Sony's licencing fee for ps5 is definitely the worst that has happened to this generation of fightsticks. Every single release has been a straight downgrade in materials and parts quality from the previous one while also being way more expensive. I mean, this one costs almost twice as much as the first drone did. And the worst part is that they're just straight up discontinuing the previous versions, leaving us with no choice but to buy a worse product than the one we could get just months before.

Having only 2 and half pounds to carry around a venue for several hours as I get second hand GamerMisted™ sounds nice, but I don't want my arcade stick launching off of my lap into a crowd of innocent bystanders when I do my luke triple perfect chipotle charge combos. Great review.

That outro is hilarious

I once remarked that for 150, it SHOULD'VE had the Gravity parts by default given how expensive the Drone 2 is. Until a developer drops the ball and forgets that Sony Licensed PS4 sticks are natively compatible on PS5 games, investing on a PS5 stick should kinda be your last option in the meantime. The price is the only thing holding back the new generation of Qanba sticks imo. Too pricey for what they offer, esp the Obsidian 2, which costs as much as the Dragon, but it uses Sanwa parts rather than the Gravity parts.

Not overly harsh. I feel the same way about recommending a first stick. I usually try to explain that a new buyer will likely end up paying more later either to upgrade parts or even the entire controller (as your mentioned). Some people just want to buy now or buy new rather than spending a bit more or saving up. Less money ≠ better value. Also confused with Qanba's lack of faith in their own parts. After the three SKUs of the Q8, I would have expected at least the Drone 2 or Titan to be rocking them. Oh well. Keep up the great work!

where did you find/buy those flatbox designs you showed at 5:33? I been looking forward to build one myself but the stock case and button design didn't really strike me and didn't find alternatives on 3d printing sites

I buy this drone 2 and buttons are low level quality..... what is best button to replace this

Hi you mentioned around 1:20 that the Vewlix layout is not ergonomic. Which layout do you recommend for sticks in general for ergonomics?

Great review! Qanba always make great stuff, so the whole new lineup of 2's (obsidian, drone, etc..) are interesting to see

It really is the price that kills this enclosure. I managed to fit a LS-32 in an old Drone by going with the fastener version, and so I was waiting for this stick to just have a nice portable Seimitsu parts enclosure where I could use a link and travel light. Then Qanba hit us with the $150 price tag. Omron switches are nice, but there is no such thing as middle ground on parts. They are either good enough for serious players to use them in a tournament, or they are budget. Suzo Happ's decline attests to this fact. $100-125 would've been fine but $150 is literally the cost of those dongled pcb sticks on the market, particularly Mayflash. The thing is, despite Sony's stupid decision to restrixt their controller protocols, Mayflash has a $35 that makes their sticks work on PS5 native games. For the same price, you can get a Sanwa parts f300, or $30 more gets you a F500 with a decent case that is still $60 cheaper than the Titan. If you want a good case for Seimitsu parts, the mayflash comparison gets even worse. If you want something with less input lag and you like non-standard parts, a Pico board with a brook FGC adaptor is in all likelihood going to outperform the Drone 2, and just about every custom case save for an AFS is going to beat it out or equal it in price if we include modding in good parts. The Drone 1 had a clear market position that the Drone 2 lacks despite being in a market with many of the same budget competitors. Truth be told Qanba feels really arrogant with their pricing this generation. The Titan as a case is certainly inferior to the Obisidian 1, and it feels like they are vulnerable to someone coming in and making a PS5 Sanwa Vewlix option below $240. That being said, the Titan is their best product in terms of just giving consumers a Sanwa Vewlix preassembled ps5 option. It feels like competition this generation is simply less. Hori has gone off and done their own thing, and it's a good product for people who like their work, but with Razer refocusing on their button box and Madcatz being a zombie corpse it feels like Qanba is simply counting on being the only player that can get easy ps5 compatibility on a Sanwa Vewlix stick, and they're going to charge alot for the privilege. Only time will tell if Qanba's just having to deal with egregious licensing fees from Sony and there won't be any competition, or if they're overplaying a somewhat fragile hand.

Solid review! I bought this as my first fight stick about a month ago to play Strive. I really like using it, but I can't really compare it with other sticks because I've never tried anything else. The buttons feel just OK, the stick feels fine. It does the job and feels fun to use. My biggest gripe is that it's so obnoxiouly loud! So when I play with friends, I have to mute myself and unmute which makes it rather difficult to talk shit. I don't think this can be helped with new buttons because the plastic does not dampen the sound, but rather exacerbates it. I think for SF6, I may just stick with pad because it's the one I play the most with friends.

Great review, and sick Primal Rage controller! where did you get that?!?

I have a drone 1 that I bought dirt-cheap, put on some gravity buttons, changed the lever for a Sanwa, an octagonal gate, and I love it! The only thing that I'm missing is cool art (more like, how do I do it) for it to be perfect.

After trying noir layout for like the past year I think I still prefer viewlix because it's more comfortable to angle my hand inwards. So viewlix ends up being more ergonomic for me. I did probably develop the habit by using viewlix for so long but still

I agree with you, funny enough I’m just watching this, wondering how others felt about it. This all bc I purchased it two weeks ago on eBay for $100 and free shipping. At $100 I can say I’m happy with it. I wasn’t willing to pay anything over. Thanks for the video.

honestly thinking of buying this to replace my hori rap n, want something smaller and lighter for ease of use compared to the hefty rap n (not a fan of hitboxes or all that personally) good idea or nah? i got some custom buttons on my rap n that i can use to replace the qanba ones

Where can I get this deskmat? This is so cool!

I appreciate the honesty. I was deciding between this or the hori ALPHA as a gift for my cousin since he's been play arcade SF2 and MK. He's always been energetic so I want something to last and the first drone always felt hollow/light to me. At this point if you play on PC getting custom 3D parts seems better for the price imo.

What would you recommend for a stick in general or is it better to build one yourself?

With what I have seen, as to recent releases, I'd recommend 8bitdo to any first time buyer. The damn usb cable on these new units pisses me off just to look at

I just got it for $108 with free shipping. Then purchased 4 gravity ks and a sanwa lever for $36 both. So a total of $144. Was this a good deal?

i think you're the first person i've seen review it that mentions they aren't qanba buttons and lever.

Did you ever make a fully 3D-printed fighting stick?

I own 9 sticks and I bought the Madcatz Alpha brand new at a retail store a few years ago for 25 dollars lol so no imo you weren't too harsh. It's not a reasonable price for what you pay for. I do however think the joystick is fine without ever touching it since it has the jlf layout and omron switches so in theory it should be good. I would have changed the buttons to obsf and called it a day lol.

Can you get a cable extension for it?

Which one do you recomend?

Suscrito. Muy bueno el contenido 👍

Remember if you live in America at least the warranty is not void if you take that sticker off

All of the new Qanbas are too expensive.

on EU amazon is almost eur200, absolutely overpriced for what it is

I’d rather get a custom as my first

Ppl jus put your money into a PC fuck Sony plus less input lag

keep looking is a pretty useless conclusion. There is no ps5 compatible fight stick at or around the same price, and all ps4 fight sticks have gone up in price substantially due to scarcity.

OG drone is better than this that's for sure

Buying PS5 sticks is just straight extortion and a scam It's best to buy a second hand official ps4 stick cause they have the same quality They're just re releasing the same product but make it ps5 compatible It's stupid

just got this to mod with a samducksa (crown) lever and buttons! am from OCE and this shipped to me from their website for FREE while others charged around A$100 for shipping.