u/Economy-Pudding-3100

My GAN 17 arrived today - a couple of days earlier than expected! 😁

After playing with it for a few hours, here are my preliminary thoughts/observations. The GAN 17’s default settings are 3 & 7 and comes pre-lubed from the factory. I found the UV coating to be very slippery at first tho that got a bit better after a few solves.

The feeling of a new GAN cube is always magical for me and this cube is no exception. The cube is very fast, somewhat louder than its predecessor and the hand feel is light and papery. You can tell it has a ballcore as it feels ‘denser’ and is definitely more stable than previous GANs. Some people have reported a ‘rattle’ coming from the centre caps but mine does not have that issue.

I found the default magnet strength to be perfect for me so I don’t think I’ll be tinkering with those settings. The auto-alignment is practically flawless; I couldn’t test corner cutting as it would not let me put the cube in a 45 degree angle to test it.

I did about 50 solves with it straight out of the box before tightening and lubricating the cube. My settings are now 3 & 10 and I used Gravitas on the tracks, Dignitas and Silk on the pieces and after break-in, I adjusted the speed (made it a tad faster) with a bit of FZ-Stealth. This resulted to be incredibly addictive for me. Turning is light and airy, pretty forgiving too - I haven’t add any catches a very few minor lock-ups - and the sound has been dampened.

Have I found a new main? Maybe but I’ll need to do more solves with it (I currently main the Ferrocore V2 which is well tuned to my turning style and very comfortable). For now, theGAN 17 is definitely my practice cube. I have a comp in 10 days and if it performs to my expectations, it may be the one I’ll use. More to follow.

GAN 16 (right) with the rest of the crew… PiCube modded GAN V100 20-magnet ballcore leap frosted, GAN V100 Maglev UV, Swift Block Super-Maglev UV, GAN V100 Leap frosted Year of the Horse.

I recently discovered a love for big cubes so I went nuts and acquired a bunch. I am still missing the newly released Meilong 13x13 M V3 but rest assured, it’ll join the family some day.

These are a small sample of my collection. I decided to start a NxN ‘project’… it might have been a mistake as I have never tackled even-numbered puzzles bigger than 4x4 so I have my work cut out for me :)

As I only have so much time to dedicate to this project, I’m hoping to finish by the end of the month. Wish me luck!

As I really enjoyed my very first comp last April, I registered and attended a second one this past weekend. What a comp it was! I was registered in 2 events: 3x3 & 2x2.

Got a PR single in the 3x3 but otherwise I bombed. I failed to start the timer on my very first solve and it kind of destabilized me for the remaining solves although I did managed to get a PR single somehow.

The surprise of the day happened in the 2x2 event, I got a PR avg of 7.48 and a PR single of 4.26! I average about 8 at home so I was very pleased with that.
But that’s not all…

With this result,, I made finals! Yes, by George, I made the finals. Granted it was a small comp, but still. I will probably never make finals again. I was very exited.

So the 2x2 finals began.
First solve: DNF. I forgot to start the timer. Again. (second time that day!).
Second solve: I got a 12 something.
Third solve: I dropped the cube resulting in a 17 something.
Fourth solve? I didn’t finish the alg.. don’t know what happened or what I was thinking lol. Another DNF.
I don’t remember the last solve but it was over 10 seconds.

A few lessons learned:
1 - A week before comp I shall use a physical timer instead of practicing with smartcubes. That way there’s less chance to forget to start the darn timer at comp.
2 - if an event is later in the day, make sure I rest and warm up my hands as I had a bit of arthritis flare-up; not enough to justify the fiasco tho - just enough to be a little stiff.
3 - if lighting is not adequate (it was relatively dark), choose a cube with vibrant colours. I used the Ferrocore V2 matte and while it is an awesome cube, its colours are muted and darker. I would have fared better with a cube with full bright colours as I did struggle with colour recognition.

Following the unfortunate demise my 2 GAN V100 (see last pics), I am taking a chance on the newly released V100 PiCube mod of 20-magnet ballcore. I have high hopes that this will be long lasting.

Turning with the V100 20-magnet ballcore is a dream. The original one turned great, and it was hard to imagine how it could be improved but, the mod actually improves everything: smoothness, stability, speed, auto-alignment, flexibilty, less catching. The ballcore doesn’t add any significant weight, just shy of 2g heavier (65.11g vs 63.24g).

Stay tune for a follow-up once I’ve set it up and used it for a bit.

I’ll jump on that! 😁

https://youtu.be/QAxN3ngJQYI?si=67kfzw09ySkXy6jx

With the upcoming North American release of the GAN16 UI many people are wondering if it’s worth it, especially on the heels of the recent release of the GAN i4. So I made a comparison to help you decide if it’s worth it or not, between the GAN16 UI, the GAN i4, the GAN16 Max and the GAN V100 ( the last two because they’re supposed to be the starting point of the two smart cubes’ design.)

For the physical differences, I’ll let the pictures speak for themselves. Please disregard the dirt accumulated in my cubes, I will get to cleaning them eventually!

As far as turning feel goes, they all have the unique GAN feel, fast, airy, light and slightly crunchy.
Auto alignment and corner cutting are similar across all four models. For some reason, both UIs are less prone to lockups than their non-UI equivalent.

The performance differences between 16 UI and the i4 is perceptible. The 16 UI is more stable than the i4 although the i4 certainly holds its own against all other GAN smartcubes. The 16 Ui is a touch smoother, a touch faster and a touch more satisfying although that could be because it’s new.

The CubeStation app is supposed to give additional data to the 16 UI user. I couldn’t test that part as my 16 UI came in DOA - the seller will send me another core asap. That extra data is, in part, the reason I got a 16 UI as I do use the data from the app.

So, at the end of the day, is the GAN16 UI worth it? Not if you’re in a budget and already have the i4. Otherwise, go for it, it’s always fun to have a new toy :)

My kids got me a 9x9 and an 11x11 for Mother’s Day (the 11x11 hasn’t arrived yet). Anyhow, I thought I’d give it a whirl, thinking ‘how hard can it be?’! Turns out, harder than it looks, that’s for certain. And longer! Took me near 4 hours to get this far!!!! I applied principles I knew from the 4x4 and 5x5 (the two biggest cubes I know how to solve). Anyhow, that’s all I have left to do but my brain is mush… I’m sure (well, pretty sure) I’ll figure it out but it’ll have to be completed another day but I’m pretty proud of myself to have gotten this far without help.

EDITED: All solved! Took near 6 hours over 3 days of fun(!) but I got it done!!! Onto the 11x11 next (once it gets here of course).

Just got 2 new Rubik’s brand cubes to add to my collection. The Pokémon one just came out but the NHL Original Six has been out for a while. I cannot find any date on the box: does anyone know when it (NHL) was released?