My cross takes about 3 seconds and my F2L takes 15. Any intuitive f2l videos don't show how to solve most f2l pairs, only the easiest inserts. Should I learn algorithmic f2l? I insert the corners first and then get the edges done and for my last layer I use 2-Look OLL and 2-Look PLL, currently learning full PLL. My F2L is the only thing keeping me sub-35 and not sub-30.

For reference I use a DaYan GuHong Pro+ M.

How do you think I can improve my times? And is algorithmic f2l a good idea?

I’ve been looking to pick up an MF8 Curvy Copter + 3x3, but it seems impossible to buy. Every online cube shop I check lists it as out of stock, and even the official MF8 website says it's out of stock.

The last mention of anyone buying it seems to be around 2022, and I read that the centers frequently collapse into the cube and cause huge stability issues.

The 3x3 part doesn't add much to the solve but I just want to own this cool collector's piece.

Does anyone have any info on this?

I would say he would gotten a mid to at least high 3.6 at most from the exact time. I think the time he would’ve gotten was like 3.69 to 3.76. (Even way the record would’ve been broken a couple months later).

I'm just thinking if I specialized and tried to be world class in an event (probably won't happen lol). But either way, I'm just wondering does any one no know what event has the least competition at the top level? Even better if someone has data to back that up.

Hi, looking for a new wca event to work on. Have been just focusing on 3x3 and two events came to my sight, megaminx and square 1.

I like the shape of the megaminx and also that it can help my 3x3, but I also like the new gan square 1 and how the notations are in numbers, cos I have a better time reading numbers. What do you recommmend?

Hi everyone,

I've been building a speedcubing timer over the past few months and have just released the first public beta.

I'm looking for honest feedback from regular cubers—especially on the timer feel, mobile experience, and overall usability.

If this kind of post is allowed, I'm happy to share the link in the comments.

And STILL NO SUB 10, the other 5 are deleted, but this is my fastest for that .15 ...

z2 // inspection

D r F' r' B' U2 L2 // cross

R' U' R U' L U L' // 1st pair

U' L' U L // 2nd pair

R' U R U' R' U' R // 3rd pair

R U R' U R U' R' // 4th pair

l' U' r U' r' F2 R // OLL

U' F R U' R' U' R U R' F' R U R' U' R' F' R F' (U') // PLL

I’ve spent the last few months working on this idea I had a few years ago. Now, using only a single iPhone camera at 120 fps, I am able to automatically reconstruct full 3x3 solves.

How it works

The basic premise is that a reconstruction is essentially a path between two known states: your starting scramble and the solved cube. From any given state, there are only 18 possible next states using the Half-Turn Metric (6 sides, 3 moves per side: R, R', R2).

A solve is made up of cycles where the cube is aligned → misaligned (during a turn) → aligned. This lets us break the problem down into identifying the state of the cube at each of those aligned moments. A cube rotation or regrip isn't considered a move because the cube remains aligned throughout that span.

Here is how the pipeline processes those states:

• Finding aligned frames: I trained an image classifier to identify when the cube is settled and aligned. In the video you might've noticed that the pose model isn't firing on every frame; that's because we only care about reads on the aligned frames.
• Extracting stickers: On those clean frames, a pose model detects the visible faces, extracts a warped 3x3 grid, and samples each sticker. Because fingers occlude stickers during turning, the system ignores blocked stickers by calibrating against a baseline color profile taken beforehand.
• LAB Color Space: We use LAB color space instead of RGB because sticker colors look completely different depending on lighting/shadows, and standard RGB often causes red/orange and white/yellow to get conflated.
• Identifying the motion: We also pull information during the actual turns. Several CNNs analyze the temporal motion to identify the turn direction, which face moved, and the exact frame boundaries of the turn.

In an ideal world, this is all that is needed to reconstruct a solve, but in reality reads are pretty noisy. During fast triggers, the cube doesn't stay aligned long enough to get clean sticker reads.

