This QiYi 5x5 combines the QiZheng S, its budget non-magnetic 5x5, with the Carbon decoration: black stickers with a carbon-fibre texture on a cube made of coloured plastic. It looks almost black, and the colour of each piece shows only in a narrow strip around the sticker.

• BrandQiYi
• Type5x5
• Size62 mm
• MagnetsNo
• FinishCarbon-fibre stickers on coloured plastic
• WeightAbout 150 g

Design

The base is a stickerless cube (no stickers: the colour is in the plastic). On top of that, each piece carries a black sticker with a carbon-fibre pattern. This style, which some retailers call phantom, forces you to recognise the pieces by the colour of their edges, which on a 5x5, with 98 visible pieces, turns solving into an extra visual challenge.

How it works

Inside, it is a non-magnetic 5x5: the layers do not settle back into place on their own at the end of a turn. It is usually solved by reduction, like the 4x4: first the 3x3 centres on each face are built, then the edges are grouped in threes and finally it is solved as a 3x3. It measures 62 mm and weighs about 150 g; the tension is adjusted with the internal screws.

What level it suits

The mechanism is entry-level, but the decoration makes it more demanding on the eyes. It tends to appeal to anyone who can already solve the 5x5 and wants a different variant. For learning the format from scratch, a 5x5 in solid colours is clearer.