Wondering what radio to run in your RC car? Two radios lead by a wide margin in nearly every kind of racing: the FlySky Noble NB4 and the Sanwa M17. We counted the setups saved in the RC Setup App since January 2024: 2,189 racers named a radio, across off-road, touring, drift, oval and more. By brand, Sanwa leads with 753 of them, followed by Futaba at 628 and FlySky at 540.
The number under each radio is how many racers run it. Several of these are older models, so where one has been replaced, the button goes to the radio that replaced it and the blurb says so. Counts updated November 2026.
Buy links to AMain may earn us a commission. That doesn't change the order: racers decide that.
Setting up the rest of the car? See the most popular motors, ESCs and servos for 1/10 off-road, and motors and ESCs for 1/8 electric buggies and truggies.
Most popular RC car radios
This list covers radios with at least 30 racers, counted across every kind of racing. Each blurb says where a radio is most popular, and the table after the list breaks it down by class.
1. FlySky Noble NB4
395 racers
The most popular radio overall, and the on-road pick: 160 of its racers run on-road, and it's first in touring and GT, drift, oval and pan car. Off-road it's a close second to the Sanwa M17 in 1/10, 133 racers to 135, and first in short course with 36. Racers named the NB4+ (185) most, then the original NB4 (157) and the NB4 Pro (68). The FGr4S is the receiver they name most. The button goes to the NB4+, with a 3.5-inch color touchscreen.
Buy the NB4+ at AMain (opens in new tab) See the NB4 Pro+ at AMain (opens in new tab)
2. Sanwa (Airtronics) M17
336 racers
The off-road pick: 242 of its 336 racers run off-road, and it's first in both 1/10 (135) and 1/8 (123). On-road it's second to the Noble in touring and GT, 62 racers to 78. Nearly everyone named the original M17, and 35 named the newer M17S, which is where the button goes. The M17S has a color display and weighs 21% less than the M12. Racers pair it with Sanwa's RX-493i and RX-482 receivers.
Buy the M17S at AMain (opens in new tab)
3. Futaba 10PX
136 racers
Futaba's most popular radio and third overall, spread across 1/10 off-road (48), 1/8 off-road (37), touring and GT (23) and drift (19). The R404SBS-E is the receiver racers name most with it. The button goes to the newer 10PXR, with a 4.3-inch color touchscreen and Futaba's F-4G system with telemetry.
Buy the 10PXR at AMain (opens in new tab)
4. Futaba 4PM
98 racers
Most of its racers run off-road, led by 1/8 (33) and 1/10 (23), and it's third in drift with 18. 36 named the newer 4PM Plus, which is the version the button goes to. It has Futaba's T-FHSS SR mode for faster response and up to 40 model memories. The R304SB is the receiver racers name most with it.
Buy the 4PM Plus at AMain (opens in new tab)
5. Sanwa (Airtronics) MT-44
85 racers
Split almost evenly across 1/10 off-road (26), 1/8 off-road (26) and touring and GT (25), most often with Sanwa's RX-482 receiver. The button goes to the MT-5, Sanwa's successor built on the MT-44 with a faster response mode.
See the MT-5 at AMain (opens in new tab)
6. Futaba 7PXR
76 racers
Most common in 1/10 off-road (34), and a drift radio too: drift is its second-biggest class, with 16 racers. It's been replaced by the 10PXR, Futaba's current top car radio, which is where the button goes.
See the 10PXR at AMain (opens in new tab)
7. Sanwa (Airtronics) MT-5
68 racers
Mostly off-road: 1/10 (25), 1/8 (19) and small-scale off-road (9), where it's the most popular radio. Racers pair it with the RX-493i, the receiver it comes with, or the RX-492i. It runs on three AAA batteries or an optional 1S LiPo.
Buy the MT-5 at AMain (opens in new tab)
8. Futaba 3PV
60 racers
Futaba's three-channel radio, with 42 of its 60 racers off-road, led by 1/10 (24) and 1/8 (12). It has T-FHSS telemetry and 10 model memories, and it comes with the R304SB receiver, though racers name the R203GF most.
Buy the 3PV at AMain (opens in new tab)
9. Sanwa (Airtronics) M12
57 racers
57 racers still run the M12 or M12S, 35 of them the M12S, mostly in 1/8 (22) and 1/10 (18) off-road. It came before the M17, so the button goes to the M17S.
See the M17S at AMain (opens in new tab)
10. Futaba 7PX
50 racers
29 racers off-road and 21 on-road, led by 1/10 off-road (18) and 1/8 (13). It's the radio before the 7PXR, and the button goes to the 10PXR.
See the 10PXR at AMain (opens in new tab)
11. Spektrum DX5C
33 racers
Spektrum's most popular radio here, and second in oval with 8 racers, behind the Noble. The button goes to its replacement, the DXC+, a 12-channel Spektrum radio that shows Smart ESC telemetry like RPM, temperature and voltage.
See the DXC+ at AMain (opens in new tab)Most popular radios by class
The three most popular radios in each class with at least 50 racers who named a radio. The Noble or the M17 leads every one, and drift leans toward Futaba more than any other class.
| Class | Racers | Most popular (racers) |
|---|---|---|
| 1/10 off-road | 706 | Sanwa M17 (135), FlySky Noble NB4 (133), Futaba 10PX (48) |
| 1/8 off-road | 594 | Sanwa M17 (123), FlySky Noble NB4 (98), Futaba 10PX (37) |
| Touring and GT | 436 | FlySky Noble NB4 (78), Sanwa M17 (62), Sanwa MT-44 (25) |
| Short course | 189 | FlySky Noble NB4 (36), Sanwa M17 (14), Futaba 4PM (11) |
| Drift | 158 | FlySky Noble NB4 (30), Futaba 10PX (19), Futaba 4PM (18) |
| Oval | 118 | FlySky Noble NB4 (21), Spektrum DX5C (8), Sanwa M17 (6) |
| Pan car and F1 | 57 | FlySky Noble NB4 (14), Sanwa M17 (10), Sanwa Exzes ZZ (4) |
How we counted
We count anonymous totals from setups saved in the app for every kind of racing, nitro and electric. A racer counts once per radio no matter how many setups they've saved, and a value only counts if the racer entered it themselves, not if it came along with a copied setup. A racer who runs more than one class counts once in the list and once in each class. Different generations of the same radio, like the NB4, NB4+ and NB4 Pro, are counted together, and the blurb gives the split where racers named one. Racers who named only a brand count toward the brand totals but not a radio. Ready-to-run radios, like the Traxxas TQi, aren't in the list. Specs come from the store listing for the radio each button goes to.
