I really don't understand whining in this thread - Yes Fslabs tried to use shady techniques to combat piracy but as far as I understand no customer data was compromised. They changed the installers right after and even offered people with refunds. That still didn't stopped people buying their airbuses when they got released for P3D later down the line. It was a thing of the past - people need to move on. 

Going back to actual product itself - there are pros and cons of course here & there, some features are lot better in Fslabs then Fenix. In terms of Visuals/textures, Fenix has upper hand. 

Okay bought and installed and gave it a whirl. These are my first impressions and subject to change.

The install process was a bit tortuous to be honest - I repeatedly got the ‘FSLABS data not loaded’ message on all the LCD screens which meant the external program was not running, basically the same thing you see when the Fenix’s exe doesn’t start with the sim. Took a reinstall to fix that. 

Textures - hmm, better than P3D for sure but I’d definitely give Fenix the edge here. It reminds me somewhat of the inibuilds A320 in terms of texturing. 
Sounds - Good enough for me, again I’d give the nod to Fenix.
EFB - in terms of depth it’s definitely pretty comprehensive and I didn’t get time to dig deep. Looks and usability again the Fenix takes it, but I feel digging deeper you’ll find more here. 
Flying - I just did one quick take off and a bit of hand flying before returning. It’s a very stable platform to fly and is easy to put where you want it. It’s somewhat reminiscent of the iFly 73M for me in that it feels less squirrelly than others. Better than Fenix? hmm - too early to say. 

Verdict - and again this is based off a couple of hours of playing around with it vs 100s in the competition but if you’ve got the Fenix A321 and it’s running great for you then I’d struggle to justify this one beyond being curious to take a look and see what FSL have come up with for MSFS. Your mileage may vary, etc. 

Edited December 11, 20241 yr by bennyboy75

There are a few things that Fenix doesnt have. The whole MEL thing is kinda unique, to my knowlege, there are no other products in the market doing that. It's pretty neat to see these yellow stickers in the cockpit, makes me feel at work lol.

I would give the edge to FSL on the flight model, single engine characteristics feels right (I am not type rated in the 320 but have multiple other TRs and plenty of sim time in the bus). It is good to see competition in this market (I personally dont think the inibuild products are close to Fenix or FSL).

John

10 minutes ago, RJPIC said:

There are a few things that Fenix doesnt have. The whole MEL thing is kinda unique, to my knowlege, there are no other products in the market doing that. It's pretty neat to see these yellow stickers in the cockpit, makes me feel at work lol.

I would give the edge to FSL on the flight model, single engine characteristics feels right (I am not type rated in the 320 but have multiple other TRs and plenty of sim time in the bus). It is good to see competition in this market (I personally dont think the inibuild products are close to Fenix or FSL).

John

Does this MEL stuff only included actual INOP things or also panel states? In other words: If you use an aircraft that another person has previously used, would you get the buttons, switches etc. In the same positon that person left them?

31 minutes ago, bennyboy75 said:

Verdict - and again this is based off a couple of hours of playing around with it vs 100s in the competition but if you’ve got the Fenix A321 and it’s running great for you then I’d struggle to justify this one beyond being curious to take a look and see what FSL have come up with for MSFS.

I don't understand why you have to give them money for that. You already have a perfectly functional study level Airbus fleet. And yet you throw money at a competitor who seems to have been doing nothing to deserve any praise for their business.

33 minutes ago, Farlis said:

I don't understand why you have to give them money for that. You already have a perfectly functional study level Airbus fleet. And yet you throw money at a competitor who seems to have been doing nothing to deserve any praise for their business.

It’s a valid point. However I have a budget for this hobby and I tend to spend it, even if that simply extends to curiosity over how a product looks and performs. I bought the 727 and flew it once. I bought the MD11 and flew it twice. I bought the Fenix and flew it hundreds of times. Some you win, some you lose. I’m okay with that. 

83€ it’s crazy

1 hour ago, RJPIC said:

There are a few things that Fenix doesnt have. The whole MEL thing is kinda unique, to my knowlege, there are no other products in the market doing that. It's pretty neat to see these yellow stickers in the cockpit, makes me feel at work lol.

