S8ek AV8R - Review

S8ek AV8R - £39.99 delivered

Review by LewieP



The S8ek AV8R is a pretty good flightstick.

It is billed as being designed for both 360 and PC. The buttons are all the buttons from a 360 pad, but it has a standard USB connector, so you can just plug it str8 into your PC, and it will work gr8. It will require a bit of fiddling to get the controls just right, even in the game that it is billed as being designed for (HAWX).

It costs around £40, and it doesn't quite feel like there is £40 worth of material in the stick. It is a little lightw8 (OK, I will stop now, I think I made my point), and a little plasticy. The click of the trigger button (mapped to A) is just the right type of feedback you want from a firing button.

The cover for the X button is a pretty cool touch too. There is a cover to protect you from accidentally pressing the X button, like in real military aircraft. In practice I left it open, but depending on how much you role play your games, it is a good option to have.

The throttle lever is solid, it is mapped to the right trigger, it gives you really precise control over throttle, and makes coming out of stalls in HAWX not only easier, but a lot more fun too.

The stick is a real strong point of the Aviator. It has a solid action, and is also a twiststick, giving 15 degrees of rudder control by twisting the stick.

In addition to the main stick, there is two additional sticks, one on top, and one silly little "nub" on the base. Good for text entry on the 360.

Oddly enough there is a headphone port. I can't actually imagine what it would be used for, since a 360 headset won't work with it, and last time I checked, most PCs already have a headphone port. It is also a real shame to loose out on rumble.

All in all, I prefer playing flight sims with this stick over a standard 360 controller, so in that regard it is a success. It feels a little cheap, and the name is stupid, but as an all in one Console/PC flightstick, it does the job.

S8ek AV8R - £39.99 delivered