I know how many I need. I have been playing before the game came out and have an X52pro. It will be fine. I can use the throttle for a lot of combat stuff as well. Means I can have my finger on the trigger 99% of the time.
Hardware & Technical Saitek X56 Rhino and product quality
- Thread starter B1rdy
- Start date
I know how many I need. I have been playing before the game came out and have an X52pro. It will be fine. I can use the throttle for a lot of combat stuff as well. Means I can have my finger on the trigger 99% of the time.
X52 has the best layout and controls. It's like they designed it specially for ED. You should see it as a consumable item. My first one did 1500 hrs before the twist spring broke, the second did about 1000 hrs. I carried on with the second one without the twist spring. It's now up to 2500 hrs. 3500 hrs for £200 is not bad. It would be better if they lasted forever. Most of the other sticks, like CH don't even have the twist function, so if I hadn't used it on the X52, I'd have had 3500 hrs without problems.
The noise/notchiness is easily fixed by routine lubrication with silicone grease under the spring. There's a youtube video on how to do it somewhere.
Overall, the X52 takes some beating. If someone can find me a HOTAS with a layout as easy to use or better, I'd probably try it, but I'm still looking and waiting.
To the guy that's thinking about sending his new one back, don't. Even if something goes wrong, Saitek Support is excellent. They replaced my first X52 with a new X52 Pro, which is still sitting in its box in case the one I use breaks. That means I should have at least 5000 hrs for £200 or 4p an hour.
The noise/notchiness is easily fixed by routine lubrication with silicone grease under the spring. There's a youtube video on how to do it somewhere.
Overall, the X52 takes some beating. If someone can find me a HOTAS with a layout as easy to use or better, I'd probably try it, but I'm still looking and waiting.
To the guy that's thinking about sending his new one back, don't. Even if something goes wrong, Saitek Support is excellent. They replaced my first X52 with a new X52 Pro, which is still sitting in its box in case the one I use breaks. That means I should have at least 5000 hrs for £200 or 4p an hour.
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I have just had the broken wires problem with the x55 throttle. I opened it up and a couple had snapped, with most of the rest looking like they were ready to break as well. Poor design with very thin wires and almost no protection for them where they come through the throttle...
It's not too difficult to do if you have a little experience with soldering, and you're HOTAS is out of warranty.
The problem with mine was the wires had sheared-off directly against the underside of the throttle lever assy. and unless I took it apart as well, there was no easy fix. The wire is also extremely thin, so finding an appropriate replacement that won't just break again in a few months is going to be hard.
The issue with the X-55 throttle is that later revisions used a very stiff wire for the throttle unit connections, which will invariably break with use. The early X-55's didn't suffer from this problem as much, if at all. All-in-all it's just poor design; the wires need to be bundled and protected from bending where they come out from the grip assy, moving any flexing along a much longer piece of each wire.
I agree definitely my next HOTAS will be a Warthog. Almost hoping mine breaks soon for justification.
I've tried X55 and the warthog but stuck with my X52 pro. While I loved the feel of the warthog it did have some (to me anyway) things that annoyed and made it unsuitable for how I play.
I had a set of pedals with it, which while solving the yaw issue never seemed accurate enough and secondly many of the switches on the warthog are off-on toggles, which means a double flick (on, then off) to activate shield cells, chaff etc. So making it more troublesome to use than the flick to operate switches on the X-52 pro
When my X52 pro fails I'll no doubt buy another one as while the quality and feel are less than the warthog it is to me at least far easier and more natural to use
I've had 4 X-56's this year (3 of them were broken out of the box) here is a video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mFE_g2A7HVs.... they are a COMPLETE waste of time.. going through the process of getting my money back from Logitech, although it was a step down in terms of hats etc, I'm using the thrustmaster FCS system and have yet to have a problem with it... works perfectly, build quality might not have had such money put into it, but it works great 
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=1Nth2UD1jIY&rdm=2djiwf76l&client=mv-google
I not that positiv after looking at this for the x56
I not that positiv after looking at this for the x56
The same crap as with my x-56. It's unbelivable, how poor the quality is. A 40$ Thrustmaster stick has better quality than the 250$ Saitek stick.I've had 4 X-56's this year (3 of them were broken out of the box) here is a video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mFE_g2A7HVs.... they are a COMPLETE waste of time.. going through the process of getting my money back from Logitech, although it was a step down in terms of hats etc, I'm using the thrustmaster FCS system and have yet to have a problem with it... works perfectly, build quality might not have had such money put into it, but it works great
I also ordered the Thrustmaster FCS hoping it provides enough buttons overall.
From my recent experience, it seems the base of the stick including the z-axis mechanic is weaker on the X-56.
I am not sure if Logitech was involved in design and production of the X-56. Logitech quality seems to have gotten worse over the last couple of years. My brother has a G710 keyboard (150€), keys fell out after two weeks. He received replacement after a couple of days, same problem on the new one. I know three people owning a G35 100€ headset, all of them suffer from disintegrating ear pads, two had microphone issues in addition.
On the other hand Logitech sell their 'new' G9xx racing wheels for 400€ (excluding shifter), which are based on the old G27 (sold for about 300€, including shifter), but with some parts cheapened. Therefore I would think twice before buying any Logitech product.
At first I thought, cool, good looking stick. Then I took a look at the buttons. Why aren't there any more buttons on the stick? Why leave all the empty space on top of the stick. As others have stated, it is beyond my mind, how can all these flightstick manufacturers make such obvious flaws in their product design. The more joysticks I see more I begin to realize the Warthog would be perfect, if it had a lockable z-axis on the stick.
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Two months in to X56 owning. It's performing adequately and I remain very pleased.
- I had to tune the Z-axis deadzone as the stick now seems to have found a preference for sitting slightly rotated. Software easy to use.
- I've not yet done anything to fix the noisy spring against plastic when moving the stick, I really need to fix it.
- I don't like the noisy button presses all that much.
- I can feel the tolerance gaps in the mechanism, and perhaps would like to go eventually to an all-metal outfit but that will be expensive if even possible.
- A couple of times the RHS index finger button (I use for targetting) has not responded, but this may be down to me not pressing hard enough. Something to monitor.
- The throttle tends to get stiff overnight, so I tend to do a few max/min motions to loosen up, loosens just fine, although I have it on loosest setting.
I use it on the desktop with no special mounts, after an eight/nine hour session of Elite (GET IN THERE) my stick arm was tired, I think the Z-axis is the culprit. Thumbsticks handy for landings. I've split the vertical and horizontal across both sticks as too easy to strafe a little by accident.
The layout is excellent, the switches are fab. I'm way better with this device and won't ever go back to keyboard/mouse, that said I already think I'll look for an all-metal version when next time upgrading as previously mentioned. I'll report back in a few months again.
- I had to tune the Z-axis deadzone as the stick now seems to have found a preference for sitting slightly rotated. Software easy to use.
- I've not yet done anything to fix the noisy spring against plastic when moving the stick, I really need to fix it.
- I don't like the noisy button presses all that much.
- I can feel the tolerance gaps in the mechanism, and perhaps would like to go eventually to an all-metal outfit but that will be expensive if even possible.
- A couple of times the RHS index finger button (I use for targetting) has not responded, but this may be down to me not pressing hard enough. Something to monitor.
- The throttle tends to get stiff overnight, so I tend to do a few max/min motions to loosen up, loosens just fine, although I have it on loosest setting.
I use it on the desktop with no special mounts, after an eight/nine hour session of Elite (GET IN THERE) my stick arm was tired, I think the Z-axis is the culprit. Thumbsticks handy for landings. I've split the vertical and horizontal across both sticks as too easy to strafe a little by accident.
The layout is excellent, the switches are fab. I'm way better with this device and won't ever go back to keyboard/mouse, that said I already think I'll look for an all-metal version when next time upgrading as previously mentioned. I'll report back in a few months again.
Holy necro Captain!
Five years since buying my X56 Nov 2016! How did it go? I thought I'd write it up a little so any other prospective buyers can see long-term review.
I settled with the X56 quickly. It's got all the right controls (and some extras) and a few iterations of layout and I was sorted. Five years on, I still feel VERY COOL flicking the toggle switches in quick succession to manage my ship. Also my two young daughters take great pleasure in operating a blank screen with the stick and throttle and buttons so that's great few minutes Adding VR in to the occasional mix, the HOTAS in general comes to life and makes for intuitive control. Movement is matched through the visor. I'll not fly without a HOTAS, and the x56 functionally has delivered all that I've needed.
Not all good though. My 2016 X56 joystick spring broke in August 2018, meaning yaw wouldn't return to centre so Logitech replaced the whole kit under warranty - which was good because the throttle thumbstick had started to become unresponsive too albeit intermittently. At this point I was a little disappointed, as I'd really enjoyed using the X56 for Elite but sub 2yrs is not good enough and represents >£100 per year. The second X56 is now 3 and a bit years old, but a box was dropped on to the throttle during a house move which broke the handle so needed a repair - meaning I now need to be a bit gentle (not x56 fault, my fault of course). Elsewhere the joystick thumbstick occasionally has a mind of it's own and is getting a little irritating. However on the whole the X56 has been terrific for gameplay and has had substantial use. The construction is plastic and this creaks a lot, some of the buttons have a jarring click noise that I wish was damped. I sprayed the stick spring with a specific WD40 for plastics which significantly dropped the spring noise, however the structure still creaks which is annoying. Given the thumbstick foibles and some spare budget I'm strongly considering a Christmas refresh with a new HOTAS. X56 is currently ~ £200 but the Warthog is ~£349. Warthog has no yaw mechanism in the stick and relies on pedals which isn't really what I want. I've seen Virpil stuff but it's expensive and I've not seen masses of customer feedback. Tricky one to consider....right now I'm in favour of same-again, new X56 plug it in and off I go.
Interested to hear other commanders thoughts/experiences with HOTAS's - especially long term reviews like mine.
o7
Five years since buying my X56 Nov 2016! How did it go? I thought I'd write it up a little so any other prospective buyers can see long-term review.
I settled with the X56 quickly. It's got all the right controls (and some extras) and a few iterations of layout and I was sorted. Five years on, I still feel VERY COOL flicking the toggle switches in quick succession to manage my ship. Also my two young daughters take great pleasure in operating a blank screen with the stick and throttle and buttons so that's great few minutes
Adding VR in to the occasional mix, the HOTAS in general comes to life and makes for intuitive control. Movement is matched through the visor. I'll not fly without a HOTAS, and the x56 functionally has delivered all that I've needed.Not all good though. My 2016 X56 joystick spring broke in August 2018, meaning yaw wouldn't return to centre so Logitech replaced the whole kit under warranty - which was good because the throttle thumbstick had started to become unresponsive too albeit intermittently. At this point I was a little disappointed, as I'd really enjoyed using the X56 for Elite but sub 2yrs is not good enough and represents >£100 per year. The second X56 is now 3 and a bit years old, but a box was dropped on to the throttle during a house move which broke the handle so needed a repair - meaning I now need to be a bit gentle (not x56 fault, my fault of course). Elsewhere the joystick thumbstick occasionally has a mind of it's own and is getting a little irritating. However on the whole the X56 has been terrific for gameplay and has had substantial use. The construction is plastic and this creaks a lot, some of the buttons have a jarring click noise that I wish was damped. I sprayed the stick spring with a specific WD40 for plastics which significantly dropped the spring noise, however the structure still creaks which is annoying. Given the thumbstick foibles and some spare budget I'm strongly considering a Christmas refresh with a new HOTAS. X56 is currently ~ £200 but the Warthog is ~£349. Warthog has no yaw mechanism in the stick and relies on pedals which isn't really what I want. I've seen Virpil stuff but it's expensive and I've not seen masses of customer feedback. Tricky one to consider....right now I'm in favour of same-again, new X56 plug it in and off I go.
Interested to hear other commanders thoughts/experiences with HOTAS's - especially long term reviews like mine.
o7
Wow, that was a real necro, although I'd say it was worth it
I also had to RMA the FCS twice, in 2017 and 2018. The second time it was due to a failing Z-Axis, can't recall the reason the first RMA. After the warranty was expired, the Z-Axis caused issues again, but after cleaning the poti, it is working since (although I use it a lot less, thanks to FDev).
Other than that, it still works fine. Ergonomics are not perfect (both on stick and throttle). The stick is a bit too thin at the base and could have more buttons on it. The throttle requires a weird angle to operate it and is tricky to operate precisely regarding the thrust control.
Since I went for the Thrustmaster FCS, I cannot comment on the Saitek, but reading your report it supports my decision back then.
I also had to RMA the FCS twice, in 2017 and 2018. The second time it was due to a failing Z-Axis, can't recall the reason the first RMA. After the warranty was expired, the Z-Axis caused issues again, but after cleaning the poti, it is working since (although I use it a lot less, thanks to FDev).
Other than that, it still works fine. Ergonomics are not perfect (both on stick and throttle). The stick is a bit too thin at the base and could have more buttons on it. The throttle requires a weird angle to operate it and is tricky to operate precisely regarding the thrust control.
At $250 US the X56 is not cheap. Over a 5 year period I had purchased one of the Saitek (blue), and two of the slightly better made Logitech (grey) versions of the X56. However due to warranty exchanges I have had a total of 4 throttles and 5 sticks. I have never owned a more cheaply made joystick and throttle than the X56. Which is a shame. The software is easy enough to use and has enough options for most players needs, and the units themselves would actually quite good if the quality was there and a better mechanism was used for centering the stick. They squeak and creak and just plain wear out if you actually use them though. Not to mention the shadow key issue if you plug them into USB3 hubs.
I am currently using a CM3 and Alpha Constellation from Virpil. I have $750+ in the various X56 I have owned and about the same in the Virlpil gear I have had for close to a year. No sign of them crapping out yet. They look and work as well as the day I first got them. One year in with the X56 and I had already had to RMA it at least once.
Just saying, the VKB/Virpil/WinWing stuff might be more expensive, but the quality seems to be there. In the end it may end up less expensive, offer me less downtime, and be a generally better experience, to have invested in the higher end gear.
I am currently using a CM3 and Alpha Constellation from Virpil. I have $750+ in the various X56 I have owned and about the same in the Virlpil gear I have had for close to a year. No sign of them crapping out yet. They look and work as well as the day I first got them. One year in with the X56 and I had already had to RMA it at least once.
Just saying, the VKB/Virpil/WinWing stuff might be more expensive, but the quality seems to be there. In the end it may end up less expensive, offer me less downtime, and be a generally better experience, to have invested in the higher end gear.