# Stickerless vs Stickered



## SpeedCubeReview (Feb 4, 2015)

Ok, I really could not find a thread that just talked about the all-around idea of stickerless vs. stickered cubes. I found a lot about one specific cube, or if they are banned or not from competition.

I want you thoughts on stickerless cubes. Overtime I pick up my friends I get lost in the colors. I really like how stickers cubes have the black outlining each color. Does anyone else get confused using stickers cubes. It would be nice not to have to worry about stickers chipping or falling off, but I've grown accustomed to my shades and feel good knowing that I can get different company cubes and put the same colors on them.

What are your thoughts on using one or the other? 

Do you like one more than the other? 

Does anyone else get lost looking at a stickerless cube?


----------



## Ordway Persyn (Feb 4, 2015)

I don't really get lost looking at one, though I've had a sticker less 2x2 and 3x3 for a while.

I use sticker-less cubes for fun and gives a nice alternate look to stickered cubes. I like my cyclone boys feiwu, and i also like
the sticker-less wittwo more than my black one,

I like sticker-less look about the same as stickered cubes, and my recognition is about the same. (better than white cubes for me)


----------



## timeless (Feb 4, 2015)

I liked using stickerless cubes for awhile but stopped using them since theyre banned in WCA competitions except for BLD I think


----------



## DarkCuberXX (Feb 4, 2015)

well i like stickerless cube's a lot.
my experience with sticker and stickerless cubes is that the cubes with stickers are better.
but maybe i am wrong. 
i use the Dayan guhong ( a stickerless cube)
for the cube with stickers is the moyu weilong my main. and it is a lot better.
so i think stickered cubes are better. but i like the look of it a lot.


----------



## Berd (Feb 4, 2015)

timeless said:


> I liked using stickerless cubes for awhile but stopped using them since theyre banned in WCA competitions except for BLD I think


They still are banned for bld.


----------



## Ingo (Feb 4, 2015)

At the moment i like stickerless cubes more than the others and i use them more often than my black or white cubes.
I get the same times on stickerless and black cubes. White cubes seem to slow me down a bit.


----------



## Chrizz (Feb 4, 2015)

Berd said:


> They still are banned for bld.



Wait didn't they allow stickerless cubes in 2015?


----------



## Ordway Persyn (Feb 4, 2015)

Chrizz said:


> Wait didn't they allow stickerless cubes in 2015?



I don't think the new regulations are up yet.


----------



## dan41 (Feb 5, 2015)

I barely took about a dozen solves to get used to it. 
Then I stuck with it because I was spending more time cutting off peeled stickers on the other...

When I came back to stickered I was confused for a few solves...
I cannot explain the cost of switching like that, which never goes away.
For me, it's the transition that is confusing, not the solves once used to it.

My stickerless zhanchi is too noisy and catchy and I always found it ugly. I prefer my quiet smooth black stickered zhanchi. Don't ask me why the same brand and model have so distinct cubes...

I will either pile up replacement stickers or make my own with colored vinyl electrical tape (which sticks better and appears thicker).
This way I will stay on black stickered.


---

There must be money in brown envelopes to protect the interests of vendors of stickers for the stickerless cube to still be rejected in competiton... The faster the cubers are, the less they have time to see the inside color, which is only visible during the turn! No, this delay must be about money. Hope they prove me wrong.


----------



## SpeedCubeReview (Feb 5, 2015)

So if Stickerless became usable at competitions would everyone switch?


----------



## Chrizz (Feb 5, 2015)

I have the feeling that stickerless cubes are smoother and quieter but more sluggish and therefor slower.


----------



## SpeedCubeReview (Feb 5, 2015)

I know the big issue is that you can see other colors from the slide of a piece as it is being turned. I wonder how much that would actually help for those who can solve sub-10 already.


----------



## collppllzbf2lll (Feb 5, 2015)

I would switch to stickerless cubes if there were stickerless cubes with black lines on the cube instead of looking like a giant 1x1 cube when solved.


----------



## dan41 (Feb 5, 2015)

ViolaBouquet said:


> So if Stickerless became usable at competitions would everyone switch?



I think not every one, but it could be impressive. Like over 50%. Just make a poll (if this site is capable of it)


----------



## SpeedCubeReview (Feb 7, 2015)

dan41 said:


> I think not every one, but it could be impressive. Like over 50%. Just make a poll (if this site is capable of it)



Poll created


----------



## Ordway Persyn (Feb 7, 2015)

I don't know, Depends on the cube, I wouldn't be against using one in a competition.


----------



## Ilse (Feb 2, 2017)

Do you also have the low light problem with stickeless cubes? In my experience, I see the colours better on stickered cubes. This is only in low light. In low light I can't see the colours well on a stickerless cube. Do you also have this problem?


----------



## Dash Lambda (Feb 2, 2017)

A lot of the time, stickerless cubes will use a full-bright scheme instead of half-bright. That reduces the contrast between opposite colors, making them harder to discern in poor lighting.
Stickers can be good and bad in low light, just depends on the colors you choose. That's the biggest reason I prefer stickers, the colors aren't inseparable from the cube.


----------



## pipkiksass (Feb 3, 2017)

I find the QiYi shades aren't as bad as the Dayan stickerless, really used to struggle with those unless every light in the house was on.

Also my Yuxin Blue stickerless is harder to solve in low light that my WuQue, as Dash says, due to opposite colour contrast. The QiYi shades are OK for red/orange and green/blue, but white/yellow contrast on stickerless cubes will always be an issue.

Back when I used stickered cubes, my colour scheme incorporated a kinda mustard yellow to contrast with white, and a sky blue to contrast with fluro green, specifically because I mainly cube in low light.

Maybe get a GoPro with a light, and film all your solves?! 


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


----------



## Fear (Feb 3, 2017)

The thing with stickerless cubes is that you lose the contrast with black (or white, fine) that you get with stickered cubes. That makes recog marginally more difficult in poor lighting.


----------



## xyzzy (Feb 3, 2017)

pipkiksass said:


> I find the QiYi shades aren't as bad as the Dayan stickerless, really used to struggle with those unless every light in the house was on.



Funny that, I have the opposite experience. The only reasonably good stickerless 3×3×3s I have are a GuHong and a Valk3, and I'd say the DaYan shades are just slightly easier to distinguish under dim lighting. (GuHong is kind of old and I don't know if their newer cubes use anything different, but presumably they don't.)

They're also both much better than my stickered Aolong v2 (with the standard shades), which used to cause me grief every time I practised with it.


----------



## BirdPuzzles (Feb 4, 2017)

xyzzy said:


> Funny that, I have the opposite experience. The only reasonably good stickerless 3×3×3s I have are a GuHong and a Valk3, and I'd say the DaYan shades are just slightly easier to distinguish under dim lighting. (GuHong is kind of old and I don't know if their newer cubes use anything different, but presumably they don't.)
> 
> They're also both much better than my stickered Aolong v2 (with the standard shades), which used to cause me grief every time I practised with it.


Yeah same. My stickerless yulong(full brights) is fine in low light. where i have an issue is the SS cubes. Ahhh the blue and green on those cubes lol.


----------



## pipkiksass (Feb 4, 2017)

I wonder if this varies with the colour temperature (warmth) of lighting? It would make sense - clearly there's a large element of personal preference, as with all stickers and contrast, but perhaps we should all be swapping out all the light bulbs in our houses for 4500K+ "daylight" bulbs?!?!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


----------



## pglewis (Feb 4, 2017)

pipkiksass said:


> ... perhaps we should all be swapping out all the light bulbs in our houses for 4500K+ "daylight" bulbs?!?!



Yeah, this _could_ be an XY problem. All shades are good shades if you fix the lighting.


----------



## CornerCutter (Feb 25, 2017)

I have been doing some reading and I was wondering if there is a difference between Stickerless and Stickered cubes? 

I am planning to get a Wuque 4x4 and I can't decide if I should get a stickerless because I've heard it is better? 

I think I would say there is a difference.


----------



## DGCubes (Feb 25, 2017)

Depends on the cube, but nowadays, there's generally very little difference. It's mostly down to whichever one you think looks better.


----------



## Dom (Feb 25, 2017)

I'll have to slightly disagree with @DGCubes this time. While I agree that yes, there is a little difference, I do not think it mostly comes down to which one you think looks better. That little bit of difference can turn a slight annoyance into a major frustration. It's about how well the plastics rub against each other. 

My recommendation: get both a stickered black and also a stickerless. Set them both up the same way, break them in the same amount, then let us know your side-by-side comparison in a video review. Then sell the one you like less. Sell it at the next comp you go to. It'll probably sell for exactly how much you bought it for.


----------



## pglewis (Feb 25, 2017)

It's a very small sample size, but the cubes I have in both stickerless and black plastic do feel subtlety different from one another. 

A bigger factor for my decision personally is the fact that I'm not keen on restickering puzzles bigger than 3x3. My current policy is stickerless only for 4x4 and up.


----------



## pipkiksass (Feb 26, 2017)

@pglewis, another vote for no more restickering big cubes!!!

I have 2 cubes in both stickerless and stickered (Weilong V2 and Valk 3), and from that tiny sample I'd say there's 3 factors in play: recognition, feel, and plastic quality.

Recog first - with stickerless cubes you can't choose your preferred shades, but contrast isn't an issue. There used to be posts on here, in the Dayan days, about the different contrast between stickers and plastic on black/white/undyed plastic. Again, not an issue on stickerless cubes. I think some will prefer stickers, some stickerless, in the same way as some can solve on a purple cube with silver stickers, others can't!

In terms of feel, I mean the physical feeling of the stickers on the cubies, rather than the feel when turning. Stickered cubes are more tactile, and perhaps easier to grip. Stickerless feel smoother and, in an odd way, smaller. I particularly get this with my Valks, when going back to stickered from stickerless (main), the cube feels less small, and there's an odd (but not unpleasant) feeling from the stickers under my fingertips.

Thirdly, plastic quality. We all know that dying plastic affects it in many ways. Natural plastic Dayan cubes were popular for this reason (among others). It affects the sensation of the cube when turning, as plastic on plastic friction will be different. For me, stickerless cubes feel like the plastic is slightly thinner. This may be a placebo caused by the lack of a physical layer of vinyl, it may be just me, or it may be an actual thing!! For 4x4+, I think stickerless cubes feel slightly scratchy "out of the box", but breaking in seems to have more of an effect on them than stickered, and they become smoother as you rack up the solves. On this subject, I'd imagine the quantity of lube required would also vary, but that's a whole other can of worms...

So for me there are at least 3 significant differences. Whether stickered or stickerless is better will be a subjective choice on the part of each cyber. 


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


----------



## asacuber (Feb 26, 2017)

I know that for the thunderclap(sorry, don't know about the WuQue) the stickerless version had softer plastic I think.


----------



## Luke8 (Mar 14, 2017)

Hi, I have a stickerless GouGuan YueXiao, and I plan to get only stickerless cubes for the rest of my cubing career. This seems like an obvious choice for me: no peels/chips and no restickering. Yet for an unknown reason, I see the pro cubers and many other cubers use stickered cubes. Is there any reason to them using stickers? Thanks for the help.


----------



## One Wheel (Mar 14, 2017)

asacuber said:


> I know that for the thunderclap(sorry, don't know about the WuQue) the stickerless version had softer plastic I think.



I got a stickerless thunderclap for my nephew and I really liked it, so I got a black one for myself. They are very different. It seems to me that the black one is significantly softer. 



