Multi-Cube Model Qualitative Analysis

First off, always remember: In the end, it's not about the cube per se. The cube is just the tool. The method is the true object.

I tend to agree with those that think there is a bit too much focus on the hardware end of speedcubing however, the interest in hardware is driving a sort of expansion of the sport, and for that, such focus is a good thing. Also, it can be fun. Cubes are coming out left and right. Moyu, or YJ/Moyu rather, seems to be designing new cubes, and slightly redesigning their cubes monthly, as well as quietly re-licensing their cube designs (to other labels). Gans and Fangshi are doing awesome things in their workshops designing their own original mechanisms.

I have had interest in hardware criticism since I began my still young foray into cubing. I enjoy analyzing others' subjective opinion of a cube's performance and mechanism. Such is a hobby within the hobby (cube collecting) within the hobby (cubing).

One thing stands most clear after months of critical review; unquestionably, cube preference is mostly subjective, entirely dependent on the individual, his or her preferences, aesthetics, brand loyalties (susceptibility to the crowd), and his or her style. Not to mention the luck of the buy. Some cubes just don't perform as others of the same model, and some cubes are gems that out perform all others of the same model.

After reading responses over and over and over when someone requests a suggestion for a new cube, “Aolong is the best,” or “Guanlong is better than x,” or “such and such a cube is for beginners/ intermediates/ experts,” I find that I want to offer a more comprehensive way to compare cubes.

We have in speedsolving.com an astoundingly international community. And for that reason, I think relativism, social and therefore consumerist, can be comprehended fairly well. We all should know that our cube preferences are personal.

People's experiences with cubes vary. Heck, the qualities of the same model can vary so widely cube to cube. One may get a great Weilong, whereas another might receive a poor Weilong. We may lube and mod and tension to mitigate these variances, certainly, and with great success, but such is not always the case. Given, some cubes have characteristics that are almost certain no matter what, but my Zhanchi is not your Zhanchi is not her Zhanchi. A micrometer off in the plasic can be the difference between dancing or doom.

Preferences go a long way in informing our acceptance of a cube. Some we can make ourselves love, some we love because of the brand, some we love because of peer recommendation, and some are just great regardless—but in all cases, it is in some great part opinion. Where would we stand had the Guhong or Zhanchi come out after the Weilong or Aolong? What if the Gans 357 came out in 2011 instead of the Guhong?

Obviously there are many different criteria to take into consideration. Some cubes are loud. Some have different textures and plastic qualities. Some cut so and so. Some are smooth. Some grity or sandy. And we are at a place today where we can begin pick and choose these qualities as we wish and find a cube that comes close to meeting those specific characteristics we seek in a cube. And when it comes down to it, things can be manipulated. Tension and lube. Lube and tension. Mod? Learning to manipulate and control the cube's mechanism is part of the game.

For all these reasons, and more, I am interested in others' personal experience with their cubes and their descriptions of the qualities of their cubes. Without question, one need to have tried (we'll say) at least three distinctly different cubes to have some informed grounds for descriptive comparison.

In a short period, I have acquired a disgusting and embarrassing quantity of 3x3x3 cubes (I will not lie). It is past obsession and very nearly an addiction. For example, I covet the upcoming Gans 356 and have sought means to acquire it.

The cubes I own are as follows, in no particular order.

2x Guhong V2 – 1 black, 1 stickerless
1x Lingyun V2 – black
1x Lunhui – black
2x Zhanchi – both black
1x Panshi – black
1x Sulong – black
2x Weilong V1 – 1 black, 1 white
1x Aolong V2 – black
2x Gans 357 – 1 black, 1 primary
2x Shuang Ren V2 – 1 black, 1 (54.6mm) black w/ primary caps
1x Guangying – black
1x Aurora – black
2x CX3 mini 56mm – 1 black, 1 white

Each of these cubes has its defining characteristics—some standing out more than others. But with the exception of one or two of them, each is great in its own way. I have very little loyalty to brands and models beyond the creativity of the design of the cube and its performance. I give each its own time every week to week-and-a-half and have a few that I play with almost every day.

