GAN356 i3 V2 Smart Cube

I received my GAN 356 i3 and, like any normal human being with zero patience, I had already downloaded the app, created an account, and mentally prepared to become the next speedcubing prodigy before even opening the box.

Naturally, I open it… Throw the packaging away immediately (because who keeps boxes? Apparently… people who own smart cubes).

First turn:

Nothing. No lights. No response. Just silence. The cube equivalent of being left on “read”.

No problem, I’ve read about this. It probably just needs a charge.

So I put it on the charger.
2 hours later… still orange.
3 hours later… still orange.
8 hours later… still orange.

At this point I’m more committed to this cube than I was in my previous marriage. Every now and then I pick it up, turn a face… nothing. No life. No Bluetooth. Not even emotional support.

Down the rabbit hole I go, forums, troubleshooting guides, and eventually the dark depths of Reddit… where I quickly discovered:
👉 “Ah… this is not just my problem.”

So, like any calm and rational person, I opened the cube. (Which, to be fair, is surprisingly easy — almost like GAN knew this might happen…)

Measured the battery: ~3.7V after a full two days of “charging”. Hmm. Suspicious.

So I manually charged the battery to ~4V using a proper lithium charger, basically performing open-heart surgery on a Rubik’s Cube.

Result?
Still nothing.

At this point, I’ve put more effort into this cube than Microsoft did into some of their Windows updates… and the result is about the same: 👉 Blue Screen of Cube.

Performance (ironically…)

The cube itself actually feels good. Fast, smooth, decent turning. But compared to something like the X-Man Tornado V4, it’s not even close in terms of pure speed and feel.

Then again, I didn’t buy this to break world records. I bought it for the smart features.

Which currently have the intelligence of a brick.

Final thoughts

If you want a fast, reliable 3x3, look elsewhere. A smart cube experience, be prepared for a potential adventure

To be fair, this is not the shop’s fault at all, these things happen with electronics. I’ll actually be ordering another one and kindly asking the shop (very nicely, I promise) to:

👉 Just quickly check that it turns on before shipping

Not even Bluetooth pairing… let’s not get ahead of ourselves. Just… life signs would be great.

It’s a expensive paperweight I own… and I already have a few of those from previous life decisions.

I'm a long time cuber who got bitten by the bug again and this was an excellent buy. It's very well put together and easily adjustable. I'm learning the Roux method right now and those M2/U2 moves are much easier than on my old cubes from the 80s.

I would give it five stars but the app that communicates with it via bluetooth isn't that great - use Cubeast or cstimer instead!