Zain_A24
Veteran
GAN 356RS and RSM Review – KewbzUK
Sections:
- Review of Service
- Review of Cube – GAN 356RS
- Unboxing
- OOTB
- Lube + Tension
- Break-in
- Magnetisation
- Final Thoughts
Review of Store
General InfoName: KewbzUK
Link: https://kewbz.co.uk/
DISCOUNT CODE - "CRITIC"
Once again, another flawless service from KewbzUK. Huge thanks to KewbzUK for sending this over to review, and I hope the team stays safe and well during this time.
Review of Cube
General InfoName – GAN 356 RS
Link – https://www.kewbz.co.uk/products/gan-356-rs?_pos=2&_sid=c8c05a2c8&_ss=r
Availability – Stickerless
Price - £13.99 (USE "CRITIC" for further discount)
Size – 56mm
Brief Overview
The GAN 356RS is the second budget cube from GAN, following the GAN 356R. The 356R certainly receives some mixed reviews, with many cubers seeing a need to add magnets to what was a cube designed to need them, with its unstable nature. With the RS, GAN hope to make a bigger impact in the budget 3x3 market. The GAN 356RS uses identical piece designs to the GAN 356 XS, which boasts a high-quality performance, speed and interaction during cornercutting.
GAN IPG Tensioning System
The tensioning system in the RS is equivalent to the more recent 356M, featuring 3 settings. The nut distance can be set to either 0.6 or 0.8, with the third setting being 0 allowing for the nut to be removed. Apart from that, the cube is fairly simple and doesn’t offer the customisation options of the more expensive counterparts.
Out of the Box
First Impressions – Before TurningAppearance
With reference to the XS, the stickerless shades are identical, with bright colours offering great contrast for use in lower light levels. GAN has begun to adopt the matte look with all modern releases. The core is also identical to the XS, consisting of a lighter plastic core with a simpler IPG system.
Pieces
The pieces consist of the trademark GAN honeycomb design, allowing for effective lubricant distribution and reduced friction. The inner mechanism uses primary plastic as opposed to the black plastic found on both the stickerless and black versions of the GAN 356XS.
Feel
Immediately, I notice the cube has a slippery feeling compared to the polished GAN X. The frosted plastic is less grippy than traditional cubes, but this would be something I am aware will become grippier after several solves, since this is a characteristic of the XS.
First Turns
The cube has the speed of the flagships. What is missing of course are the magnets. The lack of magnets creates a noticeable difference in initial times, and since the pieces of this cube is designed to be used with magnets, it certainly leaves the cube with a fast yet unstable feel, which could be corrected through setup and lubrication. The initial setting was on 0.6, and I don’t see many cubers using the looser 0.8 setting out of the box unless they were to add magnets to the puzzle as well as slow it down. This is just my initial thoughts, and it will be subject to change once I break it in and set it up to my preferred feel.
Cornercutting
The cornercutting on this cube out of the box is as follows:
Forward – 40 Degrees
Reverse – Line to Line
Cornercutting on this cube – similarly to the XS – is effortless at the angles which would be cut during solves. I have mentioned this before but it is worth mentioning again since it is a common misconception in the cubing industry: the angle at which a cube cuts does not determine the performance of the cube. What is much more important is the force required to cut the angles during solves, as well as how consistent and reliable these cuts are. With the RS, the cornercutting is excellent, and exceeds the cornercutting performance of many other cubes at its pricepoint.
Solves
After several solves, I did notice that I was catching, partially due to the slippery nature of the plastic out of the box but also due to how fast and unstable the cube is in its initial setup. The lack of magnets is producing a noticeable difference to my regular times with the more premium GAN counterparts, and setup will be necessary in order to see if this cube is worthy of being used at competitions.
Setup
SetupSince the core only uses plastic to plastic contact, I decided not to lubricate it. I used Lubest PRO and SpeedCubeShop Galaxy on the pieces and mixed it with small amounts of Adheron to get a preferred speed. I also kept the IPG tensioning on “0.6”.
