Thrustmaster’s Xbox One HOTAS joystick is excellent if you love Elite Dangerous

The traditional two-analog gamepad is a versatile input tool, but when it comes to something like a flight simulator, nothing beats having a joystick and a throttle. On Xbox One, that is now an option thanks to the introduction of Thrustmaster’s T.Flight HOTAS One for $80. This wired, USB hands-on-throttle-and-stick controller gives you all the buttons you’d get on a traditional Xbox One joypad. And Thrustmaster has even worked with Frontier Developments to ensure it works flawlessly with its space sim Elite Dangerous.

I got my hands on the HOTAS One, and I’ve spent some time with it in Elite Dangerous on the Xbox One. That experience was pretty magical. Frontier recently updated its game for Xbox One X support, so I was sitting in my living room, playing Elite Dangerous in 4K, and using a HOTAS stick to control my ship. This was especially immersive because the stick and throttle is the exact same size and shape as Thurstmaster’s HOTAS One.