All of that being said, as I said before, because it seems suggestions are given more as a reflex rather than with great thought, I will offer my opinion on the qualities of each cube I own (I hope others will do the same) to offer some guidance in understanding the differences and qualities of cubes without having to sift through countless reviews or ask “what cube should I get.” I do not expect this will eliminate individual cube reviews or questions like “what cube should I get,” but I do believe it might set the stage for a different manner of cube criticism. Others have attempted quantitative evaluation of cubes on a scale of 1 to 10, but as an abstraction of subjectivity, that is even more difficult to gain information from.

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Note: All of my cubes have had extensive lubing and tensioning and have been carried to the edge of stability in search of an equilibrium of high speed, cutting, and easy turning without become unstable. I do not always seek loose or tight tensions. If what is generally deemed an otherwise very fast cube is here said not to be so, it is because it became unstable for my style of turning at looser tension. If too much lube was applied, the cube was either cleaned and re-lubed or it was broken in as the lube dried out.

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Now for the reviews:

2x Guhong V2 – 1 black, 1 stickerless
--The black Guhong V2: very fast, smooth, a little clicky, quiet to very quiet, effortless turning, performs with looser tensions, forgiving, accurate turning, superior and effortless cornering 45+, greater than 2/3 cubie reverse, stable but can pop and lock if turns are too inaccurate, standout characteristic: still a great cube after 4 years of new cube designs

--The stickerless Guhong V2: fast, very smooth, slight click, very quiet, slight force needed to turn, performs with looser tensions, a bit sluggish, unforgiving, ok turning accuracy, blocky and difficult cornering 30 degree or less, ½ cubie reverse, stable and won't pop but locks consistently, standout characteristic: horrible cornering, cool looking

1x Lingyun V2 – black
--The black Lingyun V2: very fast, very clicky, very noisy, effortless turning, performs with medium to medium-tight tensions, somewhat forgiving, very accurate turning, ok cornering 35~45 with some force, 2/3 cubie reverse, stable, will definitely pop and lock with loose to medium loose tensions, standout characteristic: super clicky and extremely fast

1x Lunhui – black
--The black Lunhui: fast, smooth and clicky, a little noisy, easy turning, performs with medium tensions, somewhat forgiving and very accurate turning, good cornering 35~45 with some force, 2/3 cubie reverse, very stable, will lock but will not pop, standout charateristic: heavy and solid cube, feels unbreakable

2x Zhanchi – both black
--The black Zhanchi(s): extremely fast (fastest?), extremely smooth, extremely quiet, effortless turning, performs with loose to very loose tensions, extremely forgiving, accurate turning, easy maximum possible cornering and reverse, very stable, never locks, sometimes will pop, standout characteristic: no weakness and the standard by which ALL other cubes are measured.

Note: I owned a white Zhanchi, but despite all efforts, it did not perform up to par with my black zhanchis. I gave it away.

1x Panshi – black
--The black Panshi: fast, smooth, light click, quiet to a bit noisy, easy turning, performs with tight to medium tight tensions, somewhat forgiving, very accurate turning, 35~45 cornering with some force, 2/3 cubie reverse, extremely stable, will lock, never pops, standout characteristic: mechanism actually causes very accurate turning reducing need for any cornering, also very delicate internals (must be unscrewed to be disassembled)

1x Sulong – black
--The black Sulong: fast to moderately fast, extremely smooth, very quiet, easy turning, performs with medium tensions, somewhat forgiving and accurate turning, good cornering 35~45 with some force, 2/3 cubie reverse, extremely stable, won't lock, never pops, standout characteristic: great cube for cheap!

2x Weilong V1 – 1 black, 1 white
--The black Weilong V1 – extremely fast to very fast, very smooth, quiet to a little noisy, very easy turning, performs with loose tensions, very forgiving, very accurate turning, effortless maximum possible cornering, maximum possible reverse, extremely stable, won't lock, won't pop, standout characteristic: competes with Zhanchi, superior M slices.

--The white Weilong V1 – extremely fast, very smooth, quiet to a little noisy, very easy turning, performs with loose tensions, very forgiving, very accurate turning, easy maximum possible cornering, maximum possible reverse, extremely stable, won't lock, won't pop, standout characteristic: competes with Zhanchi, superior M slices.

