The Best SpeedCube SpeedCube Brands - For speedcubers (original) (raw)
For whatever you need in life, there will always be competition to supply said need to you, providing the best quality at the best price. In this article we are going to show you how to choose the perfect speedcube and I'm going to review some of the most popular puzzle brands, from large companies to small independent custom puzzle manufacturers.
Contents
- Intro How To Pick a Good SpeedCube?
- 1 GANCube
- 2 Rubik's™
- 3 MoYu
- 4 DaYan
- 5 YJ
- 6 Shengshou
- 7 QiYi/MoFangGe
- 8 V-Cubes
How To Pick a Good SpeedCube?
There are many aspects to analyze when we're looking for the best quality speed cube but everybody has to find the cube most suitable for them. If we're talking about SpeedCubes let's start with the speed of the puzzle which shows how easy is to turn the faces. It's important to rotate the layers easily but too fast puzzles are harder to control.
The locking of the puzzle can be caused by misaligned faces or sharp edges. This is why the best speed cubes have curved corners which help the corner cutting as well (this is called Florian mod). This way you don't need to align the layers perfectly because on a perpendicular rotation the pieces find their way through. Too rounded corners and loose tensioning can cause corner twists, resulting in an unsolvable cube.
Popping of the pieces can drive cubers crazy. In some cases the whole cube explodes while solving, this is why in most cases an interlocking mechanism is used to keep everything in place and you need to set the optimal tensioning according to your cubing style using the screws under the centre piece caps. Lubricating the cube with silicone is crucial to adjust the viscosity most suitable for every individual.
Choose good quality vinyl stickers according to your favourite colour scheme and make sure the brightness and contrast make the pieces easily distinguishable.
There are many aspects of a cube, from corner cutting to internal design, however, the main aspect for the majority of cubers would be speed. Whether that be a nice controllable speed of a flagship, or a “clacky” feel of a budget puzzle, speedcubes are provided in all shapes and sizes, these companies being some of the most favourable when it comes to sales.
GANCube
Without a doubt, GAN is the fastest Rubik’s Cube brand on the market! Every year, the folks at GAN spoil us with new, improved releases which quickly become top choice for most speedcubing competitors worldwide.
Released in 2024, the GAN15 Maglev ($70) sets a new standard for 3×3 speedcubes with its ultra-light 58.6g design, smooth spherical inner track for effortless turning, and revolutionary self-aligning magnets that snap layers into place even when off-center. Its upgraded GES V3 structure ensures stability and precision during intense cubing sessions, making it the go-to choice for enthusiasts worldwide while upholding GAN's reputation as a leader in the cubing community.
GAN 11 M ProNext is one of the most prestigious cube companies, known as GANCube or previously as Gans. This company sells flagship products with state-of-the-art advancements in hardware such with their GAN 11 M Pro and the corner magnets they implemented in this model. Although they are known for their “pricey” products in some people’s eyes, GAN products appeal to the majority of eager viewers looking for an instant main. Their advancement in hardware has really changed the way their cubes feel, with a nice “aim-assist” applied. However, before this advancement, some of their older cubes such as the 356 line, has a slightly different feel, not a huge difference in speed or controllability, but a change, nonetheless.
GAN is also one of the main competitors to MoYu (below) and the battle between them is something that may never end, with MoYu creating budget products and GAN producing flagships, it appears their sales are even with people on a budget appealing to MoYu, and people who would like a more premium feeling cube, appealing to GAN.
Rubik's™
The Rubik's brand was recently sold to Spin Master for $50M. They have always been criticized in the speedcubing community for producing relatively poor quality products. Rubik's has always been in a comfortable position thanks to its name and they never had to come up with revolutionary ideas to remain in business while the other brands in our list present something new from time to time.
Although their products aren’t main-worthy, they appear to have the tiled pieces design, with a unique spherical core and (as some people say) a “blocky” piece design. Corner cutting is not as good as some of the main cubing brands. Speed and controllability are “horrendous” as some would say.
Even though Rubik’s doesn’t have the best of products, its creator, Erno Rubik himself, have inspired cubing companies to mod their design into the main-worthy, smooth cubes we see today in the cubing market.
This is the brand you'll most probably find in most supermarkets or gift shops.
MoYu
MoYu (founded around 2012) is one of the main competitors to GANCube, with a range of budget cubes (with their sub-brands) on offer and a variety of series, an example being the Meilong Series (again, their sub-brands – MoFang JiaoShi). The MoYu WeiLong WR M 2020 is currently one of the best speedcubes available for an affordable price.
Along with the production of WCA puzzles, they also produce some other twisty puzzles. There are several different types, all the way from shape mods such as the Fisher Cube to larger puzzles such as the current largest mass produced NxN puzzle (the 13x13).
Their cubes have a unique feel to them and appeal to those on a budget, hence the reason GAN is their main competitor. Although they seem to have more “budget” looks at the market, they still are advancing in “budget” hardware with the RS3M 2020 and their brand-new tensioning system that they now begin to include in their newer products. This hardware improvement shocked the main speedcubing audience due to easy accessibility and good range of customizability that that one cube brought to the market in a short range of time. And with budget cubes comes more opportunities to save money, with the budget cubes having a slightly less premium feel to them, but a nice turning/controllability. This meaning their cubes are beginning to appeal to those who aren’t on a budget but are wanting a greater opportunity to save money.
