Turtle Beach VelocityOne Review: The Best Setup for Microsoft Flight Sim


The Turtle Beach VelocityOne Fight Stick is one of the biggest, most complicated console peripherals in modern years. It’s also, by far, one of the best.

Designed entirely for providing the best experience for Microsoft Flight Simulator, VelocityOne offers a premium yoke setup like no other. However, if you’re looking for a product that can be used across more games than just Flight Sim, you’re out of luck.

Is Turtle Beach Velocity One the best Flight Stick for Microsoft Flight Sim?

Unlike other Xbox-capable flight sticks on the market, the VelocityOne is designed after a yoke steering system, often found in bigger planes. This means that there isn’t a tiny joystick you have to grip your hands around. Instead, it’s a sizeable flat “wheel”, one that can be pushed and pulled for altitude.

That, in itself, is enough to make the setup stand out against contemporaries. However, the VelocityOne is far more than that. On top of the yoke, complete with controls, the device also comes with a multi-engine setup to control individual engines, trims and anything else you desire.

With dozens of buttons and controls to use, it can be almost overwhelming at first. In the past, I’ve used a Thrustmaster HOTAS setup — a simple stick and thruster — but this is a whole other beast.

From the get go, the device is perfectly tuned for the latest Fight Simulator. On both PC and Xbox One, it’s as simple as plugging and playing. While you can remap every single input, the base setup is perfectly designed to fly most of the planes in the game.

It’s also a smooth ride. The device’s yoke pushes and pulls perfectly without any snags; a built in Alan Key also helps you to secure the system to any surface you’d need.

The only negative thing to say about the Turtle Beach VelocityOne is that it’s impossible to go back. After using the impressively kitted out system, going back to a single joystick felt insubstantial, even if it was more accurate to some of the smaller planes.

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Turtle Beach's VelocityOne Flight Stick has so many buttons to configure.

Read More: LucidSound LS50X review: Xbox’s Most Versatile Headset

What other games can I play on Turtle Beach VelocityOne?

Despite being designed entirely for Flight Simulator 2020, there are a few more games that can use the VelocityOne.

For example, the flight stick worked perfectly with EA’s Star Wars Squadrons. Not only did it provide a much better experience than a controller, but the setup’s systems of engine thrusters were incredibly satisfying to use for boosters and power management.

The device also worked with Elite Dangerous. However, that game was far more finicky to get working with every button needing to be rebound.

Unfortunately, here are some games that are incompatible with the stick. For example, Ace Combat 7 wouldn’t accept any inputs, but the Xbox 360 game Ace Combat 6 would.

With the device having numerous control methods built in, it would be nice if the controller could emulate a traditional Xbox One pad with the yoke being mapped to the left stick.

If this could be added, the yoke would instantly become more versatile. It would be used in Forza Horizon, with the yoke’s triggers used for acceleration and break. If anything, it would be perfect for the arcade racer. We could also imagine using it in Mechwarrior 5 to pilot a massive robot.

As it stands, it’s hard to fault the VelocityOne. It’s advertised entirely for Microsoft Flight Sim and it works phenomenally well for it. However, it has the potential to be so much more, and that’s only because of how well built the device is. It’s simply a shame that it can’t be used more.

VelocityOne is a high-quality flight stick for Microsoft Flight Simulator on Xbox consoles, but doesn't add functionality for other games.
4 out of 10

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