Ghost Hand II 3x3x3 [Review]
Where: eBay UK
When: 9 days ago (arrived today)
Thoughts:
I bought the Ghost Hand 2 after hearing some pretty good stuff about it, though the main attraction for me was that it's supposedly a very quiet cube - which comes in pretty handy in certain situations (ie. university lectures)! My first proper speed cube had been the Zhanchi, so I'll write this with the comparison in mind.
Straight out of the box, the Ghost Hand is incredibly smooth and almost frictionless. I'm pretty sure it wasn't pre-lubed but it's so good it almost felt like it! It's actually smoother than my unlubed Zhanchi, so I can't wait to see how it performs when lubed (I'll post an update when I do it).
Speed-wise, obviously the smoothness makes it fast, but it's so much more controllable than the Zhanchi. It doesn't 'accidentally' twist too far during speed solving and it seems to click into place with each turn. It's a much nicer feel than the Zhanchi (there, I said it), just a teeny bit slower as a result. And as I said, this is unlubed, so I haven't even unlocked all of its potential yet.
Corner-cutting isn't great; it does line-to-line perfectly but anything over is just impossible. That said, I haven't tensioned it yet so I'm sure it could be better. Reverse corner-cutting is worse; it manages a few degrees offset but nothing extreme. But to be honest, if you're good enough at handling a cube this will never be a problem, and the fact that it clicks into place when turning definitely helps.
The build quality is good; it's certainly lighter than the Zhanchi, and a tad smaller. The cubies themselves are actually hollowed and the piece technology is quite primitive, sort of like the stuff you get on standard Rubik's brand cubes. Nevertheless, it works really well and it hasn't popped on me once so far. Though I haven't tried yet (for obvious reasons
), I can imagine it would smash into pieces if dropped, so it's certainly not as sturdy as any of my other cubes (perhaps excluding the Type F-III).
The stickers I got on mine were really nice. Other reviews I've seen have talked about 'rough, paper-like texture' stickers but the ones I received are really durable, nicely-coloured and glossy. You can actually see your reflection in the faces! Unfortunately it didn't come with a spare set
And in terms of noise, it's slightly quieter than the Zhanchi but certainly not silent. The piece technology means that you hear it bumping over each cubie as the faces rotate. Although yet again it's not lubed, so I'll try that out and see if it makes it quieter.
Overall verdict: this is a seriously good cube, not quite as advanced as the Zhanchi (or any other Dayan cubes for that matter really) but certainly worth getting if you want something smooth, fast and controllable. I
really like the feel of this cube. I have a feeling it's going to be my main cube for a while and I'm hoping to get some good averages with it. If you don't have a Ghost Hand II, get one!
