I got mine yesterday. Ordered from Now Store via ebay 8 days earlier. Here are some random notes.
Edges and corners assemble like like a GuHong or a LingYun (more like the LingYun). Suggests that a stickerless version is a possibility. The edge caps fit very tightly and won't pop off through use.
The core is an interesting design, featuring 6 square plugs in channels held away from the inside surface of the core by springs. The screws come through holes and go into the plugs, pulling them back towards the surface. I had to disassemble my core as one of the plugs was out of its channel and the screw couldn't reach it. Assembly was just as fun as you would expect for something new, and not difficult. Be careful if you need to disassemble the core, as the screws holding it together are small, tight, and soft, so will strip easily.
The cube is very small, it is the same size as the YJ FinHop, at 53.5mm. Compare this to a Alpha Haiyan at 55 mm, a LingYun, AV or AVf at 56mm, or a GuHong or FII at 57mm.
The cubies are rounded, similar to the F and GhostHand cubes, although due to its smaller size they appear even more rounded..
Stickers are lightweight vinyl and only 13.5mm across. They chip quite easily. You could probably fit the cubesmith 15mm (F-Type) stickers on it, but I haven't tried yet.
This cube can not pop. You can set the tensions so loose that it rattles and is uncontrollable, and it will not pop.
Tensioning is finding the balance between too loose to control and too stiff to do MU perms on it. The transition from one state to the other was around 1/8 screw turn (or less), and felt like a compromise both ways. Maybe after a hundred or so solves I'll get used to controlling it, but for now thats a bit of a problem for me and I find myself over turning and inadvertently slicing.
Any comparison to a 4x4 ball mech is nonsense.
The cube can lock up a little bit, but the only things in my collection of 3x3s (around 40) that lock up less are Guhongs and LingYuns.
Most other cubes I mention can cut more than it can, but it is good enough. The limit seems to be about a piece, where others can exceed that towards the GuHong at 45. Reverse cutting is maybe 3 mm - less than half what a GuHong can do.
I like this cube better than the Alpha Haiyan or Alpha V-f, but put it about par with the Alpha V. I don't have a CIII to compare it to. It is about the same as an FII, being less controllable but with lesser and milder lockups. GuHongs and LingYuns are still better.
For now it lives in the desk drawer for regular use instead of the discarded in the box in the cupboard.
