G X56 H.O.T.A.S Throttle and Joystick Flight Simulator Game Controller, 4 Spring Options, +189 Programmable Controls, RGB Lighting, 2x USB, PC - Black

I was a little hesitant after the documented issues with X52 and reviews of the X56, but decided to go for it instead of spending the multiple hundreds into thousands that is the next step up from here. Wow! I have used it for Elite Dangerous, Star Citizen, and MSFS, and am impressed! Have also used it to replace dual joysticks for logging in farm Sim, but it really shines in the games with lots of controls to bind. Despite being primarily plastic, the controls feel premium and construction feels solid. The movement of the main joystick is fluid and smooth, and there are more buttons and hat switches than I could possibly need! The single complaint is with the split throttle needing to be very stiff in order to maintain position, or it will lower itself and easily moves if bumped - and that part never got better over time. I use clamp on brackets, so I can deal with a very tight throttle, but it does get irritating at times, to be honest. Warning #1, check the dimensions, these things are huge compared to some other HOTAS options! Warning #2, despite that size, they are not too heavy, so some kind of mounting is necessary if you "play with passion." lol Have over a couple hundred hours use and no problems except the throttle not holding position unless super tight. Easily recommend unless a person can afford the big jump in cost to go the next step up.

I normally don't write reviews but I thought it was important to write this one because like me I am sure many other people are looking at this HOTAS and wondering if this is the one for you. You are also probably looking at the x52 and x52 professional. I opted for this HOTAS (playing Elite Dangerous & X4 and various others). This one while being the most expensive option was also the most available at the time and looked the most sturdy as well. THIS IS A SAITEK PRODUCT that Logitech acquired and then branded their own. That's ok, it still works with the proper software driver download (we will get to that later in review). First off this HOTAS is rather large, but keep in mind there are also a LOT OF BUTTONS which require it to be so. Some people with smaller hands might find this to be to big for them. My hands are fairly large and this is at just about the maximum size I can comfortably control. Some reviews complain of poor button placement, well you have a million buttons they all have to go somewhere so nothing is going to be perfect. You just have to adapt to the layout of the HOTAS. The Stick: Solid feeling with the look and feel of a fighter stick, (this is not a Cessna stick here this is a space ship/fighter jet stick). You can still fly a Cessna with this but you also can fly a Boeing 747 or a space shuttle, its up to you. There are multiple HAT controls just on the stick including a smooth move all direction hat that is in fact like a miniature joystick on your joystick. What would you use something like that for? Well for example in Elite dangerous I use the smooth move hat (black to the left of the stick half way down) for which direction I want to "look". This way I can control the direction of the ship with the Stick itself while using the little HAT control to look around which has replaced the mouse for looking around. Very handy, You can effectively remove all keyboard and mouse input with these types of controls and setups. The Stick and Throttle are both coated in that nice feeling smooth PTFE feeling rubber. This makes for a comfy grip not so much of a plastic like feeling like my old Logitech Extreme 3d Pro which I upgraded from. (Had the 3d pro for 15 years excellent entry level joystick and you can still buy it!) The Throttle: This took some getting used to but in the end I am learning to really like the throttle. First off yes you are looking at a split control throttle. Either side can move independently of one another like a real plane. There is a locking mechanism to lock them both together which is how mine will always stay because none of the games I play require independent thrust input to one side of the engine or the other. You will feel that seam in the middle when moving the throttle BUT you will get used to it. Like other reviews the throttle is in fact STIFF, why? because a real throttle is also stiff. If it wasn't than when a stewardess brings the pilots their coffee and sneezes the plane would crash. You have a knob to turn to affect the tension of the throttle, even turned all the way to lowest setting the throttle will feel stiff to push but it is mimicking real life. If you are buying this thinking you are going to be able to just SLAM THE THROTTLE open, you