Kid Galaxy Ford f150 Remote Control Truck Review

We purchased the Galaxy Ford f150 Remote Control Truck so our expert reviewer could thoroughly test and assess it. Keep reading for our full product review.

Remote control (RC) trucks have been an enthusiast hobby for a long time. If you’re looking to get into it without breaking the bank, the Galaxy Ford f150 is a large and powerful RC car (or rather, truck) with high top speed and long range. We tested it outdoors over the course of the week to see whether it lived up to its hype. During testing, we considered all aspects of its design, controls, performance, battery life, and other features.

Design: Large and clunky

At 21 by 13 by 12 inches (LWH), the Ford f150 Truck is a behemoth compared to other RC cars. Just carrying it outside, the weight was a hefty 11.25 pounds, making it not exactly portable for a leisurely stroll through the park. The exterior of the truck is made of thin, plastic with stickers plastered all over it. It’s flimsy, and quite frankly, looks cheap.

What it lacks in the exterior, it makes up for in other physical features. While the truck’s body is thin, it comes with anti-collision bars on the front and back to ensure that those receive the brunt of the damage during crashes.

The controller is a large, black remote that fit comfortably in our hand. It takes a pair of AA batteries (included). For the f150 you have a 20-volt rechargeable battery (swappable) and an included power adapter. If there is one saving grace about this RC car, it’s that the tires are built to scale with the rest of the truck, giving it an easier time of overcoming obstacles.

Setup Process: Easy, but time-consuming

When we pulled the truck out of its box, it was secured into the cardboard with zip ties and screws. What we believed would take us a few minutes—it’s advertised as being ready to go, with no assembly required—turned out to take us nearly four hours. Before you panic, three hours and forty minutes go toward charging the battery. According to the instructions, this gets you the best results for long usage. That’s the easy part. The hard part is extracting the truck from the packaging. It took us twenty minutes using scissors and a small, four-pronged screwdriver to remove it from the cardboard.

While the battery was charging, we removed the prongs holding the truck’s body in place, and inserted the battery until we heard it click and lock into place. Finally, we replaced the truck’s body, no screwdriver required. Once we readjusted the plastic body, the f150 was ready for a test drive. Its transmitter/remote required a screwdriver to insert the two AA batteries that came with the truck. All told, it took us a full four hours before we were actually able to take the truck outside for a spin.

Controls: Hard at high speeds

Because of the truck’s massive size, we opted against testing it indoors, instead taking it to an unused parking lot. This proved to be the best idea because there are two settings on the remote: Training mode for a slower speed to help you learn the controls, and Race mode to use all the horsepower the f150 has. We opted to test full power first—after all, 30 mph on a RC truck is too enticing not to test.

We gently pressed down on the throttle. To our surprise, the Ford f150 Truck launched into action very quickly, racing across the parking lot. The controls do not lie when they say full power. They didn’t lag, however, we found the controls difficult to use as the truck’s speed increased and the truck got further out of line-of-sight. It’s better to ease into Race Mode, especially since there’s a bit of a learning curve.

At high speeds, it was easy for the truck would spin out of control. The anti-skid tires would lose their grip on the pavement, often sending the f150 drifting across the asphalt. Because of the speed, we don’t recommend Race mode when there are young children around, as it could potentially injure them. Under full power, the Galaxy f150 is definitely more suited for older children and adults.

Training mode provides a much slower experience, and the controls responded better under this setting. If you’re going to get the f150 for kids, make sure they keep the controls on the Training mode rather than full throttle.

Performance: Outdoors only

We tested the truck over various outdoor terrains: grass, mud, and sidewalks. In all of these settings, the Ford f150 Truck runs beautifully. It doesn’t get stuck in mud, grass, or on rocks. In fact, it kicked up sod and dirt because of how powerful it is under full throttle settings. At one point, we sent it full speed over a curb. Slamming into the curb, it went airborne before crashing down onto the grass without slowing down. There’s no doubt the f150 is well-suited for the great outdoors.

The f150’s range is also phenomenal. We drove the truck across a large parking lot and down an entire city block without any lag. However, because of the dark colors, the truck became hard to spot, the further it got from us. Unless you mount a GoPro to the camera roll bar mount up top, you won’t be able to drive the truck out of line-of-sight.

Battery Life: Sad and short

To our great dismay, each time we took the truck for a drive, we drained the battery in 20 minutes. This was a disappointing runtime since the other RC cars we tested lasted a lot longer. Twenty minutes of fun, followed by having to go home and charge for hours really diminished our enjoyment. The claimed 30 minutes of fast charging didn’t pan out during testing.

On the plus side, if you happen to have a spare 20V lithium-ion battery (most power tools use them), you can swap them out in the battery compartment. If you want to use the Galaxy f150 for hours, you’ll certainly need a lot of them.

Price: Rather Steep

At $99.99 on Amazon (with some variation), the Ford f150 Truck demands a high price for a mere 20 minutes of entertainment. It also proves that power has its price. The other RC cars we tested cost less, but they’re simply not as fast. If you enjoy no-holds-barred speed, the Galaxy f150 is one of the fastest RC vehicles you can buy. 

Galaxy Ford f150 Truck vs. Maisto RC Rock Crawler

We tested the Ford f150 truck against the Maisto RC Rock Crawler to see which one would be the better RC car. In terms of power, the Ford f150 has the advantage. It’s larger and faster than Maisto. While the Ford f150 Truck races ahead at 30 mph, the Maisto goes at a leisurely walking pace. It’s also diminutive, being half the size of the Ford f150 Truck. 

However, what the Ford f150 Truck lacks in battery life, the Maisto makes up for tenfold, using AA batteries instead of a rechargeable battery pack. Despite the smaller cells, Maisto provides entertainment for up to a few days despite heavy usage. It’s a much more pleasant experience than having to recharge every 20 minutes.

That said, one big issue we had with the Maisto was that the remote and the truck don’t always see eye-to-eye. Sometimes you get a bit of lag as the truck gets further away from the remote. Overall, if you’re looking for a young child’s toy, we recommend the Maisto, but if you’re looking for something with speed and power as an enthusiast, we recommend going with the Galaxy Ford f150.

Similar Products We've Reviewed:

• Top Race RC Rock Crawler
• Holy Stone RC Cartoon Race Car
• Blade E-flite mCX2 RTF RC Helicopter