Radinn Freeride Electric Surfboard Reviewed in 2025

A Premium Jet Board for the Masses

At more than $10 grand, the Freeride isn’t within everyone’s budget. As far as personal watercraft go, it is, though, something that will make everyone happy. As in wickedly fun happy.

Beginners will be able to get up on this with a few attempts. In glassy calm waters, it’ll go quickly. And fresh sexagenarians and above will be able to rehabilitate their youth to the fore. It’s a well-built electric surfboard with very smart tech contained within the board and the battery for anti-theft features.

In short, a 35-45 minute session will leave you wanting more, even if your body starts to protest.

Accessible Electric Surfing

The Freeride fits nicely in the middle of Radinn’s range of jet board offerings. This board offers excellent stability and a fun ride for beginners. It’s bigger than most of the electric surfboards we’ve tried, with a 101-liter volume that will allow folks up to about 175 pounds to stand up without hitting the throttle.

For smaller riders, the Freeride is about as easy and as stable as it gets. The result is an electric surfboard that rides like a forward surfing wakeboard. Remember that these machines go fast and a helmet and pfd is advised always, especially for those that are just learning.

Radinn has upgraded its tech over the past few years. Currently, they sell the X-Sport, Freeride, and Carve models. All are modular and feature the same battery pack and G3 Jet pack. And all three have the same price: currently $11,995 US as of July 2023. Unique in this arrangement is that there are no standard or long-range batteries—now, everyone is getting the biggest battery when they purchase from Radinn. Previously, the company was selling the same battery with an option to upgrade it later via software.

Setup and Ride Experience

At the heart of every new Radinn board is the G3 modular design. This simply means that the board, battery, and jet pack are all independent components that snap together quickly and easily.

You probably won’t have to remove the jet pack for day-to-day setup. But if you ever need it repaired or replaced, it simply means removing it from the board. It could then be shipped back to a repair facility, which would be much cheaper and easier than sending the whole board back. It also means you could replace the hull if it were damaged beyond repair without replacing the more expensive bits.

The battery, of course, gets removed after every ride and plugged into the charger. It snaps in place and has three twist-lock fasteners to secure it.

Beyond that, getting ready to ride is a matter of grabbing the controller, which is held with a wrist strap, and a magnetic kill switch, which tethers around your leg.

The board has a carry bag to keep everything in good shape for transport. The board itself has excellent carrying handles integrated into each side, enough so that it’s fairly easy to carry short distances on your own. If you’ve got to walk your board to get to the water, it’s best to leave it in the bag or have a friend help.

The remote control is a comfortable size to hold in your hand. While it’s limited in function, it does everything you need and is intuitive to use. When you first start it up, the LED light bars indicate the controller’s battery status. Once riding, those same lights now indicate your board battery’s status. When it gets to the bottom light, it begins flashing and vibrating to give you some extra cues that it’s time to head back to shore.

The wireless thumb controller is slightly different from other e-foils and the Jetsurf boards, which have a trigger-grip style throttle. Radinn, like Awake, has chosen a thumb controller. If you’re used to the other, it will take a little getting used to. But it’s no issue for most people after a ride or two.

Riding the Freeride could be described as more of a cruiser board rather than a shredder. This is a big board that is clearly designed for cruising on calm waters, not tricks, sharp turns, jumps, or catching waves. It’s great if you’re sharing the board with your kids, first-timers, or as a general water toy on a yacht where many folks will share it. Rental operators will want to check out the X-Sport, which is similar to the Freeride but has the hardier XDL hull layup.

Cleaning the board after a day on the water is equally easy. The toolkit comes with a water bottle. This water bottle fits a port on the back of the board. A few squeezes of fresh water are all that is needed to clean the jet housing. Beyond that, just wipe everything dry and remember not to store the battery connected to the board.

If you want to see how the Radinn is set up and what riding looks like, check out the company’s excellent video tutorials.

Connected Technology

Radinn arguably makes the most technologically advanced electric surfboards on the market. They spent a lot of time ensuring that their boards could be upgraded and modified easily. Part of this comes from the modular design discussed above. It’s technically possible to purchase a higher-performance hull and use your original battery and jet pack.

But the company has also adopted the idea that you should be able to upgrade the board you’ve got once you’re ready to get more from it. As Tesla has done with automobiles, you can purchase upgrade options and instantly access more capabilities.

The most notable of these upgrades is the motor settings. The G3 Jet has three settings: standard, pro, and Unleashed. To upgrade, purchase the package on the website, and the motor settings will be upgraded. No equipment changes or swapping, just more performance. Purchasing the Pro will get the top speed of the Freeride up from 27 to 35 mph. The Unleashed setting boosts it even further to 37 mph.

But it isn’t just about top-end speed. These packages change the power profiles of your jet drive, giving you more acceleration and torque. These things add up to a different experience from the same board.

In surfing forums, some point out that they’d rather just have all the capabilities the moment they purchase the board. These boards are big investments, and dividing up the purchase price will appeal to many buyers. But there’s also something to be said about the bigger picture of being able to change things up and keep it fresh after a while.

Radinn carries this techy ethos throughout the board. Owners of electric vehicles will undoubtedly be familiar with the advantages of an advanced battery management system (BMS). Radinn knows this, too, and has included a cloud-based system in their boards. It monitors the health of your battery and alerts you to any maintenance issues.