1x Aolong V2 – black
--The black Aolong V2 – very fast, very smooth, quiet to very quiet, easy turning, performs on all tensions, completely forgiving and very accurate turning, effortless maximum possible cornering, maximum possible reverse, extremely stable, won't lock, won't pop, will corner twist, standout characteristic: mushy and malleable cubic form, sometimes sluggish out of the box, requires very little turning accuracy

2x Gans 357 – 1 black, 1 primary
--The black and primary Gans 357 – extremely fast, smooth and clicky, a little noisy to noisy, effortless turning, performs on very loose to medium tensions, absolutely forgiving, ok turning accuracy (over-shoots), effortless maximum possible cornering, maximum possible reverse, extremely stable, rarely locks, won't pop, standout characteristic: very light, novel core mechanism, very morphic shape abhors cubic-ness, very high performance. NOTE: per manufacturers instruction, corners must be glued to lose “cheap” or “flimsy” feel. This works. Do it!

2x Shuang Ren V2 – 1 black, 1 (54.6mm) black w/ primary caps
--The black Shuang Ren V2: very fast to extremely fast, smooth to sandy-smooth, noisy, effortless turning, performs on medium tensions, somewhat forgiving, very accurate turning, good cornering 35~45 with a little force, 2/3 cubie reverse, extremely stable, locks when inaccurate, won't pop, standout characteristic: cubie construction, shaky and noisy cubie caps, floating centerpiece mechanism, very light, interesting texture, superior M slices, most certainly will have plastic flashing to sand.

--The 54.6mm black w/ primary caps Shuang Ren: a little fast, sandy-smooth, noisy, some effort to turn, performs on medium tensions, somewhat forgiving, extremely accurate turning, ok cornering 35~40 with a little force, 2/3 cubie reverse, extremely stable, locks when inaccurate, won't pop, standout characteristic: cubie construction, floating centerpiece mechanism, very light, interesting texture, superior M slices, most certainly will have plastic flashing to sand.

1x Guangying – black
--The black Guangying: a little fast to fast, smooth, quiet, easy to turn, performs on medium to medium-tight tensions, somewhat forgiving, extremely accurate turning, ok cornering 35~45 with a little force, 2/3 cubie reverse, extremely stable, locks when inaccurate, won't pop, standout characteristic: cubie construction, floating centerpiece mechanism, very light, superior M slices, most certainly will have plastic flashing to sand.

1x Aurora – black
--The black Aurora: somewhat fast, extremely smooth, very quiet, easy to turn, performs on medium to medium-tight tensions, not forgiving, extremely accurate turning, good cornering 45~40 with some force, 2/3~1/2 cubie reverse, extremely stable, will lock when inaccurate, rarely pops, standout characteristic: eerie smoothness and quiet, very cheap, very blocky.

2x CX3 mini 56mm – 1 black, 1 white
The 56mm black and white CX3(s): very fast, clicky and plastic-y, extremely loud, easy to turn, performs on medium-loose tensions, very forgiving, extremely accurate turning, effortless superior cornering 45+, maximum possible reverse, some stability issues, may lock, will pop with some force, standout characteristic: won't take lube, feel of plastic, very loud. Note: may function better if corners are glued.

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Ok, now for list of preferences:

Favorites: Gans 357 (primary and black), Zhanchi(s), Weilong (white)

Love them: Shuang Ren V2 (black), Aolong V2, Weilong (black), Lunhui, Guhong V2, Guangying

Enjoy them: Lingyun V2, Sulong, Panshi, Shuang Ren (54.6 mm)

Like them: Aurora, CX3 56mm (black and white), Guhong V2 (stickerless)

Meh: Rubiks, Zhanchi (white)


I hope that this multi-cube comparison is useful on some level. Notice that my subjectivity causes the cubes to be all over the place as far as my preference goes:

The Aolong, despite being characteristically as good as, and similar to, the Zhanchi(s') perfomance, is not a favorite. And note that, despite it's mechanical performance, the noisiness of the CX3s makes them fall into a lower category. As well, note that my experience with the stickerless Guhong has been bad, so I have not purchased any other stickerless cubes. I have read that many people love their stickerlesses and that stickerlesses perform the same as all black or all white cubes, yet my experience was bad, so it informs my ranking of it. I need to find one I can be sure of. Also of note is that the LingYun is one of my best cubes, but the noise knocks it down quite a bit for me.

So much of it is subjective, opinion, and preference. And perhaps a little luck of the draw.

I'd love to see some similar qualitative reviews of your cubes. There are so many Moyus and classic cubes (witeden, alpha, etc...) and brands I have not seen or experienced.

