5x5 The YJ ZhiLong Mini 5x5: I'm at a crossroads.

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It's hard to say I'm disappointed. It's an incredible cube, with very healthy performance, but I'm torn. I've been using the YJ YuChuang V2 M as my main, as I favor the color shades over the MGC. But it's big. Not like in any weird way, it's just big. It's 63.5, 64 mm, and it's not very good at fitting in my hands.

So I succumbed to the mental pressure, and I got a YJ Mini 5x5. I liked the 4x4 (until I either traded it or it got stolen, I forgot), so how different can it be?

The answer was very. Out of the box, it was dry, tight, and overall not a joy to turn. I had to put many drops of lube and even disassemble it to lube the core, and it still squeaks to this day. The outer layers now are great, but the inners are still a bit slow despite my best efforts.

Performance is decent. It's on par with the MGC, with relatively comparable corner-cutting. The slow inner layers are bearable, as long as you don't rely on weak finger tricks for algorithms as you may with the outer layers. The feeling is, well, not unique. It feels like every other 5x5 out there, but are you really buying a 5x5 for the feeling?

My main problem is the size itself. The outer layers are hard to hit with finger tricks sometimes, but it makes up for it for being easy to do 3x3 algorithms. I don't mind it.

Now, the question: Is it worth the money? I would say so. It's really interesting to try different sizes of cubes, and even if you're not too into the smaller size, it's a great collector's item. I officially declare the YJ Mini 5x5 as my new main.
 
(how do i set up my zhilong mini 4x4 pls im dying)
To add on to @Bingus Ringus McDingus’s note, I like coating one of the inner pieces with a heavy lube (I use Adheron Heavy, because that’s the only heavy lube I have, but weight 4-5 and Gravitas work well. This makes the cube have a smoother, slightly slower inner layers, which I like because after it breaks in, it is very smooth and makes centers so much more satisfying.
 
I have both of those 5x5's ...
the YuChuang V2M is pretty decent
it is a standard 5x5 size of 62 mm btw
like the Valk5, the MGC 5, and the Nezha
...
I also like the Zhilong Mini but as you mentuoned it was sub-par for turning, and neither loosening nor tighteninng seemed to help that much
. . . sooo 🥁🥁🥁
I took out the springs! and that made it much faster and much better
tho obviously corner-cutting sucks haha
maybe half a piece either way, no big deal tho
on a good day I solve 2:30-3:00 on 5x5 regularly
and I can do that with the Mini as well☑️
. . .
worth trying, if only for a little while.
you can always put them back in 😹
 
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