It features a sturdy, lightweight design, great cable management, and near-flawless gaming performance.
The Qanba Drone 2 ($109) is a great budget-friendly peripheral for anyone new to arcade sticks.
Instead of Sanwa parts, the Drone 2 features a Qanba joystick and buttons.
While these components aren’t as premium as genuine Sanwa parts, theyre still highly responsive.
The all-black lightweight plastic chassis looks good and is easy to carry around.
The cable compartment is a nice quality-of-life feature that makes it easy to tuck the cable away.
Theres also a convenient quick access panel on the bottom if you want to switch out the ball top.
Having this on a budget gadget is a nice touch.
Yes, the buttons and joystick work well, but theyre overly loud, which can get annoying.
Find out if the Drone 2 is for you in my full review.
Due to that, its not difficult to carry around or store.
Though its made entirely of plastic, the no-frills all-black angular design is fetching.
I like the top panels matte texture since it prevents smudging.
Despite its size, your hands have enough room to comfortably move around.
The easy-to-reach top panel buttons are located just above the joystick and buttons.
The buttons in question include Select, Home, L3, Turbo, Share, Mute and R3.
Unfortunately, theres no tournament lock switch.
All these buttons are plenty responsive and satisfying to press too.
Like the Obsidian 2, theres a 3.5mm headphone jack located along the controllers top side.
Like with the Obsidian 2, you wont need a screwdriver since the panels cover serves as that tool.
However, you will need a screwdriver if you want to launch the controller and swap out its parts.
Thankfully, youre not forced to do that with the Drone 2.
These components dont feel as good to use as proper Sanwa parts.
The stick is somewhat loose and the buttons dont offer much resistance when pressed.
That said, youll still experience great performance from this arcade stick.
Fireballs, 10-hit combos and Roman Cancels came out flawlessly thanks to the responsive stick and buttons.
I also had fun playing side-scrolling beat em ups like TMNT: Shredders Revenge.
The Drone 2 is compatible withPS4,PS5and thebest gaming PCs.
I tried the controller on PC and PS5 and found the experience equally responsive on both.
This poses two major problems.
Firstly, the loud button clacks can drown out a games sounds.
The arcade stick is also loud, though not on the level of the buttons.
Granted, the loud buttons could actually distract your opponent, but I wouldnt take that chance.
Unlike the Obsidian 2, there is no metal inner plate underneath the top panel to dampen the sound.
Uncomfortably hard top panel
Most of the arcade sticks Ive tested have clear plastic panels.
Thats not the case with the Drone 2, which sports a pure matte finish top panel.
Yes, it looks stylish and prevents smudges, but its not exactly comfortable to rest your hand on.
I cant say the same about the Drone 2, unfortunately.
Its lightweight design, easy cable storage and great gaming performance are aspects even experienced stick users will appreciate.
The Qanba Drone 2 isnt perfect, but its a quality officially-licensed product worth checking out.