Luke8 said:


> Hi, I have a stickerless GouGuan YueXiao, and I plan to get only stickerless cubes for the rest of my cubing career. This seems like an obvious choice for me: no peels/chips and no restickering. Yet for an unknown reason, I see the pro cubers and many other cubers use stickered cubes. Is there any reason to them using stickers? Thanks for the help.



I think there are two things, maybe more:
1. Grip on the edges of the stickers
2. Custom shades (better recognition optimized for you, rather than just most people)
Other possible considerations: black border (or white) may help recognition, Feliks uses Gans cubes, which don't come in stickerless. I know he uses stickerless cubes for bigger puzzles. I think Kevin Hayes prefers stickered cubes so he can have his own color scheme, but Yuxin is making tiled cubes now, and not black.


----------



## 4Chan (Mar 14, 2017)

One Wheel said:


> I got a stickerless thunderclap for my nephew and I really liked it, so I got a black one for myself. They are very different. It seems to me that the black one is significantly softer.
> 
> 
> 
> ...



One of the weirdest things in the cube industry is like... companies HAVE a black option, but don't offer it commercially.

Kevin actually has _multiple _black yuxin big cubes.
I know a few people who would prefer those, because of the shades, but they're not released (to my knowledge)


----------



## AlphaSheep (Mar 14, 2017)

I very much prefer stickered (specifically black) cubes for two reasons:

The black border makes the colors pop which improves recognition 
The raised stickers give my fingers better grip.
I'm not very fussy about colours, so I've stuck with the factory stickers on all of my cubes. I've never had to resticker a cube and I've never had a problem with stickers chipping, except for some small chips on my SS Skewb (which was only after 15000 solves).


----------



## One Wheel (Mar 14, 2017)

4Chan said:


> One of the weirdest things in the cube industry is like... companies HAVE a black option, but don't offer it commercially.
> 
> Kevin actually has _multiple _black yuxin big cubes.
> I know a few people who would prefer those, because of the shades, but they're not released (to my knowledge)



Darghhh! That is frustrating! Are they black, or do they have black tiles with stickers on top? I remember seeing a video of CBC dying a stickerless Zhanchi before stickerless cubes were comp legal. I'm guessing it might be possible to do the same with yuxin big cube tiles.


----------



## 4Chan (Mar 14, 2017)

One Wheel said:


> Darghhh! That is frustrating! Are they black, or do they have black tiles with stickers on top? I remember seeing a video of CBC dying a stickerless Zhanchi before stickerless cubes were comp legal. I'm guessing it might be possible to do the same with yuxin big cube tiles.




Hmm, now I'm not sure ):

I want to guess, it's black tiles with stickers.


----------



## MoyuDayanLover3 (Mar 15, 2017)

I personally prefer to use stickerless cubes. Not that black (or white) cubes screw up my recognition, but I like the feel and look of stickerless ones more. For example, two of my previous mains have been stickerless, the zhanchi and valk, and I would probably still be using the valk if it weren't for a certain incident that disabled me from using it.


----------



## dskids (Mar 15, 2017)

pipkiksass said:


> I wonder if this varies with the colour temperature (warmth) of lighting?


Bingo. I had to replace the orange stickers on all my QiYi puzzles because the lighting in my living room is a warmer yellow color. Even with all the lights on I would still get the orange and red stickers mixed up sometimes. I never had this issue with dim natural light which is whiter/bluer in hue.


----------



## T1_M0 (Mar 31, 2017)

I've done just over 3000 solves with my stickered thunderclap and I love the shades and the black outlining. However most of my edge pieces' stickers have started to peel off and time to time, my left index finger gets caught there. It's so annoying when the sharp sticker gets under my nail and does a cut there.:confused: That has sometimes been a bit disabling 'cause it hurts for a day or two.

I've now ordered new stickers and also a new stickerless thunderclap. I don't currently own any stickerless cubes, let's see if I'll like that better...


----------



## Phoenix (May 9, 2017)

I've been looking at some fast solvers and i seem to find mixed opinions.
I'm planning on buying a wuque, wondering what upsides and downsides there is, going with stickerless puzzles.

I would like to hear your thoughts on this, as i only have a single budget stickerless puzzle, yet i see fast cubers using stickerless on their big cubes. 

Obviously there is a slight difference in grip with stickers and the shades are different, but i've been wondering if there is any difference in the performance and/or feel from stickerless to a stickered puzzles?


----------



## CornerCutter (May 9, 2017)

Phoenix said:


> I've been looking at some fast solvers and i seem to find mixed opinions.
> I'm planning on buying a wuque, wondering what upsides and downsides there is, going with stickerless puzzles.
> 
> I would like to hear your thoughts on this, as i only have a single budget stickerless puzzle, yet i see fast cubers using stickerless on their big cubes.
> ...


I have a Wuque stickerless as my main and I love it. The good thing about stickerless puzzles for big cubes is your don't have to sticker them which is a pain. The stickerless Wuque shades are awesome. 

I like black plastic and stickered for most of my puzzles though.


----------



## lucarubik (May 9, 2017)

offtopic reallyl quick question, are stickerless cubes legal for non bld events back again?


----------



## Malkom (May 9, 2017)

lucarubik said:


> offtopic reallyl quick question, are stickerless cubes legal for non bld events back again?


yes


----------



## adimare (May 9, 2017)

I know this forum has a weird obsession with minimizing thread counts but sometimes it's nice to see what people are using in May 2017 instead of what they were using in February 2015...


----------



## The Torrent (Oct 8, 2017)

Now that you can use stickerless cubes in competitions, why do people still want, and why do companies still make stickered cubes. Stickerless are easier to maintain in many ways. Rubiks brand have stopped making stickered cubes. Do you think it will be a matter of time before other companies stop??

Is that a real word, stickered??


----------



## xyzzy (Oct 8, 2017)

You don't get to choose your favourite shades with stickerless cubes, and some people are quite particular about what colours their cubes should have. Also, some people just prefer having a black/white/primary base.

(To some extent, you _do_ get to customise a stickerless cube's colours, but that's usually by replacing some parts with parts from a black/primary/limited-edition cube. You effectively need to buy two cubes and unsticker one of them to get a "colour mod" like this, which isn't exactly cheap.)


----------



## DGCubes (Oct 8, 2017)

I personally prefer stickerless any day over stickered, but I don't think it's objectively better. Some people like the customizability of stickered cubes, or just the look in general. Since personal preference will always be a factor, I don't see stickered cubes ever going out of style.


----------



## Ordway Persyn (Oct 8, 2017)

I prefer the look of stickered cubes a little bit better, and some people dislike stickerless cubes (though I don't mind them).
As said above, stickered cubes allow for people to use their personal shades, which isn't a thing with stickerless cubes, at least right now. I have weird megaminx and pyraminx color schemes, and as a result I have a harder time recognizing the more normal megaminx shades, which are usually the stickerless shades ( I don't really have a good pyraminx without my color scheme on them so I don't know how I would do on the normal color scheme). I do use a stickerless 4x4, 5x5 and 7x7 as my mains.


----------



## One Wheel (Oct 8, 2017)

I like the grip from the edges of the stickers on 3x3 and 4x4. I currently use a stickered 5x5, but I intend to change that. For some reason it seems like I catch stickers under my fingernails on the bigger cubes, and I'm not sure color scheme matters as much on bigger cubes. I'd still like to use black and pink instead of orange and red on bigger cubes, if I could get them in stickerless, but I'm not going to buy 2 Wujis just so I can replace one side.


----------



## The Blockhead (Oct 8, 2017)

The stickers add an extra amount of customizability to the puzzle that wouldn't otherwise exist. The shades on the stickerless puzzle might not be optimal for every person, so stickered cubes should stay. Stickers are just like the new GES springs on the GAN Air, meaning the puzzles that have these features are more compatible with more people's needs and preferences for better performance.


----------



## Tabe (Oct 8, 2017)

For me, I don't like how stickerless cubes feel. They feel slick and I have issues with grip. Plus, I've yet to see one with a set of shades that I actually like.


----------



## Ghost Cuber (Oct 8, 2017)

I don't like when the plastic gets scratched up.


----------



## Dash Lambda (Oct 8, 2017)

The shades are always strictly 'okay' or 'good' rather than exactly what I want, though that's my only functional reason.

For less-than-functional reasons, I just don't like the construction. Split-piece assembly always just seems to be a compromise to accommodate stickerless, it doesn't feel like the proper way a cube should go together. Though I guess that's more for caps than stickers.
I also don't like integrating something to the point where it can't be changed. I hate it when companies use non-removable batteries or solder down RAM in electronics, and I hate the UWP format and everything it stands for because it destroys the possibility of changing the files for games and programs. I know stickerless isn't really like those things in terms of design intention, but I still find the idea undesirable.


----------



## One Wheel (Oct 8, 2017)

Dash Lambda said:


> For less-than-functional reasons, I just don't like the construction. Split-piece assembly always just seems to be a compromise to accommodate stickerless, it doesn't feel like the proper way a cube should go together.



Split pieces are easier for magnetizing.


----------



## Dash Lambda (Oct 8, 2017)

One Wheel said:


> Split pieces are easier for magnetizing.


How so? Caps give easier access to the inside of the piece, don't they? They also let you have the pieces open without completely disassembling the cube.


----------



## One Wheel (Oct 9, 2017)

Dash Lambda said:


> How so? Caps give easier access to the inside of the piece, don't they? They also let you have the pieces open without completely disassembling the cube.



On capped corners you would need to put 2 magnets in one piece, and on the inner slice of even-layered cubes you would need to put 2 magnets with opposite polarity next to each other. It's hard enough to put 2 magnets opposite each other. I have magnetized a capped cube, and it wasn't that hard, but it was a big sail, so there was plenty of room to work with.


----------



## I_<3_SCS (Oct 9, 2017)

I think everyone's too picky with shades. My opinion is that the stickerless colors are perfect, no matter from which company. As long as I can distinguish green from blue, red from orange, and white from yellow, I'm


----------



## DhruvA (Oct 9, 2017)

I prefer stickerless cubes only for mega, 6 and 7 because replacing stickers takes very long but for events like 2x2 and 3x3, I prefer stickered as in comps sometimes I start sweating so stickerless cubes really slip off my hands.


----------



## Tabe (Oct 9, 2017)

I_<3_SCS said:


> I think everyone's too picky with shades. My opinion is that the stickerless colors are perfect, no matter from which company. As long as I can distinguish green from blue, red from orange, and white from yellow, I'm


Well, you kinda said it right there - a lot of times there is no "red", it's an awful pink. And a lot of times the white and yellow are nearly identical.


----------



## Zerksies (Oct 9, 2017)

Being 38 and around when the original craze. I like the nostalgia of a black cube with colors. Kinda like the feel and texture of stickers, plus i can get any shade of sticker that i like.


----------



## xyzzy (Oct 9, 2017)

Tabe said:


> a lot of times there is no "red", it's an awful pink.


Do you mean actual pink (e.g. stickerless Yuxin 8×8 and higher) or a red that looks sort of like pink in poor lighting (e.g. most Moyu cubes)?


----------



## Tabe (Oct 10, 2017)

xyzzy said:


> Do you mean actual pink (e.g. stickerless Yuxin 8×8 and higher) or a red that looks sort of like pink in poor lighting (e.g. most Moyu cubes)?


Actual pink.


----------



## ReversedPlus (Oct 10, 2017)

As someone who is not fully colorblind, but has trouble distinguishing colors, stickerless cubes are a nightmare to me. Although I do really like the feel and look of a premium stickerless cube, using one in any lighting other than perfect lighting is impossible to me. I rely on color blind shades, I am not being "picky" with my shades. I can understand why people think that stickered cubes will be soon discontinued (I, unfortunately, do too) but I really hope they do not.


