3x3 Gan Mini M Pro - My Impressions - Must Watch Before Buying

[Dan the Beginner]

UPDATE. Have a look at this corner piece, after I took it off the cube and then pry open each of the coloured plates. Tiles? They just snap on. I did it to see how I should glue the plates, or where to apply glue, but discovered something interesting inside the corner piece.

The 3 magnets (for attracting other magnets in the edge pieces) are tiny and the adjustment turbine looking disc in the middle of them is interesting. When one of the adjustment lever is pushed, the whole ring turns and moves the other levers. At the same time a lower disc underneath this turbine would rise or lower, changing the distance between the two discs and thereby changing the core magnet distance and magnet strength, i.e. pushing or pulling back the core magnet rod (see Gan's video about their core magnet adjustment, if you are not clear about this). This fancy adjustment system should show why the cube is costly to make. The disc is smaller than a dime, about 14mm. Imagine the delicate assembly work. I suspect there is some sort of leverage linkage design beneath to raise or lower the disc below!

Back to those 3 tiny magnets, they actually provide quite strong attraction forces between the pieces. Since they are positioned right at the corner, i.e. as far away as possible from the centre of the whole cube, they work well in spite of their size. That position means their force is applied at a longer distance from the fulcrum of turning and therefore makes the force stronger. The super lightweight plastic must have also helped, and it's possible those are strong though small magnets.

Minor warning. This cube pops fairly easily if you twist a piece to try to pull it out, to disassamble it. I wanted to investigate the corner piece and take it out. I started by pulling out the edge piece adjacent to the corner piece, twisting and turning it, and two other pieces popped and flew out. Be gentle with this cube. I have no idea whether this indicates any popping problem in solves, as I am a slower turner. I also like my cubes tigher, and have tightened the spring distance of this one to a "1", although the number shown could be anything.

Another warning. Do not take all those plates on all the corners apart at the same time. It will be hard to know which is where when it's time to put them back. Do it one corner piece at a time, and have the cube in a solved state to avoid confusion. Re-assemble each corner piece and put back into the solved cube first, to make sure you have got the right colours in the correction positions, before working on another corner piece.

 

[CubeRed]

The 3 magnets (for attracting other magnets in the edge pieces) are tiny and the adjustment turbine looking disc in the middle of them is interesting. When one of the adjustment lever is pushed, the whole ring turns and moves the other levers. At the same time a lower disc underneath this turbine would rise or lower, changing the distance between the two discs and thereby changing the core magnet distance and magnet strength, i.e. pushing or pulling back the core magnet rod (see Gan's video about their core magnet adjustment, if you are not clear about this). This fancy adjustment system should show why the cube is costly to make. The disc is smaller than a dime, about 14mm. Imagine the delicate assembly work. I suspect there is some sort of leverage linkage design beneath to raise or lower the disc below!

Extraordinary! It's kind of like the core tensioning system on the RS3M, I suppose. GAN is just constantly innovating, even though a bit expensive. Excited where they would go next. So much have been done, yet newer things show up.

 

[Dan the Beginner]

Extraordinary! It's kind of like the core tensioning system on the RS3M, I suppose. GAN is just constantly innovating, even though a bit expensive. Excited where they would go next. So much have been done, yet newer things show up.

Agree. As I have said before, when news of this cube first broke, it is nice that someone bothered to make an expensive small flagship cube. There is no reason why the top products must be 56mm, since so many of the top speedcubers are very young and have small hands. If Gan is listening, please make a small version of the i3. The grown up commenters may groan, but the best products are arguably needed by the best speedcubers (young ones). Besides, it would help to promote Gan products when these young top speedcubers win with the small flagship and a properly made one should be easier for them to break records than a larger one, everything else being the same.

From what I've seen of cube moding videos, super glue is commonly used. Just make sure that you squeeze it out onto a surface then use something like a needle to apply it... Don't squeeze it directly onto the cube, that way lays sadness

Thank you so much. Great advice.

UPDATE - October 16, 2021

There is apparently a replacement part available from Gan to fix the problem, based on a video I have watched. The new part, the blue dial with the numbers, for adjusting spring distance, has sharper cogs that prevent gear slipping. See photo extracted from the video, the new part is the one on the left.

My recommendation is not to buy unless you are sure you are buying the cube with this fix. I am not sure when or if overseas products already sold will be getting this fix though.

