Technic

4x4 X-treme Off-Roader

The truck that launched Control+, big on wheels and a little short on parts.

Brick Rated Score

3.8/5

Set 42099 · 2019

Pieces958

Minifigsn/a

Year2019

Set number42099

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The verdict

This is the LEGO® set that introduced Control+, so you're really buying a piece of Technic history along with a chunky app-driven 4x4.

The engineering is honestly light for the money and those enormous tires do a lot of the heavy lifting, but rolling it around the garden from your phone is genuinely good fun. If you love motorized Technic and want the set that started the whole Powered Up era, it earns its spot. If you build for gearboxes and clever mechanisms, you'll finish this one wishing there was more under the hood.

Best for: Technic fans who want a motorized, app-controlled 4x4 and the set that kicked off Control+

The full review

What it is

There's a real weight of history sitting in this box, and I mean that in the fun way. The 42099 was the very first Technic set to run on Control+, LEGO's replacement for the decade-old Power Functions system, so when you snap that Smart Hub in you're holding the piece of tech that every motorized Technic set since has been built around. Inside the hub there are six sensors, three gyros and three accelerometers, feeding an app that turns your phone into a proper control panel. On paper that's a big deal. In your hands it's a chunky, likeable 4x4 with two XL motors driving the wheels and an L motor handling steering, and the first time you thumb it across the kitchen floor and watch those tires crawl over the door frame, you'll grin.

The catch

Here's the part I owe you straight. At 250 dollars and only 958 pieces, this set is priced like a flagship and stocked like a mid-sized one. A huge chunk of that parts count and bulk is really just the four oversized wheels and their tires, so once you get past the shell there isn't a deep, gear-dense machine underneath the way you might hope. Reviewers were pretty united on this, and the empty pocket under the hood where an engine or gearbox could have lived stings a little. It's an app-only affair too, so there's no physical remote in the box. You'll need a phone or tablet running the Control+ app every single time you want to drive it, plus six AA batteries to feed the hub. The build is on the gentle side for Technic, with minimal gearing and, unusually for LEGO, a lot of stickers rather than printed panels.

Who it's for

The happy owner here is easy to picture. If you love motorized Technic and you want the actual set that launched Control+, this is a genuinely satisfying pickup, and since it retired at the end of 2021 it's now hovering around 260 to 280 dollars on the second-hand market, so the collector angle holds up. Kids and tweens adore it because driving a real truck from a phone is pure magic and the thing is tough enough to survive outdoor abuse. But if you build Technic for the mechanical puzzle, for the satisfying clatter of a working gearbox and clever linkages, this one will leave you a bit cold. Go in for the motors, the wheels and the history, not for the engineering depth, and you'll get along with it just fine.

The parts story

What the build is actually like, and the pieces worth knowing about.

The build is one of the more relaxed Technic experiences you'll have. You start with a sturdy studless chassis, drop in the Smart Hub as the literal heart of the thing, then cradle it with the two XL motors and the single L steering motor before framing it all in liftarms and panels. There's very little gearing to fuss over, so it moves quickly, and the trickiest moments are really just cable routing and getting the suspension turntables seated. It ends up feeling more like assembling a rugged shell around a motor pack than solving a mechanical puzzle, which is the honest trade-off for how beginner-friendly and solid the finished truck is.

The pieces are where this set quietly earns goodwill. It debuts the Control+ hardware itself, the two rectangular XL motors, the L motor and the six-sensor Smart Hub, all of which became the backbone of Technic for years after. You also get a brand-new wheel hub with an internal planetary gear system running roughly a 1:5.5 reduction for extra torque, and a chunky new two-part joint that clips together firmly and handles around 40 degrees of angle. There are handy new wire clips in blue, white and red for cable management, and eleven parts in the fresh Flame Yellowish Orange color, though most of those are buried under stickers. On pure part-count value the 250 dollar price is hard to defend, but the motors and hubs alone are the kind of reusable gold that Technic fans hoard for future builds.

Fun facts

0142099 was the very first LEGO Technic set to use Control+, the app-based system that replaced Power Functions and now underpins the whole Powered Up platform.
02The Smart Hub hides six sensors, three gyroscopes and three accelerometers, so the app can track how the truck is tilting and moving in real time.
03It introduced a new wheel hub with a built-in planetary gearbox running about a 1:5.5 reduction, packing torque reduction right inside each wheel.
04The set retired in December 2021 and has since climbed above its original 249.99 dollar price, trading around 260 to 280 dollars on the secondary market.