Fiido D11 vs Himo Z20 – comparison review

The three 20″ folding e-bikes (Himo Z20, Fiido D11 & Fiido D4s) are comparable with their main specs, but there are very interesting differences in detail which might be interesting for your situation. The driving modes work completely different which I haven’t expected beforehand. In my review post I want to:

• Compare the main specs
• Review the bikes and to point out differences
• Give you shopping tips (coupon codes & customs info)

Intro

I was looking for a compact-to-store e-bike for my daily commute to work. First I got myself a HIMO Z20, which is compact to fold and has a removable battery. This was an important item for me as it is very convenient when it comes to charging. I think that 20″ wheels is the ideal compromise: the bike is small enough to store and the wheels big enough to provide a smooth ride. The larger wheels provide a comfortable driving experience for longer distances, compared to the 16″models of which many were released earlier. I also got myself the later released Fiido D11 to compare both of them in this review as the specs seem very similar.

There is also a second Fiido 20″ e-bike – the Fiido D4s. Main difference is that the battery is built-in and therefore I excluded it from my selection. However I want to include it in this review with remarks, as it is a bit cheaper and if the removable battery is not an issue for you – maybe an interesting choice.

Here’s my overview of current 20″ folding e-bikes:

Fiido D11 vs Himo Z20 – Main Specs

*Fiido D4s can be unlocked to go 30km/h.
Fiido D11 can be unlocked to go 28 km/h – here are the instructions how to unlock speed limit

**estimated – based on my experience there is a lot of influence on the range: driver weight, flat or hilly road, constant drive or stop&go traffic, temperature,…

Fiido D11 vs Himo Z20 –
Hands-on Review

Since I got myself Fiido D11 and Himo Z20 I want to show you some pictures of my bikes (video will follow) and point out the differences based on specs and my experience. I also included the info from Fiido D4s so you can compare all three of them.

Similarities and minor differences

All three bikes, Fiido D11, Fiido D4s and Himo Z20 have a lot in common when it comes to specs:

• With a 250W powered motor and similar battery they can go up to 80 km in assist mode with a max speed of 25 km/h. Fiido D11 has a bit larger battery (1.6 Ah more) and an assisted driving range of 80-100km is stated.
• Seatpoles are adjustable in height, so you can adjust a comfortable driving position. Only the handle bar pole of Fiido D4s is adjustable in height.
• Compared to 16″ e-bikes (like Himo Z16 or Fiido D2) they don’t offer suspension. But I think with the bigger 20″ wheels it is not necessarily needed. It also saves weight.
• Accessories: Himo Z20 and Fiido D11 come with mudguards and charger. Mudguards for Fiido D4s are priced 26 USD.

NEWS: Also be sure to check out the new ADO A20 – I just received it and compared it to HIMO Z20. It can be unlocked to 350W motor power and 35 km/h top speed: HIMO Z20 vs ADO A20

Brakes

Brakes on all three bikes are very similar. The use 160 mm diameter disc brakes on front and rear wheel. The brakes on Fiido D11 were the best adjusted out of the box and I think they provide the best grip. But it is very easy to fine tune them.

Tires

All bikes use 20″ wheels and air tube tires. The tires on Himo Z20 are a bit wider (20 x 2.125) than the ones of Fiido D11 (20 x 1.75). In general Himo Z20 looks and feels a bit more sturdy to also go offroad while Fiido D11 with its thinner tires and lower weight seems to be made for the road.

Lights

The front LEDs on both bikes seem to be exactly the same. They are from the same brand and I couldn’t notice any difference. Fiido D4s also has a very similar front LED light. All of them are connected to the bikes battery and powered with a button on the display.
There is a significant difference in how the rear LEDs work:

• Fiido D11: The rear light is connected to the battery of the bike as the seat pole is the battery. It always lit when you power on the bike. The blue light above is the main power button of the bike the plug below connects the battery with the bike. The rear light also acts as brake light when you hit front or rear brake.
• Himo Z20: The rear light is powered by batteries and includes a reflector, which is legally required n some countries. There is a reason why it is not cable connected to the bike as you can remove the seat pole. The bike has a special gimmick as the seat pole holds an air pump to inflate the tires on the go.
• Fiido D4s: Similar to Z20 it has a battery powered rear LED with reflector, but no air pump.

If you don’t like the look of the Himo rear light I can recommend Xlite 100. It has automatic movement detection, so it turns off when you don’t move. Further it detects change in movement, so when you brake it flashes brighter. And with a light sensor it automatically turns on/off according to the daylight. It’s charged via USB port.

Gears & Gear Shift

• Fiido D11 offers a 7-speed Shimano gear shift with 7 sprockets on the back and one on the front, which is covered on the outside so your trousers don’t get ripped. The gear shift is is a bit inconvenient to operate as both levers sit under the handle grip.
• Himo Z20 offers a 6-speed Shimano gear shift with 7 sprockets on the back and one on the front, which is covered on the inside and on the outside. The gear shift is more convenient on top of the handle grip. There’s a lever and a button to select the gears.

