, linear shove that makes new riders comfortable but won't make experienced ones giggle.

The 4 Pro 2nd Gen steps things up with a higher-voltage rear motor that peaks much harder. It's not a drag-strip monster, but when you pin the throttle, there's a distinctly more urgent surge. On flat ground it gets to its limited top speed briskly; on hills, the difference is even more obvious. Where the 4 Pro starts to sound like it's writing a polite letter to gravity, the 2nd Gen just grunts and gets on with it.

Both are capped at the typical city-legal speed. The 4 Pro ambles gently into that limit; you can feel its power curve easing off as if asking permission from the law. The 2nd Gen, by contrast, feels like it's held back - you get the sense the motor would happily go faster if the firmware lawyers weren't in charge. If you're hoping to hack it for more speed, be warned: Xiaomi's encryption makes that a hobby for the particularly determined.

Braking tells the same story of slightly different priorities. The 4 Pro pairs a rear disc with front electronic braking. It has good bite and a reassuring dual action, but discs need the occasional tweak and don't love winter road grime. The 4 Pro 2nd Gen goes front drum plus rear electronic brake; less sexy on a spec sheet, but brilliantly boring in real life - consistent stopping in the wet and next to no maintenance. You trade a tiny bit of initial bite for a lot of long-term sanity.

On hills or with heavier riders, the 2nd Gen clearly has the edge. With average weight on board, the 4 Pro will climb most urban slopes without demanding a push, but you feel it working. The 2nd Gen just feels less strained, holding speed more confidently and recovering quicker when you crest the top.

Battery & Range

Both scooters sit in that sweet spot where daily commutes are doable without constant range anxiety, but you're not going away for the weekend on one charge.

The 4 Pro's battery sits in the mid-sized commuter bracket. In gentle modes with a light rider, it'll push pleasantly far; ride it like most people actually do - sport mode, stop-start city traffic, a few hills - and you're realistically looking at a solid commute in each direction with a bit in reserve. Think more "reliable there-and-back for most workers" than "epic cross-city tour".

The 4 Pro 2nd Gen carries a very similar capacity, just arranged in a higher-voltage system. That pays off in how it delivers power rather than dramatically stretching range. In real-world use, the two are surprisingly close, with the 2nd Gen often managing a touch more distance at similar riding styles thanks to that extra efficiency - but we're talking "a few bonus kilometres", not a whole extra day.

Charging is the boring bit: both scooters are squarely "overnight" machines. You plug them in after work, you wake up to a full battery. The 4 Pro is a shade quicker to refill, but not in a way that changes how you live. The magnetic charging ports on both are one of those little details that spoil you; go back to fumbling with a cheap rubber flap on some no-name scooter, and you'll miss it instantly.

Range anxiety? If your round trip is under the mid-20s of kilometres and you're not a heavyweight hammering full throttle into headwinds, either scooter will do the job. Push well beyond that, or ride in very cold weather, and you'll be happier on the slightly more efficient, gruntier 2nd Gen - mostly because it feels less desperate when the battery drops below halfway.

Portability & Practicality

This is where the "Pro" badge becomes a bit of a double-edged sword.

The Xiaomi 4 Pro sits in that awkward middle weight class: light enough to carry up a couple of floors without cursing your life choices, but heavy enough that you'll think twice about doing it twice a day. The folding mechanism is classic Xiaomi - quick, reasonably refined, and locks into the rear fender so you can carry it one-handed without the stem flapping around.

The 4 Pro 2nd Gen bumps everything up a notch, including the weight. You feel every extra kilo when lifting it into a car boot or over a train gap. One flight of stairs is fine. Three flights become a workout you didn't schedule. If your daily routine includes multiple lifts and carries, that added heft stops being a spec sheet number and starts being the reason you eye the lift nervously.

Folded size is similar on both: long and slim rather than compact and cube-like. Under a desk, either is fine. In a small city car's boot, you'll want to measure first, especially with the 2nd Gen's slightly bulkier frame. Neither is in "throw it on your shoulder and wander through a mall" territory.

On the practical side, both benefit from Xiaomi's app ecosystem: easy locking of the motor, KERS adjustment, firmware updates, and basic diagnostics. For quick coffee stops the electronic lock is a nice deterrent; for anything longer, you'll still want a solid physical lock and a suspicious eye.

If your commute is door-to-door riding with maybe one short staircase, the 2nd Gen's extra weight is a fair trade for its improvements elsewhere. If you're mixing scooters with lots of stairs, narrow trains, or tiny lifts, the original 4 Pro is just that bit more manageable - and you'll notice the difference every single day.

Safety

Ridden sensibly, both scooters are among the safer choices in this class - at least as far as small-wheeled, no-suspension vehicles can ever be called "safe".

The original 4 Pro leans heavily on its dual-brake setup and self-sealing tyres. The combination of front regenerative braking and rear disc gives predictable stopping, with that satisfying "engine braking" feel from the motor when you pull the lever. The tubeless, gel-filled tyres are a huge upgrade over old-school tubes - fewer flats, fewer sudden deflations at the worst possible time.

