3x3x3 Studio Cube (flat centers)
Smoothness/ Speed : 2
Lock-up resistance : 7
Cutting corners : 6
Pop resistance: 2
Quietness: 9
Reliability: 2
Overall: 4.8
I had a few bucks burning a hole in my Paypal account, so I bought one on eBay, just for completion sake. Very tight, even after lubing and swapping springs and washers. Flat centres mean that every solve will result in a pop. It sits on my shelf.
3x3x3 Blank Cube Kit (2004, flat centers)
Smoothness/speed: 7
Lockup resistance: 8
Cutting corners: 8
Pop resistance: 2
Quietness: 8
Reliability: 3
Overall: 6.
It didn’t pop as much when I first bought it, but now pops are unavoidable as it has been broken in. It’s since been retired and turned into a calendar cube.
3x3x3 store-bought (2006, distributed by Kroeger)
Smoothness/speed: 7
Lockup resistance: 7
Cutting corners: 8
Pop resistance: 10
Quietness: 9
Reliability: 7
Overall: 8
I purchased two of these and they haven’t really let me down after they’ve been nicely broken in (through use and lube, not through intentional grinding). Will cut corners at the same degree as my DIY-A (old type). It’s more “smooth” than fast, so it’ll still be a little stiff even after lubing (that’s what she said). Has yet to pop on me.
Comments from others are that it feels like a DIY.
3x3x3 DIY-A (2007)
Smoothness/speed: 10 (8 for white)
Lockup resistance: 9
Cutting corners: 9 (10 for white)
Pop resistance: 10
Quietness: 5 (10 for white)
Reliability: 10
I bought one of each of the Cube4You.com sold DIY-As when I first heard of them in 2007 (the colours available at the time: green, white, black, orange, yellow, red). I don’t know if this mold is still being made available, but these are some of the best cubes I’ve used, and the yellow has become my main solving cube. The white cube is an anomaly, though…it feels the tightest (even after loosening the tension), reacts differently to lubricant, but is the best for cutting corners and is the quietest (I’m guessing because the white plastic is a little softer). I haven’t had a pop on these yet.
3x3x3 Rubik’s DIY (2007)
Smoothness/speed: 7
Lockup resistance: 7
Cutting corners: 7
Pop resistance: 8
Quietness: 10
Reliability: 8
Overall: 7.8
I picked up three of them. It took a while to figure out the right tension and I had to glue the caps on (as well as shave off the extra plastic first, presumably used to spot weld the caps in place). Responds very well to lubricant, but one of them have popped on me at least once. Plastic feels softer than the older store-boughts I picked up.
3x3x3 store-bought (2008, distributed by Winning Moves)
Smoothness/speed: 9
Lockup resistance: 2
Cutting corners: 4
Pop resistance: 10
Quietness: 10
Reliability: 4
Overall: 6.5
Mine turns really fast, but the faces must be perfectly aligned or else it will lock up. It can’t cut corners worth crap. Grinding will have to be performed before it’s suitable. I tried sanding down parts, but it didn’t improve the cutting corners or lockups. It also feels a lot lighter than my previous Rubik’s store bought cubes.
3x3x3 store-bought (2008-2009, distributed by Kroeger)
Smoothness/speed: 9
Lockup resistance: 4
Cutting corners: 6
Pop resistance: 10
Quietness: 1
Reliability: 5
I managed to obtain half a dozen of these and found the quality to be really inconsistent. Turns relatively fast out of the package, even faster after breaking in and lubing, but generally not very good at cutting corners or avoiding lockups. On one, I used Pestvic’s grinding method and the corners cut better, but not as good as the previous store-bought. Noisier than hell.
Overall, the newer store-boughts feel a lot lighter and flimsier, but they tend to loosen up much faster once they are lubed. I dropped one of these on concrete and the center piece broke.
4x4x4 Eastsheen
Smoothness/speed: 10
Lockup resistance: 6
Cutting corners: 3
Pop resistance: 10
Quietness: 8
Reliability: 8
I purchased this one before my Rubik’s but went back to this one. It’s extremely fast, but to the point that you have to exercise much more control (ie: do not just do R2/U2s with reckless abandon). I get better times with this vs. the Rubik’s, but it cannot cut corners very easily. The mechanism is much more stable, however, as lockups are only due to misalignment (but, alignment must be pretty exact). Has never popped during a solve…the only time it popped was when it was dropped on concrete. That edge was tough to put back in without tools.
