Saitek X52 Pro User Review

What I think is really great is that Saitek actually went a step further than most manufacturers and added a 2 stage trigger on the joystick itself. Therefore in some games I can pull on the trigger gently to fire my machine guns and squeeze all the way down to drop bombs or something. A useful feature that enables me to keep my grip on the joystick stationary and never have to slide around to hit a secondary button.

The Saitek x52 even without the two stage trigger has a lot of buttons on it; one of them is a missile launch button that comes with a cool looking security cover. There are additionally a lot of different small buttons, and there's a special three button switch that allows you to change between flight profiles. Basically it means you can assign more than one function to a button, all you need to do is flick a switch and access secondary and tertiary commands. I have to say this takes some getting used to especially in the course of the heat of battle and then remembering where your profiles are set to.

Happily or maybe a little bit unfortunately there is no force feedback, however I prefer this as it means I don't have to put up with the feedback engine rattling and making annoying noises while I am concentrating in game.

Along with the joystick, there's also a throttle. The throttle itself has two fire buttons a scroll wheel and a mouse controller. Initially I had problems customizing all these buttons and knobs, nevertheless there are some preset profiles and with a bit little bit of experimentation you can figure out the rest. Nonetheless for a newbie setting up the Saitek x52 pro you will have some problems and difficulties, just a fair warning to let you know.

When moving the joystick around it is very smooth and tracks fairly accurately in games, nonetheless I was a little bit annoyed by the significant dead space that sits in the middle of the joystick. This means that if you are trying to make fine changes to your aircraft, you had to move the joystick just a little bit further than what you expect. Sadly because the Saitek x52 professional uses a spring mechanism for the joystick this is a little bit unavoidable. As for stability of the joystick, there are four rubber feet that help to keep the unit from slipping and in addition provide a stable platform.

The joystick also twists at the handle, and for those who regularly fly general aviation simulators this allows you to control your rudder without having to plug in an additional set of rudder pedals.

All in all the Saitek x52 pro flight controller is a powerful piece of hardware with more than enough buttons to keep you busy. It has some slight problems but the nifty radio stack more than makes up for any deficits in the product. Visit my site for a more in depth saitek x52 pro review otherwise I recommend also reading the Logitech G940 review for a take on a competing product.