This is where the Viterbi algorithm comes in. We take all this partial, noisy information and carry forward several candidate move sequences. As the video progresses and we receive more visual evidence, we actively prune candidate paths that no longer make mathematical sense.

The High-TPS Last Layer Hack

Reads during Cross and F2L are usually manageable, but at high TPS in the LL, getting clean rest states is extremely difficult.

To solve this, the pipeline splits the solve into reachLL and postLL. Once we hit LL, we try to match the ongoing motion against a pre-computed algorithm table of standard OLL and PLL executions (including AUF and 1-3 look friendly variations). We still use the same Viterbi search structure, but the system gives much higher weight to known algorithms so it doesn't get lost in the motion blur.

Why some things look the way they do in the demo

• Why am I using a Bluetooth cube (GAN 12) in the video? This cube was used to help with training/evaluation. Since a lot of my training data comes from this cube and my pipeline is overfit, I am using the same cube for the demo. However, the reconstruction you are seeing is truly CV only.
• Why Half-Turn Metric (18 possible next moves) instead of Quarter-Turn (12)? You would think reducing the branching factor from 18 to 12 would make search cheaper. But during double moves (R2), there are minimal aligned frames in the middle of the turn. If we force QTM, we actually end up branching more and carrying extra blind candidates forward due to the lack of an intermediate still state.
• Why 120 fps? The front camera of an iPhone natively supports this. Although I could use the 240 rear camera, this has diminishing returns when it comes to accuracy:data size ratio. If the stickers are occluded, it doesn't matter what frame rate you are recording at. 120 fps is the floor though, 30/60 fps is not enough to get consistent reads throughout the solve even at my low TPS.

Current limitations and what's next

The pose model is upstream of almost everything, so any bad corner reads there poison everything downstream. Training this model is quite time consuming because I have to hand-label frames, and it still struggles when one or more face corners are hidden by my hands.

The biggest bottleneck right now is data diversity. I mostly labeled images of my own 2–3 cubes and honestly haven't recorded that many distinct solves. This pipeline is heavily overfit to my cube, my hands, my lighting, and my camera angle. It will break on a random video submitted right now.

I am currently renting a single RTX 4090 as my CV instance, so processing is pretty limited, but the actual reconstruction pipeline takes around 2-3x solve time after the solve(10 sec solve → 20-30 sec to reconstruct).

With what I have access to, my goal is to have the overall architecture sound on my setup, so the only limiting factor is a lack of diverse data. At this point, I feel like I am pretty close to it. When the solve has clean reads and slowish turning, I am able to consistently decode the entire solve. But most of the time, reads are messy and solves are too fast. The next step is refining the motion CNNs so I can add robust wide/slice move detection and orientation awareness (pure alignment reads aren't enough to distinguish a wide move from a normal move).

I have also built a full web platform and mobile app for this with a timer, sessions, 1v1 matches, and an AI coach analysis tool. Because the vision model is still overfit to my setup, I'm holding off on sharing the website link until some of these issues are fixed.

I would appreciate any feedback and anyone who is interested/knowledgeable in this space feel free to DM!

Hey everyone, I need some help.

What’s your best lube setup for 4x4? I’m using the Aosu v7 SE Picube Dual Track.

I only use Weight 5, but I want to improve the steering feel—I’m not happy with it anymore. I have Angstrom and Silk. Please share your advice :D

Español:

Holaa, una ayuda a todos

Cual es su mejor setup de Lubricantes para 4x4, Uso el Aosu v7 SE Picube dual track

Solo uso weigth 5 pero quiero mejorar su sensación de giro, ya no me esta gustando, tengo Angstrom o silk, Porfavor escucho sus consejos :D

If you look at "Best Selling" puzzles on major stores (TheCubicle, SpeedCubeShop, etc.), there seems to be a strong bias towards puzzles that were popular ~5 years ago. I can't really think of any explanation for this other than that filter measuring total buying volume that peaked back then.

Granted, some of the cubes from that era are genuinely still some of the best you can get at that price point (such as the RS3 M 2020). But other comparisons don't seem to offer alternate explanations.

