Hey guys, its me CriticalCubing and today we have a magnetic comparison where we compare
the Gan Air UM vs GTS v2 M and Valk3 M. I'm using the mass produced version of the Air
UM and the GTS2M, but the Valk3M was setup by Redfire Pratham using N35 magnets.
They all have been lubed the same way, and tensioned properly so that the tensions are
even on all the sides.
The cubes are also properly broken in so none of them are new or out of the box.
Now that I have done the introduction, lets get started.
Price: Price plays a important factor when deciding on a main as lots of cubers have
a set budget that they can spend on a cube.
The GTS2M costs roughly 25$ whereas Air UM is priced the higest of the bunch coming in
at around 47$.
The Valk3 costs 20$ and magnet+glue costs around 3$.
Valk3M should be similar to GTS2M which comes at around 25$.
If you are on a budget, definitely stay away from the Air UM.
Size and Weight: GTS2 and Valk3 are of the same size, which is 55mm.
The Air UM comes at 56mm which makes it a bit bigger, however you don't feel the difference
while solving.
This size is good for one handed solving as well as two handed solving.
There are differences in their weight.
Air UM weighs around 75 grams, where as the GTS2M and the Valk3M are a bit heavier coming
in at about 85 grams.
The difference in their weight isn't that much and practically negligible.
Air UM is the lightest and as light as Air.
Just kidding.
Feel and turning: All of these cubes have distinct feel.
Air UM has light, fast and smooth feel to it, and is also the quietest cube out of the
bunch.
You can slow solve with Air UM at night and no one will get disturbed by the cube sound
since its so quiet.
GTS2 on the other hand is the loudest of the bunch and definitely isn't recommended for
late night sessions.
GTS2 also sports fast, light and crisp turning that is a mixture of scratchy + smooth feel.
Valk3 on the other hand is similar to GTS2 however the feel of the Valk3 is hollow and
reminiscent of the Yuexiao and Meiying.
Valk3 is also fast and has light turning with hollow bumpy feel to it.
I personally enjoy the feel of the GTS2 the most as it reminds me of Fangshi cubes.
A well setup GTS2 is also the fastest of these cubes, which makes it uncontrollable at times.
Gan Air UM and Valk3 have a good mixture of speed and ability to control.
GTS2M can get uncontrollable at times when spamming TPS.
Corner Cutting: Corner cutting of cubes is pretty standard nowdays.
All of these cubes can cut over 45 degrees for normal corner cutting and the GTS2 and
Valk3 can cut line to line for reverse corner cutting as well.
Air UM can cut over line to line for reverse corner cutting, giving it the upper edge in
this corner cutting round.
In speedsolves, corner cutting of all the cubes are practically the same hence there
are no winners for this round.
Stability: The main job of magnets is to attract the layers together thus making the cube more
stable overall.
Since, all of these cubes are magnetic cubes, all of them boast good stability.
You can put tensions on loose on all of these cubes and you still won't have problem with
the cube being unstable, all thanks to the magnets.
However, going by the normal non variants of these cubes, normal GTS2 is the most unstable
out of the bunch whereas Valk3 is the most stable.
AIR UM comes in between as stability for Air UM depends on how you set it up and what springs
you use.
Overall, stability for these cubes is a tough thing to judge because with the addition of
magnets, all of these cubes are stable.
M Slices: M slices being bad on magnetic cubes is something common now.
M slice is being attracted by both the R and L layers, making the M slice attract double
than normal face turns.
All of these cubes have similar M slices, which are not too good.
However, don't let this discourage you since M slices just need some getting used to and
you're good to go.
Lots of fast Roux users use Magnetic cube as their main.
Kian Mansour uses Air UM whereas Kavin uses Valk3 M. M slices will just need some getting
use to, however I prefer non magnetic cubes over magnetic ones since I like M slices to
be fast and fluid.
Lockup/Catches/Corner Twisting: Corner twisting is negligible on all of these cubes and if
you do get a corner twist, those are rare occurence.
However, Lockups and Catches will depend on your turning style.
