Hardware & Technical Saitek products X52 X52pro

[Knot2clever]

Never have I come across such poor build quality in manufactured products as bad as Saitek products, and I've owned products from Tandy and Amstrad in the past.

My first X52 the throttle stopped working, returned.

Replacement X52 the throttle indent stopped the full throttle range OUT OF THE BOX, returned.

Switched to X52pro hoping for better, within hours of use the main trigger stopped working, returned

Replacement X52pro lasted quite well until all the buttons on the throttle stopped working, returned and money back this time.

Then took advantage of the FD X52pro offer and purchased another X52pro.

After several days the main trigger stopped working, this time I dismantled and repaired.
Then throttle indent came loose jamming the throttle, repaired again.
B button on stick stopped working, sm mounted sw unable to repair.
Remaining working sw's and hats on throttle started misbehaving (wires chaffing) repaired.
MFD panel illumination stopped working (broken solder joint) repaired.
Then last night the sw on the roller on throttle stopped working at any throttle setting above 50%, any throttle input over 75% caused all LED illumination to flicker and caused my system to crash, wires chaffing in throttle as protection tape not in correct place, several cables shorting. Repaired again.

You have been warned.

 

[the100thmonkey]

Not commenting in defense of Saitek (I've had several of the problems above but fixed them myself). However,

Replacement X52pro lasted quite well until all the buttons on the throttle stopped working, returned and money back this time.

Then took advantage of the FD X52pro offer and purchased another X52pro.

Fool me once, shame on you, fool me a second (and third) time...

 

[DaveB]

If you have a pre-madcatz X52, it's probably still as solid as the day you bought it - mine certainly is and I have heard from other folks with sticks of a similar age that are equally trouble-free. When madcatz bought out saitek, build quality and QA went straight in the toilet.

 

[Dinsy]

Makes me so sad. Their stick tick all my requirement boxes, but are just built so bad. For me there is no alternative, so like the sucker I am I keep going back...

 

[h347h]

Makes me wish Razer would get into the HOTAS game. I imagine they would make a pretty solid entry into the HOTAS field.

 

[Dinsy]

Makes me wish Razer would get into the HOTAS game. I imagine they would make a pretty solid entry into the HOTAS field.

Makes me wish they made a special version of the Thrustmaster Warthog or CH fighter stick with twist yaw. Must be a market for it with so many space sims out there now

 

[Wrongway]

Makes me wish they made a special version of the Thrustmaster Warthog or CH fighter stick with twist yaw. Must be a market for it with so many space sims out there now

The thing is CH cater for the industrial market and the flight sim market. They have been involved with flight sims for many years. I have had CH gear since the days when it had a game port connecter, pre USB days. Serious flight simmers would never entertain a twisty stick for various reasons. Thrustmaster cover a wider market though and produce a very good T.16000M stick. The Warthog stick was developed for use with the A10 Warthog simulator copying the original as near as they could. The predecessor was the Cougar which emulated the F16 flight stick. Both aircraft don't have twisty sticks. To be honest I don't think the Warthog is ideal for ED. I have one and find the throttle unit less than ideal. I am using a CH Pro throttle along with the Warthog stick. But I am just as happy swapping that out for the CH Fighterstick. Either way, I use rudder pedals as it's what I am used to. I agree there is a market for something in between the Warthog and the T.16000M that could be more suited to space sims.

 

[Hellhawk666]

Makes me wish Razer would get into the HOTAS game. I imagine they would make a pretty solid entry into the HOTAS field.

or Corsair - I imagine they could make a pretty sweet HOTAS as well.

Makes me wish they made a special version of the Thrustmaster Warthog or CH fighter stick with twist yaw. Must be a market for it with so many space sims out there now

Yep. Something like a competitor to the Saitek X55. I'd buy one in a flash.

With all the enthusiasm about space games over the last few years it's surprising that no one has come out with a new mid-range HOTAS specifically designed for space flight rather than aerial flight. Saitek are supposed to be doing something like this for Star Citizen, but I'm not holding my breath.