All credit and thanks to the creator of the video:

【GAN mini M pro】设计通病自动调轴距问题，已得到解决。更换变距粒_哔哩哔哩_bilibili

新视频呀～求求各位多点点赞再发个评论，能一件三连就更好啦！记得点个关注，寒假抽奖给你们, 视频播放量 2902、弹幕量 1、点赞数 67、投硬币枚数 14、收藏人数 16、转发人数 3, 视频作者 q喷墨章鱼q, 作者简介 都可接~合作+vx：PMZY0315 （备注来意）加不上的可私信，相关视频：听劝，学了三阶提速H公式！，这个魔方应该叫啥呢，复原魔方真的有万能公式吗？，原来魔方还可以这样玩！，大家快看看，魔方是怎么瞬间复原的？，魔方换新皮肤要多久，直升机魔方两角换（无jumble转动），七对体质还在，桥式单次五秒，如何预判第一组F2L-使用色相和三色定则提速预判速度

www.bilibili.com

You have to wonder why nobody else seems to have noticed this serious problem or pointed it out in the reviews so far. Actually, there are not too many reviews outside of China, and that is an indicator. When a product is not reviewed after a long period, suspect problems. Reviewers who are sponsored or given free new products would rather not make any video or post reviews than to point out serious issues. This is why we come to forums, as there are actual user (buyer) reviews.

I have used superglue and it works fine on plastic. Just be careful there is no extra residue that could get caught on something.
But I have no idea how you managed to catch your nail on that corner though because usually your fingers should not be around there I presume.

Thanks. It only happens once in several days, most likely due to poor finger skills or the angle I am doing the M' turns. I admit that instead of pushing that layer in the best direction, I sometimes turn my wrist and let the fingers turn towards my forearm and therefore they would slide over that gap between the pieces and towards the corner piece. I noticed that the plastic is thinner there and it is not as tightly clamped onto the piece as in other cubes.

After another week, I can confirm that this is a great attempt to create a truly great small flagship grade cube, but it is still an attempt. I look forward to a Mini M V2 with all teething problem fixed. I think that it has a very nice size for me, but probably a little too light and hollow to feel better when turning, as nicely as the Moyu Weilong 2021 or the Tornado V2, for example. I suppose you have to have some weight or mass to generate enough turning momentum. The corning cutting is no problem, but that and all the leading edge specification and features in this Gan (my first) do not seem to deliver what I had expected in a cube costing 2 times or 3 times as much.

UPDATE - Oct 19, 2021. It just happened again, the fourth time (in 11 days). The nail of my pinkie clipped and lifted up the sharp plate of that corner piece. It did not really hurt but it could, if you have more tender skin underneath your nail. I think it only happens if the pinkie is used, as it is shorter and can end up pointing to that gap in the pieces. The important thing is that it is now making me quite uncomfortable and worried when doing M' moves. This should not happen IMO, even if I have poor finger skill. I had not experienced this with any of my other 15 cubes. I think I will just put it away.

 

[LBr]

I think they should just make the pieces evenly proportioned, rather than keeping the core of a 56mm cube and then replacing and cutting the pieces. It makes it feel rushed and done just to sell more cubes

 

[Dan the Beginner]

and here is another review about the problem, the more serious of the two problems I mentioned, and a fix.

There is no mention of when the fixed products will be available and what Gan would do for those who already bought the defective version before this fix. There is as yet nothing from anyone about the other lesser problem I mentioned.

I don't expect any recall from Gan or any action from the local dealer. I think I will apply my own fix.

1. I will take the the blue disc out, separate the 2 parts, and use Loctite to stick the 2 parts of the 2 blue disks together. You might want to wait until you have decided what setting is best for you. For me, it should be "1". Nail polish will do as well, I believe. Doing this will make the setting permanent, until you break them apart with a solvent or just by force.

2. I will glue the edge of the easy to-peel-off plates of the corner pieces, using some strong glue/bond, to make sure it will never separate from the main body of the corner pieces.

I actually think it will be a pretty good cube after these fixes, for those who prefer a small and light cube.

UPDATE - October 23, 2021. For the second problem, I have also found another solution, i.e. to avoid the finger nail catching that corner piece. By tilting the whole cube down, I can avoid the nail scraping the cube when doing the M' move.

 

[doozza]

I think they should just make the pieces evenly proportioned, rather than keeping the core of a 56mm cube and then replacing and cutting the pieces. It makes it feel rushed and done just to sell more cubes

First, it is too much of a redesign, and the cost could probably be too high to justify the purchase for potential buyer.
And second, if they made center pieces smaller, the cube would not fit the new Gan cube stand. Imagine buying three luxurious stands and putting there your favorite Gan cubes: the glorious UV coated 12 maglev, the intelligent 356 i2, and the wonderful mini m Pro, which doesn't fit, you can't put it there. That is a showstopper.
Gotta try the cube for myself though in order to tell, whether the disproportion impacts performance in any way (being a slow solver yet). I kinda like the visuals actually, makes it look a bit beefy.

