Saitek make peripherals. Saitek make good peripherals. In fact, I tell a lie. Saitek make absolutely excellent peripherals the prices of which never fail to surprise me. Not long ago I reviewed the Cyborg Evo Wireless joystick and was thoroughly impressed by its design, quality, adjustability and countless other strong points I am fast associating with Saitek. Now, lucky old me has been sent none other than the brand new Saitek X-52 flight control system for a once over and I am still wearing duck tape around my chin to stop my jaw dropping.

The Saitek X-52 is primarily a flight controller; it has been designed with the “PC Pilot” in mind and is bristling with buttons, wheels, knobs and things which I can only refer to as “thingamajigs” for lack of a better term. Every comfortable and finger-assessable spot on the throttle has a button or a wheel…and sometimes both. Suffice to say that the X-52 has enough “thingamajigs” to affect the control of even the most complex flight simulators such as MS Flight Simulator 2004. With the inclusion of an additional mode switch the number of available button combinations is multiplied by 3, and with the optional shift “pinkie trigger” button this doubles to a massive 6, allowing you to assign six individual functions to each control. This seems like an awful lot of controls even for the most simple of joysticks but when you consider that the X-52 has around fifteen buttons (and that is just the buttons) this makes for a astonishing ninety possible combinations (Not including the further twenty four that the three eight-way hat switches provide) which can all be assigned almost any function with the Saitek Smart Programming software. It is possible, in fact, to bind the combinations to keyboard keys and type using the X-52, whilst such a feat is obviously insane and would be very difficult to use it is a good demonstration of just what the X-52 can do if you are willing to put the time in to configure it.

Speaking of the X-52 being able to hold any keyboard key as a button function you might also be interested to know that the throttle comes with a mini-joystick, or thumb-stick which, by default, is used to move your mouse cursor. Both a left mouse button and a mouse wheel (which doubles as a button) give you an almost complete mousing experience as the mouse wheel button gives you the ability to left click. With such a feature it is possible to not only drag controls about in your MSFS2004 cockpit but also manipulate the mouse cursor in windows and, in fact, any other game or piece of software. I would not throw your mouse out just yet, though, as the X-52 thumb-stick is somewhat difficult to use with any accuracy and only works as a brief substitute to a real mouse. It is fairly simple to pick up, however, and affords you an easily accessible mouse control in games so you need not take your hand off the joystick or throttle to work with menus.

Buttons, wheels, sliders, switches, toggles, triggers and “thingamajigs” aside for a moment let us look at the design of the X-52. First and foremost it is important to understand just how BIG it is – you are going to need to clear some room on your desk for this baby. The stick part of the X-52 dwarves the Cyborg Evo Wireless, standing about two inches taller mostly due to the thick, blocky base. The base stands about 1 ½ inches thick and actually looks pretty nifty even though it may not be a shape often associated with aesthetics. The stick is also a great deal thicker than the Cyborg Evo Wireless and does not sport any method of adjusting it to left hand usage (your left hand will be on the throttle), which makes it an awful lot more comfortable to hold and makes it feel a lot more robust. The stick boasts no less than eight beautiful blue LEDs plus a power LED and a “mode” led which cycles from green to orange to red to indicate which mode the X-52 is in. The brightness of these LEDs can be adjusted in stages in the properties of the controller from within Windows. Your hand is enclosed between the stick and a guard which sports a height-adjustable “pinkie trigger” which you can set to suit the width of your hand. Adjusting the “pinkie trigger” also adjusts the height of the hand rest, which is an awful lot more comfortable than the Cyborg Evo Wireless more due to the thickness of the stick than anything else (My fingers went around the Cyborg and touched the back of the rest). A brushed aluminium plate adorns the top of the base giving the X-52 joystick a real touch of style. The rest of the stick is a co-ordinated and sexy black and silver with another aluminium plate on the stick itself, as well as the two metal triggers, which have a feel of absolute quality. The smooth motion of the stick itself is another hallmark of the quality that the X-52 so evidently boasts, it feels a lot smoother and more comfortable to move than the Cyborg Evo and other joysticks I have used. Going back to buttons the joystick part of the X-52 has (activate list mode):

• One main trigger with two stages (it activates a second button if you press it in fully)

• One pinkie trigger, which can be used as a shift key for more programmable functions

• Two hat switches one of which defaults to POV

• 4 buttons, one of which is under a spring-loaded safety cover (no more accidentally dropping bombs on the runway)

• One rotary mode switch, which allows you to switch between the three modes

• Three toggle switches, which you can flick either up or down, adding 6 more buttons to the total

So, we have a grand total of “more buttons than I care to count” on the joystick alone.

