Thrustmaster TMX Review
If you are a video game fanatic, you would know the importance and need of owning high-quality consoles and other gaming accessories. But these things cost so much that you might go bankrupt chasing your recreation gig.
If you are constantly on the lookout for an affordable and powerful steering wheel to go with your Xbox, then your search has finally come to an end. The Thrustmaster TMX is a powerful console presented to gamers at affordable prices.
Where to Buy?
| Seller | Price |
|---|---|
| Amazon | Check Price |
What is Thrustmaster TMX?
Thrustmaster is a brand popularly known for its quality-grade gaming equipment. Their Force Feedback steering wheel has been ruling the market for quite a long time. TMX is an addition to the force feedback range. It delivers the same level of performance and costs half of any of the company’s flagship models.
The Thrustmaster TMX holds compatibility with the PCs as well as the Xbox One. This gaming wheel is loaded with remarkable features. It has a total of 12-buttons with a 2-pedal board that comes included in the price. It also has a D-pad for ease of navigation and an extraordinary 900-degree rotation.
Unique design and multiple features
Thrustmaster’s force feedback wheel is the real deal when it comes to the real-time gaming experience. The wheel not just lets you turn it, but it also pushes against you. It gives you a feel of tires gripping the ground and the sliding movement of the car’s rear end.
The mechanics involved in delivering such a thrilling gaming experience result in hiking up the console price. But this monetary disappointment does not come with the TMX model. At an amazing price of 199.99 USD, you are giving yourself the ultimate gaming experience.
Design
Thrustmaster TMX is constructed with thick plastic that provides durability and longevity to the steering wheel. It comes with a clamp that is about 5 cm thick. It provides a firm and powerful grip for a smooth and unhindered gaming feel. However, the use of thick plastic has made the wheel slightly heavier, making it bend forward when clamped to a desk.
The diameter of the wheel is a good eleven inches, with a tough and sturdy construct. The molding of the steering wheel is done with perfection. You won’t feel any wobble while you are in the gaming zone. Since the price is pretty low, the cost cuttings have resulted in replacing the leather-bound wheel with two rubber grips on either side.
The company has also provided a gear paddle with this affordable kit to jazz up the gaming experience. These pedals are made of thin steel, but the stiffness they offer is quite notable. You get a real-life feel with the pedals as they offer the right amount of force and strength to your feet. If you are not quite comfortable with pedals, you can invest in a gear shift as well.
Features
As mentioned earlier, the TMX model comes with a full board of 12 buttons. The placement of these buttons is quite convenient, making them easy to access. They are installed right at the center of the wheel, helping you move to them in a jiffy.
These buttons outdo the buttons installed on the controller of the Xbox One. They are not just conveniently placed, but their marking is quite clear and understandable. The actions have been defined with much clarity and placed right in the line of sight.
While using the Thrustmaster TMX, you will never find yourself blindly searching for the hit buttons. All you got to do is move your fingers to the center of the wheel. At the same central position, you can also find the D-pad. This makes navigating to different menus quite easy and convenient.
Even though there are many features where you might have noticed a bit of cost-cutting, it is quite prominent with the pedals. They are sturdy, but you still can’t trust them for keeping a strong foot. They are also not quite elaborate like other gaming wheels. But for the price you are paying, you might find it satisfactory.
The kit comes with a set of two pedals, one acting as the brake and the other as the accelerator. One thing that might disappoint a pro gamer is the missing progressive action in the brakes. This particular feature gives you a feeling of stiffness when you push the brake harder, just like in a real car. This can be a deal-breaker for a few, but it doesn’t compromise with overall performance.
The base on which the pedals are attached is relatively small as well as lightweight. This has both advantages and disadvantages associated with it. The advantage is that the lightweight provides ease of portability. The disadvantage is that it can be pushed way too easily while gaming.
Even though the pedals have satisfactory performance, they fail to gel with the wheel’s advanced features. There is a way of enhancing gaming’s performance quality by replacing the pedals with the T3PA pedals. These pedals come with a clutch plate as well as a progressive brake function. They are also of an even sturdier construction as they are made of metal plates that are 100% adjustable.
How to connect the Thrustmaster TMX?
The Thrustmaster TMX requires a mains power supply for its functioning. It connects with the PC by a USB port. The pedals don’t require to be plugged into the main power supply. You just have to connect them in the jack behind the wheel.
This connection dynamics might reduce the hassles of installing multiplug connectors, but it also creates a tangle at your foot. You might find yourself stuck in the wire mesh while you are deep in the gaming dimension. But for all the fun and loaded features, it is pretty much worth the trouble!
