It’s impossible to say that Turtle Beach are becoming a one-stop peripheral manufacturer when they are already one of the biggest and best-known brands in the gaming world. Sure, they’ve more commonly been associated with audio, but that’s now far from the only thing they’re building, with pro controllers like the Stealth Ultra, mobile phone offerings like the Atom and their first foray into the steering wheel world with the VelocityOne Race showcasing the evolution of the brand. Now they’re making a flightstick.
The VelocityOne Flightstick is part of that evolution, and Turtle Beach are making a big expansion into flight sim peripherals in general, with this being the entry-level point amongst several other yokes and sticks. Compatible with both PC and the Xbox family of consoles, the VelocityOne Flightstick is an all-in-one solution, combining stick and throttle controls in one unit, and doing so with a sense of style that’s often missing from this category.
The Velocity One Flightstick feels well-built the moment you pull it from its cardboard cocoon, and there’s enough weight there that when you put it on the surface of your desk you know it won’t be going anywhere, aided by the four rubber feet in each corner. It does have three mounting points – with screws provided – if you’re looking at a more permanent setup, but for the size and ease of use, it’s perfect for whipping it out when you feel the urge to play with your stick.
Turtle Beach has opted for a black and silver colour scheme, and it makes it feel like a premium, modern piece of technology rather than a toy. That’s helped by soft-touch plastics on the stick itself, textured grips on the throttles and trim, and the flight management display at the top of the stick. This miniature display gives you a heads-up readout of your connection type, trim, or, in fact any of the information you decide on.
It’s a high-contrast OLED screen – that’s black and white if you’re unsure – and it’s emphatically crisp and clear even if you’re just glancing at it. In use, the stick also lights up across two LCD sectors, with dual lines at the head of the stick, its circular base, and then each of the four control buttons on the left and right. Via the app you can customise it through six different colours – a shame there’s no custom option here – or just switch them off altogether. They look smart though, especially if you can match them up with your keyboard or other lighting.
There’s a companion app available in both iOS and Android flavours, and it’s here that you can dig into the Flightstick’s finer details. The app connects to the stick via Bluetooth, and you can update the firmware, tweak the stick’s dead zones, its response time, whether it’s orientated for left or right-handed play, and alter the EQ settings for the audio being pumped out of the 3.5mm socket. This last one is a particularly nice addition, offering the same EQ settings as those we’ve seen on the most recent Turtle Beach headsets, though it once again lacks a custom option that would have been an even bigger bonus.
The VelocityOne Flightstick has a plethora of inputs, with nineteen input buttons, two throttles, an 8-way hat switch, trim wheel, analog stick, a touchpad, the main stick itself, and a control wheel with inputs for adjusting the stick’s functions. The control wheel gives you on-the-fly control over the stick, from input type, through audio, trim and aim assist, and you can dig into the settings in a thoroughly intuitive way. Between the app and the onboard menu controls I think the Flightstick might be the easiest stick I’ve ever had to deal with, and changes and adjustments aren’t horribly complicated affairs, while you can even dive in and test your setup directly from the stick’s own menu.
In use, the Flightstick feels firm and precise, and the weight and quality of the materials really shines through. It’s not as cold and industrial feeling as the Thrustmaster Warthog but feels much weightier and enjoyable in the hand than the Thrustmaster T16000M, striking the perfect balance between usability, ergonomics and aesthetics.
Setting out into a galaxy far, far away in Star Wars Squadrons, I felt like I was right in the thick of the action from the moment we began, and the stick stayed firmly rooted even as I blew multiple TIE Fighters out of the sky, and desperately tried to evade a host of incoming missiles. As with most games of this type it was a doddle customising my controls so they were exactly where I needed them, helping the Flightstick to feel even more intuitive.
The stick appears to use hall effect sensors, though outside of noting “contactless sensors”, there’s actually no mention of that on the box which seems an odd oversight when its become such a major consideration for these types of peripherals. Whatever is under the hood, the stick felt excellent through many hours of Microsoft Flight Simulator, which I imagine is where most people who buy this accessory will be spending their time. Everything about it just works, and if you want to make your console flight sims more realistic this is a great place to start.
If we’re looking for quibbles, it’s a shame not to be able to tighten or loosen the stick’s tension, and the firmness may unsettle some people, though I didn’t think it caused any true issues once I’d adjusted to it. Then there’s the touchpad which, while a worthy addition and one that helps to leave your mouse unattended, isn’t hugely precise, and takes a certain knack to use. Otherwise though, for the money, you’ll be hard-pressed to find a stick that matches up to the features and quality components that Turtle Beach have used here.
The main competitor out there is the Thrustmaster T.Flight Hotas One, which is both cheaper and has a much more enjoyable full-sized throttle that detaches from the stick. However, Thrustmaster’s effort feels a million miles away from the excellent build quality of the VelocityOne Flightstick, and it feels like there should be a much bigger price difference between the two rather than just £40.
