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[Review] GuoGuan YueXiao

Rate this cube 1-10!

  • 10 - Best of the best

    Votes: 35 26.5%
  • 9 - Main material

    Votes: 68 51.5%
  • 8 - Great, but won't be my main

    Votes: 19 14.4%
  • 7 - Decent cube

    Votes: 5 3.8%
  • 6 - Could be better, something is off

    Votes: 2 1.5%
  • 5 - It's pretty average

    Votes: 1 0.8%
  • 4 - Meh

    Votes: 1 0.8%
  • 3 - It's below average

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • 2 - Hype = MeiYu. Reality = MeiYu

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • 1 - Oh my goodness ... this is awful

    Votes: 1 0.8%

  • Total voters
    132

TheChaiCuber

Member
Joined
Sep 30, 2015
Messages
224
Location
San Francisco
WCA
2016CHAI03
My review of the GuoGuan YueXiao!

I set up my cube by putting a drop of weight 4 and a drop of weight 5 on the pieces. The tensions are moderate and I have not adjusted it out-of-the-box.

Pros

1 - Almost full corner-cutting. Normal cuts are nearly 2 pieces and the reverse turning can cut 1 piece. It's so ridiculous that sometimes you think that if you reach a point that the cube can't cut normal, it'll just reverse corner-cut instead of lock-up.
2 - This is a very stable cube. The weight is distributed pretty evenly throughout all the layers to provide a comfortable turning experience. It's not super flexible. I would compare the flexibility of this cube to an AoLong V2.
3 - This thing never corner-twists. Should corner-twisting even be talked about when squared-off corners are a feature?
4 - Lock-ups aren't an issue due to the insane corner-cutting (Catches are listed in the Cons category).

Cons:

1 - The combination of the smoothness and speed of this cube caused me to overshoot a lot. Although catches aren't something that occur directly due to the mechanism of the cube, it is a by-product of the constant overshooting. I fixed this by lubing it as described above.

Feel

Since this is subjective I decided not to list this in either the pro or con section.

I actually believe this cube carries the feel and resemblance of 4 cubes: the TangLong, the MeiYing, the YuXin and the AoLong V2. The cube carries the smoothness of a TangLong and at the same time carries the bumpiness of the MeiYing and YuXin which is quite contradictory. The reason I listed the YuXin here is because the YueXiao's layers can be effortlessly turned. The MeiYing and TangLong just require more force to turn the layers. The force needed to turn this puzzle is similar to the Yuxin modded with maru CX3 soft springs. YueXiao is very snappy and the cube doesn't really flex (edge pieces don't move around during big cuts) much like the Aolong V2.

Conclusion

In terms of turning and solving performance, this cube is hands down the best cube on the market. It cuts anywhere, it doesn't flex, doesn't corner-twist, doesn't lock-up and doesn't catch if lubed correctly. The feel is also one of the more unique feels for 3x3s. One could argue it carries a very similar resemblance to the MeiYing, but this cube takes so many feels from other cubes and combines them all together. I think the feel is its own. I believe the only reason one would not choose this cube as their main is because they cannot lube the cube to their liking in terms of speed and overshooting, or they prefer the feel of another cube over this one.

I'm with JRCUBER in saying that unless you are a collector or you are being sponsored that you shouldn't try and get every single new 3x3 out there, but to me this is the exception. I think this is one of those revolutionary cubes that leave a huge imprint on the market such as the ZhanChi and AoLong V2 releases. I cannot be more blatant enough: Get this cube! Even if it doesn't turn out to be your main, it's something that's worth having.

Grade: A+
 

TheChaiCuber

Member
Joined
Sep 30, 2015
Messages
224
Location
San Francisco
WCA
2016CHAI03
Not sure if anyone else has had this problem, but my Yuexiao sometimes catches on the centres. Because of this, the centres themselves will twist if the lockup is really bad.

I had that issue before, but as I said in the OP I believe that it's due to the cube overshooting often. Slowing it down makes the cube much more accurate and I think catches become much less of an issue.


Coolio
 

NubCubing

Member
Joined
Dec 20, 2015
Messages
17
Location
Somewhere over the rainbow
WCA
2016CHEO01
Where I got this cube from: speedcubeshop.com
When I got this cube: 26th January
My thoughts: This cube was my main RIGHT OUT OF THE BOX. OOTB, it had Moyu's signature sandy feel and extreme scratchiness, along with extreme speed. After doing my first "session" of breaking in, the sandy feel and extreme scratchiness was replaced by a slight paperish feel. But after my friend broke it in, the paperish feel was gone, to be replaced by a smooth feel, with the slightest hint of snappiness. If you ask me, this feels like a mixture of a Zhanchi (it has it's slight snappiness) and a Meiying. The best cube on the market right now. Also, there was only 1 spot i found where it could not corner cut effortlessly (though it will cut there if you use some force). It's right behind the area on the center piece where it can't do a reverse cut, so it does a regular cut. In all my solves, I got 1 corner twist and about 2-3 very minor catches. But you guys don't need to worry about this; I found out these problems were from my rough and inaccurate turning style. So, buy away! You won't regret it.