----------



## One Wheel (Oct 10, 2017)

ReversedPlus said:


> As someone who is not fully colorblind, but has trouble distinguishing colors, stickerless cubes are a nightmare to me. Although I do really like the feel and look of a premium stickerless cube, using one in any lighting other than perfect lighting is impossible to me. I rely on color blind shades, I am not being "picky" with my shades. I can understand why people think that stickered cubes will be soon discontinued (I, unfortunately, do too) but I really hope they do not.



If your case was unique you might be right, but you are far from unique in mild colorblindness. For that reason, even if there were no others, I suspect that stickered cubes are here to stay.


----------



## ComputerGuy365 (Oct 10, 2017)

I personally prefer stickerless, especially when it gets to larger puzzles, since maintaining/replacing the stickers is a huge hassle.


----------



## xyzzy (Oct 10, 2017)

ReversedPlus said:


> I rely on color blind shades, I am not being "picky" with my shades.


If you have a stickerless cube with a split-piece design (e.g. Valk or GTS2), have you tried replacing one of the colours you can't easily distinguish with black pieces from another cube? For example, something like this. Whether this works depends on the exact type of colour blindness you have, but it's still worth trying if you prefer the feel of stickerless cubes and are willing to spend a bit of money to experiment, imo.



Tabe said:


> Actual pink.


Hm. Far as I can recall, it seems that it's mainly the budget cubes (… and Yuxin's very big cubes) that use pink instead of red. Maybe non-cubers might prefer that, or maybe pink dye is cheaper.


----------



## AlphaSheep (Oct 10, 2017)

Grip and texture on stickered cubes is far far better. Stickerless cubes slip in my hands more easily. As several people have mentioned, the shades on stickerless cubes are seriously ugly. I also prefer the black borders around the stickers as I feel it aids my recognition (I acknowledge that this is something that would change with practice). Lastly, I don't know how maintenence could possibly be an issue for stickered cubes because I have done 10000 solves on a cube and the stickers aren't at all chipped, just slightly scratched. After 1000 solves on a stickerless cube, the pieces are just as scratched. I don't know what people do to get stickers as chipped as they are.


----------



## 1001010101001 (Feb 2, 2018)

I am a absolute LOVER of stickerless. I only buy stickered cubes if they are cheaper and stickerless is out of stock. I don't liek the way stickers peel. And when I take it to non-cubers they can't say " I just peel the..."


----------



## One Wheel (Feb 3, 2018)

adimare said:


> I know this forum has a weird obsession with minimizing thread counts but sometimes it's nice to see what people are using in May 2017 instead of what they were using in February 2015...


I see that when I answered the poll I said I preferred stickered cubes. Now the only stickered cubes I use are 2x2 (because I don't care to upgrade), 4x4 (I'd seriously consider switching, but I've got a really good Blue M in black), and feet (because they don't make a stickerless Big Sail, and I'd really like to have black and pink sides on my foot cube). I prefer stickerless big cubes for recognition, especially for centers.


----------



## TipsterTrickster (Feb 4, 2018)

One question, What are the new stickerless black cubes on the cubicle.


----------



## AidanNoogie (Feb 4, 2018)

TipsterTrickster said:


> One question, What are the new stickerless black cubes on the cubicle.


They replace white with black.


----------



## TipsterTrickster (Feb 4, 2018)

AidanNoogie said:


> They replace white with black.


OK thanks


----------



## FireCuber (Feb 4, 2018)

I like stickered cubes a lot although I do have a stickerless 2x2 and 4x4.


----------



## JustSomeRandomDude (Mar 11, 2018)

I think the only trouble with stickerless cubes, is when you get crystal ones 

Other than that, it's actually comfortable not having to worry about scratching your stickers and the shades are usually nice enough in the eyes, so I use them to practice. Although in the end, I use stickered for actual solving with high contrast shades.


----------



## Destiny (Mar 12, 2018)

I use black stickered so non-cubers say, thats fake


----------



## 1001010101001 (Mar 13, 2018)

Destiny said:


> I use black stickered so non-cubers say, thats fake


They tell me to get a 'real' Rubik's cube instead of that 'weird different plastic thing'


----------



## Nard Cubes (Jan 2, 2019)

Stickerless or Stickered?


----------



## EHAshe (Jan 2, 2019)

My recognition is better with stickerless


----------



## Nard Cubes (Jan 2, 2019)

EHAshe said:


> My recognition is better with stickerless


My recognition is better with stickered cubes.


----------



## CornerCutter (Jan 2, 2019)

Depends on the event for me. 2x2 and 3x3 I like stickered. And then 4x4+ and Pyraminx I like stickerless.


----------



## stormtrooper (Jan 2, 2019)

I would overall prefer stickered, because I can change the sticker shades on the cube. Meanwhile with stickerless, I would need to spray paint. I am more used to stickered, I can use stickerless but the things is that cubes with black outlines look nicer to me. Stickerless do look nice too, but I do prefer stickered.

I do not know if stickerless affects my recognition, but I think the recognition is the same for both for me.


----------



## nms777 (Jan 3, 2019)

I prefer stickerless mostly because stickers chip and peel and stickerless generally looks prettier.


----------



## Hazel (Jan 3, 2019)

More people seem to prefer stickerless, suprising since stickered has been the norm for so long! But then again only 15 people have voted so far.
I think stickerless cubes just look nicer and cleaner in general and make recognition a bit easier beecause there's no plastic color in the way even in the slightest. Plus you don't ever have to worry about chips in the stickers or getting your nail caught under them!


----------



## AbsoRuud (Jan 3, 2019)

Technically my main 3x3x3 is stickered, but everything else is stickerless, and my next 3x3x3 will be stickerless.


----------



## PerfectSledge (Jan 6, 2019)

I am planning to buy a cube around 20 US Dollars. Which one should I go for ?
Stickerless or Stickered ?
And which cube should I go for ?
My previous main was Moyu Hualong.


----------



## AbsoRuud (Jan 6, 2019)

For 20 bucks I could go for this one: 
https://www.thecubicle.com/collections/3x3/products/cubicle-labs-little-magic-m
or this one:
https://www.thecubicle.com/collections/3x3/products/cubicle-labs-mf3rs2-m

Stickerless. You're gonna get one of the best budget cubes available but then set up by a pro. Can't go wrong there.


----------



## PerfectSledge (Jan 7, 2019)

AbsoRuud said:


> For 20 bucks I could go for this one:
> https://www.thecubicle.com/collections/3x3/products/cubicle-labs-little-magic-m
> or this one:
> https://www.thecubicle.com/collections/3x3/products/cubicle-labs-mf3rs2-m
> ...


 
I am looking forward to the Valk 3.
I just love that clickiness that I get in every turn. I also love the Full fitted stickers on the black back.
And I am just SUB 25 these days.
Keeping all the things in mind which one will you recommend now?



PerfectSledge said:


> I am looking forward to the Valk 3.
> I just love that clickiness that I get in every turn. I also love the Full fitted stickers on the black back.
> And I am just SUB 25 these days.
> Keeping all the things in mind which one will you recommend now?



I am looking for this one too.
https://www.cubelelo.com/cubelelo-yuxin-little-magic-3x3-magnetic-elite-m


----------



## AbsoRuud (Jan 7, 2019)

I don't know cubelelo but that's basically the same product as I linked from the cubicle. I just won a SCS gift card and I am most likely going to be their Yuxin Little Magic M with it.


----------



## PerfectSledge (Jan 8, 2019)

The cubelelo service is just for India. And the price is just 10 bucks for the premium service and the magnetic cube. So ain't that a better deal?


----------



## AbsoRuud (Jan 8, 2019)

PerfectSledge said:


> The cubelelo service is just for India. And the price is just 10 bucks for the premium service and the magnetic cube. So ain't that a better deal?



I would say yes that's a better deal.


----------



## PerfectSledge (Jan 12, 2019)

AbsoRuud said:


> I would say yes that's a better deal.


What do you avg and how many algs you know?


----------



## AbsoRuud (Jan 12, 2019)

I average between 30 and 40 usually. And I know about 8 algs. I use Roux.


----------



## PerfectSledge (Jan 13, 2019)

AbsoRuud said:


> I average between 30 and 40 usually. And I know about 8 algs. I use Roux.


Have you ever tried cfop


----------



## AbsoRuud (Jan 13, 2019)

Yeah, I didnt like CFOP.


----------



## CampNowhere (Mar 30, 2019)

Not to necrobump an old post, but I wanted to add my two cents.

I like stickerless cubes better in theory, and my current cube is a stickerless one, but one major problem is that not a single one has a good color scheme. The orange is too close to the red and the yellow is too close to the white. Because of this, it's hard to cube in less that direct light.

I might add that this was never a problem with my original brand name Rubick's Cube.


----------



## Existential Shrimp (Jun 2, 2019)

Honestly, just reply what you prefer.


----------



## Competition Cuber (Jun 2, 2019)

I prefer stickerlees. You get less choices with shades, but they don't chip and it is usually cheaper when buying a premium/custom cube. And this is subjective, but I prefer the different grip of stickerless cubes.


----------



## Ciparo (Jun 2, 2019)

In the future I’ll probably never buy stickers again. My OCD can’t handle the chips or bad stickering.


----------



## Filipe Teixeira (Jun 2, 2019)

I bought a stickered because it was nicer than the stickered version to me.
But yeah, stickers peel off. I try to keep my nails cut short but sometimes you can't do anything





or





stickered seemed prettier for me


----------



## Etotheipi (Jun 2, 2019)

Tiles


----------



## QuestionableCuber (Aug 5, 2019)

Stickered cubes used to be the most popular (and practically only option) and Stickerless cubes used to be banned! But now with the rise of Stickerless cubes stickered cubes are falling out of popularity only a handful of people are using stickered 3x3s (like me (the best cuber), Feliks and, Rami Sbahi (just a small list) What do you guys think?


----------



## Hazel (Aug 6, 2019)

I think it's mainly because of the convenience of stickerless cubes. You never have to worry about stickers chipping or peeling, replacing stickers, making sure your nails are short enough, etc. Stickerless cubes also just have a cleaner look imo, and recognition is arguable marginally better due to the lack of the borders. And the shades are a pretty good one-size-fits-all, bland enough that nobody gets sick of them but nice-looking enough that they don't get too boring. Plus if you want to use custom shades for stickered cubes, you have to pay extra to get those stickers and take the time and effort to apply them.


----------



## GAN 356 X (Aug 29, 2019)

I believe its really a matter fo opinon. personally, I like sticker less cubes because of their awesome looks, but wouldn't mind if only stcikered options were available. For example budget cubes are better in stcikerless as often the stickers are bad quality.


----------



## Bamboo Cuber (Oct 19, 2019)

Would you rather get stickered cubes or stickerless? I feel as though there are a few kinds for each, for stickered, you have black and white generally. For stickerless, there is smooth (like the gts2), matte (like the gan 3540, or glossy (like the gan I [note that any of these could be wrong so don't quote me on it]). Please fill out the survey below (this is going to help me decide whether to get stickerless gan xs or sticker gan xs).


----------



## MarkA64 (Oct 19, 2019)

Stickerless, Smooth, would that include the VPM?


----------



## Bamboo Cuber (Oct 19, 2019)

MarkA64 said:


> Stickerless, Smooth, would that include the VPM?


What is a VPM?