 

[Dan the Beginner]

First, it is too much of a redesign, and the cost could probably be too high to justify the purchase for potential buyer.
And second, if they made center pieces smaller, the cube would not fit the new Gan cube stand. Imagine buying three luxurious stands and putting there your favorite Gan cubes: the glorious UV coated 12 maglev, the intelligent 356 i2, and the wonderful mini m Pro, which doesn't fit, you can't put it there. That is a showstopper.
Gotta try the cube for myself though in order to tell, whether the disproportion impacts performance in any way (being a slow solver yet). I kinda like the visuals actually, makes it look a bit beefy.

I haven't found the uneven sizes of the cube pieces a problem. In fact, I did not notice anything different as a result of that, and that is after switching back and forth between it and other small cubes like the Guhong V3.

It is true that these quality issues are disappointing, even though I can fix or mitigate them. It is foregivable if everything else is fantastic, but based on my 2 weeks of use, the cube is not very special in spite of all the fancy features. It is not really so quiet, not much different in performance compared to other much cheaper flagships, e.g. the Moyu Weilong 2021, not really as silky and luxury feeling as some, e.g. the Tornado V2. Great for those who like ticking off a list of features, but even after my fixes, I am still not impressed. The only thing I am really impressed with is the light weight, but that's not enough at this price IMO. If it can also provide the Bluetooth smartness, then I would be willing to buy another like it next time.

UPDATE - October 28, 2021.

Besides Shawn's video, I have not heard from anyone else about the problem of the slipping discs or about the fix. Neither have I been offered a fix by Gan, the dealer or even told about the problem. I hope the later batches have the new part and buyers who buy it now do not have this problem.

As for the second problem, when my nail can clip the corner piece, I fixed it myself. Instead of gluing, I used fine sandpaper and cut the corners , making those offending corners more rounded and also more contoured, i.e. sloping towards the gap in between the cube pieces. See photo. This seems to be working and I have not experienced the problem after 3 days. It took me a couple of hours of work though to make it smmoth (there are 24 such corners), and I also had to clean all the pieces and corner due to the fine plastic dust.

As you can see those corners are no longer sharp. I wonder why all cubes are not made this way. I am sure someone would ask if this is still legal for competitions. I don't see why not. If you look at how the other pieces in the cube have been rounded and changed in shape by Gan, what I did should not be any issue.

This (below) is how it looked before the operation.

 

[DavyP]

Ok, I’m going to offer my opinion here after biting my tongue. I collect cubes, so I have the Gan mini, I have the 12 maglev, 12 leap etc. I think because of the price of the Gan cubes they get a bit more attention. Re the alleged Mini problems, I haven’t had them, it kind of reminds me of people complaining about drift on the Nintendo Switch controller, I have not had that. But would it be cool to say it existed, I don‘t know.

So I call bull… as for the Gan 12 series I still have to form an opinion as I have not spent the time with them to give a fair opinion, at this time I prefer my soft feel Gan 11 over the 12 series.

I just don’t understand why someone would spend so much time and effort, photos and all, to nit pick over silly things and call them out as fact. My mini is fine, I don’t need to provide pictures as to why it is. I will admit I am still unsure about the 12 series but what does it matter.

But I guess I will have to endure a full break down on why they are bad too at some point.

 

[qwr]

As you can see those corners are no longer sharp. I wonder why all cubes are not made this way.

Cubes used to have rounded corners. Here's a Yuexiao pro, a cube from a few years ago

However almost all cubes nowadays have squared-off corners because it helps a lot with preventing corner twists with more aggressive turning.

I think because of the price of the Gan cubes they get a bit more attention. Re the alleged Mini problems, I haven’t had them, it kind of reminds me of people complaining about drift on the Nintendo Switch controller, I have not had that. But would it be cool to say it existed, I don‘t know.

We can hope Shawn from SCR is right and the newer batches are fixed.
Joycon drift on the other hand has not been fixed for years, and apparently Nintendo only did something when the word "lawsuit" was mentioned: not fix the issue but surreptitiously offer free replacements. It's a well-documented huge disaster for Nintendo.

 

[Dan the Beginner]

Cubes used to have rounded corners. Here's a Yuexiao pro, a cube from a few years ago

View attachment 17514


However almost all cubes nowadays have squared-off corners because it helps a lot with preventing corner twists with more aggressive turning.

