The Parents Buying Guide
It's hard to buy a cube for someone, but let's go through the different brands and the different types of cubes.
The Different Brands
GAN
Know as the iPhone of the cubing world. GAN do produce some amazing speed cubes which have broken many a World Record over the course of the years. However, they do come at a price. You can expect to pay £70-80 for newer flagship GAN 3x3.
GAN spend a lot of money on research and development which allow them to always be at the forefront of cube innovation.
MoYu
MoYu are the kings of budget cubes (well, more so a few years ago), they're also know for bringing out new cubes every 35-45 minutes 😅
The MoYu RS3M 2020 has been our best selling 3x3 speed cube of all time, mained by almost every cuber at some point of their life, MoYu are trying to keep up with the likes of GAN but not loose the spark that MoYu cubes have.
QiYi
QiYi can be hit and miss, they've designed some amazing cubes over the years but equally, some not so much. Owner of the X-Man sub brand, these puzzles are extremely popular.
One of our best selling qiYi cubes of all time is the QiYi X-Man Tornado V3 M (available in 3 different variants).
YJ
YJ really do know how to make a decent cube. Best known for their MGC line of cubes, our most popular 4x4 5x5 6x6 and 7x7 cubes are the MGC 4 5 6 & 7.
We highly recommend choosing the YJ MGC cubes if your looking to get into bigger puzzles.
Coatings & Colours
Black
Black cubes arn't really used anymore, once very popular, with the introduction of Stickerless cubes, these are becoming more obselete with every passing year.
The main issue with stickered cubes is the chipping of the stickers, this issue has been solved with Stickerless cubes. If you're unsure what to purchase then play it safe and go for Stickerless.
Stickerless
Did you use to peel the stickers off of your cubes when you where younger? well, there's no doing that now with the introduciton of Stickerless puzzles. The colours is moulded into the plastic, no chipping, no cheating.
The one downside with stickerless puzzles is that they can appear scratched even when brand new. These surface marks form during the manufacturing process and cannot be avoided.
UV
The latest addition to the speedcubers arsenal is the use of UV coating on the exterior of the puzzle. UV coatings aid grip in warm, 'sweaty hand' environments and could lead to a nicer solving experience.
The issue with UV cubes is that they do come at a premium.
Magnetic Systems
Magnetic
(MOST) Magnetic cubes have tiny little neodymium (rare earth) magnets between the edges and corners of the puzzle, these can be seen in the image above with the yellow and white circles on the exposed internal surfaces.
The benefits of a magnetic cube is the fact that you can feel the layers are aligned when turning. The magnets also aid mis-alignment and help reduce lockups.
MagLev
Okay, most older 3x3 cubes had a spring around the screw (which is under the center piece of each face). This is what creates the elasticity and allows you to tension your cube.
However, modern cubes features 2 repelling ring magnets instead of a spring to create the same effect. These cubes often feel looser and faster than those with springs.
Ballcore
Ballcore cubes offer a plastic 'ball' around the core with embedded magnets that align with other magnets at the bottom of the corner pieces, this makes for a very strong magnetic feel. If buying for somebody that likes that strong magnetic feel and the auto aligning of layers then chances are a ballcore puzzle is the right choice.