King Song KS-16X Review: Enthusiast Perspective

The King Of 16” Electric Unicycles?

King Song KS-16X

Like any product review, I think it’s important to have a little insight into the reviewer’s background in order to understand their opinions. When it comes to electric unicycles, I’d definitely put myself firmly in the category of an enthusiast, though I’ve also been involved professionally with various EUC brands over the years. I got my start on my first wheels around 5 years ago, so at that time we are talking ~150Wh batteries and sub-500W motors with speeds and range that would make a flagship EUC from 2019 seem like a completely different product designed for a different audience. While the spirit, utility, and basic functionality hasn’t changed much since the early days of the original Solowheel, the capabilities gained from massive batteries and powerful motors has absolutely changed how one might consider an electric unicycle for a more serious commute… or just a more serious play session!

OK so let’s talk about where I’m coming from in regards to wheels in my personal stable of EUCs.

Favorite Beasties: InMotion V10F, Gotway Monster

Smoothie Dream Machine: Solowheel Xtreme

Take Anywhere King: InMotion V8 (Glide 3)

Daily Driver: InMotion V10F

Ex King Songs: KS-14C, KS-16B

Ex Everything Else: Airwheel X8, Solowheel Classic, Gotway MCM4

A New Direction

We could go over how amazing the specs of this wheel are, but I’m much more interested in sharing exactly what it feels like to ride the 16X in the real world. As someone who used to rock King Song’s original 16 inch unicycle (KS-16B), the biggest reason it became an “ex” for me was the ergonomics, and my legs never had the same love affair that my eyes experienced at the time. I’ve been watching them iterate on the same design over the past few years. but their product team has taken a bold new approach this time around. While still rated as a 16” unicycle, they put the tire on a bulking diet this time around and fattened it up to a 3” width.

Aside from the fundamental handling changes the tire brings (I’ll get to that, don’t worry), perhaps the first thing you’ll notice is the completely new body design that makes a stronger, more futuristic statement. While I have a fond, nostalgic attachment to the original 16B design, I have to say I prefer the 16X’s looks by a wide margin. The side LEDs are now more numerous and extend all the way underneath the pedals, which means you can create some pretty sick under-pedal light effects on the road.

King Song has (thankfully) retained the same extending trolley push handle design that you can find on their previous and current unicycles. It’s not only more sturdy than before, but it also has a pretty nifty built in pair of sensors that can detect when you are trying to lift the wheel by hand. Of course, this is useful for those times you need to lift the EUC over an obstacle or carry it up some stairs momentarily without having the motor spin out. Other manufacturers like InMotion have had this feature for awhile now, but they’ve been using a physical button instead of sensors. I have to admit, I originally thought I would much prefer a physical button so that I could be sure the motor wouldn’t spin out, but in practice I’m happy to report I’ve not had a single failure of the sensor. It “just works” when you pick it up naturally. Also notable is King Song’s diagonal handle layout, as it has a positive effect on the comfort in pushing your wheel around - though, I wouldn’t say this is really a big deal.

You’ll definitely need that push handle, though: this bad boy is heavy. Weighing in at around 53 pounds, you wouldn’t enjoy getting caught having to carry this around a shop. And for all of you city-dwellers, I’m happy to report the KS-16X is compact enough to cleanly navigate your cramped local corner store without bulldozing merchandise or taking up too much space in a crowded line. Compared to my previous daily driver, the InMotion V10F, the KS-16X does take up a noticeably chunkier footprint, but in most practical use, it’s not a problem.

The Ride

And now let’s get down to the nitty gritty… the most important analysis… how does this thing FEEL to ride? To answer that question, I’m going to have to come clean about my previous strong preference for ultra-slim designs. Typically, a taller and thinner design means you’ll have a much more comfortable and natural experience riding with a single leg when mounting or dismounting. To me, it’s a really big deal, and I don’t like any awkward friction in the stop-and-go activities I frequent in an urban atmosphere. I want to seamlessly glide to a stop on one foot for those really clean and fluid dismounts. Generally, one can learn to adjust to the ride dynamics of pretty much any wheel over time, but I would still generally consider one-leg-ability absolutely critical for good ergonomics. So you can imagine that I was fairly skeptical about the general thickness of the KS-16X, and I was ready for this wheel to make me feel bow-legged.

Ergonomics & Ride Dynamics

The very first moment I powered on the wheel and placed my right leg onto the pedal for the first time, I knew I was wrong before I even took off. King Song really nailed the shape of the body and angle of the large pedals, because my foot and leg both settled right into the wheel and I could tell how much control and leverage I had. Once I took off, I was completely blown away over how comfortable and natural it felt. I was fully expecting it to feel a tad awkward, but there was almost no adjustment period that typically comes with a new EUC. Even though the leg pads aren’t super thick, they were more than enough to keep my shins happy due to the thoughtful design of the outer shell.

And here’s the best part: the slightly wider stance combined with that new 3” fat tire work perfectly together. Whether a feel feels natural to control and maneuver is a delicate balance. Besides the factors I already mentioned above, you have to also consider pedal height & angle along with weight distribution. For being a tall wheel (at least by appearance), it does not feel top heavy at all. The tire itself has a very round profile which helps balance out the width to aid in maneuverability. The total effect of all of these considerations means the KS-16X far exceeded my expectations, and provides a really unique and fascinating ride.

