It's using potentiometer, but it's not the problem itself, its poor design of the casing around it, it's too tight, You have to strip the stick down and file some of the plastic of in certain area to make it bearable and it's rather common. I assume for a casual play every now and then it would work for longer, but I can spend upwards of 4hrs/day in game. Still, thanks to that hotas I got so much more into elite than I would if I kept using the 360 controller. I would still recommend it as entry level for somebody to either get into the game before investing in likes of x56 or higher end gear, or call it collateral if the game does not hook the person enough.