The DaYan Zhanchi has always been a classic speed cube to have in the collection for any cuber. While it has been long since released, and is slowly becoming over shadowed by many other popular brand names and new speed cubes, the Zhanchi is still a top performing cube that has main potential for any experienced, or even beginner cuber.
Out of the box, the Zhanchi felt somewhat average, featuring a smooth and controllable feel, but at the same time feeling somewhat slow and clunky, with average corner cutting. However, after tensioning the cube and applying some light lube to the internal mechanism and pieces, the Zhanchi became very fast and forgiving, featuring above average corner cutting, in both normal and reverse.
After applying the small amount of lube that I did, the Zhanchi felt very smooth and the layers became very easy to throw around during algorithms and solves, while still remaining fairly decent controllability. The cube also features the first unique torpedo mechanism in a speed cube, helping to prevent those nasty pops during algorithms.
The only couple downsides I can see with the Zhanchi are that although there is a torpedo system, it seems to be somewhat ineffective and I still get pops once every few solves. I thought that it was because my tensions were too loose, but even after tightening the cube, the pops still occur once in awhile, making me wonder how effective the torpedo system in the Zhanchi really is. I also sometimes get awkward lockups when trying to corner cut anything near 45 degrees, and corner twists sometimes occur as well.
Besides these minor faults, the Zhanchi still remains a classic cube to have in the collection for any speed cuber, and although it may be slightly outdated compared to many of the new speed cubes out on the market today, it still is a top performing cube and is worth it for the price.