As well as buttons galore the X-52 has a Z-Axis for rudder control. In other words you simply twist the stick itself to control your rudder. This is very comfortable and intuitive to use in-flight letting you twist and tilt the stick in one fluid motion. It is also essential to make horizontal aiming corrections in dog fights - trying to hit ground targets in Wings over Vietnam without the Z-Axis Twist assigned to rudder control is more than just a little challenging.

Now, let us move on to the throttle, which stands completely separate to the joystick and demands an entire hand for its operation.

The X-52 throttle is extremely well designed and incredibly comfortable to hold. Unlike many similar throttles it is absolutely covered in buttons and controls including the aforementioned thumb-stick for mouse control. The X-52 is leaps and bounds ahead of its predecessor the X-45 and nothing shows this quite as much as the throttle half. First and foremost the throttle sports the same hefty base as the joystick, adorned with a beautiful brushed aluminium plate and two holes which I can only imagine are for very long screws to permanently secure the X-52 to a desk (I opted for the included suction cups), or perhaps for ventilation? The smooth flowing surface of the throttle appears to be rubberised, but it is hard and smooth to the touch and nevertheless very comfortable to hold. Sections that appear rubberised but are, in fact, not seem to be a mark of Saitek design and has never bothered me, do not expect anything to be soft to the touch as it seems Saiteks designers need not rely on such things for the comfort factor. The most obvious, eye catching and astounding feature of the throttle component is the two inch square LCD panel in the bottom right corner of the base, following with the blue LED theme the panel lights up in a delicious cold blue almost begging you to turn out the lights and stand in awe of the X-52 (having previously applied duck tape to avoid bending down and picking up ones jaw). The panel displays the current mode that the X-52 is in as well as the time, date and the current profile you are using. A clutch button is included on the throttle, which allows you to switch profile on the fly and also view the function of any button you press. The brightness of the MFD can also be adjusted from the properties in Windows and the MFD backlight being on indicates that the joystick has been detected and installed correctly.

Like the Cyborg Evo Wireless moving the throttle gives you a distinct feel of applying power, however you can also adjust the resistance using a small knob on the side of the base allowing for a smoother or firmer throttle feel according to your preference. As well as the throttle axis the throttle component sports a “precision slider” and two rotary axis which can be assigned to various trim functions in flight simulators or set up to trigger key presses as you rotate them in the Saitek Profile Editor. Aside from the mouse wheel and mouse button there are only two other usable buttons on the throttle (the third is reserved as the clutch). If you were to hold the throttle you would understand the limit to the number of buttons, you already have to shift your grip on the throttle to use different functions whilst maintaining the utmost degree of comfort, there simply is nowhere left to place a control. I feel another list coming on to summarise the features of the throttle half of the X-52...here it goes:

• Throttle axis with adjustable tactile resistance

• Two rotary axes

• One precision slider

• Clutch button for dynamic profile selection

• Fully featured mouse controls

• Two fire buttons

This gives us our grand total of some ninety combinations, plus the additional twenty-four from the hat switches plus as many more as you can cram into each axis using “zones” to trigger key presses as you move a slider or twiddle a wheel. Add dynamic profile selection on top of this and, with a few hours of configuration, you could be flying several aircraft at once if it were possible.

All these features come at a price, however, and not the cost price which rests somewhere below the £100 mark, but the size price. The X-52 is, without a shadow of a doubt, a monster of a joystick and you may find yourself needing an extra desk just to accommodate it. However I brushed my keyboard to one side, plunked the monster down on my desk and opted for the thumb-stick mouse to get me into games. With a bit more training on the mouse and a relocation of my keyboard there would be no game the X-52 would not be at home in. That said, I would not try an FPS in a hurry and using one of the wheels on the throttle as a steering wheel in Need for Speed: Underground is more than a little barmy.

Because of the X-52s title (Flight Control System) it would be easy to confuse it with a highly specialised piece of kit for flight simulator enthusiasts. But the fact remains that it is a very robust and very highly featured joystick, which is just at home in MechWarrior 4 as it is in Combat Flight Simulator even though it does dominate your desk. At just under £100 the X-52 is, without a doubt, an absolute bargain and represents the end all of joysticks. PC-Gamer UK declared the X-45 the “king of the joysticks”; well boys…the X-52 just usurped the throne.

The lack of force feedback might be frowned upon by a few of those stunned at the £100 price tag. However the X-52 can be bought for a meer £81.96 (inc vat) at Overclockers.co.uk.
If you think £81.96 for the king of joysticks is too pricey then you can grab a Cyborg Evo from the same place, you will have plenty of desk space left over but you will never witness the blue lit glory of the king.

Philip Howard