CH Products Flight Stick Pro

www.chproducts.com $75

The CH Products Flight Stick Pro is a bare-bones joystick that offers just four buttons, one hat switch and two-axis control, yet it costs $75. As you may have guessed, though, the controller’s secret is in its quality.

6 Despite looking like it could be the cheapest joystick here, the flight Stick Pro built is to a standard that feels fantastic to use.

It also helps that the design is almost symmetrical. The only non-symmetrical features are the trim dials on the base, but considering they’re largely a set-and-forget feature it’s no trouble having them in a slightly inconvenient position.

What’s more, the joystick design and button layout is comfortable and easy to use. The thumb buttons and hat switch are easy to reach, and they have a superb click action. Joystick movement is also superb, a perfect balance of weighty and resistive but not stiff and inaccurate.

The big downside is the lack of third-axis control so you’ll need to use this joystick with a rudder or keyboard. Even then, twist joysticks offer a more intuitive experience for space sims so this may not be the best choice for those games.

If, however, all you need is a good joystick, you can’t go wrong with this.