Performance
The Thrustmaster TMX utilizes the organization’s crossbreed belt and stuff power criticism motor. This is placed close to the top-notch feel of unadulterated belt-driven variants and the more ventured feel of an unadulterated stuff framework.
Significantly, this blend takes out the focal dead-spot seen with unadulterated stuff-based systems. This component is joined with a 12-bit sensor arrangement that can separate up to 4,096 stages in the wheel’s position. Then, the pedals utilize a 10-digit framework for 1,024 degrees of pressing factor detecting.
The outcome is a stunningly sensible reaction, if not exactly the degree of detail you get from Thrustmaster’s better quality frameworks.
The wheel pivots just through 900 degrees, as opposed to the 1,080 of better quality models. However, that doesn’t end up being a limit in a considerable lot of the hustling games that can be played.
In any case, the pedals aren’t great. They slide too easily and feel squeezed. Therefore, I discovered I needed to left-foot brake to keep two feet on it consistently and stop the entire unit from sliding around. It is anything but a modest move up to get the T3PA pedals, yet I envision it’s an update numerous clients will make in a little while.
As far as similarity, with the Xbox One, it offers a total fitting and-play insight, while PC clients should download the driver.
Talking about the overall performance, the Thrustmaster TMX proves out to be an efficient part of the gaming system. With its sensors and the base and the wheel, it enables the driver to have an adventurous ride.
Its performance provides excellent post feedback that makes the gaming experience more exciting and adventurous for the driver. It has proven out to be cost-efficient in terms of the features and experience this provides. Not only that, the Thrustmaster has managed to get mostly positive reviews from all the people who went home with it.
Pros and Cons
Pros
- Realistic Style/Size – the Thrustmaster’s style includes the rims and the gaming style. The rim of the wheel is 28 centimeters in diameter. It also gives a great racing game experience. Talking in terms of games, you can expect and have exceptional versatility.
- Wheel rotation – a brilliant feature of the Thrustmaster is its wheel’s rotating ability. The wheel of the Thrustmaster can rotate up to 900 degrees. It can also make up to 2.5 rotations at every turn. This is mostly in the case of unprecedented control levels. The range of the angle rotation is from 270 degrees to 900 degrees. This lets the driving be exact in all kinds of races.
- High-performance – The Thrustmaster provides very adaptable force feedback. It also provides a variety of power adjustment options. The force feedback of the wheel is very responsive. It lets the drivers drive with the utmost precision that they require to have improved performance. The force feedback of the wheel helps in taking care of irregular and unprecedented instances in racing. Not only in racing games, but in other games too, a serene experience is promised.
- Belt Pullet system – the belt pulley system of the TMX is a silent one. It means that the movement of the wheel will not disturb the user at any point. This pulley system allows the sound to be channeled from the motor to provide a serene feeling or smoothness.
- Paddle Shifters – The TMX has large sequential paddle shifters. They are entire of metal. The paddle shifters here are very similar to the ones found in performance cars. They provide excellent and smooth gear shifting as well.
- Well-Made – The overall style of this wheel is well made for all the virtual drivers. It accommodates all kinds of games as well. Not only that, but it also helps have a smooth and serene virtual gaming and racing experience.
Cons
- Low-quality pedals – As mentioned above, one drawback of the Thrustmaster is that it has low-quality pedals. The pedals are usually not able to have consistent friction to the floor. Hence, they tend to slip and shift a lot.
- Rough wheel rotation – Although the Thrustmaster wheel has a wide range of rotating angles, the rotation can be a bit rough. You might experience a bit of difficulty and roughness while rotating the wheel, especially in unpredictable and irregular turns.
- Lack of subtlety – obviously, there are more expensive and better models than this one. Hence, it is also obvious that it would lack subtlety and features.
Final Verdict
Having many positive reviews on top online marketing sites such as Amazon, the Thrustmaster TMX has proven to be a sustainable get suitable gaming object. It has all the features and variations needed for a smooth virtual gaming experience.
Not only that, the TMX has more pros and cons. The main attraction of this wheel is the range of rotation provided. It has a unique design and multiple features. Along with that, the Thrustmaster TMX is lightweight that has an advantage of its own.
The Thrustmaster TMX has managed to have a lot of fans and lovers based on its brilliant performance. It has many features such as the metal paddle shifters, smooth belt pulley system, high performance, and wheel rotation. All these features combined help the Thrustmaster provide agility and speed to the gamers in various games. It would be safe to recommend the Thrustmaster TMX to the gamers.
