Fidget Cube

The Fidget Cube is a toy for people who lack calm hands and always need something to fiddle with. The idea was originally published (and successfully funded) by Antsy Labs on Kickstarter, but many Chinese clones appeared and went on sale earlier than the original version.

Features

Opened clone cube

There are several knobs and buttons to play with on the six sides of the cube:

• Joystick or slider
• Rocker switch
• Five buttons, some are clicky and some silent
• Spinning disk
• Three rollers/gears and a rotating shiny ball
• Oval shaped indent (does nothing)

The body of the cube measures approximately 3 cm on each side (not including the parts that stick out).

As of January 2017 the original Fidget Cubes haven't arrived and haven't been reviewed, so there's a slight variation of features found on the cloned versions. For example, some cubes have rubberized buttons while others don't, some cubes allow you to press/click the shiny ball and joystick, the number of clicky buttons differs and so on.

Comparison of Fidget Cubes

The following table shall give an overview of some Chinese clones, their features and flaws.

Vendor	Joystick/Slider	Rocker switch	5 buttons	Spinning disk	3 rollers	Shiny ball	Oval indent	Price	Packaging	Surface	Flaws	Notes
Ebay (rightyoung, possibly others)	Joystick		Rubberized, 3 clicky, 2 silent		No resistance	Clicky		~$8	Cardboard box that slides apart	Matte/smooth	Joystick[1]	Can be opened by lifting the spinning disk (with a knife or thin plastic tool) and undoing two small Philips screws underneath, comes apart without force. Rocker switch resistance is done with magnets.
Ebay	Joystick				Hard to move	Hard to move			Folding cardboard box that opens on top		Build quality [2]
Gearbest	Joystick		Plastic, all clicky [3]		Hard to move			$5		Matte/smooth	Joystick, build quality, loud buttons [4]
Fidgetbye	Joystick		2 clicky, 3 silent [5]
Aliexpress (rock club, possibly others)	Joystick										Build quality [6]
Antsy Labs (Kickstarter original)	Slider	Easy to flip	3 clicky, 2 silent	Clicky	No resistance			$22/25	Clear plastic [7]	Matte/smooth		Pre-order only

Common flaws

Worn joystick "bearing"

• The joystick is prone to get stuck pretty quickly. This may be due to wear and tear on the metal ball inside, which rubs against a another metal plate, causing a flat surface there on the ball. Applying some grease might or might not help.
• Build quality is hit-or-miss.