Well you said it "with the stock batteries".

IMHO the Electricstar with the stock batteries is a dog. Short flight times too.

I've tried it in this configuration and your observations are pretty accurate.

Swap out the batteries for LiPo's and it's a VERY easy to handle plane for beginners and you can fly for quite a while at 60% throttle w/o loss of power.

My 10 year old daughter does not "fear" this plane as much as she does the glow engined trainers, because she is fully aware of the arming sequence that is very simple for her to handle.

With the LiPo's engine tuning and break in is not something a newbie has to worry about... nor dead sticks, etc.

It's much easier to concentrate on flying.

Not that I'm knocking glow, I prefer glow on .40+ planes.

The Electricstar removes a layer of initial complexity which ultimately does what the OP asked about... Ease of use for a beginner.