I bought the QiYi AI Smart Cube with UV coating after purchasing and using the Gan iCarry 2 for a few weeks. I had wanted a smart cube to analyze my solves and wasn't happy with the catches I was experiencing with the iCarry 2, which caused me to slow down, making my solves non-representative of solves with my main cubes. I pre-ordered the QiYi with UV for $25 as soon as it became available at SCS. I performed at least 1,000 solves on this cube in the last two weeks before posting this review. I purchased the SuperNova service from SCS and have added Lunar lube when needed. I have the cube set up on tension "1".
PROS
Smooth and quiet during metronome exercises or twisting up to about 2/3 speed. At slow speeds and at rest, corner cutting is amazing at tension "1". It will forward corner cut all the way until it starts to cut backward. The UV coating gives a nice grip to my fingertips. Removing the center caps and adjusting tensions is easy to perform without tools. Each center under the caps is colored in transparent plastic to designate which side is which color since the cube needs to know the proper color of each side. Magnets are semi-strong and provide a nice 'bump' during turns. The plastic feels nice and twisting is forgiving up to a point. The price for a Smart cube of this level is about right, perhaps even being a good value. The app is very good. Connecting the cube is seamless, and getting into practice sessions or 1V1 races is intuitively easy. The analysis, statistics and replays are very well done and provide a great way to see where you might be losing time including adding up the total inspection time across all stages of the solve. It analyzes several different solve methods, including Roux. I've not yet had to replace the battery, which is supposed to have 100s of hours of life. I definitely prefer this to having to recharge every hour!
CONS
The cube gets significantly louder when pushing TPS, largely due to the catches when the turns aren't clean. On my mains, I can feel the cube helping me carve the corners. Although the corner cutting on this cube appears very good at slow speeds, it really doesn't like to be pushed fast with my turning style. When pushing fast solves on algs that are very smooth, fast and effortless on any of my Gan 12, Gan 15, Moyu WRM V9, X-Man Tornado V3, or even Guhong Pro, causes frustration when soft locks and catches occur, taking me out of my rhythm. My times using this cube are noticeably slower than my mains, largely because I slow down to try to keep the catches/locks from happening, which defeats the purpose of having a smart cube in the first place. Finally, this cube isn't yet supported by Cubeast, although it is on CSTimer.
VERDICT
As a speed cube alone, I would gauge this as mid, not even as good as the Guhong Pro, probably on the level of the Diansheng Solar S3M with maybe 2/5 stars? If it didn't have additional technology, I probably would put it on the display shelf and rarely, if ever, touch it again. As a smart cube though, it is pretty good up until you try to push the TPS. Because it is a smart cube, the value proposition changes due to the technology required. At the offered price, this lifts it up to somewhere between 3 and 4 stars. Would I recommend it? There are things I really like about it, and for someone that just enjoys solving at 2/3 speed, this is a pretty clean cube with a very nice app to go with it. This is probably one of the highest value smart cubes on the market right now, but for ultimate twisting speed though, it still comes up short, but at this price point is probably the best smart cube right now. I am rounding it down to 3 stars, so definitely above average for smart cubes, but not quite high enough to round up to 4.
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