[Review] Mass-produced Galaxy v2 M

[Ghost Cuber]

This thread is for reviews of the X-Man Galaxy v2 M. You can vote in the poll above, but please only vote if you own this particular puzzle. When posting your review, please follow a template similar to this:
Where the puzzle was purchased:
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What are your thoughts of this puzzle? Please vote one of the options above - but please only vote if you own and have used this puzzle extensively!

 

[Ghost Cuber]

This is a fantastic Megaminx. It is a more stable version of the Galaxy v2, which was the intent. Unlike many other mass-produced magnetic puzzles, the magnets are fairly strong. Personally, I would have preferred very slightly weaker magnets, but I also don't have a problem with how they are. The strength just makes it slightly more tiring to do many solves in a row compared to a non-magnetic puzzle or a puzzle with weaker magnets. Out of the box, it was very tight and dry. After adding a variety of lubes and loosening the tensions, it became excellent. Unfortunately, mine came with a bent screw, which inhibited the turning on one face. For the time being, I just swapped it out for a screw from my normal v2, but I am going to get a replacement in the near future. Additionally, it is somewhat difficult to get all of the sides tensioned evenly, but it just takes time to get it right. Something else to note is that the black pieces do not arrive magnetized, but there are spare magnets for the buyer to install. The mold was also altered slightly to allow for grooves to put the magnets in, making installation much easier. Overall, this is a great Megaminx, and it is unbeatable for the price. I would strongly recommend picking one of these up. You will almost definitely not be disappointed.

 

[xyzzy]

Where I bought it: a Cubewerkz locker (does this actually matter)
When: a few days ago
Thoughts:

Oh boy. The out-of-the-box experience was not stellar (pun intended) and I honestly didn't like this puzzle very much at all. I did try a nonmagnetic Galaxy v2 briefly at my last comp and my initial impressions of that was about the same: this puzzle is very sluggish compared to my Galaxy v1 (which isn't even lubed), and it's tiny in comparison. It's also significantly lighter at about two-thirds the weight, but apparently my arms are incapable of distinguishing weight differences below 500 gf; this probably makes more of a difference when doing loads of solves.

The good: Firstly, reverse corner cutting. On the v1, if you tried to reverse cut more than about 16°, the whole layer deforms and it locks up; on the v2 M, reverse cutting still isn't "effortless" per se, but it's significantly better and the deform-then-lockup problem is much rarer. (Effortless reverse corner cutting is a meme and doesn't exist on any puzzle anyway.) Secondly, the presence of magnets makes accidental turning of faces harder and obviously helps with layer alignment.

The bad: OOTB experience, like I said above. It definitely needs to be loosened slightly and maybe broken in; I did a quarter turn on each of the twelve faces and that seems to help somewhat. Maybe wiping out the factory lube helps too. Also, it's significantly pricier than both the nonmagnetic v2 and the v1.

The neither-good-nor-bad: The size takes some time to get used to if you've been using the v1. The magnetic pull on each turn is pretty noticeable, giving the puzzle a bumpy feeling. The Galaxy v1 is very fast and smooth, but the v2 M seems to trade off that speed for stability. No idea if fast lubes will change this because I don't have any on hand right now.

Something to take note of if you want a non-standard colour scheme: The Galaxy v2 (and v2 M, obviously) have two different types of edge parts; if you want to switch two faces that have different M:F ratios, you might need to disassemble other faces and swap those pieces as well. The sculpture version comes with 5 black M edge parts and 5 black F edge parts (and 5 black corner parts, obviously), so switching in a black face shouldn't require further disassembly.

I've done about 40 solves on the v2 M, interleaved with some solves on the v1, and overall it looks like I'm just slightly faster with the v2 M. It's not an "instant main" like some people make it out to be, since the v1 was already a very good megaminx, but the data seems to point to it being a (slight) upgrade. (But also consider the fact that I don't know how to set up cubes; maybe it becomes even more amazing if you're good at that.)

Update (2018-05-17): I've sunk probably a few hundred solves into it at this point, and I'm seeing clearly better times on it than on the v1 (1:30-ish versus 1:36-ish). Definitely main material now.

 

[chron0s]

Great thoughts here - quick impressions for me - I'm not a big megaminx solver at all, but I was a fan of the v1 and jumped on the v2 when it came out.

I did some setup on my v1 (disassembled, lubed the core, tensioned, and lubed the pieces) and was happy with the results. When I got the v2 it felt more compact and I lubed the core, pieces, and did some adjustment and it feels great. I didn't do a lot of adjustment, but I adjusted everything to get the corner cutting even and sides turning the same feel wise, and it was well worth the time. I lubed the core with regular heavy weight lube and treated the pieces and tracks with angstrom lubes and it smoothed everything out.

When I got the v2 M I was surprised - it's great, but this is the first puzzle where I prefer the non-magnetic version! I find myself fighting the magnets and working harder. I'm not a good megaminx solver and the magnets weren't doing much for me. The puzzle is also noticeably heavier in my hand.

So I did a full treatment - core lube, piece lube, break in, more lube, and backed off the tensions and now I have something that's close in feeling to my non-magnetic v2. Looser tensions and careful lubing helped me get close to the feel I prefer, but its still heavier turning with the magnets.

Feel wise, I still prefer the non-magnetic version. I just don't need the stability of the magnetic version for this puzzle with my limited ability. But its definitely more stable.

I changed out the off-white side with black and glued the magnets in on that side (they include magnets and the pieces have recessed areas for the magnets but you'll want to have experience with gluing other puzzles before doing this) - glad xxzzy mentioned this.

Don't get me wrong, I love these puzzles and can't believe a magnetic megaminx is available mass produced, period - I'm just surprised at myself preferring the regular version. But both are awesome.

I'll get back to testing these some more and hopefully get faster. I have a yuxin v2 coming as well, and I'm a fan of the v1 as well as the dayan (I have a well set up one).