A sub-brand of MoYu, MoFang JiaoShi, appears to be fuelling MoYu’s budget line-up, with many strongly competitive series such as the Meilong M Series (consisting of Meilong M 3-5 and Pyraminx), with a strong audience attention. As well as this, MoYu features many other sub-brands that seem to be doing well in the cubing market (apart from those that appear to be truly unproductive such as YanCheng).
DaYan
DaYan appears to be one of the main oldest companies that are still active in making puzzles that satisfy some of the cubing audience. Although their products don’t appear to be ultimately dominating the market, they used to be creating some of the best speedcubes of that time (such as the prestigious and original DaYan Zhanchi series).
However, as time passed, companies began to create superior puzzles that DaYan couldn’t compete with, but, DaYan aren’t quitting just yet, with many main worthy puzzles being created such as the DaYan TengYun 2x2, and a DaYan GuHong V4 3x3, a cube that appeared to have dominated in the market. I think it’s great to see them branching out again into 3x3 above after their previous peak.
YJ
YJ, a company that used to have MoYu as a sub-brand, was leading the big cube market with their MGC Cubes such being the MGC 5-7 which appealed to the majority of the cubing market, and not just because of the name, but because of the controllability and speed that the cubes held. Their YuLong series also being their budget line-up with the previous YJ YuHu 2M Megaminx.
But it’s not only this that they have. They had a range of other “cube names” such as the YuSu cubes and the YuPo and YuHu cubes, all appearing to go along the same “Yu” naming scheme coincidentally.
YJ GuanLong speedcube
Shengshou
Shengshou, a company that don’t seem to be competing as strongly in the market, are one of the first companies to have created bigger cubes such as the 8x8, 9x9 and 10x10, and until MoYu had began to compete in the market, were the go-to company for other cubes such as 4x4 and 5x5. Shengshou have also held some of the main big cube records until certain other companies such as MGC (sub-brand of YJ) had came along with their controllable and fast speedcubes that are currently dominating the market.
Although Shengshou seems to have been an “old” company that created fairly bad cubes to date, they have revolutionised big cubes due to their initiative to move away from the main puzzles of 3x3 and 2x2, and create cubes that weren’t WCA official at that moment in time. Even though those cubes now would look out of place in comparison to what MGC has in offer, they still produced quality products for that time.
YuXin came by releasing the largest NxN puzzle at the time, the YuXin 11x11. With a successful sale rate, YuXin attempted to succeed in topping the main puzzle market, with attempts at beating the main other cube companies (such as MoYu at the time), their best bet at doing that (at the time) was the YuXin 4x4, coming close to taking over the MoYu Aosu 4x4 which was doing very well at the time (as a flagship 4x4).
Over years they created budget products such as the YuXin Little Magic 3x3, which was a solid competitor to MoYu’s MF3RS2M 3x3. With a great amount of sales, they continued the Little Magic line, with many attempts at creating the perfect budget puzzle. As years past, it appeared that YuXin slid away from the smaller NxN puzzles, as their most recent biggest NxN puzzle being the YuXin 13x13, one of the biggest and best 13x13 around (with improvements from their previous pillowed big cubes).
The YuXin 13x13 (released in 2020), had a huge blunder in marketing, with an accidental revealing image of what their next cube would be. Whether that was deliberate or not, remains a mystery, but one thing is for certain, YuXin would never make that blunder again.
QiYi/MoFangGe
QiYi (founded around 2013) appeared to have been founded in “one of the worst times in cubing” as MoYu were reaching their peak in the cubing market. One of their 1st cubes were their Warrior and Bullfight puzzles that received a fair amount of attention, but not enough compared to their puzzles to this date. Known to date for their Valk and X-Man line, both their budget cubes and their flagships have recognizability when it comes to their X-Man Flare (new to the market at the moment) and one of the best QiYi flagships available, the Valk 3 which broke records with Mats Valk (4.74 second 3x3 solve) it’s partial designer and creator.
As well as this, QiYi have been investing into upgrades in their cubing hardware with their (for example) X-Man Flare 2x2 and the adjustment system put in place there. And not only this, but QiYi appear to be an “all-rounder” in making fully ranged priced cubes, from budget to flagship, all being successful (QiYi MS Series etc).
The record-breaking Valk 3 cube
V-Cubes - Verdes Cubes
Verdes Innovations, a Greek company founded in 2008 was a pioneer in big NxX cube production. The V-Cube technology was patented worldwide by Greek Engineer Panagiotis Verdes and it made possible to create many layered cubes. Their puzzles can be easily recognized by their pillowed shape and the V logo on the white centerpiece.
Their quality was extremely good back in the day but they couldn't keep up with their competition. Currently they focus on createing branded/image cubes. They offer flag, checkerboard-colored and other image cubes. The image seems to be printed on the plastic instead of stickers, which gives a nice feeling.
Cong’s Design
(Part of MoYu Speedcubes)
The Cong’s Design puzzle were created in conjunction with MoYu. These puzzles were all designed by Cong, someone who has had a large input in previous MoYu puzzle releases. As of now, Cong’s Design only has a few different puzzles available, but more will most likely come in the future.
Detailed Cube Reviews: