Gadgetory

hey everyone i am steve from gamers nexus donna and today we're looking at a lot of detects g 29 and g 920 rising wheels the g 29 and g 9 20 are effectively the same product but the g 29 which we have here is the ps4 and pc version the g 9 20 is the Xbox one and PC version both will work on the PC and this is a $400 unit it ships with the wheel the wheel base and the pedals included along with a power adapter not shown here the pedals you've got your gas brake and clutch in that order and then the wheel itself is where all the expensive mechanical is contained so that's where your $400 price point comes from other options on the market include the thrust master teeth rejas priced similar to this it's at $400 also and then starts master goes all the way up to $600 or more depending on which mods you get which wheel you get and how high-end you go so those are the main competitors on the market actively right now the previous version of this racing wheel was a logitech g27 and fans or users or those knowledgeable of the racing wheel space will recognize that the g29 looks very similar to the g27 that's because it is basically a refresh so this is similar to what we've talked about recently with some AMD products and other products some Intel stuff product refresh is I mean that they take something that exists and works they take an existing architecture and upgrade it with some tweaks so that's what's happened here the wheel is the same geometry it has the same feel texture and shape as the g27 wheel the wheel is 270 millimeters across it's about 11 inches or so and the same as the g27 the major difference here between the two products each 27 and d29 other than the price is the button layout the addition of new buttons to the wheel and then some of the internal motor stuff so this uses a helical gearing system which is what the g27 uses also with racing wheels at the high end especially there are two primary systems through which the wheel is turned and operated either helical gearing or a belt system and you can think of the belt system really similar to any other belt that you're familiar with if you think of how a belt works in a car same idea just much smaller scale so Thrustmaster likes to use the belt system and it's a newer technology it's still being put through the paces still sort of being determined how reliable that is over time the helical gearing system is tried-and-true is certainly a phrase that could be applied to it but it is an older technology that doesn't mean it's bad necessarily but it does lose some of the advancements put in place by the belt system that said you know that it works and lasts for a pretty long time so there are different pros and cons there the belt system is argued to have a smoother action when turning the wheel side to side and the helical gearing system sort of feels like I don't really want to use the word grindy when you're moving it because it's not an abrasive feel but it does feel a little bit more stiff and rigid than the belt system now some drivers may actually like that and some might not like it so it's really personal preference it certainly feels grittier in that regard other additions to the g29 include the upgrade of Hall effect sensors so these were not present in the g27 and they've been demanded by the racers in the community for quite a while now Hall effect sensors basically use electro magnetics to sense the positioning and tracking of the wheel which helps increase its accuracy in game and that's been a big issue with any type of peripheral that is not a mouse or keyboard including Hotez and flight sticks and things like that is the accuracy of input in the game the g27 used optical sensors which are more prone to damage or decay over time they're certainly more prone to dust interference and this uses Hall effect sensors so that does increase cost a bit we're not sure how much but that certainly adds to it now one thing I want to note here while we're talking again about cost is that the g29 does not include a stick shifter even though it's got a clutch pedal over here on the on my right and the previous model the g27 did include a shift stick so that you could mount it basically to the same service separately from the wheel and just shift like a car would that is not included here the new version of the g29 shifter that was made in tow with this product is $60 so you have to add that to the cost if you do actually want to use a stick to shift if you don't want to use one or if you're doing more racing games that are of the Formula One or GT style racing where you're using modern cars with flappy paddles this does have flappy paddle shifters there and they make a pretty pretty strong click you can hear when I do that here so definitely very strong and clicky doesn't feel like cheap plastic like a lot of the other flappy paddles we've tested on lower-end wheels and that's what you're working with if you don't buy the additional shifter the wheel is hand-stitched and uses a brushed metal plate it looks like a brushed aluminum plate here on the front for your cross bars and support it's very sturdy and it mounts pretty well to most surfaces you would want to mount it on something like this this is a pretty loose table it's just a folding table you would want to mount it to something more permanent like a play seat or some specialized need for seat type of thing where you spend extra money to get a sturdy bar to mount your wheel base to or you just put it on a coffee table that's got room underneath for the pedal deployment and that is one problem we ran into with the wheel if you're not a very serious sim racer you don't have the seat set up all existing already that is an added cost you might want to factor in or in the very least make sure you have some furniture that is already compatible with a wheel that very aggressively delivers forced feedback and that is something that this is actually pretty good at the force feedback as indicated by the name driving force of the g29 is very strong you've got nine hundred degrees of rotation until it hits the border here and when I hit that edge you see that a pretty hard resistance because it physically can't turn any further and that resistance is similar to what you feel when you get hit in the game by another driver or hit a wall or something like that it's a very strong force similar to what is experienced in arcades but depending on which arcade game you're playing potentially much higher quality and the force feedback adds to the experience something that I do not normally experience in racing games when I'm using a controller or a keyboard and mouse which is how I don't really play with the keyboard mouse and that addition is a more gritty real true-to-life feeling where you feel more connected with the road and that is something that will be added by the g27 which is cheaper $240 by the g29 $400 by the Thrustmaster competing $400 device and by some of the fnatic devices so it's not like it's unique to the g29 but for those who have never used a racing wheel before that is the one thing that you will appreciate most is that you'll suddenly have a much more direct connection with the vehicle in game and if you drive in real life at really any level of aggression you'll feel in position to do that in the game so it actually does convey a real sense of usability to have some experience in life driving your car and for example the one thing I picked up on immediately was when you make an aggressive turn and you let go of the wheel it'll actually spin back until you grab it again to stop it just like a real vehicle would do let's talk about the build quality here the hand-stitched leather of the g29 racing wheel has a very high quality feel to it it actually is real leather and it feels similar to what you would get in a real car so that is certainly adding to the experience the shifter paddles are strong at they're made of metal first of all and they make a resilient click to them when you use them so you do know for certain that it has been depressed when you're shifting in the game and then the pedals are equally high quality and that the resistance applied to your foot when you're pushing it down or in this case my hand is fairly strong and it changes based upon how far the pedal is pressed so if you go get in your car and you push down the brake pedal as the best example there is a point at which the pedal begins to dampen as it gets pushed farther into the base and the power output depending on the vehicle the power output will change based on how far your hard you're pressing it that is conveyed here the brake pedal has had a damper add-in to it so that is not something that existed on the g27 for owners of the g27 racing wheel and the damper when you push it down it actually requires a pretty huge amount of force it's certainly not something you want to do with your hand like I'm doing right now and that's good and bad it takes a little bit to get used to I liked the extra force it's quieter and it does feel more correct to a real car but it makes it harder to push down hopefully that is something that will increase the durability of the pedals in the long run I think it probably will the clutch pedal I haven't had a chance to use and that's because this does not ship with the shifter and that's really one of the big flaws of the g29 the g27 for PC users is still a very good buy it's 240 dollars now it comes with the stick and it's basically the same product except with a few core items changed but in terms of the look the feel and the mechanics it's very similar the main differences are the Hall effect sensors added to the g29 so there's theoretically improve your accuracy but really it's more of an issue of how long to the optical sensors last and the other major difference is the pedal damper applied to the brake pedal so if you're buying strictly for PC you'll get a very similar feel from the g27 at a huge discount and that's something that we strongly recommend looking into especially if it's a starter wheel and you don't want to invest too much and then if you're buying for PlayStation and Xbox you're probably looking into things like the thrust master options as well which I'm not too familiar with all I know is that they use the belt drive system and that's gotten pretty good reviews so far from the community but it's the jury's still out on how well that will hold up as time progresses the quality of experience provided by the g29 is very high it adds to the gameplay considerably to have any racing wheel of a reasonable quality or better this is a very high quality build construction it's got a strong base there's no sliding or wobbling when the wheel does exert its force feedback and it is a pretty powerful kick the in-game options for configuring games like project cars are very detailed and allow for user fine-tuning if you do want to change that force feedback or steering dead zones or things like that and Logitech pays attention to a lot of the small details so it is a very high-end build quality product everything is pretty agreeable with the wheel the one thing that some users who are more enthusiastic may have a disagreement with is the use of that helical gearing system over the belt drive but for someone like me I actually do like the gearing system quite a bit I like that it feels gritty and strong and I do trust it because I'm used to it now with all of that set the price is high so here's what I think I think that this should either be a much cheaper set up the wheels and the pedals or in the very least they should throw in the shifter with the rest of the bundle so I would be a buyer of this kit closer to 300 or somewhere in that area especially if it includes the shifter up until that point I am likely a buyer of the g27 at $240 it's a very strong and durable wheel set the base is similar to this in that it's very sticky and it doesn't get thrown off the table like some of the other devices on market will do they'll wobble and it's cheaper so for PC users look at the g27 if you really want the g29 for the Hall effect sensors sure but don't upgrade from the g27 directly to this because it's not a massive upgrade and that's a pretty big gap you're paying $400 to make a small move overall I'm very impressed by the integration and software support on Logitech spar with project cards and some of the other racing games my project cars especially takes a cake because it allows the fine tuning required of a racing wheel for those who are fanatical about it and I do think that the build quality is very high it's sturdy its stable those aren't and things there is a hidden cost that you might need a special setup a chair or a base to mount the wheel to so if you're new to racing and racing wheels do consider that look at the play seat for example they give you a ballpark estimate of where those land you for price it's in the two hundred three hundred dollar range but you could do it cheaper with real furniture that's actually stable like I was using with the TV when testing this and the pedals stay in place and feel pretty good they have grips that dig into the carpet if you've got carpet and they've rubber feet that dig into the harder floors if you've got those look at other options Thrustmaster has good stuff the t300 the tio are the t 500 RS something like that it's type in T 500 and you'll find it and those are some pretty popular options for the ps3 ps4 and PC in that group and then look at the g27 so that is all for this review that was the Logitech G 29 racing wheel and check out the article links in the description below for the full article review of this wheel and of course check out our patreon page huge thanks to the 8 of you who have backed us so far on patreon definitely starting small but it gives us the flexibility we want to move away from traditional advertising options going forward and to continue being creative and objective in our content creation that is all for this time I will see you all next time