Where to Find the Best Hoverboard for Kids: A Parent’s Practical Tested Guide
Last April, we walked home from our neighbor’s 10th birthday party with my son Milo’s pockets full of candy and a very persistent request: he needed a hoverboard. Half the kids at the party had brought theirs, and they’d spent two hours racing up and down the cul-de-sac, dodging sprinklers and chasing the ice cream truck. I was carrying a half-eaten bag of Goldfish crackers, our golden retriever was pulling at his leash to get home, and I almost said no automatically. I’d heard the horror stories: cheap hoverboards catching fire, breaking after three uses, kids cracking their wrists learning to ride. But when Milo pulled out my phone to show me clips of his friends doing turns on the sidewalk, I noticed he hadn’t asked for a new video game or another Lego set. He wanted something to do outside with the kids down the street. That’s how I ended up spending three weeks hunting and testing, and figuring out exactly where to look (and where not to).
I started where I start almost everything: Amazon. I filtered by top-rated, saw a no-name hoverboard for $119, with hundreds of five-star reviews and free two-day shipping. It checked all of Milo’s boxes: LED wheels, Bluetooth speaker, blue camo exterior. It showed up two days later, we unboxed it, Milo rode it around the block three times, and the next morning it wouldn’t hold a charge. The gyroscope was so wonky he couldn’t stand still on it without lurching, and when I looked closer, there was no UL 2272 safety certification sticker anywhere. That’s the certification that guarantees the battery won’t overheat and catch fire, something I’d totally forgotten to check. I packed it back up and requested a return that afternoon.
After that, I drove to the local Target to check out the display by the front door. The models there were all name brand and had the certification sticker, but the options were limited. All they had in stock were small 6.5-inch wheel models, made for kids under 7. Milo’s 10, already 5 foot and 90 pounds, so he was over the weight limit, and the small wheels wobbled badly on our cracked neighborhood sidewalks. The sales associate couldn’t tell me when the next larger models would come in, so I left empty-handed and vented to the other moms at school pickup that night.
One mom told me she’d gotten a certified refurbished model directly from the Razor website for 25% off, with a full 90-day warranty. Another said she’d bought a barely used name brand one from our local parent Facebook group for $80, and it’s lasted three years. A third suggested I stop at Joe’s Toys & Bikes downtown, the small family-owned shop that sells skateboards and kids’ bikes. I went there on Saturday with Milo, and it was instantly worth the trip. Joe, the owner who has two teen boys of his own, asked how old Milo was, how heavy he was, and where he planned to ride it. He pulled out three different models, let Milo stand on each and test turning and speed right in the empty back of the shop. He pointed out that I’d been wrong about small wheels being fine for all kids—if you have uneven sidewalks or your kid plans to ride at the park, 8-inch wheels are far more stable, which means fewer falls. He only carries models with the proper safety certification, so I didn’t have to spend an hour cross-checking labels online.
After that trip, I realized there’s no one “best” place to buy a hoverboard—it depends on your budget and how much help you want sorting through options. If you’re new to hoverboards and don’t know what size or weight limit you need, local specialty recreational shops like Joe’s are the best place to start. The staff actually use the products they sell, and can point you to the right model for your kid in five minutes. You’ll pay a little more than you would online, but you don’t have to deal with returning a dud, and most shops will do small adjustments or minor repairs for cheap if something comes loose.
If you’re working with a mid-range budget, official brand websites for companies like Razor and Swagtron have certified refurbished options that are almost always a better deal than new. Refurbished models are just returns or open-box items that the company has checked over, fixed any small issues, and backed with a warranty. I ended up buying a refurbished 8-inch Razor for $179, compared to $249 for a new one, and it’s worked perfectly for six months.
If you’re on a tight budget, don’t sleep on local parent groups or Facebook Marketplace. So many kids get a hoverboard for Christmas, outgrow it or lose interest after a year, and sell a barely used name brand model for half the original price. Just make sure you ask to see the UL 2272 certification sticker before you buy, test ride it to make sure the gyroscope and battery work, and meet the seller in a public place like a grocery store parking lot. The only place I’d tell people to avoid is random third-party sellers on Amazon or eBay, and no-name brands from discount department stores. Those cheap models almost never have the right safety certification, and they break so fast that you end up spending more money replacing them than you would have if you’d bought a decent one the first time.
I went into this whole process thinking a hoverboard was just another expensive kid fad that would end up gathering dust in our garage by August. But six months later, it’s still the first thing Milo grabs when he finishes his homework. He and the kids down the street spend an hour or two riding around every day, stopping to climb trees, get slushies from the gas station, or race around the park. I don’t have to nag him to get off his tablet anymore—he’s the one asking if he can go outside.
Last week, Milo ran his hoverboard into a curb at the park and scratched the side pretty bad. He dragged it down to Joe’s after school on Tuesday, and Joe touched up the paint for him for free. It’s still not perfect, the battery dies after about four hours of constant riding, and I know we’ll be looking for a bigger one in a couple years when he gets taller. But for right now, it’s exactly what we needed. I just wish I’d known where to look the first time around.
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