Xiaomi M365 vs Razor Raven: Classic Commuter Meets Budget Teen Hotshot - Which One Actually Deserves Your Money?

Fast Answer for Busy Riders ⚡ (TL;DR)

The Xiaomi M365 is the overall winner here: as a daily tool it is more capable, more mature, and far better suited to real-world urban commuting than the Razor Raven. It offers stronger performance, better brakes, higher load capacity, and a huge ecosystem of parts and fixes that keep it rolling for years. The Razor Raven makes sense mainly for lighter teens or students on flat ground who just want an inexpensive, simple, "fun run to the corner shop" scooter and don't need serious range or climbing ability. If you're an adult commuter or want a scooter that can grow with you, pick the M365; if you're buying a first e-scooter for a light rider in a calm suburb, the Raven can still be a reasonable choice.

Now let's dig into how these two really feel on the road - and where each one quietly falls apart once the honeymoon is over.

There's a certain irony in this comparison: the Xiaomi M365 is the scooter that helped invent modern micromobility as we know it, while the Razor Raven comes from the brand that pretty much invented "beating your ankles with a metal toy in 2001". Both names are iconic, but these two scooters are playing very different games.

I've spent enough kilometres on both to know their personalities well. The M365 is the sensible, slightly ageing city commuter: not exciting, but competent, familiar, and much more capable than its modest specs suggest. The Raven, on the other hand, feels like a fun campus or neighbourhood scooter that's been given just enough power and tech to look serious - but not enough to actually replace real transport for most adults.

If you're wondering whether you should save money with the Raven or stretch to the proven M365, keep reading - the answer changes a lot depending on your weight, your terrain, and whether your "commute" is a few blocks or a full cross-town slog.

Who Are These For, and Why Compare Them?

On paper, these two land in roughly the same lightweight, "entry-level" bracket: both are compact, foldable, relatively light, and far from the speed-monster segment. You'd see both marketed as affordable first scooters or budget commuters, and that's why people cross-shop them.

In reality, though, the M365 is an actual adult commuter scooter that just happens to be older and modestly powered, while the Raven is fundamentally a teen-centred, light-rider toy-turned-tool that tries to moonlight as a commuter. The M365 is for adults doing real trips through real cities. The Raven is for lighter riders on short, flat routes where "fun" is as important as "getting there".

So yes, you can compare them - but you need to be brutally honest about what you weigh, how far you ride, and how steep your town really is.

Design & Build Quality

Pick up the Xiaomi M365 and it still feels impressively put together for its age. The aluminium frame is clean, with cables tucked away like someone cared about both engineering and aesthetics. Nothing screams "toy". It's more "early Tesla" than "budget gadget". The folding latch is clever but known to loosen with time - you'll probably end up doing the classic community shim fix - yet the overall frame feels coherent and solid.

The Razor Raven goes in a different direction: steel frame, simpler geometry, and more obvious cost-saving touches. To its credit, the steel gives it a reassuring, slightly springy feel; it doesn't flex in a scary way, and you don't get that cheap "hollow clank" some budget scooters have. But you can see and feel the lower price in the details: more exposed hardware, more plastic around non-structural parts, and a cockpit that feels functional rather than refined.

Where the M365 feels like consumer electronics that happens to be a scooter, the Raven feels like a scooter that's been upgraded with electronics. One is industrial design with compromises; the other is cost engineering with a bit of polish on top.

For adult use, especially daily, the M365's overall build and component quality are a clear step above. The Raven's build is acceptable for its target audience and price, but it doesn't inspire long-term confidence in the same way.

Ride Comfort & Handling

Neither of these scooters has "real" suspension, so the tyres and frame do most of the work. On the M365, you get medium-sized air-filled tyres front and rear. On smooth bike paths and typical city tarmac, this gives a pleasantly floaty feel. Hit older cobbles or broken asphalt and you'll quickly remember there are no shocks - after a few kilometres of bad pavement your knees will file a formal complaint. Handling is light and predictable; the low deck keeps you feeling planted and encourages fairly confident cornering once you trust the grip.

The Raven's comfort equation is... unusual. A big, air-filled front tyre and a smaller solid rear tyre means the front half of the scooter glides while the back half politely reminds you that physics still exists. Your hands get a kinder ride than your heels: the front soaks up small bumps pretty nicely, especially at moderate speeds, but every sharp crack or joint is transmitted straight up through the rear deck into your feet. On good suburban paths it's fine; on rougher city streets it starts to feel like you forgot to put tyres on the back at all.

In tight spaces, the Raven's geometry and modest power make it extremely approachable - teens in particular adapt to it in minutes. The big front wheel helps keep the steering calm, and at its relatively low top speed, it never feels nervous. The M365 feels a bit more serious: faster, more responsive, and more "grown up" in how it reacts. It rewards smoother inputs and a slightly more engaged stance, especially on poor surfaces.