GTS2 has more tendency to lockup because of its fast speed, however since the application
of magnets, these catches and lockups are minimal.
Valk3 and Gan Air UM are similar when it comes to lockups and catches.
Dependong on GES nuts and how you have setup the Air UM, you can have minimal lockups or
more.
However, Valk3 is pretty stable in this regard as I didn't have too much problem with lockups
in the non magnetic version, and I don't have any problem with the magnetic version as well.
Overall, as far as lockups and catches go, Valk3 has the least amount of lockups and
catches, Air UM is setup dependent which can give you more or less, and GTS2 has fast speed
which makes it uncontrollable at times, resulting in lockups and catches.
If you can control GTS2M, you'll have less amount of lockups and catches.
Lube Efficiency: Lube efficiency is how quickly you relube your cube.
Air UM is the worst in here as I had to relube Air UM quite frequently for keeping the M
slices and face turns fast and smooth.
GTS2M is the king of this round mainly because I haven't lubed this cube in like 2 months
and its performance is still great.
Valk3 is kind of inbetween.
It performs good with little lube, so you can lube it less frequently, however you have
to relube it within a month max otherwise it starts slowing down.
GTS2M is the best here whereas Air UM is the last.
Valk3M comes in between.
Overall Performance: All of these cubes are the flagship of their respective companies
and have high performance.
All of these cubes are also magnetic which give them similar stability, and stability
is usually the thing that makes or breaks a cube as main material, atleast for me.
The only differences are what type of turning style you prefer and how fast you want your
cube to be, which sets these cubes apart.
Why should you use the GTS2M?
You like a fast cube on which you can spam TPS to your hearts content.
On top of that, GTS2M is a low maintainence cube.
You can lube it one, use it over and over and you won't need to relube in quite a while.
Plus, it has a nice crisp feel with a hint of smoothness which I personally like and
M slices on it are good which is a bonus for Roux method.
Its only con is that it can become a bit unstable at high TPS however magnets have counteracted
this to a good extent.
Overall, GTS2M is a solid choice for a fast turner.
Why should you use Valk3 as your main?
You want a fast, stable, controllable and reliable cube with a plesant feel.
Valk3M is also fast, but not as fast as the GTS2M.
However, the Valk3 is more stable than GTS2 and even at high TPS, Valk3 performs better
than GTS2 as far as stability is concerned.
Valk3 is also a bit high maintanence and I clean it up peroidically, unlike the GTS2.
M slices on it are also good overall, its a solid choice for people who want something
similar to GTS2M, however with more stability.
Normal non magnetic Valk3 is more stable than normal GTS2 and with the addition of magnets,
Valk3M's stability have been emphasized more.
Why should you use the Air UM as your main?
For most speedcubes, price is an issue when buying speedcubes.
Air UM costs over 40$ which isn't something everyone can afford.
On top of that, Air UM's performance is similar to the GTS2M and Valk3M which cost half price.
Air UM is also the most high maintainence out of the bunch and required relubing frequently
for retaining that fast speed and fluid turning.
However, performance of the Air UM is the most flexible out of the bunch as different
GES springs will give you difference performance and feel.
This isn't something available on the GTS2M and Valk3M, and this gives the Air UM the
upper hand.
But, this flexiblity also gives rise to setup problems as its not as easy to setup compared
to the Valk3 and GTS2.
At the end of the day, if you have the money to afford a Air UM, you can go for it.
However, performance of it isn't better or worse than the Valk3 and GTS2.
Air UM has a fast, quiet and smooth feel and is the smoothest cube of the bunch.
If you like smooth cubes, Air UM is the cube for you.
Its the flagship cube of Gan company and you are guranteed top notch performance.
Lots of world class cubers also use it as their main including Feliks.
However, don't listen to me.
I have Kian and Kavin giving their opinions on why they prefer the
Air UM
and Valk3M as
their main.
Thank you to Kian and Kavin for collaborating with me for this video.
Hopefully, this gives you more information on these cubes and which one would be right
for you.
Thank you for watching and I'll see you next time.
Take care guys and bye.