GAN12 ui Free Play

tl;dr: It's worth the money. If you have the budget, get it. It’s the latest, and IMO, definitely the greatest.

Here are the "instrustion" manuals in case you want to take a look: https://is.gd/12uimanuals

Introduction:
To preface this review, I would like to say that I bought the GAN12 ui Non-Freeplay edition back in 2022. From my sources, the difference between the Freeplay edition and the one that I have (v1) is that the Freeplay is the "finalized" version, shipped to US retailers. The build quality is higher, and the core isn't as flimsy. The Freeplay also has a larger battery which increases the usage time from 2.5 hours to 15 hours.

The v1 came with an i3-like PowerPod, but with the top cover transparent-ified and the pins rearranged to fit the 12ui's pin layout. However, the larger battery in the Freeplay means that there is no need for the PowerPod to be included since the battery is good enough. I'm not sure if the Freeplay is UV coated (or has multiple editions), but the v1 definitely is.

Also, the images referenced can be found linked below as well as in the video which is also linked below.

Review:
“The GAN12??? That is so 2021!” You say. Well not really. It’s the GAN12 ui.

Once upon a time, the Weilong AI was the only real speedcube that was also a smartcube, being pretty much identical to the WRM 2020. Well, move aside Weilong AI! Because now the GAN12 ui is here!

The cube box is on the big side. It’s way larger than the GAN13 box, which is bigger than the GAN12 and GAN11 boxes. My first reaction when opening it is, wtf? Such a huge box? Like I mean, they made a nice and compact box for the GAN13, and then for the GAN12 ui, it’s back to being such a huge box?

But upon opening the box I realized my mistake. The GAN12 ui comes with a PowerPod (talking about the v1, the Freeplay doesn't come with a PowerPod)! No need to buy a separate PowerPod for like 20 bucks or however much they sell it for. They decided to forgo the stand-alone charging stand thing and just give you the PowerPod (again, the Freeplay doesn't contain a PowerPod, it has a charging stand). That does that a little bit off the edge of the price… I mean, it is so much more expensive than the i3 after all, and the rated battery life is a mere 2.5 hours (again, for the v1. Freeplay has 15-hour battery life), compared to a whopping 15 hours on the i3.

Ok, so now onto the PowerPod (which is not included in the Freeplay edition). The cover of the pod is a matte, transparent plastic, so you can see the cube inside. The cube caps are also different. There are 4 holes on the yellow center cap for the charging pins to stick into. This is different from the i3 where the charging pins are wider and they actually stick into the four holes in between the pieces of the cube, so there aren’t actually any holes on the center cap. I have a photo of the i3 Charging Base VS the 12 ui PowerPod. The caps are still indented at the corners so it will work with the GAN Robot.

Hmm, what else?

The weight! The moment I picked up the cube I was stunned. It’s even lighter than the GAN13! Officially weighing in at 66.5g (v1 version, Freeplay is 68.5g), it is a whopping 21.5g lighter than the i3 (88g). It was even lighter than the GAN13 at 71g. It’s similar in weight to the GAN12 though, which is also around 66 grams. I enjoy lighter cubes, as they allow me to practice for longer sessions without getting tired.

Similarly to the i3, they ask that you don’t lube the cube from the yellow side. As you can see from the partially dissembled images, there’s a transparent plastic shell covering the electronic cord. And there are magnets embedded in that core to make the C2C magnets.

Now for the actual turning on the 12 ui. I’d say it’ll be identical to the GAN12, assuming it’s set up similarly. Corner cutting is good, 45+ degrees forward, and line-to-line reverse. GAN advertises 55-degree corner cutting and 35-degree reverse corner cutting. The cube also has ‘auto alignment’ but it is less prominent than on the GAN12. The cube is on the faster side, and if you have the GAN12 you will know how it feels. I personally enjoy fast cubes, but if you don't like fast cubes I would recommend adding some slow lube. The cube still catches like the GAN12, and when it does it feels like the core is going to snap. I'm assuming this isn't a problem on the Freeplay version, since that has a reinforced core.

Honestly, I would totally just use this cube as a regular speedcube and be totally happy with it. And that’s something that GAN has definitely considered too. Unlike the i3 where the moment you start turning the cube, it turns on, you actually have to put the 12 ui into the PowerPod and press the "on" button on the PowerPod. That means that without the PowerPod, you can’t actually turn the cube on (on the Freeplay, it's like the i3 again *sad_face*)

Overall, really enjoying the 12 ui. 100% worth my money.

This is my first smartcube and it doesn't even feel like one! out of the box is was insane, (didn't change the settings) FZ rush and dignitas made it feel amazing.
The only downside is that is is a lot of money, but hey if you want a REALLY good cube/smartcube this is it. I can see my self using this as my main.
by the way if you liked the video I made on it subscribe! THANK YOU THE CUBICLE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The cube is still a bit fast even on max tension setting but the right lube will take care of that issue.. otherwise nearly identical to GAN 12 flagship.. I know a lot of R&D went into this but no cube should break the $100 barrier.. NOT even a GAN smartcube.. especially when GAN's other options are in the $30-$60 range.. this one should be @ $99.99. Regardless, I've used the iCarry for awhile and have decent times with it but you just can't compare the two.. it's like going from the Monster GO cube to a GAN 12 flagship.. you will not be disappointed once you set it up and break it in!

As good as the Gan i3 / iCarry series is, those cubes never turn like true speedcubes. But the 12ui is a true speedcube with fully functional smartcube technology including gyroscope. This is the very best tool to practice your algs and track your times.

The Gan 12ui is next level. Given that such a cube is now deliverable at mass scale, we can now predict that most cubers in the future will no longer use timers. Within a few years, I predict that the WCA will allow smartcube timing instead of, or in addition to, the timers we see at contests today. I think this is the start of something new.

The turns are great and feel just like a premium type cube. Totally would recommend

The Gan12ui is a great cube…..
Cube Station software however is a work in progress but getting better

probably the best decision I have made this year is to buy this cube
get it if you have the money

The cube itself is great. It's less forgiving than my Moretry cubes, but I like the build quality and the feel of the UV coating. The app that goes with it is somewhat of a downside though. It works great, when it works, but when they have server problems on their end in China, it doesn't work at all. Unfortunately they seem to have server problems rather frequently. The real problem seems to be that they have designed the entire app with all of its components to function as an MMO. Why does an app that has zero functionality apart from the server it is supposed to connect to need to take up 1.25gb of drive space on my phone? If I'm in the training section using the timer or practicing algorithms and it loses it's connection to their server, the app locks up until it regains real time connectivity. Why is this necessary when I'm not using the multiplayer function? If they gave the academy and training sections standalone function, wouldn't this reduce the workload on their server so there would be fewer problems?

The interface still has some bugs too. It is necessary to reorient the cube on the screen periodically, but it only works from the main page. If I'm using the timer in the training section, I can only reorient the cube before and after the first solve. After that, if I need to reorient it, I have to back out to the main page to do it because that function locks up when you are on the timer page. It also causes issues with the smartview function on my phone. I have tried it with a couple of android devices, but it seems to happen on all of them. It's nice to watch the app on a large screen tv, and sometimes it works for a while, but invariably something in the app will cause the smartview to crash, and I end up having to restart the phone to get it to work right again.

Hopefully they will continue to improve the app and fix some of these issues. It certainly is a great learning too otherwise though. My PB is still 30.28 seconds, so I still have a lot to learn.

It is amazing feels smooth and luxurious. One down fall is it is a little expensive. Overall one of the best cubes

Feels exactly like the normal gan 12. Worth the price, if getting for your birthday or christmas