The cheapest eFoil isn’t always the best efoils to purchase. Today, the most inexpensive efoil is the Waydoo Flyer one. It costs $7,665, available with financing through Klarna. Feels weird typing that as cheap?
However, the rider shouldn’t be looking to purchase a bootleg efoil. You should be looking for a quality brand.
The most affordable eFoil on the market that we actually recommend to buy is the Waydoo flyer one. Are their other electric surfboards on the market? Yes but some are too good to be true and are sketchy.
We also wouldn’t recommend any home grown eFoil boards because there is a lot of room for disaster with water proofing of the lithium ion batteries. Without going into the used market, the Waydoo flyer one is the best efoil board for riders balling on a budget we give a buy rating.
If you’re exploring this new niche of water sports but not interested in looking at the cheapest efoil check out our post on the top five best efoils of 2023, here. But again, it’s not like anything efoil related is “cheap”.
Waydoo Flyer One: The Best Foiling Experience
Waydoo is one of the new kids on the block. The team relied on kickstarter donations to create their first proof of concept and eFoil boards and later parlayed those funds into a working product.
Established in 2018, built and designed in Shenzhen, China by Denis Zhu. Shenzhen is a hub of innovation and widely considered the Silicon Valley of China. Denis is part owner of DJI, the drone company, which is also an investor in Waydoo.
By August 2019, the Waydoo team shipped their products internationally. The board comes in two different versions epoxy and carbon fiber.
One con we’d like to be up front with our readers is we’ve seen multiple reports online that the battery life is not accurate. Although 2 hours of riding is advertised, riders had been beeped to head to shore in as little as 32 minutes of e foiling. Check out this reddit thread for more information.
This could be because riders are pinning it full speed, and sucking the battery out. It’s also worth mentioning a lot of these complaints came in 2020 when the board was first released. Most first generation boards will have their faults and those faults get fleshed out as time goes on.
- Price: $7,665
- Financing: Klarna
- Ride time: 2 hours but realistically an hour
- Top Speed: 29 mph
- Charge time: 3 hours
- Warranty: 2 years (EU Only)
For more information on purchasing other models from Waydoo, check out their offline store.
Pros: Price, Ride time, Max speed
Cons: Battery issues
Are Older eFoils Worth the Cost?
For sure, the older efoil boards are still great to ride. Think of it like the older models of the iPhones, did they have the newest bells and whistles? No. But was it a great
If price is a concern, there’s two routes you can go. You can either:
- Buy a used eFoil on facebook market place or an efoil forum
- Buy an older model eFoil directly from the brand.
The only potential problem with used eFoil boards is they could be pretty worn out depending on the brand. It’s important to take a thorough examination of the board, foil, mast, and lithium ion batteries.
However, riders shouldn’t expect a large of a discount when it comes to used efoil boards as they hold their value pretty well, especially in today’s efoil market.
Alternatives to Buying a Brand New eFoil Board
Instead of looking at old eFoils on Facebook marketplaces or groups online, its not a bad idea to check out previous generations of eFoil boards directly from the brands.
Most brands offer try before you buy programs where you can demo the model of the efoil you want before making a decision on it. If you’re looking for a bit of fun on the water, book a demo so you can surf waves on your efoil and learn the propulsion system.
Although some other brands carry older models, they’re only carried until they run out of stock. Out of the older models these are our top picks.
Taking a Look at the Lift3F
Lift Foils almost deserve no introduction. They’re the first company to bring eFoils to market co-founded by the Father Son duo Nick & Scott Leason back in 2010.
They started out making hydrofoils and in 2015 Nick began applying the technology from smartphones, electric vehicles and drones into electric hydrofoil boards we know today.
Lift had beginner eFoil riders in mind when they brought this to market. The board is fun, has good range, and can reach faster speeds with a smaller wing but that’s not recommended for a beginner.
The can be customized to different board size between a 4’9 Sport and a 5’4 Cruiser. The sport version of the Lift foil offers riders more stability compared to the cruiser.
The rider can choose between two colors Sunset Peach and Iceberg.
- Price: $8,995
- Financing: Affirm
- Warranty: 2 years or 100 battery cycles
- Ride time: 60 minutes, 90 minutes with upgraded battery kit*
- Top Speed: 30 mph
- Charge time: 50 minutes to an hour
*The upgraded battery is an extra $1,000 to give riders an extra 30 minutes of ride time. However, this does add more weight to the board.
Pros: Max speed, Board quality, Customizable, Quality
Cons: Price, Battery life, Warranty
Foil Review
Foil is another great American Brand designed and manufactured in Florida founded by Pensacola native and entrepreneur Kyle Roarke.
