If Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 has been tickling your urge to soar into the skies (and if the servers have calmed down long enough to let you in), I'd highly recommend considering a flight stick and throttle combo to connect you to your virtual flying machine.
It really is the best way to get to grips with flight, quite literally, and a good one can be considered an excellent investment in your new hobby for many years to come. It's pricey for a decent joystick though, isn't it?
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Luckily the Cyber Monday sales are here, and I've spotted great deals on three of our favorite joysticks. I've got a budget pick, a mid-range marvel, and a truly high-end slice of flight stick heaven, so there should be something for every price-point here.
Let's go flying, shall we?
Quick links
- Thrustmaster T-Flight HOTAS X |
$69.99$62.49 at Amazon - Logitech X56 HOTAS |
$249.99$199.99 at Logitech - Thrustmaster HOTAS Warthog |
$549.99$519.99 at Amazon
Best budget
If you're not looking to spend a lot on a joystick, well, I don't blame you. After all, it's difficult to know how much use you're going to get out of it, and dropping a ton of cash on an expensive model might be a step too far for those starting out.
Which is what makes the Thrustmaster T-Flight HOTAS X such a great pick as the best budget joystick. It might not have a boatload (or should that be planeload?) of buttons or fancy features, but what it does better than any other stick is deliver all the giggles, for a very, very low price. I've spotted it for $63 at Amazon, and that's a more than fair price for what you end up receiving.
You get five axis movement, a dedicated throttle control that can be split across your desk (attached by a built-in cable) or used as one unit, and the sort of plug-and-play usability that makes it perfect for the casual sim starter. It feels smooth under your hands, doesn't look too much like a toy, and makes a great starter kit for those looking to dip their toes in the water.
It's not without fault, which is inevitable at this price point. It can get a bit noisy under movement, as the plastic has a tendency to creak, and the button options are pretty limited. But for the cash, you really can't go wrong with this super-cheap but ultra-fun joystick of many japes.
Best mid-range
This Logitech X56 HOTAS setup is down to $200 at, err, Logitech. It's our current pick for the best mid-range joystick, and if you hang around for a mere moment longer I'll tell you why.
Really high-end joysticks will often shove so many buttons, hats, and doo-hickeys at you in such volumes that it becomes all too easy to get confused, while the cheaper models can sometimes over-simplify the controls down to something that can feel a little too basic for those looking to take their flight sims seriously.
The Logitech treads that balance nicely. There's technically 189 programmable controls here, once you take into account all the movements of those hats, nubbins and dials, and they glow nicely at night, too.
It's all been laid out in a remarkably straightforward fashion, though, so newbies need not fear something so overcomplicated you forget where you've mapped all the important bits, like landing gear.
Ask me how I know that assigning landing gear to an easily-found control is important. On second thoughts, don't. I'm not sure if I can take reliving the many memories. Still, this is a superb mid-range flight stick, and while it's a little plastic-y in places, it really does look the bee's knees when it's lit up on your desk.
Best high-end
Okay, I can hear the sharp intake of breath from here. Yes, this isn't a huge discount, and yes, $520 for any peripheral is a large amount of money to spend. That being said, this is the best flight stick we've ever tested—and the second you pull it from the box, you'll see why.
It's gloriously overbuilt in a way that makes it feel so true to life, you'd be forgiven for thinking that Thrustmaster unscrewed it from the cockpit of an actual A10-Thunderbot II (aka the Warthog, the aircraft controls this set was modelled on).
It's sublimely put together, smooth as silk to use, and is pretty much the end goal for flight sim fans unless you want to move into the whole "build your own cockpit" level of ultimate nerdery. That's likely to cost thousands, so really the $520 price tag here is as far as we'd go for the casual sim-er.
Yes, it's very pricey. But honestly, this is the joystick and throttle combo that we compare all others to, and it's yet to be bested. While it's probably a bit much for a complete beginner, if you really want to buy in to flight stick fun this is the ultimate package for starting out in style.
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