ShengShou Pillowed 8x8

The outer layers are butter smooth, and they do not take too much force to turn. This makes for a great 3x3 stage in solving. However, The inner layers are quite hard to turn and require some breaking in. It is not as good as the 9x9, but it is not really bad like some people say. I'd recommend it!

This cube is fun when I have time to relax and solve, it definitely isn’t for speed though. I LOVE how it looks, but it does lock up a lot so I’d only suggest it if your looking to have a cool looking cube that’s fun when your relaxing and not worried about speed.

The middle layers are almost impossible to move.

Love this cube which is one of my favorites of all those I own. Many 8x8s pop almost immediately or break when you try reinserting. When that happens, they are basically useless and have to be junked. This cube is tight and can be easily manipulated. Extremely pleasurable to solve. Just so you know, I bought two cubes before this one and both broke within moments of my first solve. Stay away from 8x8s with the smaller center pieces because they are almost designed to pop and break.

Ordered this and the 10x10 expecting the same quality as the 9x9 and 11x11. These are nowhere near as good. The outer layers are fine, but the inner layers are absolute garbage, almost to the point of unusable. Feels/sounds like there is something inside the cube or that the screws are rubbing on the interior of the pieces. I've lubed it, taken the whole thing apart and reassemble, loosened, tightened, anything else I could think of and nothing, still just a horribly turning waste of money. Guess I'll reluctantly put a design into it and set it on the shelf to never touch again. Really sad, I was looking forward to this puzzle.