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[Review] Gans Air SM

Ghost Cuber

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Jun 6, 2016
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The GAN 356 Air SM is undoubtedly a great puzzle, but I wouldn't call it a game changer. It is my main, but I don't get noticeably better times on it than on other modern cubes.
Compared with the UM, this cube has slightly weaker magnets, greatly improving fluidity. Out of the box, the SM is uncontrollably fast and extremely flexible, but switching from blue to either green or yellow springs as well as adding lubricant helps this tremendously. My setup consists of yellow springs on moderate tensions and a combination of SpeedCubeShop Cosmic Nebula and Cubicle Labs DNM-37. This makes it very stable and gives it a soft, smooth feel unlike any other cube I have tried. It is also important to note that the SM goes through lubricant much more quickly than most other cubes and benefits from being relubed every few hundred solves.

From my experience, forward corner cutting seems to be slightly below average, but that isn't really a problem. It cuts about 45 degrees and small cuts are effortless. This may sound unimpressive compared to the GTS2 and Valk, but it is more than adequate for solves. On the other hand, reverse cutting is among the best I have seen. It can cut nearly a full piece with very little force.

Lockups are dependent on how I am feeling. Sometimes my solves are extremely fluid with no lockups at all, and other times I can barely turn it without getting one every few turns. However, the former is true the vast majority of the time, and the lockups usually occur when I am warming up or have been solving for a long period of time.

Pops and corner twists do not occur and do not need to be discussed further.

Overall, the GAN 356 Air SM is a phenomenal 3x3 with excellent performance and few issues. The only real concern is the price. At $50 USD, the SM is about twice the price of most other 3x3s and offers only marginal improvements. If you are comfortable spending $50 on a puzzle, you almost certainly won't be disappointed, but the GTS2 M has very similar performance at only half the cost, making it a better option for most people.
 
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