Gladiator EVO 'Space Combat Edition' Premium

Having been avidly flight simming for over 25years, I've finally taken the plunge with the Gladiator EVO, and I’m absolutely blown away. I can’t believe this is my first VKB product –I should have made the switch long ago!

Not only does it look absolutely stunning, it feels incredible in hand, significantly improving my entire simming experience!

Before buying it, my thoughts were: "yeah, this looks good and isn't crazy expensive. I'll give it a go, hopefully it's alright..". After using it for the past couple of months, I can honestly say my somewhat modest expectations have been blown sky-high! It's hard to convey just how impressive through text.

Every button on the stick is easily within reach, have amazing tactile feel, and such a satisfying sound with every press. The controls on the base are equally impressive!

I didn't think the gimbal would be such a game changer to my experience, but it truly is! The accuracy of every movement is astonishing, it still takes me aback with every flight. The way the clutches aid in recentering the stick is very satisfying and really adds to that feeling of precision control.

One of my favourite features is the modular design and how easy it is to disassemble. Having the ability to easily swap out components or replace them if ever needed, and how easy it will be to keep the internals clean, is the icing on the cake. It makes the price even more worthwhile for me. It gives me a lot of confidence that this joystick has been built to last and has been designed with us users in mind –something that is increasingly rare these days.

I usually like to add some constructive feedback to my reviews. After a couple of months of regular use, I expected to encounter at least one minor issue. To my genuine surprise, I haven’t found anything to fault or dislike about it!
- Super easy to set-up, whether a beginner or veteran;
- It feels absolutely incredible to use;
- It looks great;
What's not to love?!

Thank you, VKB, for creating such an outstanding joystick. The Gladiator EVO has truly redefined my expectations for flight sim gear!

When researching a good stick for myself on a budget, I would see the r/HOTAS community recommending this over and over. And they were right. The stick feels good in the hand, and the number of buttons feels like plenty for my uses. The gimbal has a tactile bump at the centre, however that’s expected when you’re not getting a Gunfighter, and becomes relatively ignorable after a while. One small thing I really liked was the adjustable hand rest, as my hands are smaller and many sticks don’t account for that. As well, I love that when getting the premium SCG, the parts for the standard SCG are in the box too, ready to be swapped out with just a little effort. It shows how the VKB team cares for their customers.

Delivery: The product was out of stock when I placed the order. However, VKB arranged a shipment directly from their factory. The stick took 2 weeks to be delivered from the date of order.

Assembly: The stick assembly and calibration was straightforward. VKB YT channel has all the guides you need.

Performance: After upgrading from a cheap flight stick, I am very impressed with the performance of the stick. The stick is ergonomic, precise and sturdy. The twist axis was very stiff at first but it started to loosen up. The grease needs time to set it seems.

Looking forward to many hours of flight sim with this stick :)

Special appreciation for Luke Schelosky from VKB team for timely replies and assistance with the order.

Supreme piece of gear! Comes with spare parts too. Value for money is simply unbeatable. Easy to get in touch with them too.

Honestly overall simply best in class joysticks on the market. BUT! For space combat the stick twist is far too stiff. For other flight Sims perfect. I am using the premium and standard sticks with with setup in dual stick setup for Star Citizen and to roll is a battle in itself. The rest of the adjustments are extremely lite as required for space dogfighting but roll really takes away from the exceptional quality of the experience in the end. You need to make the twist on these sticks either clutch or cam adjustable as well so users can truly tune their sticks for space combat. Calling them Space Combat edition is a bit of a misnoma as they are 80% space combat and still 20% flight Sim sticks. Maybe a rethink on the sticks themselves as the bases are finally perfect with the new clutch adjustment system that's been implemented. The nose trigger is a fun implementation but the standard stick is equally as useful without it. And the thumb heel button with three way isn't that user friendly either but I can see it's usefulness in time still.

Overall this is why I gave a 4 star the twist on the stick really let's these amazing systems down.