The packaging has been updated from the old plain paper box to the new slide-out one, which makes it feel more premium.
The colours are completely identical to the v1: standard Mofangge half-bright shades as you would see on their flagship releases. With a matte(?) surface finish, the aesthetics are preserved while also providing better grip.
The width is 0.5 mm smaller than the v1. While this is a small difference, holding the cube in one's hands, the improved handling provided by the 0.5 mm reduction can be clearly felt.
As the walls of the pieces are thinner and many holes have been introduced, this cube is 31 g lighter than the v1, coming in at 159 g. This makes it the lightest among all 6×6 speedcubes as of yet, greatly reducing strain on one's hands during long sessions.
The Shadow v2 also fixes two pain points of the v1: the weak magnets and the excessive spring force. The stronger magnets provide increased stability and the reduced springiness also significantly reduces the resistance to each turn.
Besides that, the Shadow v2 also features two other improvements. One is the larger Florian holes. The other is the increased number of anti-stick tracks.
Despite that, the OOTB feel of the Shadow v2 is nothing remarkable. The inner layers are overly sticky, and combined with the stronger magnets, it takes much force to initiate turns. Breaking it in is a truly gruelling experience.
After one hundred solves, the resistance is much reduced, and the feeling is like a 6×6 version of the Valk 5. Clean and smooth, and the way the pieces contact each other feels very Mofangge.
I am among the first to have received the Shadow v2 and I've done 600 solves on it, so I'm pretty sure this is near the limit of what the Shadow v2 can reach. Despite its many improvements (over the v1), I don't get any better results on it compared to the other predominant 6×6s.
That said, the Shadow v2 is still a competitive product, with its small size, light weight, and high stability. I look forward to seeing how others will perform with the Shadow v2!