The 4 Pro 2nd Gen adds a few tricks that, once you've lived with them, are hard to give up. The front drum brake might not thrill forum warriors, but it's consistent in the wet and practically maintenance-free. The rear-wheel-drive layout massively improves traction when accelerating on sketchy surfaces; there's less front-end washing out if you get greedy with the throttle on damp paint or leaf mulch. Add in traction control, and it's noticeably less prone to those "oops, that was slippier than it looked" moments.

Both scooters have bright integrated headlights and solid rear lights, but the 2nd Gen goes further with auto lights and very usable integrated turn signals on the bar ends. Being able to indicate your intentions without taking a hand off the grip isn't just nicer - it's the difference between "that felt a bit wobbly" and "I'd rather not repeat that" on city streets.

In short: the 4 Pro is safe enough if you ride within its limits on sane surfaces. The 4 Pro 2nd Gen gives you more headroom for bad weather, inattentive drivers, and less-than-perfect infrastructure.

Community Feedback

Price & Value

Value is where Xiaomi usually shines by simply not doing anything silly. Neither of these scooters is a bargain-bin special, and neither is pretending to be a luxury toy. They're both priced like what they are: everyday tools from a big brand.

The 4 Pro sits in the mid-range bracket, rubbing shoulders with rivals that offer suspension or slightly flashier specs on paper. What you're buying instead is a well-behaved, low-drama scooter with very good parts availability and a healthy second-hand market. It feels fairly priced rather than cheap.

The 4 Pro 2nd Gen undercuts many "premium commuter" competitors that don't actually offer much more real-world capability. For the money, you're getting better hill performance, improved traction, more safety tech, and a sturdier frame - all while staying from a brand that won't disappear the moment the last unit ships.

In raw spec-per-euro terms, neither is outrageous. Viewed as a long-term daily vehicle, the 2nd Gen edges ahead: you pay less, you get more usable performance and safety, and you're not gambling on an unknown logo.

Service & Parts Availability

This is the easy part: they're Xiaomis. In most European cities, if a shop has ever touched an e-scooter, it's probably touched a Xiaomi. Tyres, brake bits, stems, mudguards, decks - all of it is readily available, and often with third-party options if you want to tweak things.

Warranty support is generally handled through mainstream retailers, which is less romantic than dealing with a small boutique brand but a lot more practical when you're trying to get your commuter fixed during a busy week.

Between the two, the 4 Pro 2nd Gen actually has a slight advantage here over time: newer platform, more active community focus, and more likely to be stocked in shops for a longer period. The original 4 Pro is still well-supported now, but in a few years the ecosystem will naturally skew towards the newer model.

Pros & Cons Summary

Parameters Comparison

Final Verdict - Which Should You Choose?

If you strip away the marketing and just look at daily life with these scooters, the Xiaomi Electric Scooter 4 Pro 2nd Gen is the more convincing tool. It delivers stronger, more confident acceleration, climbs real hills with less drama, rides more planted on bad surfaces, and adds meaningful safety features like rear-wheel drive, traction control, and truly useful indicators - all while costing less.

The original Xiaomi 4 Pro is still serviceable, especially if you find it at a good discount and you know your routes are mostly smooth, flat, and include the occasional staircase. It's a familiar, relatively refined commuter that does the job without standing out - in good or bad ways.

For heavier riders, hilly cities, and anyone who wants their scooter to feel like a serious piece of transport hardware, the 4 Pro 2nd Gen is the obvious pick. For those prioritising slightly easier handling off the scooter - up stairs, into car boots, through cramped hallways - the older 4 Pro remains an acceptable compromise, just not the one that moves the game on.

Numbers Freaks Corner

These metrics break down how efficiently each scooter turns euros, kilograms and watt-hours into real performance. Price-per-Wh and price-per-kilometre show which gives more usable riding for your money. Weight-based metrics tell you how much bulk you're lugging around for each unit of energy or speed. Efficiency (Wh/km) hints at how far a charge will stretch, while power-to-speed and weight-to-power ratios reflect how lively the scooter feels. Average charging speed gives a sense of how quickly you regain range while plugged in.

Author's Category Battle

Overall Winner Declaration

In the Numbers Freaks Corner, the XIAOMI 4 Pro scores 5 points against the XIAOMI Electric Scooter 4 Pro 2nd Gen's 6. In the Author's Category Battle, the XIAOMI 4 Pro gets 21 ✅ versus 31 ✅ for XIAOMI Electric Scooter 4 Pro 2nd Gen (with a few ties sprinkled in).

Totals: XIAOMI 4 Pro scores 26, XIAOMI Electric Scooter 4 Pro 2nd Gen scores 37.

Based on the scoring, the XIAOMI Electric Scooter 4 Pro 2nd Gen is our overall winner. Between these two, the Xiaomi Electric Scooter 4 Pro 2nd Gen simply feels like the more complete, grown-up commuter. It rides with more confidence, shrugs off hills more easily, and adds genuinely useful safety touches that make daily use less stressful, not just more "techy". The Xiaomi 4 Pro still has its place if you value slightly lower weight and don't ask too much of your scooter, but once you've lived with the 2nd Gen's extra stability and muscle, it's very hard to go back. For most riders who depend on their scooter day in, day out, the 4 Pro 2nd Gen is the one that will quietly earn your trust.

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.