I had a chance to ride the Lift 5' "Sport" with smaller wing in Hatteras and what a great toy for the low wind days. Took me 20 minutes of futzing around with the water start and then I got it. Takeaways are:
1. It seems like 2 are in order in that it's really more fun if a buddy/girlfriend has one and you are cruising the coast talking together. The thing is quiet! If you had one you might not let your beginner friends ride it for fear of crashing it or running the foil into lake floor. Or, like a jet ski, you might not go through the rigmarole of getting it out of your car, carrying it to water, setting it up for just a solo ride.
2. You would just have to bend over and pay the $12k because cheaper alternatives without a track record, customer support, parts, etc would be too big a gamble. Also don't see the price coming down appreciably for a couple years. Covid has people spending money for some odd reason on big ticket items like boats, RV's, guitars. Maybe due to pure boredom - many people's jobs now at home... Covid has put a kibosh on any large scale productions of a lot of these "luxury" products.
3. There is more of a "drag" sensation or "clumpy" feel then say foiling while kiting, or wake foiling (spent all summer doing it and it's fun). Board is bigger and heavier. The prop has to add some drag. There is a parallel to riding an ebike vs acoustic bike. Ebike allows for longer sessions with less physical output and more "acreage" covered. Obviously better foilers will take these things out in waves and carve it up like a champ. Lift has a folding prop accessory that reduces drag when you get the energy from a wave and need no propulsion. But I think the bulk of riders will be the sight seeing types cruising up and down their local coastline.
Currently I see the Fliteboard, Lift, as the two major players. Biggest difference is in the position of prop and the way the hand remote works. Lift has prop 1/5 way up mast above wing, Fliteboard is in line with fuselage. Lift's remote is linear and Fliteboard's is fixed. There will clearly be a difference between these two boards even though they are essentially the same size and look. A new player, Marc Lagarde and Supernova is coming to the scene with an interesting design that features see through panels on the top of the board. You can find info on Lift and Fliteboard online at their websites and Marc's efoil on Facebook and website coming around October 15th.
I for one would like to emerge next spring with one of these toys.