Acton Blink – A Compact Electric Skateboard That You Can Take Anywhere

2016-11-20 Ken

acton blink s s2

I always wanted an electric skateboard.

It’s even on my bucket list (#8).

The Boosted Board seemed like the best option, but the size (too big) was holding me back.
I wanted one that I could take everywhere, one that I could ride around without too much hassle.

I think I found it.

The Acton Blink S and Blink S2.

acton blink s

Characteristics of the Acton Blink S and Blink S2

blink s blink s2 specs

Compact size

The Blink S and Blink S2 are compact electric skateboards.
The Boosted Board is a full size long board and is not something that you want to carry around.

The Blink S and Blink S2 each measures at 27.7 inches and 31.5 inches so it’s about the size of a board that you would do tricks on.
The Blink S weighs 4.5 kg and the Blink S2 is 5.4 kg so they’re pretty light.

Capable of long distance runs

It can run pretty far, the Blink S goes 11 km and the Blink S2 can run 22 km.

In reality, you’re not going to get catalog specs so you have to discount but:

Blink S can go from Tokyo Station to Toritsu Daigaku
Blink S2 can go from Tokyo Station to Yomiuri Land

That’s pretty far.

blink-s-blink-s2-distance

It’s affordable

The Boosted Board and the other full sized electric skateboards are expensive at around $1,000 even for the cheaper ones.
The Blink S and Blink S2 are selling on INDIEGOGO for $349+shipping and $549+shipping, respectively.
These are limited quantity offers and once it reaches a certain number, the price starts increasing.
The shipping cost to Japan for the Blink S is $150 and the Blink S2 is $160 and is expensive so I’ll be using a transfer service.

Can carry on planes

The battery on the Blink S is 80Wh and the Blink S2 is 120Wh so they are both below the ANA requirement of 160Wh.
Wouldn’t it be awesome to be able to carry it with you on trips?!
The Airline has the final call on it so it would be better to check before hand.

Where can you buy the Blink S and Blink S2?

blink s

These models aren’t sold on the market yet and Acton is accepting pre-orders on INDIEGOGO.

With 9 days to go on the campaign, as of November 20, ＄509,183 has been funded and it looks like progress on the Blink S and Blink S2 is going according to plan.

Currently the shipping schedule is:

Blink S Mid December
Blink S2 January

There is always a risk that campaigns on INDIEGOGO and Kickstarter flop and the product is never delivered.
Acton, the company that is developing the Blink, already has a track record of successfully bringing products to the market so I think the probability of this project succeeding is relatively high.

I backed the Blink S and Blink S2

At first, I only backed the Blink S but after watching the video below, I also backed the Blink S2.

In the video, the Blink S2 is way faster than the Blink S and I was concerned that I would want the Blink S2 once I got used to the Blink S.

Check out the the Acton Indiegogo page if you’re interested!

blink-s-s2-indiegogo

As I wait for the Blink S and Blink S2 to arrive

You can watch the progress of the campaign on Acton’s YouTube channel where they upload videos almost everyday.
I’ll be keeping my eyes on this until my Blink S arrives in December!
I’ll definitely do a review on it when it arrives!

December 2, 2016 update:

I canceled my order for the Blink S2.