Mini 60mm Aosu

It looks like the AoChuang in that the edge/corner pieces are smaller than the center pieces.
I don't have my AoChuang with me but I'm pretty sure the pieces are equal in size and it's just the stickers that are smaller so that they don't come as close to the outer edges. This new mini AoSu looks the same. They both have fitted stickers as opposed to the square stickers and greater spacing on the AoSu 62mm.
 
(60mm)^3/(62mm)^3 ~ 90%, so it should be ~ 10% lighter with only a 2mm reduction in size. this is great becase my hands always get tired from holding and turning bigger cubes. lighter is better! methinks
 
(60mm)^3/(62mm)^3 ~ 90%, so it should be ~ 10% lighter with only a 2mm reduction in size.
That assumes it's solid. According to zcube the net weight is 143g versus 147g. Probably almost the same amount of plastic with 10% less air. It looks from the unboxings like it's the same internals as the 62mm with just the outer pieces slimmed down - check out how the centres have been made much thinner.
 
So, I still don't have mine but someone came by and let me try theirs.

First impressions:

Out of the box it feels just like a regular AoSu, didn't feel different at all. After about 150 solves, cleaning lubing and tensioning, the cube felt great. It didn't feel that blow away compared to a regular AoSu, but I imagine with more break in the cube will feel much better. I can definitely say after I get mine and work on it, it'll be my main for sure. With the small amount of time I had with this one i definitely noticed faster times. My 3x3 stage was a lot faster due to the cube being smaller I can handle the outer layers much nicer.

good cube.
 
Something interesting I find about this cube is that it feels like a 4x4 AoChuang instead of a smaller Aosu. That's not necessarily a bad thing, I really like this cube. But my comment is that you shouldn't expect the feel of a 62 mm Aosu; its similar for sure, but it's almost like a different cube. I think the production and mindset of the designers was still somewhat on the 5x5 in the making of this cube
 
I'm a little torn on this puzzle, but I'll admit, I don't have a very good base for comparison. My original Aosu constantly popped when I first got it. It took a lot of breaking in and a ton of lube to get it under control. I am having similar issues with the Mini, and it's possible that time will fix them.

Right out of the box it's extremely fast, crunchy, and a LOT of fun to play with. This is probably what my original Aosu was supposed to feel like. The smaller layers do necessitate more accurately placed fingers while performing certain moves. I'm getting in my own way a lot with this cube, and it's gonna take some getting used to. But I like the size and that's a point in its favor. Corner cutting is at least as good as the original... better in my case.

The cons are pretty big though. The cube is pretty unstable and the outer layers are very catchy, kind of like the Aoshi, but a bit more controllable. This cube still pops. I've had the smaller inner edge pop completely out of the cube on several occasions, sometimes taking other peices with it, sometimes not, making it really tough to replace mid-solve. Tightening the puzzle prevents that, but that makes the outer layers even more catchy and corner cutting non-existant. My times are definitely suffering when I use this cube.

Along the lines of what Chris Olson said, it needs a lot of breaking in, more lube, and delicate tensioning. I hope that with a little time and a lot of love, the problems go away. I, personally, will have to get used to the new feel and size. In the meantime, the original Aosu will be my main, not the mini.
 
Very interesting, Chree.

Mine is almost the exact opposite. I've done 160 solves now and the cube is becoming very nice. I haven't even come close to a pop yet and nothing has been locky/catchy for me. The only thing that makes me lock up currently is just due to the cube being so slow from me not lubing it. And the cube feels more stable than a regular AoSu to me.

Chree: Perhaps your tensions aren't very even?
 
Very interesting, Chree.

Mine is almost the exact opposite. I've done 160 solves now and the cube is becoming very nice. I haven't even come close to a pop yet and nothing has been locky/catchy for me. The only thing that makes me lock up currently is just due to the cube being so slow from me not lubing it. And the cube feels more stable than a regular AoSu to me.

Chree: Perhaps your tensions aren't very even?

That's weird... mine feels way faster than my original Aosu. It's practically Shengshou v5 fast

I've only played around with the tensions a little bit. It seemed like the cube was getting really catchy before the popping issue went away. I'll take some time to disassemble and re-lube and tension this thing tonight and see how that goes.

On another note, I really like the stickers. Moyu's sticker quality has only improved with time and I like how much plastic is covered. I kinda hope thecubicle comes out with a sticker set that covers as much plastic as these do.

Edit: Also, Chris, since you're about 15-18 seconds faster than me on 4x4, I'm willing to bet your turning accuracy is also much better overall. I should probably emphasize the possibility that the catching issue I'm having is my own fault. I usually have a little trouble adjusting to smaller cubes anyhow.
 
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Update: I went home last night and read what Chris wrote... then read what I wrote... and realized that my factory tensions must have been way too loose. The reason his cube felt slower was because it must have been much tighter than mine was out of the box.

Disassembled the cube, cleaned out some flash, got tensions even, reassembled, and more finely tuned each side (much to my girlfriend's annoyance... the whole process got really noisy)... and it's a whole new cube! I've almost got the popping issue completely solved, and that also helped the stability and catchy-ness.

My fingers are still getting in the way of the smaller layers, but that just takes getting used to. But now I'm enjoying using this cube a whole lot more! :)
 
hopefully someone at my comp will be selling these ( for a bit cheaper than the online stores sell them) cuz i really dont feel like ordering a new cube, eventhough my regular aosu isn't bad :).
 
I'm so glad to know I'm not the only one who didn't agree with the YouTube reviews. The Mini feels almost nothing like the regular sized Aosu. Much more llike an Aochuang if anything. Tensioning hasn't done much for me... It looks like I'm going to have to take it apart. Only thing is though, it's a pain to put back together again...
 
I'm so glad to know I'm not the only one who didn't agree with the YouTube reviews. The Mini feels almost nothing like the regular sized Aosu. Much more llike an Aochuang if anything. Tensioning hasn't done much for me... It looks like I'm going to have to take it apart. Only thing is though, it's a pain to put back together again...

Agreed. This cube feels nothing like a full size Aosu, and I definitely don't like the mini as much. My best avg5 on this cube after more than 500 solves isn't even within a second of my PB avg5 on my full size Aosu.
 
Agreed. This cube feels nothing like a full size Aosu, and I definitely don't like the mini as much. My best avg5 on this cube after more than 500 solves isn't even within a second of my PB avg5 on my full size Aosu.

Yet the mechanism seems nearly identical. It's so weird that it would be so different.

I feel a bit sad inside seeing the Mini on the shelf collecting dust next to my Shengshou.
 
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