Review: Atomi Alpha

The venerable kickstand may not be quite as old as the wheel, but in the year 2023, you’d think we’d have it down pat. Sadly, that’s not the case. The Atomi Alpha electric kick scooter hails from a relatively new brand, Atomi, and it has one of the worst kickstands I’ve had the displeasure of using out of all the escooters and ebikes I’ve tested. Yes, this thing has toppled over more than I’d like to admit. 

It’s a shame, as this is one of the prettier scooters I’ve seen, especially in the pine green color. It’s got a gorgeous strip of LEDs on the center stem and on the underside of the deck so you stick out like a neon sign to nearby traffic. The colors are also customizable, which means you don’t have to look like a gliding gaming PC. When I arrived home with the scooter glowing a deep teal, my neighbor squealed, “That’s so cool!” Frankly, that’s not a term I often hear when I’m riding an electric scooter. I just wish it worked better. 

Photograph: Atomi

The Alpha comes mostly assembled out of the box; you just need to attach the handlebar with the provided screws and plug in a cable. It’s pretty easy to fold up, too—push down on the latch at the base of the stem, bring the stem down, and use the hook on the left handlebar to attach it to the rear mudguard and keep it fixed. 

As this hook is on the left handlebar, the stem isn’t parallel to the deck in the Alpha’s folded state. Instead, it hangs off a little to the side and takes up more width than most other scooters. I’d have preferred it folded parallel to the deck like the Niu KQi3 Max I’m currently testing, but this is a nitpick. The Alpha weighs 36 pounds, typical for a scooter in this class. I didn’t find it tricky to carry up and down my flight of stairs because the stem isn’t super thick, so it’s easy to get a good grasp on it. 

It comes with a bell installed and a headlight, though I couldn’t really see much with it. I also don’t like the charging port location. It’s hidden away where the kickstand rests, so I often had to get low to the ground to find the port and plug it in. Atomi also includes an integrated combination lock on the opposite side of the deck so you don’t need to carry around your own, but I don’t think it would deter a determined thief. Don’t store this scooter outside; fold it up and take it inside or put it in a secure garage if you can. 

You can’t adjust the height of this escooter, but with my 6'4" frame, I didn’t find the handlebars too hard to reach. What was difficult was reading the LED display. It’s angled quite low—clearly meant for shorter riders—so I frequently crouched just to see the screen (please don’t try to picture this). 

The power button in the center is what you’ll use to cycle between speed modes, of which there are three. It’s really squishy, so push it hard to turn it on. One tap will turn on the headlight. You’ll have to use the Atomi app to control the RGB lights on the scooter, but with it, you’re able to nail down the exact color you want, choose different lighting scenes, and tweak the brightness. 

Speaking of the app, it’s available on the Google Play Store and Apple App Store; however, I couldn’t find it on the former, despite searching for “Atomi” and “Atomi scooter.” I had to manually scan this QR code. The app itself is surprisingly well-designed and pretty simple to use. You can toggle on Cruise Control and the headlight, change speed modes, and even adjust the speed limit. It’s also completely optional. Forgo it if you’d rather not have to download yet another app.      

The two other buttons are turn signals, which is always lovely to see on an escooter. It’s nice being able to indicate that you’re going left or right to the cars and other cyclists behind you. The only issue I have is that the buttons themselves are mushy and difficult to press quickly without looking down. 

In a similar vein, you’ll hear a few beeps as you ride. This is to indicate when Cruise Control kicks in, but the sound is so quiet that I often didn’t realize it was on. I wish the turn signal made a sound, too. It blinks on the display, but because it’s angled so low, I never saw it and had to look down at the ground behind me to see if it was still blinking. 

Photograph: Atomi

The ride itself is great. The 9-inch tubeless tires, along with a rear suspension system, helped make all my trips feel fairly smooth, though you will feel some of those bumps on crappy roads. The single drum brake does a decent job of coming to a sudden stop, and the 350-watt motor is responsive. 

You’ll notice the company advertises the scooter as having a 650-watt motor, but this is its peak power (which it will only hit when the scooter thinks you need the additional power). It’s deceptive to not indicate the motor’s actual 350-watt rating. Unlike the Niu KQi3 Pro, which also uses a 350-watt motor and can go as fast as 20 mph, the Atomi Alpha’s top speed is restricted to 18 miles per hour. That’d be fine if I ever actually managed to hit that top speed. 

Scooters have weight limits—how much they’re rated to handle—and the Atomi Alpha is rated to carry up to 265 pounds. The aforementioned Niu scooter has a weight limit of 220 pounds. I weigh roughly 230 pounds, yet the Niu had no trouble staying at 20 mph during my rides. The Alpha, unfortunately, usually hovered at 13 mph (unless I was going downhill). It just never hit its max potential, and it performed worse going up slopes (around 9 to 10 mph). This won’t be a problem for lighter riders, but it’s not a promising sign for the motor. 

The company said the Alpha shouldn’t have issues hitting the advertised 18 mph with my weight, so it sent me a second unit, but my results were the same. Worse yet, after three weeks of no use, the first review unit Atomi sent me flat-out died. I made sure to charge it up for several hours but no luck—it never turned on again. Head to Amazon to see customers complaining about the same issue.

It doesn’t help that Atomi says the Alpha can hit 25 miles on a single charge. It usually ran out of power at the 10-mile mark for me. I’m not too miffed at this because I am a larger person and it’s clear this scooter is meant for shorter and lighter people, so I’d expect most average riders to get roughly 15 miles out of this thing. It’s worth pointing out that the Niu KQi3 Pro, which costs just a little more, lasted me 15 miles (it’s also slightly heavier). I’ve hit 10 miles on far cheaper scooters than the Alpha, so I expected a little more from it at this price. 

I still enjoyed the Atomi Alpha. It looks great and offers a leisurely ride. I’m worried about its long-term durability, though, what with my first unit going kaput. And as a new brand, it doesn’t have a reliable service network like its peers. What kills it for me is the kickstand. It’s barely angled away from the deck and is really short, like a little nub, so even a gentle breeze could knock the scooter down, especially if you’re on uneven ground or have groceries on a handlebar. You can look super cool riding it, but you’ll look super dumb constantly trying to pick it up off the pavement.