Typically, a wider tire also adds an element of vertical stability that the rider can use to their advantage by not having to bank the unicycle as hard risking a pedal scrape. The KS-16X is no exception, so what this means is that it’s more difficult to bank the wheel as it wants to stay more upright, and the rider needs to shift their body weight side to side to achieve maneuvers at higher speeds. It encourages a more active riding style that I love, and the 16X has this really interesting middle ground that allows you to have the vertical stability without losing low speed maneuvering. I was shocked to find that I could make tiny turns and spins with almost as much ease as I can on MUCH smaller wheels… this thing is NIMBLE. For me, this is the magic that makes this EUC a real winner.

Electric unicycles are self-balancing in terms of keeping the wheel upright front to back, and of course this is all controlled with a built in gyroscopic sensor in conjunction with some pretty nifty programming. While every wheel made from various manufacturers may fundamentally work the same way, the exact way the firmware controls the balance has a profound effect on the way the wheel feels in practice. Thankfully King Song provides some options that allow us to choose the way the balancing feels (soft, medium, hard), but I would like to see them adopt finer controls over ride mode like InMotion’s two ride modes with an independent pedal sensitivity on a slider from 0 - 100. However, I found that the medium setting is by far my favorite setting for the 16X, and the pedal response is pretty much exactly how I like it: just a little bit of metered give upon acceleration and braking in order to give you a bit more leverage and comfort, while the firmness of the pedal angle remains very rigid and stable.

Performance

So how about that 2200W motor? I’ve had the pleasure of riding other ~2000W class EUCs, and one of them has been my daily driver for the past year so I wasn’t expecting a huge jump in performance. I’ve grown to accept that the bigger and heavier electric unicycles get, the more sluggish they feel. This can be mitigated to a degree in the firmware so that it doesn’t feel and unresponsive, but even with state of the art power, the sheer weight of a battery-stacked ride is always going to make the initial take off and braking less responsive compared to smaller and even much weaker wheels. So how does the KS-16X do with their latest performance components and highest rated motor yet? Better than I was expecting (again). The take off is still a bit like being stuck in a higher gear compared to my lighter / smaller wheels, but it surprised me with what felt like unlimited power to just keep accelerating more and more… wear protection, folks!! So compared to other wheels in it’s class, I’d say it does a bit better, and being at 16” diameter you get significantly more torque than you would from a larger 18”+ wheel. Honestly, I’m not too wild when it comes to speed, so on a normal day, you’ll find me cruising maybe a tad over 20mph. But man… letting loose on this thing whenever I get a wild hair is insanely fun. When you combine the vertical stability and the ride style it encourages with this raw power, it makes for a truly unique and satisfying ride that I feel confident riding anywhere.

Battery

I can’t review the 16X without mentioning the battery. When I first unboxed it and saw the wheel for my first time, I was surprised how small it looked… and the reason I thought it would be larger is because they’ve managed to fit 1554 Watt-hours worth of Lithium-Ion cells into this form factor. I mentioned earlier that KS-16X is THICC… but all things considered the overall package is quite small. You can get a glimpse of how King Song managed to accomplish this by checking out their disassembly video. Not only did they use all available space to maximize the battery, but they kept the mass of the cells as low as possible, which definitely helps with ride dynamics.

For me, ultra-long range is actually pretty low on my list of desires, but as many of you EUC veterans already know: a bigger and higher quality battery is what it takes to properly feed a power-hungry motor and ultimately leads to better performance and safety. When considering the range needed on a daily basis, it’s wise to consider buying into a battery large enough that you never have to deplete it below ~50%, which is typically where you’d start to notice a difference in performance and top speed. Do I need 1554Wh? Probably not, but I have absolutely no hint of range-anxiety with the King Song KS-16X, and it’s really nice to know that I have the juice to power whatever I feel like doing on any given day.

KS-16X vs. Other EUCs

For those wondering how the King Song 16X compares to other electric unicycles, I’d have to say my answer is a little complicated. Because of the surprising ride dynamics this EUC possesses, it doesn’t really behave exactly how I expected an extra-fat 16” wheel to perform. And I mean that in a good way! Compared to most other 16” wheels, King Song has something that really stands out by combining a torquey and nimble setup with a thick tire for overall stability and off-road potential. And the industrial design hits all the right cues for me: exposed beefy tire, sleek and futuristic look without indulging too much with gimmicks that might take away from functionality.

I think many people will find the 16X the best of most worlds without making any big sacrifices. Riders who are more interested in the smoothest possible long-range cruisers should take a look at King Song’s larger 18” wheels, such as the King Song KS-18XL as it contains a lot of what I love about the KS-16X, but scaled up for an even smoother bump-eating ride at the expense of some torque. Stay tuned for a direct comparison of those two EUCs in the future.

Conclusion

Will the 16X be my new daily driver? I think it will be for a lot of people, but for me, because of my crippling addiction to electric unicycles, I still have a EUC for every occasion. RIP my entrance hallway. Right now it’s hard to keep my feet off the 16X because it does so many things right and it just feels so natural to ride.

In case you couldn’t tell, I really have a soft spot for this wheel. I love being able to admit when my pre-conceived notions are wrong, and the KS-16X really surprised me. I figured it would be a great option for many other EUC enthusiasts out there, but I assumed I’d have a tougher time adjusting to this design because of how much I value a thin design. King Song has really proven they really have a knack for continued refinement and serious forward development in electric unicycle industry, and I can’t wait to see what they come up with next.

King Song KS-16X Electric Unicycle