I spent a lot of time researching before I got my X55 late last year, I would say the stick IS a compromise, the Warthog is universally rated as the current cream of the joystick crop, but its hellishly expensive, way too much for a 'casual' flyer like me. The X55 is a very good stick, I use it for A10-c and Elite dangerous and apart from the ubiquitous nipple, and the release switch location (which you do kind of get used to) it does everything I would expect it to do. I cannot for the life of me get the profile software to work under win 10 though, the beta drivers didnt help much, so I dont use a profile (though I do use track IR). So I would say, unless you are going to be spending a LOT of time and/or have very deep pockets, its a worthy purchase vs the Warthog. Hope that helps!