will break this thing like a few review pictures will show. In the games I play you aren't accelerating faster then you can push the throttle so this is a non issue. In fact once again this makes it feel far more real and less chincy than other throttle designs. (for reference I wield chainsaws and buck hay all day my hand strength is above average). YES YOU HAVE A BOATLOAD OF BUTTONS ON THE THROTTLE. Once again you have to ask yourself, if you are getting this many button monster are you gonna be upset at the button placement? Or are you going to adapt (this is the correct answer ADAPTING). The metal toggle switches I would like to point out are not ON/OFF switches. They return to center after you push them up or down. So basically you have 2 buttons for every metal toggle but they still feel ultra satisfying to push and flick. .....So many buttons, if you aren't playing an actual flight sim you will be hard pressed to utilize all your button options. That's ok, better to have more options than less but then again that's why you are going to buy this monster you want them buttons don't ya? The Important: Ok I would like to address a few issues here related to some minor details and specifics I had to figure out for myself when installing this monster. PAY ATTENTION TO THIS I HOPE TO SAVE YOU TIME and maybe even help others who have bought this thing but couldn't get it to work properly. For reference I am running Windows 10 on a computer that is NOT A POTATO. OK here we go...... YOU WILL NEED TO GET THE DRIVER TO MAKE THIS THING WORK PROPERLY AND UTILIZE YOUR PRETTY COLOR FUNCTIONS. This HOTAS is not really plug and play and it is not recognized in GHUB. Listen carefully because you also get ZERO instructions with this thing but I am going to tell you right now what to do. 1. Open box and marvel at the beast you just purchased. (DO NOT PLUG IT IN YET) 2. Go to Logitechs website and go to downloads and look up this product for drivers. 3. You will have a list of about 7 or 8 drivers, go to the one on the BOTTOM not the top. (bottom newest driver circa 2018 lol) 4. If you are running 32 bit choose the driver immediately above (I am 64 bit so I believe my driver was the last one in list) 5. (DO NOT PLUG IT IN YET!) Run the driver you just downloaded. 6. You will see a screen come up that has a picture of joystick then a small picture of a USB WITH A RED X over it and then a picture of a computer. (The red X is telling you NOT TO PLUG IT IN YET there are no instructions past this I had to learn all this by rote and trial and error) 7. Click "Next" the driver will start installing ( DO NOT PLUG THINGS IN YOU BETTER NOT HAVE EM PLUGGED IN!) 8. When the first half of the install is done you will see now the image you first saw except the USB icon at center no longer has a red X over it. This is the 2018 program telling you to PLUG IN THE JOYSTICK AND THROTTLE. 9. NOW you PLUG IN THE JOYSTICK AND THROTTLE. (be advised I am very certain this requires USB 2.0 or higher not basic USB). 10. After you have plugged them both in you may now click next on the install window. 11. After the install is finished the button will now say restart. CLICK RESTART. 12. Upon desktop load you will now have a new Icon for X56 HOTAS, this is your joysticks program this is where you change the color of the lighting and also to do programming button binding etc (this is advanced button binding outside of game controls). If you are playing a game like Elite dangerous or X4 do all your binding IN GAME. Yes I had to learn all this on my own but I have shared it with you and now you know how to set this up dear god I hope this helps at least one soul. Changing the spring on the Stick: Go to Youtube, search "how to change X56 Hotas Springs" WATCH THE VIDEO! I changed to the highest spring, it was tricky but it worked I was a little spooked about breaking something make sure you watch a video on this so you understand what exactly you are doing. Once again let me remind you there is no instruction booklet on this thing in the box, you are either using the internet or reading this review or hopefully BOTH. OVERALL: I am very satisfied with the quality of construction and feel of this $250 sink of my hard earned American currency. Plays Elite Dangerous like you were IN THE SHIP ITSELF and I can't wait to try it on other games like X4 or maybe a real flight sim. Buy this product. Take the time to set it up right. Put on a pot of coffee and spend all night binding 486 gorillion buttons. Have Lots Of Fun After. I truly hope this helps clarify some things for wondering folks and helps for you to make a more informed decision on whether this is the right HOTAS for you. ::This review may be updated in the future, First draft 1/25/2025