Break-in
After doing several solves, the cube is noticeably slower, which provides an increase in stability. However, what does remain is catching due to misalignments, and I will be magnetising this cube to help rectify this issue.
Magnetisation
For magnetisations, I usually use 4x2 N35 magnets as a base, and if they are too weak, I add further magnets wither over the top or on the opposite side of the piece. Due to our current curcumstances, I was only able to use 4x2 N35 magnets.
Magnetisations for GAN cubes is different to your traditional magnetisations. The cube features caps as opposed to separate pieces, meaning the cube has to be disassembled completely. After disassembly, the caps were removed by gently pushing a flathead screwdriver in the slots, and the cube was reassembled without the caps. I added and glued two magnets, one in the edge and one in the corner, and proceeded to moving the layers to match the edge with every corner. I continued to adding magnets to the edges. Tis method is guaranteed to work without causing errors with polarities and repelling magnets.
After magnetising the cube, I noticed they were on the weaker side, and I will certainly be returning to it to add extra stronger magnets. With the weaker magnets, the cube is doing just enough to maintain its stability during turns and catching did reduce due to this. I am inexperienced when it comes to magnetising cubes, with my previous projects including the Meilong 4x4 and MF3RS2 which I used as mains for a very long time. Some of the caps were not completely seated, meaning the friction between pieces increased, and a unique and noticeable bump between turns was derived, which would eventually be rectified after removing excess glue and breaking in the cube.
Final Thoughts
Should you buy the GAN 356RS?Yes and No.
The GAN RS is lacking something that many cubes at this price has – magnets. Magnets are crucial in providing a cube with the necessary stability needed to perform reliably. Magnets, however, are not necessary in every puzzle. Cubes such as the MF3RS2 and RS3, slower and blockier in nature yet very stable, do not need magnets to perform well, and their non-magnetic counterparts were used by many cubers in the past. With GAN, however, the cubes are designed to have higher tolerances and movement between pieces, and magnets are crucial in providing the cube with all-important stability. The lack of magnets is the main negative of this cube. The magnetisation process is not the easiest, since there is little room inside the piece for the magnets to be seated and glued correctly, and some beginners may have troubles in producing a magnetic version of this cube.
Over to the positives. Since the GAN RS features the design of the XS, there is a guaranteed reliability and performance in terms of speed and cornercutting. I much prefer receiving a cube which is too fast than one which is too slow, and the RS shows this characteristic immediately out of the box. The cube would be an excellent magnetisation option for those who want a cube with a premium feel for a fraction of the price.
For those who do not like setting up cubes, this one is probably not for you. However, for those cubers that like to collect, cubers on a budget, or all-round fans of GAN’s products, this cube is for you.
The budget to mid-range cube category is extremely competitive, and it would be interesting to know how this cube has done in comparison to other releases from the likes of QiYi and MoYu. GAN has also released a GAN 356M, which for a slightly higher price, offers strong magnets and adjustable elasticity, which is also an excellent option to consider.
My previous reviews:
Mofang Jiaoshi Meilong 4x4 and 4x4M – https://www.speedsolving.com/threads/meilong-4x4-and-4x4m-review-vs-yuxin-little-magic-4x4m.75098/
MoYu Aosu WR M 4x4 – https://www.speedsolving.com/threads/moyu-aosu-wr-m-review-vs-aosu-gts2m.75317/
YJ Yuchuang V2M 5x5 – https://www.speedsolving.com/thread...-review-vs-little-magic-5x5m-britcubes.75213/
YuXin Huanglong 5x5M – https://www.speedsolving.com/threads/yuxin-huanglong-5x5m-opinions-thoughts.75435/
DaYan TengYun 2x2M – https://www.speedsolving.com/threads/dayan-tengyun-2x2m-thoughts-and-opinions.76009/
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