Varla recently released its flagship eScooter, the Eagle One Pro, their first 60-volt and 11-inch tire scooter which sells at a budget-friendly price.
Varla’s prior flagship scooter, the 52-volt Eagle One had become a wildly popular 10-inch tire scooter over the past two years due to its low price, so they decided to enter the beast scooter market with the Varla Eagle One Pro.
However, Varla’s low pricing comes with a catch.
In this review, we will tell you what we love and hate about the Varla Eagle One Pro, and we will fill you in on the number one issue you should consider before buying a Varla.
Click here for the current pricing on the Varla Eagle One Pro.
Use coupon code: JimmyChang to save $50
What I love about the Varla Eagle One Pro?
- Budget-friendly 11-inch tire scooter
- Color display
- Offered in two colors
- Tall steering pole
- Accurate speedometer
- Safety pin for steering pole latch
- Nimble
- Zoom hydraulic disc brakes
- NFC card reader
- Two charge ports
- The light stays in place and is bright compared to most scooters
- Tan silicone deck is good at hiding dirt compared to black decks
What type of display is on the Varla Eagle One Pro?
The Eagle One Pro comes with an LCD color display with an NFC card reader. The display is pretty accurate with the speedometer, and we found it to be only one mph off. I was able to get it up to 42 mph on the display, and our Dragy system said 41 mph.
We find that speedometers can be as much as 10 mph off. It’s refreshing to find a speedometer that actually reports a correct speed. However, the display does get washed out in direct sunlight.
What type of brakes is on the Varla Eagle One Pro?
The Eagle One Pro comes in two options, mechanical disc brakes and Zoom hydraulic disc brakes. Do yourself a favor and only choose the hydraulic disc brake option. Mechanical disc brakes require more maintenance and you have to pull down on the lever with more force to engage them.
Do yourself a favor and only choose the hydraulic disc brake option.
-Andrew
Zoom hydraulic brakes offer great stopping power and the lever can easily be pressed with one finger.
How is the Varla Eagle One Pro light?
The light is bright enough for night riding. The light is larger than most scooters and it stays in place when riding. I find most scooter lights are too small or don’t stay in place when riding.
The light is 900 lumens and has a wide throw. I do wish it was mounted higher which would help see further down the road in the dark.
NFC card reader on the Varla Eagle One Pro
The Eagle One Pro offers an NFC card reader for extra security when parking the scooter in public locations. You can also program an Android phone to unlock the scooter.
Display locks are also great to keep roommates and children from taking off on your scooter without your permission. The scooter can still be pushed and lifted by thieves, so you will want to use a mechanical lock for added security.
What size of tires is on the Varla Eagle One Pro?
The Eagle One Pro features 11×4 inch street tires. Larger tires are safer for the unexpected. Hitting a pothole or crack with 10-inch tires can be sketchy and dangerous. 11-inch tires add more room for error.
Most 11-inch tire scooters cost $2500 or more. Varla has priced the Eagle One Pro competitively at $2100.
Click here for the current pricing on the Varla Eagle One Pro.
Use coupon code: JimmyChang to save $50
What I hate about the Varla Eagle One Pro?
- Customer service is slow and has poor reviews
- Front end bounces on blue one
- Mechanical disc brakes
- Slow acceleration
- Tires are harder polymer so they don’t grip well
- Opposite brake levers compared to other scooters on red one
- Quality control issues
- Doesn’t lock into itself when folded
- The rear light makes it awkward to lift
- Buttons change speed settings when not pressing
- Dead zone on thumb throttle
- Kick plate angle feels awkward
- Display gets washed out in direct sunlight
Is Varla’s warranty any good?
The simple answer is no. The number one issue I have with Varla is their poor customer service.
I follow many electric scooter brands on Facebook and Varla’s Facebook group certainly reflects on the company like none I’ve seen before. It is astonishing how many daily complaints I see about their customer service. I also see complaints about customers never receiving their free bonus items like chargers and tubes.
I complaints that Varla is not honoring warranties on their scooters in a timely matter for bad batteries, controllers, or brakes.
I like to look at complaints with a grain of salt because I understand that cancel culture is alive and well. However, when I see it constantly every day from multiple customers, it becomes a trend I cannot ignore.
Varla sells their scooters at a lower price than their competition, but it comes at the expense of potentially poor after purchase service.
Varla sells from a US warehouse but their service team is based in China. YUME has a similar setup, but they warranty issues much faster than Varla.