----------



## MarkA64 (Oct 19, 2019)

Bamboo Cuber said:


> What is a VPM?


Valk Power M


----------



## Bamboo Cuber (Oct 19, 2019)

MarkA64 said:


> Valk Power M


Prob Smooth


----------



## GAN 356 X (Oct 19, 2019)

I prefer glossy then smooth then matte


----------



## MarkA64 (Oct 20, 2019)

Dr. Lube said:


> You can get hybrid stickered puzzles. I have 6 QiYi Sail W cubes (4 black and 2 white) and all of them have glossy stickeres on 4 sides and satin stickers on 2.
> 
> I'm not sure whether QiYi wanted to do this or whether it was a production issue...


So which stickers are best for grip?


----------



## KM the cuber (Nov 24, 2019)

I'm getting a gan xs(for Christmas) but I don't know which version to get. I prefer stickerless more than stickered but it got matt finish plastic. I never tried matt plastic before but I heard it was not very grippy.what do you think?


----------



## PetrusQuber (Nov 24, 2019)

Definitely sticker less because of the smooth and tidy look. I’m not sure about frosted, matt and glossy... I think frosted plastic is kind of not smooth, it’s got loads of small bumps in it, and you can run your fingernail over it, and wince in pain as you hear the screechy noise. 
Take my opinion with a grain of salt though.


----------



## WarriorCatCuber (Nov 24, 2019)

Get a stickerless. I tried both matt finish and regular, and I would even say matt finish in better ! Plus, you won't have chipping and peeling stickers, which are a big inconvenience.


----------



## ProStar (Nov 24, 2019)

I personally prefer stickerless, although it is completely a matter of opinion. I don't know the difference between matte, frosted, and glossy though.


----------



## T.A.V (Jan 12, 2020)

I bought Little Magic M Stickerless and after a month MF3RS2 M Stickered (Cubelelo don’t stock stickerless MF3RS2 for some reason).

Although I love the turning of MF3RS2 but I hate the look. My f2l slowed down a little because it was taking me slightly longer to recognise edge pieces. Grip is different, not better not worse, just different.
Also my 2yo daughter loves opening center caps of cubes and in case of stickered, the stickers are under attack by her 

I’ll keep it for practicing and for variety. But I’ll only buy stickerless cubes in future.

OT: How does selling/buying at comp happen? Is there a buy/sell stall? or you just ask random people if they want to buy your cube?
I’ve never been to a comp yet.


----------



## AbsoRuud (Jan 12, 2020)

Some comps have stands, other comps don't. Sometimes people sell their cubes. Quite often people agree beforehand to sell and buy a cube and then meet at a comp.


----------



## BenChristman1 (Jan 12, 2020)

I prefer stickerless for bigger cubes, but I really don't have a preference for smaller cubes.


----------



## ProStar (Jan 12, 2020)

I prefer stickerless.


----------



## brododragon (Jan 12, 2020)

timeless said:


> I liked using stickerless cubes for awhile but stopped using them since theyre banned in WCA competitions except for BLD I think


Are they still banned in 2019?


----------



## PetrusQuber (Jan 12, 2020)

brododragon said:


> Are they still banned in 2019?


No. They’re allowed, since the WCA realised it really wasn’t cheating, being able to see colours when you turn a layer 45 degrees.


----------



## Chimp_Cuber608 (Jan 12, 2020)

Personally, I prefer sticker less cubes mainly because you don’t need to to worry about peeling.


----------



## BenChristman1 (Jan 12, 2020)

brododragon said:


> Are they still banned in 2019?


LOL its 2020...


----------



## brododragon (Jan 14, 2020)

BenChristman1 said:


> LOL its 2020...


It takes me about a year to realize the the year has changed


----------



## Kaneki Uchiha (Mar 26, 2020)

stickerless cubes are banned?????


----------



## PikachuPlayz_MC (Mar 26, 2020)

SpeedCubeReview said:


> Ok, I really could not find a thread that just talked about the all-around idea of stickerless vs. stickered cubes. I found a lot about one specific cube, or if they are banned or not from competition.
> 
> I want you thoughts on stickerless cubes. Overtime I pick up my friends I get lost in the colors. I really like how stickers cubes have the black outlining each color. Does anyone else get confused using stickers cubes. It would be nice not to have to worry about stickers chipping or falling off, but I've grown accustomed to my shades and feel good knowing that I can get different company cubes and put the same colors on them.
> 
> ...


I personally like stickerless cube more. For mainly one reason, the stickers catch my finger nail roots and pulls out my nails and it hurts, so i try to stay away from them, also it just looks nicer for some cubes.


----------



## brododragon (Mar 26, 2020)

Kaneki Uchiha said:


> stickerless cubes are banned?????


Not any more.


----------



## Kaneki Uchiha (Mar 26, 2020)

when where they banned


----------



## Kaneki Uchiha (Mar 26, 2020)

and why


----------



## brododragon (Mar 26, 2020)

Kaneki Uchiha said:


> when where they banned





Kaneki Uchiha said:


> and why


I don't have an exact date, but they were banned a while ago because you can see colors in sides that are 90 degrees away from you.


----------



## Kaneki Uchiha (Mar 26, 2020)

how


----------



## Kaneki Uchiha (Mar 26, 2020)

u can use big stickers and do that with stickered


----------



## Kaneki Uchiha (Mar 26, 2020)

or misplace the stickers


----------



## Cuberstache (Mar 26, 2020)

Kaneki Uchiha said:


> how


By turning the U face halfway, you can see colors of the BR and BL edges that you wouldn't be able to see with a stickered cube. The rules were changed because it turns out that's a dumb idea and no one would ever think of using it.


----------



## Kaneki Uchiha (Mar 26, 2020)

I got it thx


----------



## Kaneki Uchiha (Mar 26, 2020)

but if ur a speedcuber I think anyone would what colour is to the right and left


----------



## brododragon (Mar 26, 2020)

Kaneki Uchiha said:


> but if ur a speedcuber I think anyone would what colour is to the right and left


Not when it's scrambled.


----------



## ProStar (Mar 26, 2020)

Kaneki Uchiha said:


> when where they banned





Kaneki Uchiha said:


> and why






Kaneki Uchiha said:


> how





Kaneki Uchiha said:


> u can use big stickers and do that with stickered





Kaneki Uchiha said:


> or misplace the stickers






Kaneki Uchiha said:


> I got it thx





Kaneki Uchiha said:


> but if ur a speedcuber I think anyone would what colour is to the right and left



Please don't post 2+ times in a row, it clutters up the forum. You can just edit your post if you need to add something



PikachuPlayz_MC said:


> I personally like stickerless cube more. For mainly one reason, the stickers catch my finger nail roots and pulls out my nails and it hurts, so i try to stay away from them, also it just looks nicer for some cubes.



There's really no reason to respond to a post created 5 years ago. Please try to look at the date before responding to something, and also looking at how many other posts there are


----------



## Competition Cuber (Mar 26, 2020)

I'm honestly curious as to how much more times this post will be brought up.


----------



## ProStar (Mar 26, 2020)

Competition Cuber said:


> I'm honestly curious as to how much more times this post will be brought up.



ikr? I'm honestly sorta getting annoyed of how many bumps it's getting


----------



## brododragon (Mar 26, 2020)

ProStar said:


> ikr? I'm honestly sorta getting annoyed of how many bumps it's getting


*Pretends like I didn't bump it like the bad brodobumper I am*


----------



## PetrusQuber (Apr 10, 2020)

Ok, I actually have a legit question. What are the pros and cons of stickerless and stickered?
I’m thinking of getting a Dayan Tengyun V2 M, and originally I was going to get stickerless like I’d always done, but thenI looked at the stickered version, and I was like... I really don’t know now.
Since I haven’t used a recent stickered cube in forever, how easily do the stickers chip/peel nowadays? Are they on centre with the pieces? Are they good quality?


----------



## PetrusQuber (Apr 10, 2020)

You know, I’m actually leaning towards stickered, since 
a. If I don’t like the shades, I can replace them
b. Stickerless is way more generic now, and not a lot of people use stickered anymore
c. If I scratch the cube, the scratch will be on the sticker, and I can just replace the sticker (and if it goes into the cube, the new sticker will cover it)
d. To contrast my collection of all stickerless


----------



## teh yoshi (Apr 10, 2020)

PetrusQuber said:


> You know, I’m actually leaning towards stickered, since
> a. If I don’t like the shades, I can replace them
> b. Stickerless is way more generic now, and not a lot of people use stickered anymore
> c. If I scratch the cube, the scratch will be on the sticker, and I can just replace the sticker (and if it goes into the cube, the new sticker will cover it)
> d. To contrast my collection of all stickerless


Yeah, you kinda hit the nail on the head here. Lots of people will jump on the whole stickerless train without acknowledging the different needs for people that stickerless actually doesn't provide. Another big one is that some forms of colorblindness can affect how you recognize the shades, and you have no control over the shades on stickerless puzzles.

Honestly, it's mostly about preference. I love both stickered and stickerless, and I tend to get any puzzle in both when I can. I usually like to go out and practice with stickered puzzles because it looks cooler to the general non-cubing public, but I'll probably use stickerless at home. It just depends on my mood.


----------



## EvanTheCuber (Apr 10, 2020)

Im Getting the Dayan Tengyun V2 M(Already Preordered on Speed Cube Shop.) But after having a GAN Air SM, On the Whiteside, the White and Green Block became literally a black and green block. The Logo is literally disappeared, and it looks dirty. But then I bought the X, it looks brand new. Honestly, I recommend Stickerless. Which I am getting for my Tengyun V2.


----------



## PetrusQuber (Apr 10, 2020)

I’m getting Black, but I can always replace stickers.


----------



## PetrusQuber (Apr 10, 2020)

EvanTheCuber said:


> Im Getting the Dayan Tengyun V2 M(Already Preordered on Speed Cube Shop.) But after having a GAN Air SM, On the Whiteside, the White and Green Block became literally a black and green block. The Logo is literally disappeared, and it looks dirty. But then I bought the X, it looks brand new. Honestly, I recommend Stickerless. Which I am getting for my Tengyun V2.


Also Evan, everytime I look at your post I feel like you’re slightly annoyed, because the roll eye in your signature really stands out, and my subconscious processes that lol.


----------



## ProStar (Apr 10, 2020)

PetrusQuber said:


> Ok, I actually have a legit question. What are the pros and cons of stickerless and stickered?
> I’m thinking of getting a Dayan Tengyun V2 M, and originally I was going to get stickerless like I’d always done, but thenI looked at the stickered version, and I was like... I really don’t know now.
> Since I haven’t used a recent stickered cube in forever, how easily do the stickers chip/peel nowadays? Are they on centre with the pieces? Are they good quality?



Pure preference, whatever looks better to you


----------



## EngiNerdBrian (Apr 10, 2020)

PetrusQuber said:


> You know, I’m actually leaning towards stickered, since
> a. If I don’t like the shades, I can replace them
> b. Stickerless is way more generic now, and not a lot of people use stickered anymore
> c. If I scratch the cube, the scratch will be on the sticker, and I can just replace the sticker (and if it goes into the cube, the new sticker will cover it)
> d. To contrast my collection of all stickerless


My $0.02 is that a stickered puzzle has more versatility and life to give a long time down the road. For instance, I recently made an old Ghost hand cube into a sticker mod w/ (6) slightly different shades of blue...that’s not a great puzzle but its better and more intriguing than just a poorly turning 3x3 on my shelf I’ll never use again. I plan to put some Sudoku stickers on other relics I have back from when V-Cubes were all the rage.