The best thing about this app, however, is that it continually monitors your battery’s health and charging status, optimizing it over the long run. Ultimately, this will keep your Radinn’s battery working at peak capacity for years to come.

Finally, the Radinn app is available for your smartphone and Apple Watch. Included in the app are ride maps and performance stats. There’s also a cool social aspect to that app that lets you connect with other Radinn riders and find the best surf spots around the globe. If you have an Apple Watch, the app will display speed and battery status while you ride.

Hull Design and Construction

While other jet board makers favor full carbon fiber layups, Radinn uses composite material layups they call XDL and LTD. The XDL is found only on the X-Sport—it’s hardy and plastic-like, perfect for rental boards. It’s made with a combination of strong thermoformed plastic layers with reinforcing fiberglass.

The Freeride has the LTD layup, combining traditional fiberglass and carbon fiber with paint and varnish on top. It’s a high-end upgrade over the XDL, but it doesn’t feel quite as lux as full carbon fiber. But, it does mean the board is easily repaired. Scuffs and scratches are mended with a simple bit of touch-up paint, while deeper cracks may require some resin repairs.

The hull features twin FCS fin boxes, an industry standard. You can buy replacement fins from Radinn or any surf shop.

Freeride Price/Quality

Radinn boards are extremely well-built and priced competitively. The engineering behind the Radinn is impressive, and it’s an all-around great board. It’s got great power and handling, and the ability to upgrade it over the long term is very appealing. It’s also noteworthy that Radinn is currently including the longest-range, highest-performance battery option with all boards.

All Radinn boards come with the board, battery, charger, jet pack, board bag, fins, leash, wireless controller and charger, rinse bottle, and user manual. There aren’t many other accessories you might need, but you can get a forward tether handle and foot straps if you want them. And, of course, the performance upgrade will cost you another $995 when you’re ready to step up to “Untethered” mode.

Both Jetsurf and Awake are worthy competitors, but both options are priced higher than the Radinn. Theirs are performance-oriented boards made of pure carbon fiber, aimed at hard-core enthusiasts wanting the best of the best. The Radinn keeps pace with these boards but offers a hardier package at a better price. In the case of the Awake Rävik, the high-performance battery alone is a $3,000 upgrade.

Which Radinn Jet Board Is Right for Me?

Radinn sells three boards, making it easy to get the right one for your ride. Remember, all sell for the same price from the beginning and come with the same modular battery and G3 jet pack.

X-Sport—Radinn’s entry-level and most durable board is made with a sturdy plastic and fiberglass shell to take the abuses thrown at it by renters. It features a quad-fin setup that can be customized based on the rider for more stability or more maneuverability. This makes the board more practical for any type of rider, from beginner to expert.

Freeride—The same hull shape as the X-Sport, but made from a higher-quality fiberglass and carbon fiber skin. It has the standard twin fin boxes and is marketed for beginners at advanced riders, with the caveat that it’s really for cruising on calm waters.

Carve—A slimmer board with more performance-oriented handling for tight turns and better agility. Best for intermediate to advanced riders looking to head out in choppy or wavy conditions.

Electric vs. Gas Powered Jet Boards

It’s a natural comparison between electric boards like the Radinn and Awake models and the gasoline-powered boards from Jetsurf. There are certainly pros and cons to each one. Their prices are very similar, in the end, so picking the right one is more of a style choice. You might want to consider a few factors before riding off into the sunset.

The biggest difference between the two is ride time. Even the highest-capacity battery packs only allow for 30 to 45 minutes of riding before they need to be recharged. They come with large, powerful rechargers that can do the job quickly—but it still takes a couple of hours. That means you’ll never get more than 30 minutes of riding in any session, but you might be able to squeeze in a morning and an afternoon outing.

A gas engine just needs to be refueled and is ready to go in minutes. You can’t beat this versatility if you want to use your board for hours at a time or set out on long trips. It’s also great if you have a group of people who all want to try it out—everyone can ride to their heart’s content, and the board can keep going repeatedly.

Transportation is another big factor. The electric boards all use enormous lithium-ion battery packs that are not allowed on airplanes. You can only travel with these if you can ground ship them. Boards with gas engines, on the other hand, can be put into checked luggage.

Of course, the gas boards make noise. They aren’t terribly loud, but the electric boards are nearly silent, so the difference is striking. It’s also worth mentioning that gas engines are banned on many inland lakes, meaning the electric boards can operate in more places with fewer restrictions.

Ultimately, there’s a style element to picking the right board for you. Gasoline jet boards tend to be more performance-oriented. They’re lighter weight and great for racing. Electric boards are better for cruising and playing on your own, enjoying nothing but the sound of water flowing under the board and the wind in your ears.

Do We Recommend the Radinn Freeride?

The Radinn Freeride is a ton of fun to ride, plus it’s well-built and supported by an awesome company. While it doesn’t outhandle the Awake Rävik or the Jetsurf boards, it’s still a blast on the water and one of the coolest water toys out there. It offers a go-anywhere, cruise-anything appeal that’s super attractive, and its extra buoyancy makes it more approachable to the less athletic or new-to-surfing crowd.