Viking 4×4 Wheelchair Reviews 2024

Is your mobility issue bringing you down? Do you miss the days when you could hit the road with family and friends on the weekend to enjoy a camping or hiking trip? 

Have you been itching for an outdoor adventure but feel trapped indoors because you can’t move around as easily or freely as you once could?

If you answered yes to any of the questions above and have been looking for a way to remedy your situation, you will love this review. The Viking 4×4 Wheelchair might be what you’ve been looking for in a mobility aid.

We’ll quickly point out that it’s not a perfect chair. It’s got two flaws that might give you pause, but in our recent roundup review of the best hiking chairs being sold today, the Viking placed a respectable fourth. You might read our Observer Mobility wheelchair reviews to learn more about the brand.

In the following sections, we’ll tell you all about it, so you’ve got all the information you need to decide if this is the model you want or if you’ll need to continue your search. Let’s jump right in and see what the mighty Viking can do!

Best Off Road All Terrain Wheelchairs for Outdoors Review

First impressions mean a lot, and what you get from the Viking 4×4 Wheelchair is that it’s one tough customer. It looks like an adventure chair.  It’s big and rugged and looks like there’s not much it can’t handle.  A closer look at its specs bears that out. 

Chair Specifications

In More Detail…

There are several things worth talking about here. First, this is a big, heavy chair. That’s a good thing in some respects because it adds to the Viking’s stability, but it also works against portability, which we’ll discuss later.

The top speed is underwhelming, but the range is on the high side of average, which is good. It has an impressive 22.8” turning radius so you could use it indoors in a pinch. Although, if you were to do that, you’d want to take those rugged all-terrain tires off and swap them out for something more indoor-friendly.

Unfortunately, there’s no quick and easy way to swap the wheelchair tires out, so in practice, it’s probably not something you’ll do unless you have to. Given that, it’s best to assume that this is an outdoor-only chair that happens to have an impressive turning radius.

Adjustable and Comfortable

The Viking 4×4 offers a delightfully comfortable ride. Its racing-style seat is padded with memory foam, a cut above what you usually get in such chairs.

Additionally, you can adjust:

In addition, the company offers an innovative tilt system in place of a standard reclining seat. This allows you to adjust the angle of the backrest up to 105 degrees. The company claims that the tilt system is better for your back, but as far as we can tell, there’s no firm evidence of that either way. Still, it stands as an interesting innovation.

Although the tilt feature may or may not wind up helping your aching back, it does serve one very important, practical feature. It allows you to tackle terrain inclines that would be flat-out impossible if the chair was fixed in its position. Thus, it is truly an outdoor adventure chair and well-deserving of its “go anywhere” reputation!

The bottom line is that it’s a comfortable chair, and the tweaks available help to make it even more so. If the mood strikes you, you can easily press pause during the day and take a short nap using this model.

Storage, Customization Options, and Extras

We have mixed feelings about this here in our Viking 4×4 Wheelchair review. On paper, the company offers a variety of extras, most of which are high-value. On closer inspection, though, you notice two things:

Many of the “extras” are free, so why wouldn’t you take them, even if you’re not 100% sure you need them? Two, some of the extras are things we regard as essential elements in the chair’s design.

This is one of those cases where we think the company took this approach to give you the feeling that you’re deeply customizing your chair as you select the options to include on the model you’re ordering. 

It’s a little gimmicky, but it doesn’t take longer than a few seconds to check all the free options and then contemplate which premium options you want to include. We’ll have more to say about those premium options in a moment. For now, let’s look at the freebies on offer. 

Freebies

See what we mean? Who would order this power wheelchair without the batteries? Without the safety belt or the lighting package? Those things, in our view, are just no-brainers, especially since this chair was designed for outdoor use, and yet, when you order the Viking 4×4, you’ve got to be sure you check those boxes.

The other freebies listed are all good, and since the company is giving them away, why not take advantage of them? The saddle bag is generously sized and will allow you to haul a good assortment of gear wherever you plan to go.

Color Options

We should also mention the color choices in the freebies section. This is broken into two parts. You can specify the color of your seat:

Then specify the color of the frame:

Finally, note that the joystick mounting is free, and you can specify whether it should be mounted on the left or right side at the point of sale. If you want to pay a little extra, you can also select a left-side/right-side flip-back mount, and we recommend this so it’s not in the way when transferring into and out of the chair.

Premium Add-Ons

Now, let’s have a look at the premium options. There are three, and two leave us scratching our heads in puzzlement. They are:

This seems strange to us. This is a four-wheel-drive machine designed for rough terrain. Why aren’t all-terrain tires and rearview mirrors standard? We honestly don’t know.

Of course, the fact that you have to pay extra for these options is offset by the freebies mentioned above and the relatively low price of the Viking 4×4 All Terrain Wheelchair, but still…it’s curious.

Note: Although the website says you can order a Viking with a 19” seat width, only 18” and 20” options are available at the point of sale. The company has not responded to our request for clarification on this point.

Low Marks for Portability

While we readily admit that the Viking 4×4 chair is an impressive machine, one thing the company hasn’t figured out how to do is keep the weight down. This is one of only a handful of mobility aids we’ve ever reviewed that supports less weight than the device itself weighs.​

It’s heavy, and it’s big. If you have a gigantic SUV and a ramp, you might (emphasis on might) be able to cram it into the back somehow, but for most people, your options are going to be:

To calculate the total cost of ownership accurately, you’ll need to factor one of those solutions into the total cost of the machine.

Simple, Intuitive Controls

We were a little skeptical because sometimes products made in China have control systems that are cumbersome to downright baffling.

That’s not the case here. The company studied the Western market carefully before designing its product, and its effort paid off. 

The control system is simple, elegant, and entirely intuitive. You’ll want to spend a few minutes familiarizing yourself with it and getting the feel of the craft’s handling, but you’ll be off to the races in no time!

Pros & Cons of the Viking 4×4 Wheelchair

It’s probably clear that we like a lot about the Viking 4×4, so we won’t rehash its numerous positive attributes here.

Instead, since we’ve already spent a fair amount of time heaping praise on the model, we’ll zero in on the two things about this product that might give you pause and decide it’s not the right mobility aid for you. 

Those items are:

As long as you are okay with both of those and consider them before pulling the trigger on your purchase, we think you’ll be pleased.

Final Thoughts on the Viking 4×4

Observer Mobility had to work a little harder than some companies to impress us because we’re always a little leery of the quality of products manufactured in China. Still, this one is well deserving of its high ranking on our recent roundup review.

The Viking 4×4 Wheelchair is a solid machine at a great price. Sure, it has shortcomings, but honestly, considering the price, we don’t regard its two principal weaknesses as deal breakers. We recommend it.

Recommended Reading

Mountain Trike Wheelchair Reviews and Ratings

Read about the rugged versatility of the Mountain Trike Wheelchair in this comprehensive review.

TerrainHopper Mobility Scooter Review

In our evaluation, the TerrainHopper Mobility Scooter emerges as a rugged adventure vehicle for thrill-seekers.

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Official Manufacturer Support

REFERENCES & RESOURCES

• Viking 4×4 Wheelchair User Manual.
• Observer Mobility Product, Official Brand Website.
• Power Wheelchair Mobility, NW Regional SCI System.
• Picking the Right Wheelchair, Christopher & Dana Reeve Foundation.