I’m also obsessed with sticker shades and feel like it’s a gamble when ordering a stickerless puzzle. Adding your own with stickers is fun!...for some of us. It’s all preference.


----------



## EvanTheCuber (Apr 10, 2020)

PetrusQuber said:


> Also Evan, everytime I look at your post I feel like you’re slightly annoyed, because the roll eye in your signature really stands out, and my subconscious processes that lol.


Lol I am not annoyed seriously. Its just very surprising how my pb is like 17 seconds less than my average.

Edit: should I change my signature?


----------



## EvanTheCuber (Apr 10, 2020)

PetrusQuber said:


> Ok, I actually have a legit question. What are the pros and cons of stickerless and stickered?
> I’m thinking of getting a Dayan Tengyun V2 M, and originally I was going to get stickerless like I’d always done, but thenI looked at the stickered version, and I was like... I really don’t know now.
> Since I haven’t used a recent stickered cube in forever, how easily do the stickers chip/peel nowadays? Are they on centre with the pieces? Are they good quality?


Cube stickers get chipped very easily nowadays. For me at least.


----------



## ProStar (Apr 10, 2020)

EvanTheCuber said:


> Lol I am not annoyed seriously. Its just very surprising how my pb is like 17 seconds less than my average.
> 
> Edit: should I change my signature?



I can't speak for Petrus, but for me it always catches my eye and makes me think that you put a roll eyes at the end of a post, then I realize it's just your signature. For me personally, it's not really a big deal, just something I notice almost everyone time I see one of your posts


----------



## PetrusQuber (Apr 10, 2020)

EvanTheCuber said:


> Cube stickers get chipped very easily nowadays. For me at least.


Weird... You know, I have an Aolong which stickers are perfect, since buying in May. Hopefully the stickers are good quality, and if they’re not, I’ll just buy another set from a different brand.


----------



## Jchap808 (Apr 10, 2020)

teh yoshi said:


> Yeah, you kinda hit the nail on the head here. Lots of people will jump on the whole stickerless train without acknowledging the different needs for people that stickerless actually doesn't provide. Another big one is that some forms of colorblindness can affect how you recognize the shades, and you have no control over the shades on stickerless puzzles.
> 
> Honestly, it's mostly about preference. I love both stickered and stickerless, and I tend to get any puzzle in both when I can. I usually like to go out and practice with stickered puzzles because it looks cooler to the general non-cubing public, but I'll probably use stickerless at home. It just depends on my mood.



All great comments, but truly it comes down to personal preference. You have a bunch of stickerless get the stickered, and vice versa. Or you could be like some cubers and get the stickered, only because Dayans first main 3x3 was stickered and keep that same pattern for all cubes Dayan. Don't let anyone's personal preference sway your decision making. In the end you're the user, no one else.

I can add my 2 cents about both cubes, but I choose not to. Pick your color and make the best of it. You'd be happy otherwise.


P.s. I've teamed up with Piecubeshop, the original posters of the review video of the Tengyun v2m. I'm doing an unboxing, review, and giveaway on behalf of Piecubeshop. I'll post the link in the post I made about it. If you cant find it, just search it.


----------



## vidcapper (Jun 16, 2020)

I've no pretentions to be a speed-solver (at my age) , but I just love solving cubes. I find I prefer stickered, except for the 2x2 & Megaminx. 

I think the stickerless ones look cooler, but when it comes to actually solving them, I find stickered ones easier to find pieces on.


----------



## Mo_A2244 (Jun 16, 2020)

I like stickerless cubes, however, I have hardly tried a stickered cube for comparison purposes. However, I would still think they would be equal, stickerless cubes are good for rough turners who would usually peel the stickers off because of how fast they turn. But I would suggest stickered definitely... for those who "peel the stickers off and put them back on again."


----------



## OreKehStrah (Jun 16, 2020)

These days I prefer stickerless cubes, but I use stickered cubes when it's either not possible or very expensive to have a cube with my custom color scheme.


----------



## WarriorCatCuber (Jun 16, 2020)

I use stickerless because I'm too lazy to resticker cubes


----------



## vidcapper (Jun 16, 2020)

WarriorCatCuber said:


> I use stickerless because I'm too lazy to resticker cubes



They also thwart those who just peel off the stickers.


----------



## dudefaceguy (Jun 16, 2020)

vidcapper said:


> I've no pretentions to be a speed-solver (at my age) , but I just love solving cubes. I find I prefer stickered, except for the 2x2 & Megaminx.
> 
> I think the stickerless ones look cooler, but when it comes to actually solving them, I find stickered ones easier to find pieces on.


I'm the complete opposite. Recognition is much better on stickerless, but stickered cubes look cooler to me. I see a lot of blind solvers using stickered cubes, which I find interesting.


----------



## Sub1Hour (Jun 16, 2020)

dudefaceguy said:


> I'm the complete opposite. Recognition is much better on stickerless, but stickered cubes look cooler to me. I see a lot of blind solvers using stickered cubes, which I find interesting.


I'm pretty sure it's for color scheme reasons although I do know that many people use the original GTS as their blind main and that does not come in stickerless. I also think its because most people learn bld on a stickered cube with letters on the stickers so maybe that's what they are used to.

My recog is the same on stickered and stickerless but I prefer stickerless since I do a lot of big cubes and it would be such a pain to resticker a 7x7, also more cubes are coming in stickerless only now so its probably the better option in the long run.


----------



## EngiNerdBrian (Jun 17, 2020)

vidcapper said:


> I've no pretentions to be a speed-solver (at my age) , but I just love solving cubes. I find I prefer stickered, except for the 2x2 & Megaminx.
> 
> I think the stickerless ones look cooler, but when it comes to actually solving them, I find stickered ones easier to find pieces on.





dudefaceguy said:


> I'm the complete opposite. Recognition is much better on stickerless, but stickered cubes look cooler to me. I see a lot of blind solvers using stickered cubes, which I find interesting.


I do think i have a marginal increase in recognition on stickerless puzzles since there is objectively more color available to the eye but I much prefer the look of stickered cubes. Classy  . Plus, I'm shade obsessed and enjoy swapping stickers.


----------



## GodCubing (Jun 17, 2020)

techniquly cheat by turning the layer 45 degrees and seeing the stickers in the back. This is a really nice cheat, but it is quite hard to perform in a solve (especially if you have magnets)


----------



## dudefaceguy (Jun 17, 2020)

EngineeringBrian said:


> I do think i have a marginal increase in recognition on stickerless puzzles since there is objectively more color available to the eye but I much prefer the look of stickered cubes. Classy  . Plus, I'm shade obsessed and enjoy swapping stickers.


Honestly it's just an excuse for me to buy more puzzles. Sometimes I'm in the mood for stickers, sometimes stickerless.


----------



## Sub1Hour (Jun 17, 2020)

GodCubing said:


> techniquly cheat by turning the layer 45 degrees and seeing the stickers in the back. This is a really nice cheat, but it is quite hard to perform in a solve (especially if you have magnets)


"Welcome to the WCA in 2014, if we allow stickerless cubes people will use this cheat so we can't allow it! Stickered only!"

We realized around 5 years ago that it's useless to do this since its faster to just do a pseudo rotation to look around the cube than try and look at the small exposed portion. Also I'm not quite sure how its a "cheat" or how its nice at all.


----------



## Spacey10 (Aug 17, 2020)

Sorta wanna res this thread
Imo, stickerless looks better for patterns or yt vids, or even grip in some cases, where as stickered always has good gripsbut it is hard to recog or weird to make patterns


----------



## qwr (Aug 18, 2020)

As a slow solver / collector: No difference, though stickered has a more classic look, especially white plastic. When I solve, the thin black or white lines (which are really milky and a bit translucent for Dayan puzzles) just fade into the background and aren't considered at all.


----------



## vidcapper (Aug 18, 2020)

I prefer stickerless as they are generally lighter.


----------



## CFOP2020 (Nov 2, 2020)

For all Stickered cube lovers, please rant here why you think they are better than stickerless cubes. Your rant can be a full 6 paragraph essay, or just a sentence. I just want the world to hear why stickered cubes are objectively optimal.

Stickered cubes 
A. Look way cleaner than stickerless cubes
B. Are customizable in color shades for optimal solving experience
C. Can be anything you want. If you don't like the black rim around the stickers, JUST USE FULL FITTED STICKERS. 
D. I (personally) solve better on stickered cubes
E. You don't ever have to worry about frosted or glossy finishes
F. If you ever scuff a sticker, then just replace the sticker (On stickerless cubes, if you get a big scratch you have to buy an entire new piece)
G. The stickers provide an extra grip for your solves


----------



## 2018AMSB02 (Nov 2, 2020)

Well I know this is not what you asked for but what is ranting without opposition? 

Stickerless cubes are better.

First, based on turning some cubes turn better stickered and some stickerless, so those cancel each other out.

On stickerless cubes, you can see more sides at once because the plastic merges at the border, but with stickered cubes you need to rotate the cube more to see what piece it is.

My fingernails are annoyingly hard, and that chips stickers which slows down solves and damages cube.

The only way stickered is better is for pyraminx (because of the grip) and for mods


----------



## Scrombo (Nov 2, 2020)

While I prefer stickerless, I understand the appeal of stickered cubes (black, namely). The shade options coupled with the black outlines of the plastic remedy recognition issues that aren't instantly alleviated in stickerless cubes. You could also argue that certain types of stickers help a tad with grip. The Shengshou Legend comes to mind.


----------



## Zubin Park (Nov 2, 2020)

I'll be honest, I'm sub-8 with stickerless all the way. Sounds to me that you're just saying that stickered cubes are better because you like them. very few valid or unbiased points that you made.


----------



## RiceMan_ (Nov 2, 2020)

I don't use stickered cubes but i've heard that it has better grip than non-stickered cubes. (not 100% sure)


----------



## Zain_A24 (Nov 2, 2020)

Stickered cubes are practically dying.

In our recent chat with the GAN team, we were told that there were mixed feedback on the black internals and the primary internals, so they kindly made both. They decided AGAINST creating a stickered version.

As anyone would ask, I said "why?". The reason being that stickered cubes aren't selling like they used to. The sales of stickered cubes have depreciated over time, until eventually companies will make stickered cubes in small batches or even not at all.

Why are stickered cubes disappearing?
1 - Stickers - People don't like stickers on their cubes, since they naturally peel or chip with nails. I have a GAN Air M stickered and over a period of a few weeks / months there were small signs of stickers chipping. They weren't major since I never cube with large nails, but is enough to make me feel the roughness on certain sides, which isn't ideal.

2 - Mofang Jiaoshi - I'm not blaming the company directly, but they were the first company to go full-on stickerless (not sure if their recent releases come in stickered or not). Their series being an optimal beginner option, beginners are presented with stickerless cubes, and from there it seems natural to transition to another cube of a stickerless variant. Not sure if this is the case (you're more than welcome to debate), but a possible reason.

3 - Shades - Back in the day, stickerless shades (in my opinion) used to be awful, with companies experimenting with dyes and plastics to get the desired colours. Nowadays, the only ways to get your desired shades are to get the stickerless version or go and get custom stickers with your cube, and I personally would choose stickerless in this example given the points above

4 - Better recognition in lower light - I've noticed that if I am to cube in a less bright environment, that stickerless cubes are the way to go. This is something I've observed with myself and may not apply to others.

Why stickered
1 - More freedom with sticker shades
2 - Performance. I've noticed that GAN stickered cubes had much better performance out of the box compared to their stickerless counterparts. They eventually balance out after plenty of break-in but for a good 300-500 solves, the stickered versions feel far superior.

So those are my thoughts, feel free to continue the discussion below.


----------



## Deleted member 54663 (Nov 2, 2020)

Zain_A24 said:


> Stickered cubes are practically dying.
> 
> In our recent chat with the GAN team, we were told that there were mixed feedback on the black internals and the primary internals, so they kindly made both. They decided AGAINST creating a stickered version.
> 
> ...


With the statement about GAN stickered cubes being better than stickerless, I disagree. Stickered Gan cubes, like the air M, are not better, they are only faster.


----------



## CFOP2020 (Nov 2, 2020)

Zain_A24 said:


> Stickered cubes are practically dying.
> 
> In our recent chat with the GAN team, we were told that there were mixed feedback on the black internals and the primary internals, so they kindly made both. They decided AGAINST creating a stickered version.
> 
> ...


Thank you for your input, and i am sad that cubes are going this way. It takes me back to the days of the SM when GAN cubes used to only come in stickered.


----------



## Zain_A24 (Nov 2, 2020)

JP cubing said:


> With the statement about GAN stickered cubes being better than stickerless, I disagree. Stickered Gan cubes, like the air M, are not better, they are only faster.



Not sure you can disagree on my personal subjective thoughts but I agree the stickered cubes are faster, and for me that means better-performing. When comparing the same cube of different variants side by side (I currently have the XV2 and Air M in both variants) both the stickered versions out of the box were a lot better than their stickerless counterparts. They do end up becoming more balanced though. I respect your opinion.



CFOP2020 said:


> Thank you for your input, and i am sad that cubes are going this way. It takes me back to the days of the SM when GAN cubes used to only come in stickered.



No problem. I do agree it's a shame but companies have to do this in order to satisfy demand, and right now the demand for stickerless cubes are increasing and demand for stickered is just depreciating as people settle for stickerless cubes.


----------



## PetraPine (Nov 2, 2020)

I personally prefer stickered because I have a difficult time dropping cubes and usually that doesnt effect stickerless cubes and i don't want to buy stickers all the time,
my hands are also very shaky meaning that its better for me to use cubes with a more consistent feel over the whole face.


----------



## EngiNerdBrian (Nov 2, 2020)

The outline of a black face behind a sticker just looks so sharp and classy. Its like a picture in a high quality frame or a photo with a nice mat. Stickerless cubes look considerably more childish, almost like a toddlers plastic toy to be beat up and destroyed, not loved and cared for. Stickered cubes look regal; as the cube ages the stickers give it character. Peeling, chips, and fading colors all give the cube personality that sticker less cubes lack. 

As the cubes get bigger and bigger the sharp 90° grid created by the black lines beneath stickers just gets more and more visually satisfying. I absolutely love the look of a big cubes with stickers and "sticker maintenance" on these puzzles has never been a problem for me despite it being a common complaint of the masses.


----------



## zslane (Nov 2, 2020)

I agree that stickered cubes have a more classic, traditional look to them. But even though my experience with the cube goes way back to the Rubik's Cube's first release, back in the day, I have come to prefer stickerless for all the reasons already stated by others. However, I do like the contrast that black internals provides, and that hint of black gives me enough of that vintage stickered aesthetic that I don't really miss stickered cubes. I hate re-stickering cubes, and the durability of stickers--or lack thereof--is a real detraction for me. Plus, the default colors for stickerless cubes are much more appealing to me than the default colors for stickered cubes (I like brighter colors).


----------



## OreKehStrah (Nov 2, 2020)

I don’t really have a preference either way, but when given the choice, I’ll take a stickered black cube and here’s why:

1. I use a custom color scheme. So long as the stickered version is the same as the stickerless in construction, I can remove the orange stickers for a black side, and then swap black and yellow. No second cube needed, unlike stickerless.
2. I think the way stickered cubes age over time is cool. If you use the same cube long enough, the stickers chip and age, and it shows the time and practice you put in that isn’t shown on a stickerless cube.
3. Grip. While I can use both without issues, the trend stickerless cubes are heading towards is frosted/matte plastic which is definitely not ideal. It only worsens the grip for a while. I think stickerless cubes in general offer slightly worse grip. Don’t believe me? Go watch Jayden’s sub-4 fail on a stickerless cube.

I think recognition is probably better on stickerless cubes due to the larger surface areas.


----------



## PetraPine (Nov 2, 2020)

EngiNerdBrian said:


> The outline of a black face behind a sticker just looks so sharp and classy. Its like a picture in a high quality frame or a photo with a nice mat. Stickerless cubes look considerably more childish, almost like a toddlers plastic toy to be beat up and destroyed, not loved and cared for. Stickered cubes look regal; as the cube ages the stickers give it character. Peeling, chips, and fading colors all give the cube personality that sticker less cubes lack.
> 
> As the cubes get bigger and bigger the sharp 90° grid created by the black lines beneath stickers just gets more and more visually satisfying. I absolutely love the look of a big cubes with stickers and "sticker maintenance" on these puzzles has never been a problem for me despite it being a common complaint of the masses.


I agree but, i can usually discount this by the fact that one of the first things i say to people interested in my cubing is that it can be a sport and is not just a toy, you can be sponsored and everything.


----------



## tx789 (Nov 2, 2020)

Stickered is annoying because of maintenance. Most reason you guys give is either I like the look or I think it performs better which is funny because people thought the other way around in the past. Before stickerless was legal.



Personally we should have stickerless but the option to buy pieces in blacks or even a couple other colours too. Purple too maybe. There really aren't any other colours I could see people wanting. At least many people.


----------



## qwr (Nov 2, 2020)

I do agree stickerless has a more classic look, although I can appreciate stickerless too with good shades. I think non-WCA puzzles look the best with the classic black stickered look. However if the puzzle has really small stickers like on a big cube, then the stickers can fall off which is very ugly and a hassle.

@Zain_A24 stickerless also might be easier to manufacture. In a video of the GAN factory tour I posted a little bit ago, they were really picky about how stickers were applied. So if a cube company goes with a classic 3-piece design, they save the extra step of applying stickers (and the complaints about misplaced or peeling stickers)

I have slow turning so I don't have issues with stickerless cubes slipping out of my hands. I do think stickered cubes give better grip, especially considering the bad trend of stickerless cubes going for non-glossy surfaces.



OreKehStrah said:


> 2. I think the way stickered cubes age over time is cool. If you use the same cube long enough, the stickers chip and age, and it shows the time and practice you put in that isn’t shown on a stickerless cube.


Yeah I have to agree. When I see a beat up cube with stickers chipped to hell I know it's well broken in and been practiced thousands of times. Just look at this 2x2


----------



## xyzzy (Nov 2, 2020)

Does the word "objective" even mean anything in this community anymore?



CFOP2020 said:


> Stickered cubes
> A. Look way cleaner than stickerless cubes
> B. Are customizable in color shades for optimal solving experience
> C. Can be anything you want. If you don't like the black rim around the stickers, JUST USE FULL FITTED STICKERS.
> ...


A: *not objective*
B: objective
C: objective
D: so extremely obviously *not objective* that you even mentioned it already
E: objective
F: *this is not even an advantage* of stickered over stickerless; you're comparing minor damage on stickered to major damage on stickerless
G: *not objective*

---

I'm being kind of anal about the use of the word "objective" here, even though I normally wouldn't have much of an objection (ha!) to randomly abusing words as intensifiers. I think the distinction between objectivity and subjectivity is very important in cubing discussion; we need to make sure we don't dilute the meaning of the word "objective", so that when we're _really_ talking about something objective, people don't take it lightly.

There's a tiny bit of leeway I'm willing to accept here; something that is true for 99% but not literally all of the population is good enough to qualify as being an "objective truth". Maybe 99% is too harsh, but on the other hand, 1/7000000000 is definitely way too lax.

---

My take is that as far as speedsolving is concerned, stickerless is a clear winner… as long as you have delegates who aren't super picky about those little white streaks that can show up when you accidentally drop your stickerless cube on a hard surface. (Unfortunately, the one delegate here is quite picky about that.) Not having to worry about sticker maintenance is such a huge win that it basically overrides the disadvantages.

That said, there really is one situation where black/stickered puzzles are good: for colour blind cubers. Colour blindness shows up in roughly 1 out of 12 males (by chromosomal sex) and the cubing community is largely male, so there's a pretty sizeable proportion of colour blind folk among us. It's pretty common to hear people say they have difficulties distinguishing e.g. green from yellow and such with the standard stickerless shades; this is exactly where the ability to customise shades really shines. Most people don't need this, but for the minority who do, this is a godsend.

Outside of speedsolving, e.g. for collection purposes, maybe black plastic looks better? I don't really have much of a sense of style, so I'd be a terrible judge of this.


----------



## qwr (Nov 2, 2020)

xyzzy said:


> Outside of speedsolving, e.g. for collection purposes, maybe black plastic looks better? I don't really have much of a sense of style, so I'd be a terrible judge of this.


I would say definitely. Look at Raphael puzzles https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC9y0bsUtwqyTvL9luv0JlbQ 
the variety of colors would be impossible without stickers.


----------



## PetraPine (Nov 2, 2020)

Idk it depends on opinion, if stickerless had more options i would say stickerless looked way better but sadly, that isnt realistic.


qwr said:


> I would say definitely. Look at Raphael puzzles https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC9y0bsUtwqyTvL9luv0JlbQ
> the variety of colors would be impossible without stickers.


----------



## zslane (Nov 2, 2020)

I prefer stickerless, as I've said already, but for some reason I think I like the look of stickered Square-1s more than stickerless. How weird is that?


----------



## Deleted member 54663 (Nov 2, 2020)

zslane said:


> I prefer stickerless, as I've said already, but for some reason I think I like the look of stickered Square-1s more than stickerless. How weird is that?


It's not that weird


----------



## Nir1213 (Nov 2, 2020)

i prefer stickerless but stickered cubes look cube-tastic!


----------



## EngiNerdBrian (Nov 3, 2020)

xyzzy said:


> Does the word "objective" even mean anything in this community anymore?
> 
> 
> A: *not objective*
> ...


Fantastic. I was reading through thinking we have all posted opinionated and subjective reasons (myself included) for our stickered vs stickerless preferences. Then again, the opening post was rather playful & l I’m not sure the true “objective” of this thread was to have non-opinionated posts about the matter because ranting about which is “better” is inherently a subjective discussion.

@qwr made a good point, eliminating the stickering operation during manufacturing is an objective benefit for sticklers cubes in terms of production quality.

I’d also add that stickered is objectively better because the ability to remove and replace stickers with custom shades gives the user more customization and long term flexibility over the static color scheme of a sticker-less cube.


----------



## qwr (Nov 3, 2020)

EngiNerdBrian said:


> @qwr made a good point, eliminating the stickering operation during manufacturing is an objective benefit for sticklers cubes in terms of production quality.


Although now the company has to use 6 colors of plastic for molds instead of just black/white.



xyzzy said:


> G: *not objective*


I think it is objectively true stickered is easier to grip than matte plastic. Probably similar grip or better for glossy plastic. 
In my mind, glossy is premium and matte is cheap (like children toys). Unfortunately, the cubing industry apparently thinks matte is now premium.


----------



## Cubing Forever (Nov 3, 2020)

Best thing is, meet in the middle with tiled. That way, you don't have to take care of stickers, take the tiles off and rearrange them for custom schemes, and they look cool, just like my Rubik's 2.0(just kidding haha).
Unfortunately, there aren't many tiled cubes produced by major companies.


----------



## swburk (Nov 3, 2020)

I only have a strong preference for stickerless on big cubes. The stickers are too small for my liking.

On 3x3, I own and enjoy both stickered and stickerless. I can't really compare whether they perform differently. I have a Tengyun V2 in stickered and stickerless, but they are set up and lubed differently. Here are my personal likes/dislikes about each:

Stickered:
- I think they look nicer. This may just be nostalgia because when I started cubing, almost nobody used stickerless cubes because they weren't WCA legal.
- I'm not too picky about colors, but I like being able to swap out sticker shades and make entirely custom color schemes.
- In general, I prefer the grip and feel of stickered cubes. Occassionally, my nail will catch on the edge of a sticker when doing M moves, even when trimmed, but that's not much of an issue.

Stickerless:
- Obviously, you don't have to deal with sticker maintenance and the factory stickerless shades tend to better than factory sticker shades.
- While I prefer the overall look of stickered cubes, I do see the appeal of stickerless. They look very clean, almost minimal.
- I have no evidence to back this up, but I *feel* like my recognition is better/faster on stickerless cubes, probably because of the slightly bigger colored area and the fact that there are no gaps between the colors on the edges and corners.
- Patterns tend to look prettier on stickerless cubes in my opinion.
- I really don't like frosted plastic out of the box. My RS3 M 2020 is perfect now after a couple thousand solves, but I would prefer if Moyu and GAN just shipped all their puzzles glossy like YJ.


----------



## zslane (Nov 3, 2020)

I'd love to see a graph correlating the preference for stickers or glossy plastic over matte plastic against 3x3 solving time and against time in the hobby. I'm curious where the "knee" of the graph is in each case.


----------



## qwr (Nov 3, 2020)

zslane said:


> I'd love to see a graph correlating the preference for stickers or glossy plastic over matte plastic against 3x3 solving time and against time in the hobby. I'm curious where the "knee" of the graph is in each case.



what does "knee" even mean


----------



## zslane (Nov 4, 2020)

It's the point where a trend curve bends and changes direction.


----------



## ArbishAli (Nov 4, 2020)

I use stickerless but stickered cubes look so cool.


----------



## MJS Cubing (Nov 5, 2020)

tx789 said:


> Stickered is annoying because of maintenance. Most reason you guys give is either I like the look or I think it performs better which is funny because people thought the other way around in the past. Before stickerless was legal.
> 
> 
> 
> Personally we should have stickerless but the option to buy pieces in blacks or even a couple other colours too. Purple too maybe. There really aren't any other colours I could see people wanting. At least many people.


good, properly applied stickers will only need to be replaced every few years. I love stickers because if you don’t like the shades you can just change them.

Edit: I also like that you can look at a cube with stickers that are chipped and know that that is a well loved, well used cube.


----------



## zslane (Nov 5, 2020)

Chipped, worn, well-loved cubes are great so long as I don't ever have to look at them.


----------



## abunickabhi (Nov 10, 2020)

I prefer stickerless cubes especially for the MBLD event. They are so nice. And it becomes easier to maintain 60+ cubes which will not be possible if I have 60 stickered 3x3s.


----------



## Deleted member 54663 (Nov 10, 2020)

I got a stickered 4x4 and scraped my fingernair on the sticker, making It bleed. i ditched 4x4 as an event all together, very sad since i enjoyed it. It happened during a regrip, and my 4x4 is slow, so i had to turn aggressively. the sticker peeled too


----------



## xyzzy (Nov 10, 2020)

JP cubing said:


> I got a stickered 4x4 and scraped my fingernair on the sticker, making It bleed. i ditched 4x4 as an event all together, very sad since i enjoyed it. It happened during a regrip, and my 4x4 is slow, so i had to turn aggressively. the sticker peeled too


Get rid of all the stickers currently on the cube, order some fresh stickers from Cubicle/SCS/etc. and apply those. Proper stickers are much more durable than the random crap some companies (ahem, Qiyi) use. They'll still wear out over time, but they generally don't peel (with normal use) so sticker bits won't get under your nails, etc.

(Or just get a better cube so you don't have to turn aggressively.)



xyzzy said:


> My take is that as far as speedsolving is concerned, stickerless is a clear winner… as long as you have delegates who aren't super picky about those little white streaks that can show up when you accidentally drop your stickerless cube on a hard surface. (Unfortunately, the one delegate here is quite picky about that.) Not having to worry about sticker maintenance is such a huge win that it basically overrides the disadvantages.


Thinking about this some more, delegates who are picky about those defects in stickerless puzzles probably are also very pick about sticker wear and tear, so this isn't really an advantage or disadvantage of stickerless either way.


----------



## qwr (Nov 11, 2020)

xyzzy said:


> as long as you have delegates who aren't super picky about those little white streaks that can show up when you accidentally drop your stickerless cube on a hard surface.


I don't own many stickerless cubes but the only one I have that have white stress marks is my 55mm stickerless zhanchi, and only on the orange side. It might've been that way from the factory All my other stickerless puzzles, including both glossy and frosted plastic, have never had this issue.


----------



## qwr (Jun 7, 2021)

I gotta say, stickerless cubes have really grown on me in the past few months. Now that I've used them, stickered cube borders are a little visually distracting.


----------



## SH03L4C3 (Jun 7, 2021)

I just realized all of my WCA puzzles are stickerless


----------



## ruffleduck (Jun 7, 2021)

Honestly I think stickerless is kind of overrated. Yeah I get that a lot of people prefer it, but the problem is that a lot of cubes nowadays are *only* coming out in stickerless


----------



## BenChristman1 (Jun 7, 2021)

zzoomer said:


> Honestly I think stickerless is kind of overrated. Yeah I get that a lot of people prefer it, but the problem is that a lot of cubes nowadays are *only* coming out in stickerless


Yeah, I prefer stickerless, but I do agree that stickered should still be an option.


----------



## zslane (Jun 7, 2021)

Companies are just following marketplace trends. Maybe stickered puzzles will make a come-back and sell equally as well as stickerless. But if they don't, stickered puzzles will just become vintage collectables.


----------



## qwr (Jun 7, 2021)

zslane said:


> Companies are just following marketplace trends. Maybe stickered puzzles will make a come-back and sell equally as well as stickerless. But if they don't, stickered puzzles will just become vintage collectables.


Stickered puzzles won't ever fully go away just because people want to use custom shades. How many people actually do that idk.


----------



## Kaiju_cube (Jun 11, 2021)

I like tiled cubes but they're rare. I've only found Rubiks, a Gan (non magnet), and a Yuxin that was tiled, and none of them are very good or main worthy.
I don't mind stickerless at all but I do prefer the classic look of black outlined colors.
The bright fluorescent colored stickers these days are really nice though, And they hold up better than stickers used to.
Bright tiles would be cool; magnetic of course. Don't think anyone has made that.


----------



## RoundUpCubing (Jun 11, 2021)

i prefer stickerless, but i really like the feeling of having stickers. i think it looks sleeker, and frosted plastic has grown on me a lot (thanks gan) but its always a lot of fun to switch back to the gan air sm for a bit (which i have stickered).
i think stickerless is objectively better, but not by enough for it to outweigh personal preference. recognition is a bit easier and stickers dont scrape off, but its really not that big of a deal imo.


----------



## Zain_A24 (Jun 11, 2021)

Stickered cubes are becoming a "limited edition" thing and it's likely that stickered WCA cubes will become a negligible part of the cubing market such that companies might not even make them any more.

There's no sign of a stickered WRM 2021, Tornado V2 or any other recent flagship cube (and even some budget cubes for that matter) so it seems like Qiyi will be steering away from stickered cubes and MoYu are still doing them as an afterthought. GAN are making stickers a limited edition item with their cool coloured cubes and it's only a matter of time before DaYan follow suit.

RIP stickered cubes.


----------



## Kaiju_cube (Jun 11, 2021)




----------



## Dan the Beginner (Jun 13, 2021)

Why can't we have the best of both worlds? We all know that stickerless cubes should function better, as it has less weight, and bigger colour areas, and smoother or more consistent feel (friction). Stickered ones look classy with its black lines and allow choice of colours, which besides aesthetics can help performance depending on one's eyesight. It should be more enjoyable not just because of having one's favourite colours but it is also less distracting to others, being slightly quieter. I wish stickerlesss cubes will be made with black lines to look stickerless, and with bright but more traditional colours. I am happy to pay more for such cubes, and not just pay more for the fancy cases with magnets, pretty bags, display stands, wipe cloth, useless cards and the nth screw driver (which does nothing more than screwdrivers we already have in every house. How many little screwdrivers do you have?


----------



## Cubing Forever (Jun 13, 2021)

Dante Newbie said:


> Why can't we have the best of both worlds? We all know that stickerless cubes should function better, as it has less weight, and bigger colour areas, and smoother or more consistent feel (friction). Stickered ones look classy with its black lines and allow choice of colours, which besides aesthetics can help performance depending on one's eyesight. It should be more enjoyable not just because of having one's favourite colours but it is also less distracting to others, being slightly quieter. I wish stickerlesss cubes will be made with black lines to look stickerless, and with bright but more traditional colours. I am happy to pay more for such cubes, and not just pay more for the fancy cases with magnets, pretty bags, display stands, wipe cloth, useless cards and the nth screw driver (which does nothing more than screwdrivers we already have in every house. How many little screwdrivers do you have?


What you're talking about is known as a "tiled cube". They look like stickered cubes but they have removable tiles instead of stickers so no problem of sticker peeling. Unfortunately, the only tiled cubes that I know of that are in production are the Rubik's-GAN speedcube and the regular Rubik's Cube you get at toy stores.


----------



## cuberbutnotacuber (Jun 13, 2021)

The Rubik's-Gan isn't that bad from what I've heard. There's also the Yuxin Kylin V2M, but while it's really good out of the box, it gets really sluggish and slow over time.


----------



## Dan the Beginner (Jun 13, 2021)

I know about those tiled cubes, but they are pretty basic cubes. I wonder if it is possible to somehow bond plastic pieces with different colours together for a higher quality finish than what's in the existing products.


----------



## Kaiju_cube (Jun 13, 2021)

cuberbutnotacuber said:


> The Rubik's-Gan isn't that bad from what I've heard.



It's good but not magnetic



cuberbutnotacuber said:


> There's also the Yuxin Kylin V2M, but while it's really good out of the box, it gets really sluggish and slow over time.



It did, i have no idea why


----------



## SH03L4C3 (Jun 13, 2021)

Idea:
What if all of the companies start making generic tiles and TC starts a custom color tile service. That would be perfect


----------



## Kaiju_cube (Jun 13, 2021)

I would love a 'good' tiled cube. I have a few tiled cubes, none are very good. The Gan is probably the best, but it's not magnetic or fast.

I have the Rubiks tiled speedcube, but it's 'too' fast, it's borderline unstable.


----------



## qwr (Jun 13, 2021)

The Kylin V2 is a decent and very usable cube. IIRC it competes with a little magic m, meilong m, and rs3m 2020 for best budget magnetic cube.


----------



## DuckubingCuber347 (Jun 13, 2021)

qwr said:


> The Kylin V2 is a decent and very usable cube. IIRC it competes with a little magic m, meilong m, and rs3m 2020 for best budget magnetic cube.


And the Qiyi ms. It's good.


----------



## Sub1Hour (Jun 13, 2021)

qwr said:


> The Kylin V2 is a decent and very usable cube. IIRC it competes with a little magic m, meilong m, and rs3m 2020 for best budget magnetic cube.