For example, they show:

• The Gan 11 is more popular than the Gan 12 (as well as 13-16)
• RS3 M from 2021/2022 being more popular than the RS3 M V5
• The TengYun is more popular than any of the WeiLong V9/V10/V11
• etc.

I doubt any of these are actually true in 2026 (but I could be wrong). I suspect these comparisons are just biased towards a time when more people bought cubes.

If that is the case, I feel like the "Best Selling" filter isn't very informative for buyers. I'm not sure exactly how filters like "Featured Items" calculate results, but it feels like the stores can list basically whatever they want there.

I wish there was a "Best Selling in the last 12 months" sort of filter. I bet that would be much more likely to sort the best value products to the top (compared to other options).

A week ago, I was thinking about learning ZB. A bunch of you guys said to start learning it then, so I decided to start learning ZBLL.

I knew I had to start with 2GLL-U, it was the obvious start. I almost decided to start learning the rest of ZBLL-U the next day, but decided to learn the rest of 2GLL instead because I realized that 2GLL is a great base for other ZB cases, is great to practice recognition, and is a conglomeration of a lot of the best cases.

I then learnt 2GLL-T, next day, 2GLL-L, Pi, H, and the next day I learnt both sune and antisune simultaneously since they were almost back mirrors of each other. This made it so the next day I got a well-deserved break. This well-deserved break day is today, although of course I will still practice the algs today.

Because of this, I was able to learn full 2GLL in just 6 days. Huge credit to Tao Yu's trainer, wouldna been able to learn it this fast without it, it is so cool being able to solve any <R, U> move scramble's last layer in 1 look.

As I was learning ZBLL cases though, a recurring thought kept appearing in my mind: "How would you use ZB on 4x4?"

My first thought was what one would expect: ZBLS parity into ZBLL parity. I knew the ZBLL parity alg already, it's 100% the PLL parity alg, it's so good. I'm confident it has to be that one.

However, I had no idea what the ZBLS parity alg would even look like. The OLL parity alg is quite long, and if you don't have to preserve the last slot, that gives extra freedom to maybe get a shorter alg.

Then I had a thought: "What if you used ZBLS to instead guarantee you get 3 edges oriented on top? That way, due to the power of ZBLL recognition, you can do both OLL parity and PLL parity at the same time."

I didn't know what that OLL+PLL parity alg at the same time would look like at first, thinking "I would be disappointed if it's just Rw U2 x Rw U2 Rw U2 Rw' U2 Lw U2 Rw' U2 Rw U2 Rw' U2 R' r U2 r2 Uw2 r2 Uw2." But later, after thinking about it, I realized: "That's just drew parity."

Yep, drew parity [(Rw2 B2 Rw' U2 Rw' U2) x' (U2 Rw' U2 Rw U2 Rw' U2 Rw2 U2)] has a use amongst lucas. I know, sounds weird, but it works. I even get a nice recognition system:

If you have a ZBLS, do the ZBLS, otherwise, do a ZBLS that guarantees 3 edges are oriented on top, which shouldn't be too hard to recognize, just flip one of the edges in the head and do it from there. You then put the flipped edge on front if there is one, and flip the block that every OLL parity flips in, again, the head. If you recognize the same ZBLL from both angles, do drew parity. Otherwise, do Lucas parity. Same idea as how you would do it for the PLL parity alg. If you get the hang of it, you can even predict ZBLL. And if you don't want to do this, you can recognize away from the bar and do the same thing, although you will do more AUFs so keep that in mind.

I don't think that this recognition system is that bad, and it's helpful to merge both parities.

There's also the question of how I'll continue. I could keep pushing from here, and I kinda feel like doing that from the momentum I've had, but at the same time, I got a comp in a month and it might be a good idea to practice the recognition system more and get good at it. Sure, I wouldn't be able to say "I learnt ZBLL in 40 days," and I would have to say that I learnt each of the chunks of ZBLL in x days, but it might be worth it. And I could sorta start learning the rest of ZBLL-U (my next goal for ZBLL) at any time I want, which would allow me to learn more depending on the confidence I have on my current algs, allowing more foundational building. I have today to decide what I'm gonna do.

