Gan cubes are known for their buttery smooth turning, high-quality construction and customization options. They are often more expensive than other cubes but are widely used among world-class speedcubers.
gan rubik’s cube use an alternative notation that uses a prime symbol (‘ ‘) to denote an anticlockwise face turn, and a superscript 2 to denote two turns or a 180-degree rotation. This makes it easier for beginners to memorize sequences of moves.
The history of the cube
GAN is one of the most renowned puzzle manufacturers and their cubes are synonymous with quality in the speedcubing community. They are a company owned and run by real speedcubers who always strive to produce the best product possible.
The Cube is a 3D mechanical puzzle with a unique internal mechanism that allows each piece to turn independently of the other six pieces, resulting in a mix-up of colours on the face of the cube. A screw (fastener) holds the centre pieces in place and can be tightened or loosened to change the “feel” of the cube.
The most popular version of the cube is the standard 3x3x3 cube, which has seven colour variations and consists of 57 individual pieces. Many of these are shaped differently than the others, and the positioning of each colour determines which sides can be solved clockwise and which anticlockwise. A notation was developed to describe the moves needed to solve the cube: a letter followed by a prime symbol denotes an anticlockwise face turn, while a letter without a prime symbol indicates a clockwise face turn.
The design
This cube is one of the fastest and most popular speedcubes on the market. It has a very smooth feel and is almost silent in turning unlike the MoYu WR M which makes high pitched clunky noise. This is mostly due to the patented GAN Elasticity System which reduces spring noise and tensioning of the individual pieces.
It also uses a honeycomb lube track which consists of little grooves in the inner sides of each piece which distribute lubricant evenly. This means that a small amount of lubricant will last a long time on the cube.
Gans is a well-known brand amongst speedcubers and their products are often the most expensive on the market but are generally considered worth the price due to their excellent performance and customisability. They sponsor many of the world’s best speedcubers and their cubes are often used by top-ranked competitors at competitions. They are known for their innovative techniques and have a large number of patents covering their innovations such as the GAN GES tensioning system, ideal cores with screwed pins, and the hexagonal lubrication distribution system.
The mechanics
There are approximately 519 quintillion[53] possible combinations of pieces that make up the cube. However, only one in twelve of these are solvable. Cubes are solved by memorizing a sequence of moves that will result in the desired end state of the puzzle. This is called an algorithm.
The GES nuts (Gan Elasticity System) allow the user to change the spring tension of the cube, which in turn affects how easy or hard it is to solve. This feature is not available on every cube and is an extra cost, but for speedcubers this is a great option to have.
Corner magnets have been added to the new GAN 11 M Pro, which improve turning by reducing the “bump” that usually happens when a cube is turned. They also increase stability. The magnets are hidden inside the corners and can be adjusted to different strengths. These are the same magnets found in the MoYu WR M and are very effective.
The speed
GAN are one of the best cube manufacturers in the world and their puzzles are highly sought after by speedcubers. Their latest 3×3 is the 11 M Pro and it features an industry first omnidirectional magnetic core.
This allows for an even more powerful magnetisation of the center caps which results in a more fluid feel to the rotations and also reduces the amount of friction caused by the springs pulling apart. This is in addition to the GES (Gan Elasticity System) which is a new way of adjusting the tension on all the layers of the cube.
This is achieved by using different coloured GES nuts. The purple nuts are the highest strength which gives you a very flexible cube with good stability but at the cost of speed, the green nuts provide an excellent medium between stability and speed, the yellow nuts are lower strength providing a more controlled cube with good corner cutting and a flexible yet fast feel to the rotations.