If your route is mostly decent pavement and you care about comfort across the whole scooter, the M365 wins. If you're light, mostly on smooth paths, and you value a very calm front end more than total comfort, the Raven is acceptable - but it's definitely the more compromised of the two.

Performance

The M365's front motor won't rip your arms off, but it will move an adult at city-appropriate speeds without drama. Off the line it has that familiar, gentle kick-start and then a smooth, linear pull up to its capped top speed. In traffic and bike lanes it feels "enough": you're not winning drag races against bigger scooters, but you're not a rolling roadblock either. On mild hills, it soldiers on; on steeper climbs, heavier riders will find it slowing to a crawl and may end up contributing with a few kicks. It's usable, but you're very aware of the limits if your city isn't flat.

Braking on the M365 is probably its most reassuring performance trait. Mechanical disc at the rear plus regenerative braking up front, both on a single lever, gives strong, predictable stopping. The electronic ABS prevents nasty front lockups on sketchy surfaces, and once the pads are adjusted properly, you can haul it down from top speed in surprisingly little space without scaring yourself.

The Raven is tuned for fun within strict boundaries. Its rear motor has just enough punch to feel lively for a light teen or small adult on flat ground. It gets to its more modest top speed briskly enough to be entertaining, but you never feel like things are getting out of hand. Swap in a heavier rider and the magic disappears quickly: acceleration dulls, and hills become wishful thinking rather than a realistic plan.

Braking is a split personality: electronic brake on the bars, old-school stomp brake on the rear fender. Used together they're adequate for the speeds involved, and the redundancy is nice, especially for parental peace of mind. But the feel isn't as confidence-inspiring as the M365's disc plus regen setup - it's more "I can stop, give me a second" than "I can stop right now, no worries".

For real commuting with adult weight and varying terrain, the M365's performance envelope is clearly broader. The Raven is fine for short, flat rides with light riders - step outside that envelope and it runs out of breath quickly.

Battery & Range

On the M365, manufacturer claims and reality have been thoroughly tested by the world at this point. In daily use, ridden at full allowed speed with normal stop-and-go and an average adult on board, you typically get a decent medium-distance commute out of it before the battery gauge becomes a source of mild anxiety. Stretch it with eco mode and gentler riding and you can hit something approaching the claimed figure, but few people buy a scooter to crawl around in eco all the time.

The Raven's battery story is simpler - and shorter. The pack is smaller, the voltage lower, and everything about it says "local trips only". Keep to eco mode at modest speeds, and a light rider can cruise for well over an hour of relaxed riding. Switch to the fastest mode - which is what almost everyone does 90 % of the time - and the realistic range drops into the "fine for school, a loop around town, and back" territory. For a lightweight teen that's enough. For adults doing actual commutes, it gets limiting very quickly.

Both take a few hours to recharge from empty, so neither is a fast-charge warrior. The M365 feels more like a "charge once a day" machine; the Raven is more "charge every day, or every other day if your rides are very short". One feels like infrastructure, the other like a toy with a decent battery.

Portability & Practicality

On the scales, these two are very close. In the real world, both are in that rare sweet spot where you can carry them up a flight or two of stairs without needing a post-ride stretch. The M365's aluminium frame makes it feel a tad more "dense" but not unmanageable; you can swing it into a car boot or onto a train without too much grumbling. It folds into a compact, tidy package and tucks under desks or beside a wardrobe quite happily.

The Raven is similarly easy to lift, and for its teen/college audience, that matters. The folding mechanism is straightforward, the T-tube drops down nicely, and the overall package feels slightly less "grown up" but perfectly manageable to lug into a classroom or up to a dorm room. The kickstand on both scooters does its job; no complaints there.

Where practicality diverges is in usage scenarios. The M365 has the load capacity and real-world range to work as a primary urban transport tool for a lot of people. You can realistically replace bus rides or short car journeys with it. The Raven caps out at a significantly lighter rider and much shorter trips; for heavier adults, the "practicality" claim falls apart pretty fast as hills and distance expose the limited motor and battery.

Safety

Safety isn't just about brakes and lights; it's about how the whole scooter behaves when things go wrong.

The M365's dual braking system, relatively low centre of gravity and air-filled tyres front and rear give it an inherently stable, predictable feel. At its modest top speed, it feels composed as long as you respect small wheels and bad roads - deep potholes are still your sworn enemy. The stock lights are good enough for lit city riding; for pitch-black outskirts I'd still recommend an extra bar light, but you're not invisible out of the box. The app-controlled motor lock and error diagnostics are a nice bonus layer of security and awareness, even if they don't replace a real lock.