Pedals

The pedals of Fiido D11 are made of metal and provide a very good grip. A reflector is integrated (which is legally required in some countries). The pedals of Himo Z20 are made of plastic, the y provide basic grip but not that well. But they can be folded as well for an even more compact storage size. As these are standard bike parts they can be easily replaced.

Saddle

The saddle of Fiido is a bit wider and softer whereas the saddle of Himo is longer and harder. Again I think a matter of personal tase, I prefer the one from Fiido which is more comfortable.

What’s different?

Size

All folding e-bikes are about the same size when unfolded, but Fiido manages to fold it to a more compact size. While Himo Z20 is 86 cm long and 74 cm high, Fiido D4s is 85cm long and 64 cm high when folded. Fiido D11 is even more compact, folding down to 59cm length but 84 cm in height, so the format is a bit different!

As you can also see on my photos, Fiido D11 is more compact to store. It is way shorter, but a bit higher. From the side Fiido D11 is thinner:

Weight

Big difference in weight: While Himo Z20 is 21.9 kg, being the heaviest, Fiido D4s is lighter with 18.5 kg and Fiido D11 is the lightest with 17.5 kg. I checked the weight of Z20 and D11 on a scale, the value for D4s is from the factory spec sheet.

Speed

• Fiido D11: In the meantime users found out how to unlock Fiido D11 and it can now go up to 28 km/h (Find out how to unlock speed). In standard configuration you reach 25 km/h.
• Himo Z20: I tried my best but haven’t found a solution how to unlock the speed. This would be very beneficial for this bike as I don’t get more than 24 km/h (I think it is limited to 15 mph). Don’t bother watching all the unlock videos on YouTube – they are misleading! They change the diameter of the wheel on the display. This way a faster speed is shown, but the bike doesn’t go faster.
• Fiido D4s is the only one that can be significantly unlocked and then you can go 31 km/h. This is not in most countries as the limit is 25 km/h (that’s why all of them are locked). So if you are looking for the fastest one, Fiido D4s is your choice.

Battery

• Fiido D11: Fiido found a smart solution and placed the battery inside the seat pole. This is great as you can easily remove the battery and take it with you for charging. On the other side it as a good protection as it doesn’t get easily stolen without the seat. However it is not that great if you lock your bike with the seat as the battery/seatpole can’t be locked and therefore easily be taken – the most valuable part of the whole bike.
• Himo Z20: When folding Himo Z20 you can remove the battery placed inside the frame. The battery is locked with a key so it can’t be easily stolen. You don’t need to remove the batter for charging, there’s a port on the frame so you can charge it while inside the bike.
• Fiido D4s has a is built-in battery and that was the reason why I didn’t consider buying one as you always have to carry the whole bike to a power plug for charging.

Charger

The charger is of course included, be aware that the charger for Himo Z20 is very bulky in case you need to take it with you. Don’t worry about the correct power plug, it connects to the charger and the cable is a standard one so you can exchange it inexpensively. Fiido D11 is using a 2-pol cable while Himo Z20 is using a 3-pol cable.

Throttle

• Fiido D11 offers a throttle lever that needs to be pushed. You can accelerate fully electric from standing still. Moreover Fiido D11 offers cruise control. When you hold down the lever for a few seconds the speed is set until you hit either lever or brakes.
• Himo Z20 is controlled by a throttle integrated into the handle grip that needs to be twisted, similar to a motorcycle. It does not accelerate from standing still, the bike has to be in motion. But only a slight push by your foot is needed and you can accelerate fully electric.
• Fiido D4s is a mixture of both of them. It has a throttle that needs to be twisted, but you can accelerate from standing still

I guess it is a matter of taste which method you prefer. I favor the push lever on Fiido D11. Usually you go have to push/twist it to the maximum to maintain top speed and with the twist lever your wrinkle is massive angled which is an uncomfortable driving position to go for a long ride. On a motorcycle you do not always push the lever to the maximum and you adjust the speed so the handling is a bit different.

Display

• Fiido D11: The display holds two buttons to power on the bike and to select the different driving modes. Next to the display are to further buttons for the front LED light and the electric horn. Current speed, mode, trip mileage and battery status are displayed.
• Himo Z20: You can find 4 buttons on the display: the power button and the switch trip/total mileage on the bottom and +/- buttons to select the driving mode. Long pressing the plus button turns on the front LED light. There is no electric horn, but a regular bell on Z20. Similar to D11 current speed, mode, trip or total mileage and battery status are displayed.
• Fiido D4s: is similar to Fiido D11.

The display of Himo Z20 is better to read, especially in direct sunlight. I heard some negative feedback of the Fiido display (which was also used on Himo C20) as rain drops can get into the gap between button and display. The Himo Z20 display is IPX7 waterproof.

Fiido D11 vs Himo Z20 – driving modes

Manual Mode

First of all you can go fully manual (you don’t even have to power them on) and they work just like regular bikes. However due to the battery they are a bit heavier than regular bikes and therefore require a bit more effort when pedalling. Don’t worry it’s not that much of an exercise but I won’t recommend them if you want to pedal without assistance most of them time.
Fiido D11 is a bit lighter than Z20 which benefits going without electric support.
Himo Z20 lets you remove the battery so the bike is lighter. However without the battery Z20 is still a bit heavier than Fiido D11 – but also sturdier.