I would also appreciate critiques on my recognition system. If you don't think it's good, and have a ZBLS parity alg in mind, let me know.

UPDATE: Decided I'll continue pushing for ZBLL-U because training 2GLL is so easy. Wish me luck

I understand that almost every f2l solution should be eight moves or less(some 11-12) but I’ve noticed that there are variations of algorithms that have the exact(maybe one move higher/lower) same move count but different finger tricks.
Are there a specific set that I should learn? Or do I just kind of find my way as I go about it?

I've been following the 8355 method for a little while now, and I'm running into something annoying with the "first 5" i.e. the final 5 edges before moving onto the corners. Nearly every single time, I solve 3 of them, and the for the fourth I need to do that annoying R U R' U R U R' U (or its variations). Is there a way around this? Besides just memorizing algorithms for the ~2000 combinations of where the edges pieces could be on this step?

10.626 I feel like this was well overdue since I just recently got my 13.60 ao5

Hey guys! I’m planning to get the DaYan GuHong Pro M and my main priority is how quiet it is.

​For those who have tried both, is there any noticeable difference in sound level between the Spring and MagLev versions? Which one is quieter?

​Thanks!

I recently faced a problem that my corner magnets ara changing their strength by themselves, i set them to 3 and after some practice several magnets was at 4 and other at 5. Have you ever faced that problem and how did you fixed ut?

Hello, and welcome to the discussion thread! This thread is for accomplishments, simple questions, and informal discussion about cubing!

Not sure if you should comment here or make your own post? We have a full list of what does and doesn't belong in this thread on our wiki.

No question is stupid here. If you have a question, ask it!

Check our wiki for tips on how to get faster, puzzle recommendations and more!

Join the r/cubers Discord server here!

Just got a Gan 16 maglev and lubed it with Angstrom Gravitas and Dignitas and now I’m getting this weird rattling noise in my cube. Can anyone tell me how to fix it? It happens when I gently squeeze the cube or make a turn. In the video I’m literally just squeezing the cube like I was gripping it to solve it. Thanks in advance.

I've been building a puzzle game called ChromaTiles (color-matching, positional rules, kind of a spiritual cousin of a Rubik's cube). Got curious what it would look like as an actual cube, so I worked out the sticker design and had one manufactured.

Instead of the standard 6-color, one-color-per-face scheme, this cube uses only 4 colors, and every face has all 4 of them in different permutations. No face reads as "the red side" — you're constantly re-orienting by pattern instead of color-scanning, which put me right back to being a novice solver (though I'll admit I never quite made it to expert).

I’m curious if anyone has an idea of many combinations there are for this cube?  Each corner has a matching pair, but i think the different orientation makes them unique.  There are only 4 edge types, 3 pieces of each since both sides of the edge are the same color. And the centers need to be oriented correctly. Thoughts?

As I mentioned, this all started as a digital puzzle (ChromaTiles) which is at pjpuzzles.com if you're interested.

This cube is an absolute pain in the butt to reassemble. It has 4 small magnets on center caps which makes SUPER difficult to reassemble because they 4 small magnets on the center cap gets out of place and they stick to each other, making a “pile” of magnets.

Do you have any tips? you have this particular model? Thank you in advance.

Edit: I will explain better. What happens is that the 4 small magnets on the cap gets out of place and they stick to each other, they won’t stay in place…

i'm a casual cuber and i want to buy a 4x4 since ive only used guansu in the past. is it a good choice over the meilong m? i don't want to waste cash on something i wont enjoy and i want to use a budget cube to improve my 4x4 skills. any alternative suggestions, what to expect out of the box and comments that can help me set it up are accepted, thanks!

Finally, i got my first sub 20, a week after i got 20.002.

Im so Happy right now.