Ok, so i'm a new pb: 31.23 solver, so i'm off to learn my full plls! Gotta smash that wall.

Nice writeup. I'm surprised you put the guangying in the quiet category - mine is as loud as a cx3 / liying.

JemFish said:

This has been an interesting read. Have you any thoughts about the performance differences of white/black cubes? Do colours of the cube affect their performance? I'm just wondering...both of my Weilongs, black and white, feel quite different. (I suspect they're different versions though...)

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Though I have had variance in performance for the same cube model, I don't know if it can entirely be attributed to color or the plastic. I have a tendency to believe this depends on the aforementioned variables and personal preferences (i.e.-"one likes white cubes, therefore, for them, black cubes under-perform in comparison").

That being said, my two Weilongs perform differently, in favor of the white Weilong. Mine are both V1s. I have a tendency to believe less pieces is beneficial. My white Zhanchi under-performed so much so that I gave it away. My two CX3s perform the exact same. My stickerless Guhong V2 performs dramatically differently than the black one. My black one performs beautifully. I'm wondering if its those "micrometer" microscopic variances in the mechanism at play--that is those tiny bends in the plastic stems, or minor warps in cubie walls. A little separation in corner stems may affect the cube in profound ways, even just a third of a single stem. A smidgen of flashing at the core/center-cubie base can profoundly effect speed. Perhaps gluing to give stem stability and tightness coupled with a good lube job might remedy some under-performing cubes, but doing so may permanently ruin an otherwise nice cube. It aids the Gans 357, but does nothing to the CX3s. The panshi, I've wondered, might benefit though mine is fairly yar (lucky me).

Conclusion: no idea, but I have an inkling that the variance in cube quality cube to cube within a specific model has a lot to do with this. Still, when I feel the plastic of my Gans 357 primary, it feels a bit more porous and less smooth than the black one. But they perform almost identically. Who knows!? We need an actual materials science engineer to tell us this one, that or a nice microscope and tor.

Makarov said:

Nice writeup. I'm surprised you put the guangying in the quiet category - mine is as loud as a cx3 / liying.

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Thanks! I'm curious about this Guangying loudness. This is precisely what I am talking about. Same cube, completely different experiences. Your cube is loud; mine is quiet. Do your cubie caps vibrate due to looseness as the Shuang Ren's did? Mine is surprisingly solid, so much so one almost cannot tell the corner and edge caps can be popped off. It feels like a DaYan or Moyu in that manner. Solid. It was a bit louder when I received it (some call it "sandy") but not more so than the Shuang Ren. A little lube, and the sound all but disappeared. I'd say it's nearly as quiet as the Aolong V2--different sounds though.

I very much enjoyed this article, very unbiased. It's all personal preference, there are probably people out there that still use FII's or AV's.

Great piece. Thanks for posting.
Oh, and repped for "difference between dancing or doom"

Great write up. I do need to try the weilong. In my opinion, the shuang ren v2 and the gans 357 are the best cubes. They are fast and light and move effortlessly, though the shuang ren can be little catchy. The gans has it all, though and never catches.

Nice. IMO , the zhanchi and gans 357 are the best.

The micrometer differences you mentioned between cubes I find can usually be fixed by going over the cube with a knife or file when your first get it. Also breaking in helps with that. Although some stuff can probable never be fixed without replacing parts. For example when I got my Guhong V2 2-3 years ago it was actually very loud and sucked at corner cutting as you mentioned your sticker-less Guhong did. It was although one of my first speed cubes I used it until around 2 weeks ago. Over the coarse of a year the core cracked, when I replaced it I found the core had not been straight and replacing it improved the corner cutting on it a lot. I took it apart shortly after and with a knife rounded most of the edges. This helped the cube feel a lot smoother but not completely silent. Now after another 2ish years and 25,000 solves and frequent lubing it had broken in so it didn't make a noise unless I cut corners at 20 degrees. Again everything is subjective but I feel as though smoothing all the impurities down and rounding edges while not necessarily modding the cube will make it feel much better and reduce friction and catching. Also the reason why people probable don't like some cubes that another person loves is because they as an example didn't do 20,000 solves on it to break it in. Although I do agree not every cube is the same, not every cube stays the same (like you mentioned modding, lubing, and adjusting tensions). I'm not trying to say your wrong sorry if this came across that way I 100% agree with every thing you said just trying to add a bit to it.