Written Puzzle Reviews Thread

[Yann1qua12DagOat]

In this thread you can write puzzle reviews about any cubes that you've gotten recently and want to share your thoughts with people!
I'll probably write my review in a couple of days, once I've broken in the new Gan 460 M V2 that I got for Christmas today!!!

Also, merry Christmas to everyone because it is that day today

 

[Michael Wimberly]

I'm geeting a lot of cubes tomorrow, and I've been planning on reviewing them.

 

[Michael Wimberly]

I'll review a few of the cubes I got because I don't have a lot of time rn.

HuaMeng TG 3x3

So my first immediate impression with my first turns was that this cube is insanely dry, though that's normal for moyu cubes. Also, tightening this cube will significantly reduce corner-cutting, but the lowest settings are fine so that's not really much of a problem for me. It has a lot of adjustment settings, kind of reminds me of the gan 14. After lubing it and breaking it in, I really love the feel of it, it's nice and controllable because of the cube's design and I can make it as fast as I want without it losing that controllability. It's a possible new main, I'll see after a few days once it's fully broken in.

YJ MGC2 Beta 2x2

This cube is very loose out of the box, loose enough to even accidentally twist a corner on one of my first solves on it, so I tightened it and that removed the problem. It is supposed to have a classic Valk-inspired feel, and I really like that. Considering that my only other 2x2 is the Qiyi Qidi S2, this is my new main 2x2.

Vin 4x4 Apex

Like the 2x2 I got, this is a very loose cube out of the box. Once I tightened it and lubed it up, it felt quite nice. It has triple-track magnets which makes it very stable. The middle layers lock up a bit sometimes, though it's not really too big of a problem. Also, the UV coating is a bit slippery. This is probably going to replace my aosu 4x4 single-track as my main 4x4.

Tornado v4 10th anniversary edition

It comes in a really nice box which is in another really nice bag. The cube itself comes disassembled. It has a nice transparent green color. The magnet adjustment system is really good, requiring only 8 adjustments. The cube turns very smoothly. It comes with several big cards with information about the brand, as well as all the standard accessories, like the cube bag, adjustment instructions, magnet adjustment screwdriver, CFOP and Roux manuals, and it even has one of those rubber wristbands. It has 2 sets of standard stickers and a set of limited edition stickers, I put on the normal stickers because I prefer to see what I'm doing when solving the cube.


EDIT: 4x4 is Surge not Apex

 

[Yann1qua12DagOat]

Gan 460 V2 M (spoiler: it is goated)

Straight out of the box, it was very fast and the springs sounded like they were somehow super smooth? They were making very satisfying noises so could this have been a factory lube thing? Anyway, the turning of the outer layers feels just like that on my Gan 12, and I bet if the cube were 56mm then I'd be able to average the same as I do on 3x3. The inner layers are also super fast, and although loads of reviews said that the inner layers were super catchy, I haven't really noticed that a lot, with occasional lockups here and there. I literally forgot to put in lube for the first 2 weeks or so because it was already just as fast as my maglev 3x3, but when I did use a little bit of my FZ Rush it really didn't make too much of a difference. OLL parity on this 4x4 is now my favourite alg to execute out of all twisty puzzles, simply due to this cube's inner layers being so fast and satisfying to turn.
I'm not even gonna look up the price, as it'll be pretty high probably, but this cube is at least twice as good as my only other 4x4 speedcube (the Vin v1), and way faster.
Summary: Every single bad review of this cube needs to be deleted from the internet
Just kidding, but I genuinely have no idea why I couldn't see anyone liking this except for Matty from what I remember back when this cube came out. I do not own the Aosu v7, so please take my review with a grain of salt due to me never having tried the "top" cube on the market, but I truly believe that there can't be a cube that is far better than this.

