Dan the Beginner
Premium Member
I have just received the Gan Mini M Pro and I am a little disappointed. It is has the right size, 53mm, for my small hands and it is very light at 55g, which is great for my tired fingers. It is nicely balance in the intensity of the different colours, i.e. nothing too dark (blue) or too light/bright. The white colour is off white and has a very faint reddish tint. It is reasonably quiet, but clearly not the quietest. It feels hollow and it is catchy when new, and even after a couple of hundred solves, still does not feel as smooth and refined as the Tornado V2. It turns well after tightening and lubing, and it's not unlike the Moyu Weilong 2021. However, I am still to see what the core magnets are doing. I am a slow beginner and it would be not just for me to comment any more on performance matters.
Problem 1. Watch this video if you you are not familiar with Gan's new spring adjustment system, first used on this Mini M Pro.
The blue dial consists of a top ring with numbers 1-4 and a base (also blue). The 1 setting means smallest distance or tightest. There is a tiny notch in the base and it is the pointer that those numbers are to be aligned with. When I first tried to adjust the spring distance, I found it very hard to turn the top dial with numbers 1-4 without the base (and that pointer) also turning. So, it was near impossible to change the setting number, or to adjust this spring distance. I tried pushing down with the tool (don't do that!) while turning, hoping the pressure would stop the base turning, while I turn the top dial, but it did not work. What that did, when the pushing pressure stopped, was pop the spring assembly. See photo. And then the top layer pieces fell apart. So, I had to put the whole thing together. Never push down when turning the blue dial.
After a lot of trial and error, I eventually learned to put pressure from underneath on that dial to stop the base turning. I did this by sticking my thumb inside the cube, or underneath the top layer and pushing up towards the blue dial. See photo. That works. I can turn the top of the blue dial and set the desired number.
Problem 2. After setting it to 1 on all sides. I did a solve and found that those settings have changed. Instead of a setting of 1 (as set) on all sides, I found they have changed. I had a setting of 4 on three sides, and 3 on one side. I did some more turning and some of them changed again, and the changes go from a higher number to a lower one before becoming 4 again. There is apparently not enough friction or just poor design to keep the base of the blue thing locked in the same position. The turning of the spring apparently causes it to turn to change the setting. I first heard about this problem, about 5 weeks ago, from multiple testers in China, in their review video. I had thought such glaring problem would be noticed in QA and at least in the early reviewers, those who got the pre-production samples, and therefore should have been fixed. I am not sure whether this problem means the spring distance is actually changed or whether it is just the pointer moving (without actually affecting the spring distance). I suspect it might be the latter. In any case, it is a serious problem, as the 1-4 system as a reference for setting adjustment is not going to work.
I don't know what else to say, except that this is a show stopper. Gan should recall or send replacement parts to fix the problem IMO.
Some more photos. There are many holes in there, probably to reduce weight. This 53mm cube has core magnets and also fancy adjustment systems, unlike the simplistic YJ Zhilong 50mm, but it is lighter at 55g compared to 58g. That is a fantastic achievement, and it is appreciated by my sore fingers.
The same blue dial system is used in the Gan 12 (but bigger and more numbers). Let's hope they have done something to fix the problem with that product.
In summary, wait for some more reviews from real users/buyers before buying, unless you enjoy tweaking, DIY and modding things.
UPDATE - October 16, 2021
There seems to be a replacement part now available from Gan to fix the problem, according to a video I have seen. See my new post about this below.
Problem 1. Watch this video if you you are not familiar with Gan's new spring adjustment system, first used on this Mini M Pro.
The blue dial consists of a top ring with numbers 1-4 and a base (also blue). The 1 setting means smallest distance or tightest. There is a tiny notch in the base and it is the pointer that those numbers are to be aligned with. When I first tried to adjust the spring distance, I found it very hard to turn the top dial with numbers 1-4 without the base (and that pointer) also turning. So, it was near impossible to change the setting number, or to adjust this spring distance. I tried pushing down with the tool (don't do that!) while turning, hoping the pressure would stop the base turning, while I turn the top dial, but it did not work. What that did, when the pushing pressure stopped, was pop the spring assembly. See photo. And then the top layer pieces fell apart. So, I had to put the whole thing together. Never push down when turning the blue dial.
After a lot of trial and error, I eventually learned to put pressure from underneath on that dial to stop the base turning. I did this by sticking my thumb inside the cube, or underneath the top layer and pushing up towards the blue dial. See photo. That works. I can turn the top of the blue dial and set the desired number.
Problem 2. After setting it to 1 on all sides. I did a solve and found that those settings have changed. Instead of a setting of 1 (as set) on all sides, I found they have changed. I had a setting of 4 on three sides, and 3 on one side. I did some more turning and some of them changed again, and the changes go from a higher number to a lower one before becoming 4 again. There is apparently not enough friction or just poor design to keep the base of the blue thing locked in the same position. The turning of the spring apparently causes it to turn to change the setting. I first heard about this problem, about 5 weeks ago, from multiple testers in China, in their review video. I had thought such glaring problem would be noticed in QA and at least in the early reviewers, those who got the pre-production samples, and therefore should have been fixed. I am not sure whether this problem means the spring distance is actually changed or whether it is just the pointer moving (without actually affecting the spring distance). I suspect it might be the latter. In any case, it is a serious problem, as the 1-4 system as a reference for setting adjustment is not going to work.
I don't know what else to say, except that this is a show stopper. Gan should recall or send replacement parts to fix the problem IMO.
Some more photos. There are many holes in there, probably to reduce weight. This 53mm cube has core magnets and also fancy adjustment systems, unlike the simplistic YJ Zhilong 50mm, but it is lighter at 55g compared to 58g. That is a fantastic achievement, and it is appreciated by my sore fingers.
The same blue dial system is used in the Gan 12 (but bigger and more numbers). Let's hope they have done something to fix the problem with that product.
In summary, wait for some more reviews from real users/buyers before buying, unless you enjoy tweaking, DIY and modding things.
UPDATE - October 16, 2021
There seems to be a replacement part now available from Gan to fix the problem, according to a video I have seen. See my new post about this below.
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