Himo Z20 – Modes

• ECO – is the pedal assist mode. When you start pedalling at about 5 km/h you feel the motor kicking in and it makes pedalling seemingly easier. It feels like the motor is assisting your pedalling in relation to the speed you want to go by pedalling. The assistance mode works up to 18 km/h but you can always go faster by pedalling. However at this speed the effort to go even faster is lower than from standing still. In this mode the throttle is not activated.
• MID – is a full electric mode. When you twist the throttle the bike accelerates up to about 18 km/h. You can always go faster by pedalling the bike is not slowing you down.
• HIGH – is the second full electric mode and the bike accelerates up to 24 km/h. (As mentioned I didn’t get 25 km/h I think the limit is 15 mph). Again you can always go faster by pedalling, the bike is not slowing you down or braking.

Usually I go in High Mode and pedal as well to go faster. I only switch to Eco mode when I want to have the feeling of riding a bicycle with the benefit of being less exhausting, so I don’t arrive sweaty in the office.

Fiido D11 – Modes

The logic of Fiido D11 is completely different as the modes 1 2 3 are controlling the level of assistance. So in all modes you can go full speed by pushing the throttle. Assistance works a bit rougher on D11. While on Z20 it feels like the motor is easing pedalling on D11 it feels like the motor is kicking in at max power accelerating you up to top speed no matter how fast you are pedalling. Also on Fiido D11 the bike is not slowing you down at max. electric speed, you can always go faster by pedalling.

So with Fiido D11 I miss a bit the feeling of riding a bicycle. It doesn’t feel like the motor is assisting you while pedalling, it feels like the pedal is an alternative to the throttle pushing it to the limit. However when you plan to always ride the bike in full electric mode you won’t feel much of a difference between those two.

Issues and Problems

• Fiido D11 Problems: The seatpole of Fiido D11 reclines during driving. But that was an easy fix, I tightened the screws and used anti-slip stickers and solved the problem. There was a reported problem that that saddle brakes from the pole. I did not experience this and according to Fiido it occurred on early production models and is fixed.
• HIMO Z20 Problems: The bike is not hitting 25 km/h and maximum speed is 23-24 km/h. I think that is the case because to speed is set to 15 mph. It’s just 1-2 km/h but still bothersome. The plastic pedals on Himo Z20 slightly yield and don’t provide the best grip. If you go full electric most of the time you don’t need to worry. Since I often like to pedal to go faster I replaced them with different folding pedals. If you don’t need folding ones for storage reasons you can also go for aluminum pedals.

Overall some minor issues, I didn’t experience serious problems with both of them so far.

Fiido D11 vs Himo Z20 –
Review Conclusion

It’s hard to compare these two bikes as there are many differences when looking at the details. It’s tricky to give a general statement which one is “better”. My impression so far – or as I use it:
I like Fiido D11 a lot as it is light and compact to store. My ideal ride to the office on a well paved street. I don’t need the battery lock as I take the seat with me for charging.
When going on gravel roads I prefer to use Himo Z20, which is a bit more robust and has wider tires. In general there are less issues with Himo Z20.
When it comes to details (such as battery lock, throttle, storage size,…) there are so many little difference which might be super important to you or not to mention. So I would check these details in the comparison chart and rate them. Go for the one which offers the features that are most important for you and your situation and would matter to you on a daily basis!

More Infos?

Here’s my hands on review of Himo Z20 and the video comparison with its predecessor Himo C20. 
I also did a review of ADO A20 vs Himo Z20 – I’d love to do a video review of ADO A20 Air and Fiido D11.

Here’s a video review of Himo bikes:

For the latest news and updates, join the Facebook groups:

Fiido e-bike Facebook Group
  Himo e-bike Facebook Group

Fiido D11 & Himo Z20 manual:

  Fiido D11 manual
  Himo Z20 manual

Retailer & Price – Comparison

• Official ADO Website: www.adoebike.com
  Here you have the benefit to buy directly from the manufacturer
  They offer 48h free shipping options across EU & UK
  It seems ADO A20 was removed from the store in favor of ADO A20 Air products:

• official HIMO Website: www.himobikes.com
  This site offers both ADO & HIMO bikes and is their official store.
  Both models ADO A20 and HIMO Z20 can be found here.

• official Fiido Website: www.fiido.com
  This is the official website of Fiido and their main distribution channel.
  You can benefit from buying directly from the manufacturer

• Geekbuying
  I got my Fiido D11 from Geekbuying
  check the website for coupon codes, sometimes they are cheaper than on the official site!

• Amazon
  ADO operates their own Amazon Store “A Dece Oasis-Store“
  Fiido doesn’t have an Amazon store
  where you can find all their current products and having the Amazon Prime shipping benefits:

• Aliexpress
  several reseller offer Fiido, ADO and HIMO on Aliexpress
  check the different warehouse options!