 

[Abomination]

Lots of issues here too.
Mouse scroller moving on its own, mouse thingy not working at all or starting to move my mouse out of nothing.
One of the base buttons on the stick stopped working.
Had to open up the stick to reattach the secondary fire button.
Terribly quality, but if it works, it's soo 100% suited for this game.

 

[Ranualf]

Makes me wish Razer would get into the HOTAS game. I imagine they would make a pretty solid entry into the HOTAS field.

I am totally behind this. As Saitek and thrustmaster are the only real options in the HOTAS market currently.
Sadley like the OP i have had several X55 Rhino's go defective(i am on my 5th on in 6 months!).
My experience of Saitek "TOP END" gaming peripherals are as such
1. Didn't work out of the box- returned and i complained about the lack of security seal
2. Worked, but i had constant ghosting issues so returned and i complained about the lack of security seal
3. Worked out of the box, but the saitek bloatware was causing a lot of issue, i deleted their bloatware and it worked fine... for 6 week, just suddenly stopped working -Returned and full refund... eventually
4. Worked, out of the box(had security seal) and it lasted just over 6 months, it packed in on xmass eve...Amazon posted a new on(free) and i returned the faulty one- suspect frayed wires inside the thruster block
5. Worked out of the box(has security seal)

So there you have it- loads of "poor quality products" but there is literally no other option for me to take, other than downgrade to a x52 pro or a cheap entry hotas(i had one for several week).

It seems that the quality of the products has taken a HUGE nose dive sine madcatz took over, its been well docmented and there are masses of complaints about their "crap products", but until some other company produces something like the x52 or x55 there are no competitors in the marketplace and they have it cornered with their "top end gaming peripherals".

For our American pilots there is the CM product range, it seems quite robust, but it does not offer twist yaw(which i need) but they also sell pedals(which i cant use due to disability), so my choices are very limited.

Lets hope another company sees the gap in the market place for a "new hotas" that is useful and has a very good build quality to it.

Fly safe and Happy new year

 

[CMDR Ellegon]

And another X-52 Pro broke on me yesterday!

I initially bought this pile of junk in Nov 2014 (two year warranty).

Set number one was used for a total of four months, at which point the throttle fell apart (indent broken loose, LEDs crapped out, mouse stick magically moving the mouse without user interaction). Replacement by Saitek took two months! [mad]

Set number two was used from August 2015 until yesterday. Figuring in a voluntary break from ED and some work-related breaks, this was in use for five months. Again, the throttle indent broke, the mouse stick is starting to act up and the joystick is super-sloppy. As I am still under warranty, I opened up a RMA ticket. Wondering how long it will take them this time to replace the unit.

In any case, I am taking another involuntary break from ED.

Fair warning: unless you have an old Saitek HOTAS, made before MadCatz took over, the X-52 (Pro) is pure garbage, no matter how nice the design. Stay away, buy something else.

Personally, I will be back in the market for a new HOTAS once the first set breaks outside of warranty - until that day, I will make Saitek send me new sets, so they will hopefully lose money on me. In any case, it will be a cold day in hell before I buy anything else from Saitek/MadCatz.

 

[d8veh]

I started with the X52. The throttle detent didn't last long, but that can be an advantage. I removed it, which is much better for combat. Then, after 1500 hours, the twist spring went on the main stick, which was pretty serious. I could still use it, but not very enjoyable. After a brief discussion with Madcatz, they told me to send them back, so I bought an X52 Pro in the meantime because I wanted to play ED every day. Again the throttle detent went very soon, so I removed it, though I missed it for smuggling. This second set is now up to about 500 hrs. When the first set came back from Madcatz, I opened the box to see that they had replaced it with the Pro version. I think any product that can last 1500 hours of abuse like they get in ED is pretty good, so I'm not too bothered about the problems, though OP seems to have a lot worse experience.