If Varla can step up their servicing, I will be happy to update this blog.
Is the Varla Eagle One Pro stable at high speeds?
From our experience, the answer is: it depends. The blue version that we received for testing bounced in the front when traveling above 30 mph which created shaking and wobbles.
Later we received a red Eagle One Pro to test which had no bouncing, so we are not sure if this is a one off manufacturer defect or if they updated something with the design.
We have seen other videos of people complaining about the blue one having issues, so it may just be the first batch of these scooters.
For a stable feeling while turning at slow and moderate speeds you don’t really turn with the scooter, it is more of a leaning motion. I like to think of the Happy Gilmore saying, “It’s all in the hips!”
Quality control issues with Varla
We had a nut missing on the fender and a screw missing on the handlebar grip on the blue one. Luckily, I was able to find the screw for the handlebar grip in the bottom of the box but I never found the missing nut.
On the red one, the brake levers were installed incorrectly. The left and right brakes were swapped which could have led to a huge accident of me going over the handlebars.
On all electric scooters, the left brake lever is the rear and the right brake lever is the front. On the red Eagle One Pro that we tested, the left brake lever controlled the front brake.
I don’t think the mixed-up brake levers were intentional. Varla wires all the power cables and brake lines through the steering pole and then connects them to the brake levers, display, display controls, and throttle. I believe someone just accidentally put the brake levers on the wrong side but quality control should have picked up on it.
Our fender also came bent on the red one which ended up bending the brake disc. Instead of shipping with the fender installed many electric scooters of this size have you install the fender due to this potential issue.
Get rid of the mechanical disc brake option
Varla shouldn’t even offer the scooter in a mechanical disc brake option unless it is at an even greater discount. As I said before, get the Zoom hydraulic disc brake option.
I understand the need to get rid of the first production models but offering the inferior mechanical disc brake option at the same price as the Zoom disc brakes, is unprofessional.
Could the company be trying to profit off the uneducated consumer?
Is the Varla Eagle One Pro fast?
Depends on who you ask. If you are coming from a ride-share scooter like Lime, the scooter will feel extremely fast.
I was disappointed in the acceleration curve because I feel the original Varla Eagle One has a faster 0-35 mph. Customers upgrading from the original Varla Eagle One to the Eagle One Pro assuming it will be faster, may find themselves disappointed.
Riders will get a slightly higher top speed on the Pro but the acceleration curve will be similar to the original. Jimmy likes the Pro’s acceleration curve because he prefers a tapered and controlled experience instead of the rip your arms out of your socket feeling.
Is the Varla Eagle One Pro portable for public transit?
I would look for a different scooter if you need to use public transit. The scooter takes a while to unscrew and it doesn’t lock into itself when folded.
The taillight is also mounted to the kick plate so it gets in the way when lifting the folded scooter.
I would look into the Kaabo Mantis King GT or Mantis V2 if you want a more portable scooter.
Speed setting adjust without touching the controls
One really frustrating thing is the speed settings will adjust when I am not touching the controls.
The buttons to control the speed settings are cheaply made and have a small spring underneath them. When I hit a bump, I had the speed settings change from 3 to 2 several times.
Final Thoughts
The Varla Eagle One Pro is a decent 11-inch tire scooter for the price. However, if you aren’t set on getting an 11-inch scooter or if your budget allows you to spend a little more, I would look at other options.
From the lackluster Varla service to flaws described above, there seem to be better options out there that offer better after-sales service.
If you are set on a budget 11-inch tire scooter, check out the YUME X11
If Varla stepped up their after-sales service, I would feel differently about the scooter. No one wants to wait 2-3 months to get their scooters back on the road if there is an issue that the warranty should cover.
Varla Eagle One Pro Pricing, Coupon and Discount Codes
Click here for the current pricing on the Varla Eagle One Pro.
Use coupon code: JimmyChang to save $50
Click here to view all our coupons and discounts on scooters and other PEVs.
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If you enjoyed this review, check out some other comparable escooters that we have reviewed:
Kaabo Mantis King GT – My favorite 10-inch tire scooter to come out in 2022
Kaabo Wolf King GT – A powerful 11-inch tire beast scooter with TFT LCD Display
YUME X11 – Another 11-inch scooter that is lower costing than the Varla Eagle One Pro
Mantis Pro SE – A special edition gold version of the Mantis.
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