We can hope Shawn from SCR is right and the newer batches are fixed.
Joycon drift on the other hand has not been fixed for years, and apparently Nintendo only did something when the word "lawsuit" was mentioned: not fix the issue but surreptitiously offer free replacements. It's a well-documented huge disaster for Nintendo.

Thank you. So, there are or have been nail friendly corner pieces. I understand better now. So, my cube should be "legal".

Ok, I’m going to offer my opinion here after biting my tongue. I collect cubes, so I have the Gan mini, I have the 12 maglev, 12 leap etc. I think because of the price of the Gan cubes they get a bit more attention. Re the alleged Mini problems, I haven’t had them, it kind of reminds me of people complaining about drift on the Nintendo Switch controller, I have not had that. But would it be cool to say it existed, I don‘t know.

So I call bull… as for the Gan 12 series I still have to form an opinion as I have not spent the time with them to give a fair opinion, at this time I prefer my soft feel Gan 11 over the 12 series.

I just don’t understand why someone would spend so much time and effort, photos and all, to nit pick over silly things and call them out as fact. My mini is fine, I don’t need to provide pictures as to why it is. I will admit I am still unsure about the 12 series but what does it matter.

But I guess I will have to endure a full break down on why they are bad too at some point.

Sorry if my comments, which are honestly as I see the issues and meant to help members considering this small cube, are not what you had expected. I was expecting a great cube myself, as this is not a cheap cube and it's my first Gan. If you have read my previous posts, there are besides Shawn's video, also links to 4 others (Asian sites) mentioning the same problem of the slipping spring settings. I believe the best use of a forum like this is to help and share with each other info not available from the usual sources. In particular negative comments on products, whether cubes, laptops, software, or whatever, are IMO more valuable and helpful. I have been using this cube daily for the past 3 weeks, and that's what my opinion and comments are based on.

I wanted to like the cube, in spite of the issues, and have persisted. The size and weight are great for me. With those sharp corners rounded and smoothened, it is now fine in turning. I have got used to adjusting the spring setting daily or every other day, and as soon as I am sure I can decide on a final setting, I will lock the setting in with Loctite. Then, it should be just as good as my other flagship cubes.

 

[Dan the Beginner]

Update. The cube is totally broken in now and it feels better, less catchy when the settings are loose, and it's OK for when I need a small cube to carry around, just in case I am held up somewhere out of the house, twiddling my thumbs. For that I usually take the 50mm YJ Zhilong cube, a really nice little cube that just works, in spite of the basic, simple minimalist design. Great for when the small size is OK.

I noticed that there have not been many reviews of this Gan either here or on Youtube. Actually no new video or reviews of this cube at all over the past few months, ever since the initial release time, even though it is a significant and a flagship grade release. That may be an indicator, but I wish Gan will continue and release a Gan Mini M Pro II.

 

[J41]

Thanks for posting your thoughts on this cube, @Dan the Beginner - very interesting!

I've also noticed a lack of reviews on this cube, which I have found perplexing as it's currently my main. I don't think I have small hands by any means, but I just seem to keep coming back to this cube. I've done about 5,500 solves on it so far and have had absolutely no issues, but I also am no good at setting up cubes and have only really lubed it (so have probably bypassed some of the potential issues you've mentioned).

Would love to hear more perspectives on this cube!

 

[Dan the Beginner]

Thanks for posting your thoughts on this cube, @Dan the Beginner - very interesting!

I've also noticed a lack of reviews on this cube, which I have found perplexing as it's currently my main. I don't think I have small hands by any means, but I just seem to keep coming back to this cube. I've done about 5,500 solves on it so far and have had absolutely no issues, but I also am no good at setting up cubes and have only really lubed it (so have probably bypassed some of the potential issues you've mentioned).

Would love to hear more perspectives on this cube!

I love the 53mm size, and the 54mm size as well. One man's meat is another's poison. I am totally happy with the size and I also accepted the noise and blockiness, though they are quite minor commplaints. (I am used to the fantastic feeling of the Tornado V2). I assume you have read my review on this forum and also Shawn's review about that problem, in the Hardware area. The problem with the spring setting slipping is still happening. Did you notice that at all?

 

[J41]

I love the 53mm size, and the 54mm size as well. One man's meat is another's poison. I am totally happy with the size and I also accepted the noise and blockiness, though they are quite minor commplaints. (I am used to the fantastic feeling of the Tornado V2). I assume you have read my review on this forum and also Shawn's review about that problem, in the Hardware area. The problem with the spring setting slipping is still happening. Did you notice that at all?

Agreed - the size is really nice. I haven't had that issue so far.