I bought the Logitech G X56 H.O.T.A.S for the intention of playing Microsoft Flight Simulator with the intention of eventually upgrading and buying and fully Honeycomb Aeronautical setup with a more advanced Yoke and Throttle Quadrant more suited for airliners. The X56 is pretty good for a flight simulator setup, before I bought it ai had only had minimal experience with the X52 by Logitech G. My first annoyance after plugging them into my PC is that they do not connect to the Logitech G Hub, which was partially why I bought them over Thrustmaster. Other than that, the stick is good, it is a bit of a pain to set up all of the buttons and add deadzones to ensure there is no stick drift which was a problem I had with the little joystick where your thumb likes to go and mess with your camera. Which brings me to my next thing which was that it’s not super comfortable to hold. Your thumb either has to be below the joystick or up near the silver and black camera look functions, which is not very convenient or comfortable. Overall okay but by no means amazing. The throttle is okay, it is definitely one that you want to get a mount for or drill it into your desk somewhere with some screws. I have not done anything yet, because I haven’t figured out exactly where I want them, but it is annoying to throttle up and the throttle is so stiff that the base likes to push up with the throttle, which is annoying with takeoffs but is fixable with a mount. The switches are good quality. It has a mode selector in the bottom left, but I haven’t been able to figure out how to use it. The nice thing about the throttle is that there is a nice spot next to the top and bottom silver knobs to put your thumb where is won’t adjust any cameras you don’t want to. One thing I would for sure do is get a label maker and label all of your switches so you don’t accidentally turn your engine off midair or turning on your parking brake instead of lowering your flaps. Overall pretty good as an entry level setup, but I will likely sell them later once I upgrade.

I bought two of these after reading reviews and I regret it. Needless to say, I'll be passing these along in the second-hand market for cheap. The story: The material quality and engineering is the worst I've ever seen in a joystick and HOTAS combo. I've had a few from decades past that did the job fine, but after having not played simulators since the early 00's, I went with Logitech because the sticks I had long ago were from a company they acquired, Saitek, and I remembered them being alright. That's a mistaken assumption. Apparently, Saitek / Logitech just can't make a good or even half-way decent joystick anymore. Before these, I had a simple Thrustmaster throttle that I thought had pretty bad build quality, with a squeaky plastic throttle lever and rudder flaps that refused to center due to worn down plastic after light use for a week, but it at least functioned properly. This Logitech set is trash by comparison to even that. The problems: Two new sets straight from Amazon arrived at the same time, one for me the other for a friend. I opened mine, and found the analog thumb sticks on both the throttle unit and joystick wouldn't center properly and one axis on the throttle's would physically stick and required manual re-centering. Off to a good start right out of the box. The joystick wouldn't center properly either, and the deadzone was insane in the software testing suite. I've used old N64 analog sticks after years of Mario Party abuse back in the day, and they weren't this bad. All buttons except the primary fire trigger on the joystick were spongy, inconsistent, and would randomly trigger while you're using any axis. For example, I was sitting in my ship in Elite:Dangerous, testing the new control setup, and I decided to try the throttle. I pushed it forward to accelerate and when I reached the mid-point, all the buttons and hats sent random inputs simultaneously. Since I bound those already, my camera was rapidly switching between UI panels and I went into supercruise with flight assist off and jettisoned all my limpets into local station space while throwing chaff and heatsink confetti everywhere. Besides things like that, the throttle axes don't properly report values to Elite:Dangerous, so setting it to max gets you a notch or two below top speed, while setting it to minimum will set your throttle to reverse by about one notch. I haven't tried it in other simulators, but that wasn't a problem with the Thrustmaster (and the random inputs from before already assured me what quality I was dealing with), so experiments with that set stopped there. This was all just unforgivable already, but I considered the possibility that it's merely a defective set. So I opened the one I bought for my friend, and the same random input issues persisted with a whole slew of other problems relating to mushy buttons and stuck analog sticks. Besides the analog thumb stick on the throttle giving only one axis of input, one of the hats on the joystick was stuck straight up, it wouldn't budge. I emailed Logitech customer support about it and they sent me a replacement pro bono with very little hassle. I feel I have to mention here that their customer service is second-to-none in the computer peripheral market, and that's not sarcasm (I still use their mice and keyboards, which are divine). The replacement arrived and upon opening the box, I could tell I had another winner - one of the joystick's hats was installed slightly twisted, so instead of making a '+', it made an 'x'. Regardless of the quirk, I had the same problems, some to a lesser degree. The analog thumb sticks actually felt alright and would physically function as expected, but had unusable deadzones. 3 out of 3 bad sets, all new. Stay FAR away from any Saitek or Logitech joystick. They're worse than MadCatz.

