Overview
The Gan Pyraminx is a newly released pyraminx from Gan. It comes in 3 variants, the standard, explorer, and enhanced editions. The standard is the least expensive one and doesn’t have any extra features. The explorer edition includes everything the standard has plus extra GES springs you can swap out with the standard ones. The enhanced version includes everything the explorer has plus extra magnets located in the centers and edges. In this review I will be talking about the enhanced version. The Gan pyraminx is the first mass produced puzzle with a core magnet system. This is where the magnetic attraction occurs between the core and pieces instead of pieces and pieces. In this puzzle the magnets are located on the torpedo of each edge and the core. The enhanced version also has magnets in the edges which attract to the magnets in the center pieces. All editions of this puzzle also include the standard magnets located in the tips.
Specifications
Price: £21.85 or $28.26 for the Enhanced version here If you use the discount code “OWEN” when checking out.
Size: 96mm
Weight: 68.1 grams
Before Turning
The 2 things I noticed when first receiving this puzzle is the lightness of it and the frosted plastic. The light weight at first made it feel cheap, but after getting used to it the weight feels nice. The frosted plastic really gives a bad impression right out of the box, especially on a pyraminx where grip can already be hard.
Turning
The turning on this puzzle is unlike any puzzle I have tried. It is extremely smooth and very stable. The smoothness is most likely due to the honeycomb pattern on the pieces, and the stability could come from the unique core magnet system. I lubricated my Gan pyraminx with some gravitas on the tracks, and silk on the pieces. After lubrication, it has a light and papery feel while still maintaining the smoothness. It is quite interesting how this puzzle can maintain so much stability while being so light. The core magnets could be playing a part in this.
Magnets
The core magnets system gives a very unique feeling. Instead of a strong snap as the layer aligns it is more of a smooth drag. It makes the cube feel very stable and effortless to turn. Overshooting is rare on this puzzle. Combining the core magnets with the typical edge-center magnets was a great idea. It gives this puzzle the stability of the core magnets and the snap of the edge magnets.
Tips
The tips are good on this puzzle. They are pretty slow and have strong magnets so you won’t be turning one on accident. The only issue with this is that you have put a good bit of effort to turn the tips and if you don’t put enough the tip won’t move.
Conclusion
Overall, the Gan pyraminx is a greatly performing pyraminx. The new core magnet system really helps with stability and gives this puzzle a unique feel. I think that the core magnet system will be utilized in many future puzzles, I am excited to see if it works as well in NxNs and Megaminx as it does in this puzzle. My only criticism of it is the frosted plastic, it really ruins this puzzle for me. I am constantly dropping it and am having a really hard time picking up the puzzle after I start the timer. It is often a second or two before I can make my first turn because my fingers keep slipping off of the layer I am trying to turn. Despite this issue, it is still my main and I enjoy solving on it. As long as you don’t mind frosted plastic, I would highly recommend this pyraminx in the enhanced version to every pyraminx specialist. I wouldn’t however recommend this version to people wanting to get into pyraminx or to intermediate solvers. These people should get the Bell v1, the Bell v2, or the standard/explorer versions of the Gan pyraminx.
By Owen Morrison