I hope you guys don't go broke buying this cube

 

[L4NC3_D4_AS14N]

Gan 460 V2 M (spoiler: it is goated)

Straight out of the box, it was very fast and the springs sounded like they were somehow super smooth? They were making very satisfying noises so could this have been a factory lube thing? Anyway, the turning of the outer layers feels just like that on my Gan 12, and I bet if the cube were 56mm then I'd be able to average the same as I do on 3x3. The inner layers are also super fast, and although loads of reviews said that the inner layers were super catchy, I haven't really noticed that a lot, with occasional lockups here and there. I literally forgot to put in lube for the first 2 weeks or so because it was already just as fast as my maglev 3x3, but when I did use a little bit of my FZ Rush it really didn't make too much of a difference. OLL parity on this 4x4 is now my favourite alg to execute out of all twisty puzzles, simply due to this cube's inner layers being so fast and satisfying to turn.
I'm not even gonna look up the price, as it'll be pretty high probably, but this cube is at least twice as good as my only other 4x4 speedcube (the Vin v1), and way faster.
Summary: Every single bad review of this cube needs to be deleted from the internet
Just kidding, but I genuinely have no idea why I couldn't see anyone liking this except for Matty from what I remember back when this cube came out. I do not own the Aosu v7, so please take my review with a grain of salt due to me never having tried the "top" cube on the market, but I truly believe that there can't be a cube that is far better than this.

I hope you guys don't go broke buying this cube

The bad reviews were probably talking about the v1

 

[Caleb Valenzuela]

The bad reviews were probably talking about the v1

nah people were saying the 460 v2 was mid

 

[Yann1qua12DagOat]

Yes, these reviews were about the 460 M V2, but I guess people also said the Gan 15 wasn't that good at the start (from what I remember), so sometimes I think the price is just such an important factor in people's reviews

 

[Caleb Valenzuela]

Yes, these reviews were about the 460 M V2, but I guess people also said the Gan 15 wasn't that good at the start (from what I remember), so sometimes I think the price is just such an important factor in people's reviews

I remember people saying the 15 was ok but it would just be better to get the 12

 

[Michael Wimberly]

I AM REVIVING THIS THREAD

Moretry Tianma X3+ V4 Review, Part 1: First Impressions

I recently got this cube because I was curious to try out a moretry cube, and let me just say I do not regret buying this cube. I got it with the FZ setup from thecubicle and boy it is fast. I think most of this speed can be attributed to the cube itself, but the setup certainly helps. Most people may find this too uncontrollable, but as someone who is a sucker for fast cubes I am pleased. The feel of this cube is unique, kind of bumpy? There are multiple points in each turn where the magnets aren't affecting it, which creates a subtle bumpy feel. It has a nice muted, hollow sound. The colors on this cube are slightly lighter and more washed out than some other cubes.

Let's take a moment to check out the very unique magnet layout. During first turns, I noticed strong auto-alignment and stability, so I naturally assumed there was a ball core with some repelling edge magnets. But when I took the cube apart, there were no core magnets, just corner base to edge base magnets. That explained the stability, but not the auto-alignment. I looked in one of the pamphlets that came with the cube to see what was going on, and apparently there were large ring shaped magnets in the base of the center pieces that repelled the corner base magnets, accelerating the turn halfway through and creating that auto-alignment. Also, there are 6 maglev rings in each screw? I don't know that benefit that creates, but it probably has some sort of benefit over normal maglev.

Other than that, the cube is quite simple. The magnets are in capsules, and it comes with 6 replacement magnet capsules in case the magnet capsules crack or break. I wish the tornado v3 came with this. The dual adjustment system is quite simple, with just a screw and a hand adjustable tensioning ring with 9 settings. The cube came with a blank center cap, which is good for blind solvers, but I'm not a blind solver so I just slapped a cubicle logo on it and called it a day. The UV coating on this cube doesn't really stand out, and it looks similar to regular glossy plastic but more scratch resistant and grippy. All of this comes in a sleek black and gold box.

That's what I think of this cube right now (I got it 2 days ago), I'll write a second review after I've used it a lot more.