Foil is reasonably priced and has an exceptional ride time. The long range gives the board one of the best battery life out of all of these foils for no extra battery packages.
The board size is 5’8 much larger than the other efoils and also more accommodating for beginner riders.
- Price: $7,999
- Financing: Affirm
- Warranty: 2 years
- Ride time: 3 hours
- Top speed: 28 mph
- Charge time: 2 hours (with super charger)
Foil is available in carbon fiber as well but for an extra $1,000.
Foil takes great pride in the quality of their boards. So much so the warranty is strictly two years, no cop outs on battery cycles compared to different brands.
The Foil certainly has an edge in price, warranty, and an insanely long range ride time compared to the other efoils. Although Foil cannot reach speeds that the other efoils can (barely), their run time puts them to shame.
Pros: Price, Ride time, Warranty, Board size, Quality
Cons: Slower Max Speed
A Glance at The Fliteboard Series 3
Fliteboard hails from a land down under and founded by David Trewern, a passionate kite surfer, waterman, and excellent engineer. The eFoil boards from Fliteboard are designed in Byron Bay, Australia but the lads have a manufacturing plant based in San Francisco, CA.
- Price: $9,995*
- Financing: Zip
- Warranty: 1 year or 100 hour service
- Ride time: 90 minutes, two hours with the explore battery package.
- Top Speed: 30 mph
- Charge time: 2-3 hours
The Fliteboard is out of this world in terms of quality. While it’s without a doubt the most expensive out of our “cheap efoils” we couldn’t leave this one of the list. The board is fast and can power through chop in the ocean compared to other foils.
Pros: Max speeds, Quality
Cons: Short warranty, Expensive
* The Fliteboard is $9,995 when constructed from fiberglass. For an extra $400, the rider can choose to upgrade to a carbon fiber efoil.
Epic Foils: Our Take on Buying a Cheap eFoil
In our opinion, if you’re serious about eFoiling you should skimp out on an efoil. Cutting corners will lead to some expensive head aches down the line.
Although the Waydoo is the cheapest efoil on the market today, we think that Foil deserves some recognition. It’s got a great warranty, quality is second to none, it costs only a few hundred dollars more than the Waydoo and can catch ocean waves very well.
If you want peace of mind with your purchase, we recommend purchasing the Foil efoil.
FAQ about Buying an eFoil
Should I Buy a Used eFoil?
As we mentioned before, e foils are not cheap by any means.
The used eFoil board market has a lot of different options from many different efoil brands but it’s important to do your own research.
If you plan on buying a used eFoil, consider looking at some of the facebook groups for more information and due diligence.
What Facebook Groups Are Good to Learn About Efoiling?
We recommend eFoil Buy and Sell – Electric Hydrofoil Used and New.
It’s a marketplace but there is room for general discussion as well. It’s a member only group but only a few short questions are required to join the group. There’s 11,000 plus friendly efoil enthusiasts all over the world.
Do I Need a Warranty for My eFoil?
If you’re buying a brand new efoil board from Fliteboard, Lift, or Waydoo you get a warranty.
If you go the secondhand market and get a used efoil, you will not get the benefit of the warranty.
eFoil boards are all handmade and things happen. It’s best to be able to run your efoil for a year or two with the peace of mind of the warranty as a insurance policy against.
How Long Do e Foil Boards Last?
eFoils are built to last if you take great care of them.
The boards are quite durable it’s the electronics that can be finicky, similar to boats.
Flushing your electric foil with fresh water is critical to make it last longer.
Do I need to buy a carbon fiber eFoil?
Not having carbon fiber will lower the cost of your efoil significantly.
Carbon fiber is stiffer also reduces the weight of your foil and lets you pull of exciting tighter turns. However, if you’re just starting out in the efoil world you don’t really need to drop extra money on it.
In our opinion, carbon fiber is a nice to have, not necessarily a need to have. If you can afford the extra money to do so by all means go for it. But if you’re budget efoil hunting then by all means grab a fiber glass efoil instead.
Which eFoil has the best new battery technology?
Foil has the best battery out of all of the efoils we have covered in this post.
Foil battery contains premium lithium ion battery cell wrapped in a revolutionary phase change material. This material is designed to increase battery longevity and prevent thermal runaway.
However, Fliteboard and Lift have solid batteries as well. They have been through multiple generations of lithium ion batteries and innovation with wiring to work out the kinks.
In order of best to worst:
- Foil
- Lift
- Fliteboard
- Waydoo
Lift gets a slight edge here just because the team has been around longer but to be honest they’re all great aside from Waydoo.