The Raven does some things right: the big front wheel helps stability, the kick-to-start keeps it from jumping away from an accidental throttle bump, and the LED headlight is actually quite decent for its class. The UL battery certification is genuinely reassuring in a world of sketchy no-name packs. The dual braking approach is also sensible for young riders, though in practice the stopping power isn't as strong or reassuring as a good disc brake system.

The weak links on the Raven's safety front are indirect: low power struggling with heavier riders on hills, and that solid rear tyre transmitting more punishment on rough surfaces. A scooter that can't maintain speed on inclines with its intended rider becomes awkward and sometimes unsafe in mixed traffic, and a harsh rear end doesn't help confidence when surfaces get worse.

Overall, the M365 feels like it was designed as a transport device first and a toy second; the Raven flips that emphasis.

Community Feedback

Price & Value

The Raven undercuts the M365 significantly on purchase price, and at first glance that looks like a slam dunk. But once you factor in what you actually get, the picture is less flattering.

For the extra money, the M365 offers noticeably more usable performance, better braking, higher load capacity, and far greater real-world range. More importantly, it has proven longevity and an absurdly rich parts and knowledge ecosystem that keeps total cost of ownership low. You can find cheap clones that cost less up front, but keeping them running often becomes a lottery. With the M365, problems are predictable, documented, and usually fixable for pocket change.

The Raven's value proposition is narrower: it's decently priced if you sit squarely in its target window - light rider, short trips, mostly flat terrain, modest expectations. In that niche, it's an honest proposition and not a scam. Step outside that niche and the "good value" façade cracks as you're forced to accept very real limitations in range and performance.

Service & Parts Availability

For the M365, parts availability is almost comical. Need a new controller, brake lever, mudguard, or some obscure little gasket? There's a vendor selling it for a few Euros, and three YouTube tutorials for the install. Because the scooter has been so widely adopted - including by sharing fleets - virtually every common failure mode is understood and solved. Manufacturer support varies between regions, but the community has effectively become the main service network, and that's a good thing.

Razor as a brand has decent formal support - you can actually talk to someone, and there are official spares in circulation. But the Raven doesn't enjoy anything like the deep, obsessive aftermarket that the M365 has. You can replace what breaks, but you're unlikely to find endless tuning parts, custom firmware, or 3D-printed fixes optimised over years of global feedback. If you want something you can keep on the road almost indefinitely with cheap DIY fixes, the M365 is in a different league.

Pros & Cons Summary

Parameters Comparison

Final Verdict - Which Should You Choose?

If you're an adult or heavier teen looking for a primary way to get around a town that isn't billiard-table flat, the Xiaomi M365 is the only realistic choice between these two. It's not glamorous, and there are certainly newer, better-specced scooters on the market today, but within this pairing it's the one that behaves like a genuine transport tool: it stops well, carries proper adult weight, goes far enough, and can be kept alive for years with cheap parts and community knowledge.

The Razor Raven, by contrast, makes sense only if your expectations are very clear and quite modest. As a first e-scooter for a light teenager cruising around the neighbourhood or crossing a flat campus, it's fun, simple, and feels decently built for the money. Ask it to do more than that - carry a heavier rider, tackle real hills, cover longer daily distances - and you'll quickly understand its limits.

So: if you want something that can seriously replace a chunk of your car or bus usage, swallow the higher upfront cost and go for the M365. If you're buying a birthday present for a 14-year-old who just wants to zip to friends' houses and back, the Raven is fine - as long as nobody pretends it's more than that.

Numbers Freaks Corner

These metrics put hard numbers behind the impressions: the Raven is cheaper per watt-hour and per unit of top speed, but the M365 is significantly more efficient, gives you more real-world range per kilogram and per Euro, and turns stored energy into usable performance more effectively. Mathematically, the Xiaomi is the stronger transport tool; the Razor is the cheaper way to dip a toe in.

Author's Category Battle

Overall Winner Declaration

In the Numbers Freaks Corner, the XIAOMI M365 scores 8 points against the RAZOR Raven's 2. In the Author's Category Battle, the XIAOMI M365 gets 34 ✅ versus 5 ✅ for RAZOR Raven.

Totals: XIAOMI M365 scores 42, RAZOR Raven scores 7.

Based on the scoring, the XIAOMI M365 is our overall winner. Between these two, the Xiaomi M365 is simply the more complete scooter: it feels more grown-up on the road, copes better with real commuting duties, and has the kind of ecosystem that keeps it useful long after the first scratches. The Razor Raven has its charms as an affordable, fun starter scooter for light riders in forgiving environments, but it runs into hard limits too quickly if you ask anything more of it. If you want something that can quietly slot into your daily life and actually replace a chunk of your other transport, the M365 is the one that will keep you rolling - and keep feeling like a proper vehicle rather than just a powered toy.

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.