I would give the edge to FSL on the flight model, single engine characteristics feels right (I am not type rated in the 320 but have multiple other TRs and plenty of sim time in the bus). It is good to see competition in this market (I personally dont think the inibuild products are close to Fenix or FSL).

John

Flythemaddog has has MELs for four years already. 

Reading the actual reviews in here after sorting through the chafe it seems like it is pretty on par with Fenix. So as I suspected, no reason to purchase it but for sure a reason to get the NEO. Hope we don’t have to wait another 6 months and it comes out for MS2020.

Edited December 12, 20241 yr by B777ER

You know for the price ($20.00) difference between the two, and the little amount of extra QOL items in the labs, there is NO WAY I would purchase FSL for just one model.  Especially since FNX is likely going to add most, if not all those features at some point, in some fashion.  They actually already have some of those features.

Does the FSL have FLS, btw?

The FNX gives you 3 models with all the variants.  It is also graphically 10X superior.

The difference in systems and flying characteristics has to be like splitting hairs between the two.  Certainly not enough to justify another $70.00.

I'm not even sure I'd buy their upcoming NEO as a stand-alone, even at a 49.99 price point.

Had they have come out with their 330, I'd have probably jumped all over it.  To come to MSFS with the same P3Dish mindset and with a product we are over saturated with, is just ridiculous to say the least when you have the 330 and NEO in development (according to their past statements).

I loved the Labs in P3D, but they have fallen way behind in a similar fashion to PMDG unfortunately.

If I was FNX, I would seriously be having an internal conversation on whether or not to take the risk and develop a NEO or 330 right over the top of FSL (if I had access and all the background stuff).  I know that's a big risk, and it's easy to say not being in their shoes, but it just might be possible.  Just making a guess, I'd say it just might be entirely feasible from a market/business standpoint.

Edited December 12, 20241 yr by Jeff Nielsen

I would love to know how the FSLabs simulates turbine engines. We know MS2020 doesn't simulate them very well and that Fenix had to create an amazing external program that simulates all the bells and whistles of a modern turbofan. How does FSLabs simulate turbofans? Can you stall them? Is the fuel flow accurate out of the box?

I'd also be interested in seeing more about how the FM works with regards to actual numbers. Fenix posts their numbers, and they're off in a few places but we all know that's due to MSFS2020 limitations with drag, lift, inertia, etc. Now a lot of people - BlackBox included - have said the FSLabs FM is "far superior" but I'd love it if we could put some data to that statement. We have the data for the competition.

Finally I'd love to see more information on the neat new easter eggs: Like what happens when you tailstrike, St.Elmo's Fire, the actual physics behind the icing model (does it change lift? Stall speed? Systems performance), and most importantly what features they plan to bring over from P3D in the near future and what will stay forever in P3D. Those things that differentiate this bus from the competition are really the major selling points and I'd love to see these things really put out there and advertised.

1 hour ago, B777ER said:

Reading the actual reviews in here after sorting through the chafe it seems like it is pretty on par with Fenix. So as I suspected, no reason to purchase it but for sure a reason to get the NEO. Hope we don’t have to wait another 6 months and it comes out for MS2020.

It's FSL, we'll probably be waiting longer than 6 months and get zero communication about it...

After a couple more flights, there are some positives to report for sure: GSX integration and flight-model/flare behavior are very nice, edging out the Fenix. 

Nevertheless, this is clearly a port. I was quite shocked to see that the external parts of the aircraft are not fully modeled when trying to configure wing views from the flight-deck. This P3D way of doing things is not what MSFS users expect. 

Edited December 12, 20241 yr by GCBraun

So where are all the reviews on this so called next level Airbus A321, we have heard from Katie Pilot (thank you for your post) and Blackbox711 but so far and after 1 and 1/2 days not many are streaming or reviewing it. Its the new High Fidelity release for MSFS what gives?

Edited December 12, 20241 yr by JBDB-MD80

3 hours ago, GCBraun said:

After a couple more flights, there are some positives to report for sure: GSX integration and flight-model/flare behavior are very nice, edging out the Fenix. 

Nevertheless, this is clearly a port. I was quite shocked to see that the external parts of the aircraft are not fully modeled when trying to configure wing views from the flight-deck. This P3D way of doing things is not what MSFS users expect. 

What do you mean "not fully modelled"? Is it missing a landing gear or what?