The Wuwei is highly slept on, it should be on the list


----------



## DuckubingCuber347 (Jun 13, 2021)

Sub1Hour said:


> The Wuwei is highly slept on, it should be on the list


I'm sure it's good, I want to try it out but I'm not sure if $15 dollars would be considered "budget", that's more mid-tier pricing.


----------



## WarriorCatCuber (Jun 13, 2021)

Sub1Hour said:


> The Wuwei is highly slept on


That's just because it's a better pillow than a cube.


----------



## Kaiju_cube (Jun 14, 2021)

Thecubingcuber347 said:


> And the Qiyi ms. It's good.



I have the qiyi ms, a few of them, they're not tiled though they're stickers. Same as the Yuxin mentioned, it's tiled but it's sluggish.

I have rubiks, rubiks gan, gocube (pillow), yuxin, rubiks speed ... i think that's all the tiled ones i have, .. none are very good. Can't compete with any of the other cubes i have. 

Qiyi ms, valk, mgc, mgc elite, dayan, gan, etc etc, .. any other stickered cube i have is better than any of the tiled cubes i have. 

For some reason i can't find a really good tiled cube. The yuxin is probably the best. 

The rubiks gan might be good if it were magnetic.


----------



## qwr (Jun 14, 2021)

I have never experienced any cube including the kylin v2 being sluggish. Just keep adding mystic and DNM until the lubes really break in


----------



## cuberbutnotacuber (Jun 15, 2021)

Oh, what about the Rubik's Magnetic? Has anyone tried it? I don't think it's available here.


----------



## Tabe (Jun 15, 2021)

cuberbutnotacuber said:


> Oh, what about the Rubik's Magnetic? Has anyone tried it? I don't think it's available here.


Tymon got a sub-5 on it. One of the best solves you'll ever see.


----------



## cuberbutnotacuber (Jun 15, 2021)

Wow. I don't think I've seen that solve, but wow. Now I'm really hoping it'll come out in India soon. I really want to see if the tiles are grippy and if it can be fast with Cubelelo Storm.


----------



## Cubing Forever (Jun 15, 2021)

cuberbutnotacuber said:


> Wow. I don't think I've seen that solve, but wow. Now I'm really hoping it'll come out in India soon. I really want to see if the tiles are grippy and if it can be fast with Cubelelo Storm.


Isn't storm weight 3? It'll slow down the cube rather than speeding it up.


----------



## Kaiju_cube (Jun 15, 2021)

the Rubiks Magnetic (it says Speed on it) is _very _fast and easy to turn.

it would benefit from being slowed down, tbh.


----------



## povlhp (Jun 15, 2021)

If people like stickered, they can always add stickers to their cube. Or buy 6 cubes and make force cubes.


----------



## DuckubingCuber347 (Jun 15, 2021)

povlhp said:


> If people like stickered, they can always add stickers to their cube. Or buy 6 cubes and make force cubes.


In certain instances that would work but what if you wanted a stickered flagship? Or, what if you wanted Stickered (Black) puzzles? Sure you could paint it but there's a reason people buy stickered instead of stickerless+DIY. It's just more practical to buy an already stickered cube.


----------



## cuberbutnotacuber (Jun 16, 2021)

Cubing Forever said:


> Isn't storm weight 3? It'll slow down the cube rather than speeding it up.


Storm is 2. Swift is 3.


----------



## povlhp (Jun 16, 2021)

Thecubingcuber347 said:


> In certain instances that would work but what if you wanted a stickered flagship? Or, what if you wanted Stickered (Black) puzzles? Sure you could paint it but there's a reason people buy stickered instead of stickerless+DIY. It's just more practical to buy an already stickered cube.


You could buy 6 flagships and make 6 force cubes. Of course that would not give you black internals.

Personally I prefer the stickerless, but hate that yellow/white are too close in low light. Might add black stickers to one of them (not comp legal, I know - But black dots in center is not either, unless I can dokument I have a visual disability).

When I get my MGC Sq-1, I will surely replace the yellow side with the included black tiles. If all 3x3 came with black replacement sides pieces as well, it would be great.


----------



## DuckubingCuber347 (Jun 16, 2021)

povlhp said:


> You could buy 6 flagships and make 6 force cubes. Of course that would not give you black internals.


You _could _buy 6 flagships but my point was that would be ridiculously expensive.


----------



## Spacey10 (Jun 22, 2021)

Thecubingcuber347 said:


> You _could _buy 6 flagships but my point was that would be ridiculously expensive.


Thats 360 dollars for a single tiled cube, wayyyy too expensive.


----------



## Espeoncuber (Aug 30, 2021)

Stickered cubes. Stickered users rise up . Also they are customizable and look more genuine. That's just my opinion tho


----------



## vidcapper (Aug 30, 2021)

Espeoncuber said:


> Stickered cubes. Stickered users rise up . Also they are customizable and look more genuine. That's just my opinion tho


Stickered cubes become increasingly impractical as the size goes up though, after all, who on earth would want to re-sticker a 15x15...


----------



## Kaiju_cube (Aug 30, 2021)

I hear you, I have stickered up to 10x10. 

However the 15x15 stickered Moyu is a thing of beauty. I really think the black stickered cubes just look so much better.


----------



## CFOPSubber (Aug 30, 2021)

Okay so im not sure if this is in the right page but ill get to the point, hence the title, im asking if you prefer stickers or stickerless. I prefer stickerless cause 1. Non cubers cant say i just peel the stickers off and 2. I just think it looks better and its easier to take care of


----------



## SH03L4C3 (Aug 30, 2021)

Stickerless vs Stickered


Ok, I really could not find a thread that just talked about the all-around idea of stickerless vs. stickered cubes. I found a lot about one specific cube, or if they are banned or not from competition. I want you thoughts on stickerless cubes. Overtime I pick up my friends I get lost in the...




www.speedsolving.com


----------



## CFOPSubber (Aug 30, 2021)

What? whats that


SH03L4C3 said:


> Stickerless vs Stickered
> 
> 
> Ok, I really could not find a thread that just talked about the all-around idea of stickerless vs. stickered cubes. I found a lot about one specific cube, or if they are banned or not from competition. I want you thoughts on stickerless cubes. Overtime I pick up my friends I get lost in the...
> ...


----------



## LukasCubes (Aug 30, 2021)

stickerless, no brainer


----------



## SH03L4C3 (Aug 31, 2021)

CFOPSubber said:


> What? whats that


there is already a sticker/stickerless discussion thread, you should check it out


----------



## DuckubingCuber347 (Aug 31, 2021)

Ohhhooo @LukasCubes got his revenge on you @SH03L4C3 that'll teach you to not react to his post that he put a ton of work and though into with an eyeroll emoji!

I prefer Stickerless on 4x4+, Mega, Pyra, Skewb, and Squan but Stickered for 2x2 and most Non-WCA puzzles. 3x3 I don't mid but I only have Stickerless speedcubes.


----------



## SH03L4C3 (Aug 31, 2021)

TheCubingCuber347 said:


> Ohhhooo @LukasCubes got his revenge on you @SH03L4C3 that'll teach you to not react to his post that he put a ton of work and though into!
> 
> I prefer Stickerless on 4x4+, Mega, Pyra, Skewb, and Squan but Stickerless for 2x2 and most Non-WCA puzzles. 3x3 I don't mid but I only have Stickerless speedcubes.


I got @BenChristman1 and many others to back me up!


----------



## ruffleduck (Aug 31, 2021)

For most puzzles I prefer stickerless.
For 3x3 I don't mind, I like stickered and stickerless equally. Stickered is classic and stickerless is vibrant.
For 2x2 I strongly prefer stickered.


----------



## Melvintnh327 (Aug 31, 2021)

obviously stickerless *for me*, almost all of my mains are stickerless except the 4x4 and the Megaminx.

Seems like someone isn't happy about me not pointing out that *this is entirely my opinion. *


----------



## Megaminx lover (Aug 31, 2021)

stickerless is best


----------



## CubeRed (Aug 31, 2021)

I prefer both.
Stickerless: Easy to take care of, vibrant, variety of textures, strong in general
Stickered:Customizable color scheme, "classic" look, unique texture


----------



## BMcD308 (Aug 31, 2021)

I would strongly prefer stickerless EXCEPT that it is difficult for me to quickly tell the difference between white and yellow on many stickerless cubes, particularly in low light or fluorescent light.


----------



## LBr (Aug 31, 2021)

this thread is pointless


----------



## EngiNerdBrian (Sep 1, 2021)

Always stickers!

Should we merge this with the actual stickered vs stickerless thread or the cubing argument thread?!?


----------



## Megaminx lover (Sep 1, 2021)

EngiNerdBrian said:


> Always stickers!
> 
> Should we merge this with the actual stickered vs stickerless thread or the cubing argument thread?!?


Where is the actual one? Can someone send a link?


----------



## SH03L4C3 (Sep 1, 2021)

Megaminx lover said:


> Where is the actual one? Can someone send a link?





SH03L4C3 said:


> Stickerless vs Stickered
> 
> 
> Ok, I really could not find a thread that just talked about the all-around idea of stickerless vs. stickered cubes. I found a lot about one specific cube, or if they are banned or not from competition. I want you thoughts on stickerless cubes. Overtime I pick up my friends I get lost in the...
> ...


----------



## hellocubers (Sep 1, 2021)

Stickerless. My stickered YJ MGC 3x3's stickers were breaking, so I got my main, (you might know)


----------



## Matt11111 (Sep 1, 2021)

Being able to customize stickered cubes' color schemes is great and all, but I've never really found that I solve any better or worse with different shades. As long as all the colors are where I expect them to be I can solve just fine, which also includes cubes with pink instead of red. So yea I prefer stickerless cubes


----------



## OreKehStrah (Sep 1, 2021)

I prefer stickerless, but if I had to pick I would take stickered cubes since I use a custom color scheme (the better color scheme) and cube companies still haven't included more color options for stickerless cubes.


----------



## CubeRed (Sep 1, 2021)

OreKehStrah said:


> cube companies still haven't included more color options for stickerless cubes.


Fighting a lonely fight there, buddy.


----------



## jkx9 (Sep 1, 2021)

I personally prefer the look and feel of stickered cubes but I turn really aggressively and destroy the stickers fast - im too lazy to resticker so i just go stickerless.


----------



## JohnnyReggae (Sep 1, 2021)

Aesthetically black cubes with stickers are so much better. The lines in the cubes can be seen easier especially on cubes that shape shift. Stickerless is definitely better for speed solving IMO.


----------



## Magmatic (Sep 6, 2021)

I guess I'm a bit of a traditionalist and I like my Rubik's cubes to look like Rubik's cubes. Or maybe I just want my stuff to look good. I would never buy a stickerless cube. I think they look cheap, like plastic toys. I don't want to judge anyone, but you asked.


----------



## kubesolver (Sep 6, 2021)

Interesting how personal taste differs.
I also want my cubes to simply look good and I feel repelled by stickered cubes. They look bad IMHO when they are new and are border line disgusting when they are old.
And well, all cubes are cheap plastic toys. But stickers on toys look even cheaper than colored plastic.


----------



## qwr (Sep 6, 2021)

Magmatic said:


> I guess I'm a bit of a traditionalist and I like my Rubik's cubes to look like Rubik's cubes. Or maybe I just want my stuff to look good. I would never buy a stickerless cube. I think they look cheap, like plastic toys. I don't want to judge anyone, but you asked.


It's still a plastic toy even if stickerless. 

I appreciate both but as @kubesolver says peeling stickers look terrible.


----------