Throttle is stiff, but nothing I wouldn’t expect from a throttle controller. Good build quality. Highly recommend.

I enjoy it. Plenty of buttons. The hardest part is actually remember which buttons do what.

Wokrs great for the most part. My main gripe is the finish on the controls. I had maybe 10Hrs on using these controls and a sticky film delevoped on the surfaces where my hands were on the controls. This is a known issue with these controls. The only other gripe is rare, but sometimes, buttonts/controls "ghost", or randomly activate. This causes randomly letting the landing gear down, or maxing the trim of one of the aircraft controls. Other than that, it works as it should.

While this HOTAS has a troubled past I can attest to what I received as being awesome. While I have used a x52 pro in the past and its issues are well documented, I was nicely surprised by its updated system. I was a bit scared when reading some of the other reviews of this HOTAS here. But the X56 has more than enough buttons on the stick and throttle and two very needed joystick type sticks that really set this thing apart. Yes it is of plastic construction, and I could see someone with small hands having issues with accessing all the hat switches, dials and buttons. I have large hands so that doesnt apply to me. Its a Logitech product now and it seems all the issues from its predecessor Saitek are gone. While first plugging it in I did have an issue with one of the C sticks (joystick type, mouse emulation) drifting just like the X52 pro I have. I was like oh no, its happening again. However i took the grip off the base and reapplied it and screwed it very carefully. Thankfully that fixed the issue. On the positive side this thing has a ton of button and switches. I can see if you are looking for replicas of a certain aircraft (like the a10) then this is not in that vein of aesthetics. I played around for almost and hour within the software (which you will have to download) and found it complex, but anyone with experience with the programming software of the x52 pretty easy to get the hang of. Also on a positive note the stick itself comes with 3 other springs for those like me that like some resistance and it does not flop around like my x52 does. So precise moment is easy to obtain. The RGB lighting can be bright or subtle thanks to the software, so you can do really bright or turn it off completely. The stick itself is very subdued and I like the back lighting on the buttons. I been eyeing other higher price joystick as an upgrade to my 5 year old x52 and I must say, I like this X56 system. I dare say that for the price this thing compete with higher end HOTAS systems. I have had it for a day now and have put in nearly 12 hours in DCS. Also I suspect that the stick needs a good amount of power so I would highly recommend pluging the system directly into the back of your computer and not a hub. Things I do not like: 1. no 2 stage trigger. I was used to using the first stage for comms, but I was able to adjust to the side button for teamspeak and SRS. 2. the mode switch is really stiff, I dont know if its because it is new but it takes some effort. 3. The pinky two way switch on the throttle is uncomfortable. The button has a sharp ridge to the plastic and makes it a bit uncomfortable. If it had been rotated 90 degrees your pinky would fit nicely in the groove. Things I love: the inclusion of 2 joystick type switches. This makes slewing target sensors a snap and it has a push down button adding even more true hands on. They where a bit scary when i first plugged it in do the noticeable drift. This was fixed though by unplugging the stick, unscrewing the stick handle, carefully screwing it back into the base. MORE than enough hats, buttons and switched for advanced sims like the A10c and Hornet.