Overall grade: Off the scales

EDIT: I've had this cube for quite a while now, and I've lubed it with my friend's Lubicle. But after breaking it in, it's so smooth, it feels a bit gummy. I'm going to test wiping out a bit of the lube. And, I just can't get my normal times on this. I am a sub-40 average cuber, but I get sub-45 to sub-50 solves on this cube. Probably because I can't control it that well, or my turning style...

EDIT AGAIN: I screwed up lubing my black YueXiao, so now it's gummyER, but luckily I have my stickerless one! The shades are like a slightly brighter version of the Moyu Color Scheme, though I do tend to think the green and orange look a bit ugly. The feeling is as described before, except it doesn't have the snappiness anymore, and is a crisp, smooth feeling, and not as crazy smooth anymore. It also appears the stickerless one is faster than my black one, being able to pull of 270s with one flick easier than the black version, though still very controllable. My Ao12 on this is 33.47 with an Ao5 of 32.86, which I'm quite happy with. The stickerless one is my current main over my black one, due to overall better performance and feeling.
 
Last edited:

dskids

Member
Joined
Dec 21, 2015
Messages
302
Location
Virginia
WCA
2017SKID01
Where purchased: Cubezz
When: Jan 11, 2016 (first day it was listed on Cubezz), received late Jan

First Impressions: Out of the box I liked the speed and the tensions were perfect. A little bit of spring noise and pretty dry feeling. The turning feel was good, and each layer seemed to slip right into place. The sound was strange. Didn't care for the hollow plasticky sound it makes (still don't) but the interesting "slip" sound that the pieces make against each other is satisfying and unique.

After setup and break-in: This cube is one of my fastest, while managing to be one of the most stable and forgiving. Lubing the core got rid of the spring noise completely. I put just a small amount of wt 3 on the torpedoes and corner stalks because I wanted to maintain that sort of dry slippy feel. The result is amazing. It turns precisely with an extremely satisfying feel. The pieces mesh together with a soft buttery feeling when turned slow. The only thing I would change about this cube at all is the sound it makes, maybe round the outer edges just a tad more. If it had the exact same feel and performance but sounded like a TangLong I'd be in heaven. Either way, it has become my main and is my all-time favorite, edging out the AoLong V2 and TangLong.

Bottom Line: The unique feel of this cube, combined with its superior combination of speed, stability, and corner cutting make this one of the most interesting cubes to be released in a while. It receives my highest recommendation, and is a must own for anyone who likes balanced performance and lighter feeling cubes.
 

TheChaiCuber

Member
Joined
Sep 30, 2015
Messages
224
Location
San Francisco
WCA
2016CHAI03
Pros:
SO FAST FULL 360 1 flick if lubed correctly!!!
No locking
56.5 mm
60 degrees corner cutting and line to line reverse
Cons:
NONE
Grade A++++++++

It's great that you love this cube. However, I'd like to tell u also that the degrees it can turn with 1 flick does not indicate speed. It's a combination of both speed and smoothness. For example the thunderclap is a much faster puzzle than the Tanglong but the Tanglong can do U2 easily while the thunderclap doesn't do as well as the Tanglong. The Yuexiao is both smooth and fast, resulting in the huge turning with 1 flick like I said above. People who watch cubeytime tend to assume 1 flick turning shows speed of the cube.


Coolio
 
Joined
Aug 20, 2014
Messages
441
Location
Location
WCA
2014SRIT01
YouTube
Visit Channel
Now that I've heard so many good reviews about this puzzle, I'm considering buying this cube
So i just want to know, How does it compare to the MoYu Weilong V2 (My Current Main) based on the aspects of Speed, Scratchiness and Weight ??
 

TheChaiCuber

Member
Joined
Sep 30, 2015
Messages
224
Location
San Francisco
WCA
2016CHAI03
Now that the hype has died down, lets take a look at the Yuexiao :)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rf6e9WBvUtU

Great review and nice intro lol. However... BLASPHEMY!!!! I really think every speed cuber (even those who's main are the meiying) should get it. Every other cube is a money drain if you're satisfied with your main except this one.

It's just a difference in opinion, I'm not trying to call you out for saying that lol >.<


Coolio
 

TheChaiCuber

Member
Joined
Sep 30, 2015
Messages
224
Location
San Francisco
WCA
2016CHAI03
This cube was so frustrating to me (I traded mine away because I didn't enjoy solving with it). The feel of the cube was irritating to me and it was completely uncontrollable for my turning style.

That's unfortunate, did you try heavy lubricant? I admit before doing that it was too fast and slick.


Coolio
 
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