I looked at why the throttle detent fails. Basically, the pawl sits in a plastic box on the base plate. the box is too thin and has insufficient bracing so a wall breaks, which causes the pawl to tilt and jam. It would be easy to fix yourself by adding gobs of epoxy around it to strengthen it. I'm surprised that Madcatz haven't done anything about it because it looks an easy thing to fix.

 

[DragoonKnight]

or Corsair - I imagine they could make a pretty sweet HOTAS as well.



Yep. Something like a competitor to the Saitek X55. I'd buy one in a flash.

With all the enthusiasm about space games over the last few years it's surprising that no one has come out with a new mid-range HOTAS specifically designed for space flight rather than aerial flight. Saitek are supposed to be doing something like this for Star Citizen, but I'm not holding my breath.

The problem is that the Star Citizen stick will be made by Saitek. No way am I going to spend $300-400 on a Saitek product with their horrible build quality. They should have let Thrustmaster or CH make it. I would have no issues spending $300-400 on CH products because i know they are built to last.

 

[avow555]

Got both the X52/X52pro with many thousand of hours on both sticks and working fine.
Hoping to get a new setup this year but going to await news of the X56 reliability and also see what Thrustmaster are bringing to the party any time soon.
Word is that Saitek/Madcatz have switched manufacturers for the X56 so I hope they have resolved the issues that have plagued their recent HOTAS production for the last few years.
For me personally a 3d/twist stick is compulsory so that rules out CH/Thrustmasters current HOTAS ranges.

 

[Notwyn]

I have a 10 year old X-52Pro and up until I last used it, it worked great so you guys are right MadCatz makes junk now. It's my back up HOTAS now to my Warthog.

 

[Bill Clement]

Makes me wish Razer would get into the HOTAS game. I imagine they would make a pretty solid entry into the HOTAS field.

I don't. I bought a Deathadder along with a mechanical keyboard when I bought my gaming rig. It lasted less than a year. £100 at the time ($150 )- the only mouse I've ever owned that actually failed. For those that have had problems with Saitek, I feel your pain, but I'm not convinced any of the gaming manufacturers, Razer included, are making quality products. Gamers are willing to lay down stupid money for peripherals; we can hardly blame electronic companies tarting up basic kit and charging us over the odds for it. I've been lucky with Saitek, all of the products I've bought from them are still working fine, some after more than a decade of heavy use (my force feedback joystick being a great example). I'm well aware others haven't been so lucky, but at least Saitek have some decent customer support. Razer didn't want to know... [mad]

 

[CMDR NightsLong]

If you want superior build quailty, performance and customer support CH is the only way to roll. Even Warthog suffers from stiction in some cases.

 

[Sandmann]

I must have a rare good one... my X52's over a year old and has had a hard life, and hasn't had an issue. Caveat - I took the detent & spring out of the throttle two days after I bought it coz I didn't like it. I've also had to put some lubricant on the joystick shaft so the collar could slide a little free-er.

 

[Red Fox Four]

I had an X52 Pro now for quite some time and used it extensively in FSX, P3D and Elite Dangerous. Had no issues with it whatsoever. It's been solid!

The only thing I have had to do with it was lubricate the bottom of the plate which helps keep it re-centered for the flight stick. But I don't count that as a malfunction but common sense maintenance.

Makes me wish Razer would get into the HOTAS game. I imagine they would make a pretty solid entry into the HOTAS field.

As for Razer, I have had nothing but bad experiences with Razer with regards to durability. I owned several different Razer mice, Mamba, Naga etc. and they all suffer after extensive use. Especially the mousewheel is a weak point and tends to become inaccurate and finnicky to use. Also when I ask friends who got Razer headsets and such I hear quite a bit of less-than-positive feedback.

I've stopped buying Razer products altogether and went back to Logitech as those things last forever.

If Razer launched a HOTAS I would not buy it until it has been "field tested" by users over a period of at least 12-18 months.

 

[Pazmino]

Too bad Logitech doesn't make a HOTAS. I have the 3D pro and it is working as at day one aka ED release. Was already thinking to have the handle 3d scanned and 3D print a mirrored handle.