SpeedCubeDB
A hyper-tuned cube that is as fast and light as it is unforgiving to novice mishandling
It is quite a rare occurrence to find myself having to recommend to think hard about buying a cube that is, by all objective metrics, one of the best cubes currently available. And yet, this cube is not for the faint of heart. If you’ve been cubing for less than 6-12 months or are averaging more than 20-30 seconds, stop reading. Go away. Better yet, go practice!
You’re still here? Then know that the XT3 v1 – obviously the first name to come to mind for a new and improved version of the Tornado v3 – is probably one of the fastest, lightest and best performing cubes that money can buy right now. Take the Tornado v3, take away its compact softness and its very generous forgiveness for bad turning, and replace them with pure precision and speed.
The result is a cube that will get you PBs out of the box, and make you feel like any of your other cubes have been dipped in molasses. The turning feels very sharp and accurate, the weight is very light, as is the amount of force needed to start a turn. The magnets have medium-low strength and are (sadly) non-adjustable, and the tensioning system goes back to the basics of a screws and a compression ring. However, this is not a tuned-down version of a better cube. This is an optimised one, where the useless parts have been taken away to keep what is essential to make the cube as good as it can be.
In terms of looks, this one is indistinguishable from the Tornado v4, you actually have to look at the edge magnets (1 vs 3, non-adjustable vs adjustable), or take out the center cap to see an old-school screw head instead of the very nifty, 21st century tool-less adjustment of the Tornado v3/v4. In terms of sound, where the V4 takes us back to the stealthy quiet of the v2, the XT3v1 sounds louder and more hollow, very much in line with the v3, if not even a bit noisier.
It’s not a cube for everyone. If you’re learning to cube and need something a bit forgiving that will let you get away with rough handling, incomplete turns and excesses of force, then go grab the Tornado v4 and leave this beast dormant. If you’re in your early days of learning, this cube might actually make you like cubing a bit less, as it will screw up your solves, make unexpected and unplanned turns and bring other misfortunes to your cubing sessions. If you like to take the difficult road, it might be ok to take a cube that forces you to be very light with your fingers and will not make allowances for you when you don’t. But then again, it’s better to get a more lenient cube that will give you faster times and fewer frustrations.
But if you’re able to appreciate very light, fast, accurate cubes, then you’ll just be in awe of a cube that doesn’t necessarily feel great (I personally don’t like the feeling of the turning very much) but will just get you ridiculously low times (you can't argue with results)!
So… Should I?
Well, it costs less than the V4, and it’s a ridiculous cube if you can manage to use it. If you can’t, you’ll hate it. If you don’t know whether you like really fast cubes or not, then you probably shouldn’t buy it.
An important note: this cube was generously provided by SpeedCubeShop.com, which is kind enough to send me cubes for testing as long as some of you use the code SCDB when purchasing from them. So if you’re buying a cube and you want to get it decently quickly, consider making your purchase using [This link], that will send some love my way and let me keep doing this!
