Turtle Beach VelocityOne Flightstick – Feel like a Maverick!
What if having a real joystick to fly the skies was back in fashion?
It’s been a long time since I’ve taken control of a dedicated controller for air simulation games (with or without combat for that matter!). It was on PC, in another life, and not on my good old Xbox. Turtle Beach offers us a new object: a controller that combines (among other things) a joystick and two multifunction levers. And all with a very successful design and a fairly reasonable size.
Dangerous, but not too much
The VelocityOne Flightstick from Turtle Beach is a compact simulation controller with 8 high-precision arrows, 27 programmable buttons and a rapid fire trigger. But before you can see all this, you need to unpack the beast. The cardboard is a nice big cube, it’s not quite a cube, but it makes a pretty impressive big block that would make a nice gift under the tree. When you open the box, you’ll find a very premium VelocityOne Flightstick, as well as a 3-meter long USB-A to USB-C cable. This length is enough to have the right distance and find a comfortable position to put our big controller. There are also screws to fix the controller to a suitable bracket.
Discreet but effective tire
The grip of the VelocityOne Flightstick reflects quality. Frankly, the touch is very pleasant, with my large paws, I immediately appreciated the contact with the joystick. Once the controller is connected to your Xbox or PC (compatible with Windows 10 or 11), you can see the flight control display on the small OLED screen integrated into the joystick (yes, sir!). This is class, we believe in it. The design is a real success. It reminds me of the old but more modern and classy joysticks of my youth. The two throttles on the sides may seem a little small at first glance, but they are quite good when you end up playing. Of course, this requires both hands to be well positioned, but you are not here. For fun.
A screen that finds its perfect place
On Xbox, the VelocityOne Flightstick is compatible with Microsoft Flight Simulator 2020, Star Wars Squadrons, Elite Dangerous and Ace Combat, among others. I immediately ran to Microsoft’s flight simulators. To be honest, the game becomes even more immersive. The precision of movements during flight or aerial maneuvering is impressive. If you’re left-handed, don’t worry: the main joystick has an ergonomic ambidextrous shape, with a reversible wrist rest. Plus, with eight programmable main buttons, you can set up the controls exactly how you want them, no matter which hand you use. We enjoy controlling the throttle and controlling our cockpit with a very comfortable joystick. But after this session I missed the delirium of shooting!
Headphone jack
A small nod to Star Wars Squadrons, a very cool title in its genre to spin through space and chase down enemy ships. A quick change of direction doesn’t scare the VelocityOne Flightstick. We get precision compared to a regular controller. Sure, it takes some getting used to, but once you get the hang of it, it’s hard to go back. In short, even if there aren’t many compatible games on Xbox or PC, if you’re delirious about having fun on Microsoft Flight Simulator or spending your weekends on the epic Ace Combat, this could be your best ally.
Lots of buttons!
Finally, to finish, let’s not forget to mention a few other features, first of all, the adjustment of the RGB LED lighting, it’s a silly thing, but I like to have small customized lights. Of course, Android and iOS smartphones have a utility that allows you to customize the controller in detail. Turtle Beach fans will also be pleased to know that connecting a 3.5mm headphone jack to the VelocityOne Flightstick provides access to additional audio features, including the iconic Superhuman Hearing.
There is life!
Even though I’m on the base and I’m not an expert in air simulation games, I always enjoy pretending to be a real fighter or airplane pilot. Turtle Beach’s VelocityOne Flightstick lets me do this on Xbox (and even PC). At €129.99, it’s certainly not cheap, but the price/quality ratio is really very good. Other than that, it’s beautiful, what more could you ask for!