4x4x4 Rubik’s (retooled)
Smoothness/speed: 5
Lockup resistance: 3
Cutting corners: 5
Pop resistance: 3
Quietness: 3
Reliability: 4
Not my favourite one to solve as it locks up constantly and edge pieces can pop. Even if the faces appear to be aligned, it will lock up. It can cut corners to a certain extent, and even better than the Eastsheen, but that’s negated by constant lockups, even when it’s aligned. Much, much noisier too. Waiting for my Mefferts 4x4x4.
Mefferts tiled 5x5x5 (black plastic, limited collector’s edition with white opposite red)
Smoothness/speed: 6
Lockup resistance: 6
Cutting corners: 5
Pop resistance: 8
Quietness: 5
Reliability: 5
This cube is prone to the twisting center corners problem, but so far have yet to have it break on me. Doesn’t really “pop” per se, unless you consider the twisting centers the same thing. The plastic feels softer than on the other cubes, which means it seems to have more flex to it. The tiles fall off pretty easily, though.
Has deteriorated over time and feels “mushy”, and hence has been retired.
Eastsheen 5x5x5
Smoothness/speed: 10
Lockup resistance: 7
Cutting corners: 1
Pop resistance: 10
Quietness: 7
Reliability: 8
More reliable than the Mefferts, has never popped and is hella-fast, but it cannot cut corners. All lockups are due to misalignments, however, unlike the Rubik’s version. Does not have the corner twisting problem associated with the Mefferts and Rubik’s and is much lighter. I’ve gone through two of these…the first one fell out of my pocket and landed on a rug (the kind you see in front of a heavy glass door in a hospital), and the core broke, causing pieces to go everywhere. Don’t let that happen to you.
Rubik’s 5x5x5
Smoothness/speed: 4
Lockup resistance: 5
Cutting corners: 5
Pop resistance: 10
Quietness: 3
Reliability: 6
Easier to speedsolve than the ES in that it can cut corners and doesn’t feel “mushy” like the Mefferts, but it’s prone to the twisting corner problem. Can lock up even when the faces are aligned. Technically, it’s never popped on me, though.
I had a guy toss it up and down like a beach ball and it landed on the floor (laminate flooring), and it survived that.
V-Cube 5
Smoothness/speed: 10
Lockup resistance: 10
Cutting corners: 9
Pop resistance: 8
Quietness: 10
Reliability: 10
Kicks all previous 5x5x5s to the curb. Is probably responsible for the better times we’ve been seeing in the WCA, but after a year of heavy usage, you will see more pops (but I would prefer pops instead of broken twisted centres). Easily my preferred 5x5x5.
Other puzzles…
Pyraminx (white, circa 1980s)
This was given to me from someone who was cleaning out their place. Has really held up over time, although the stickers looked worse for wear (presumably, someone rearranged the stickers a few times). Very stiff when I got it, responded very well to silicon.
Pyranix (black, purchased 2004 from Mefferts)
Required no lubricant, but after a few months of heavy use, the edges will pop. I’m not sure if this is due to different manufacturing standards in the 21st century or the type of plastic, but this puzzle has been otherwise retired.
Dogic (DIY, purchased 2007 from Mefferts)
A display piece only. After a pop caused me to lose one of the pieces under a desk (which was missing for the better part of 6 months), the puzzle went on the shelf where it has stayed. I made the mistake of bringing it to a cube meet, after which Ibrahim Vagjel-Shedid played with it, got a pop, and then got an explosion when he tried to reassemble it. It now has permanent residence on the shelf.
Megaminx (6 colour stickered, purchased 2004 from Mefferts)
The stickers were already falling off by the time I got it and this was before I discovered Cubesmith, so I painted it (Testor’s model paint with Tremclad clearcoat…is there any way I can remove the paint without damaging the plastic?). Has a tendency to loosen its own screws, which resulted in mucho popping, until I e-mailed Uwe Meffert and he gave instructions on how to fix it. The caps are harder to remove on this one.
Megaminx (tiled, purchased 2007 from Mefferts)
Solving this one used to hurt my fingers, until I heard that I could swap out the stock screws and springs with two Cube4You DIY spring/screw/washer sets. After doing so (the center caps come off much easier), still doesn’t cut corners very well, but I’m reluctant to sand parts down. It is much smoother, though.
