so much better than a video game
My son plays with this constantly. several of his friends are into rubik's cubes. they even use a timer to challenge their completion time. so far very durable. they use the internet to find the algorythms to solve it.

Fun if you dont mind the stickers falling off
I've become obsessed with rubik's cubes lately. After becoming bored with both the 3x3x3 and the 4x4x4 I was looking for a challenge. I bought this cube despite the many reviews saying that it is fragile. Right out of the package, several stickers were already falling off. I had to glue them back on. After two weeks Ive already had to glue on a couple more stickers. To the cubes credit though, I had been using it very heavily, solving it several times a day.

It is fun. It's not really as hard as it looks however. If you can solve the 4x4x4, you can solve this. it just takes a little more thinking. Right out of the box, with no instructions it took me about an hour.

Occasionally, when Im really going at it, one of the inside pieces will get in a bind and appear as if its going to break. I still havent actually broken it though, and Ive really put it through the paces.

My cube turns really well and requires no luberication. Rubik's cubes tend to vary on that though, some cubes turn amazingly while others barely turn without any lubrication.

In my opinion, if you really like cubes and want something more challenging, you will like this. As long as your careful and dont get in a hurry while solving it, it should stay together.

pretty sweet, besides stuck pieces...
When I first got the cube, it had multiple sets of pieces that were welded together. After spending over an hour filing away the space with a safety pin, and moving it around for a while it worked perfectly. I hope this incident was a rare occasion and not a common occurence, but it was pretty lame, especially for a $30 rubik's cube.....

Minor Shipping Issue
I got the product within a good amount of time, the only problem was the condition of the box when it arrived to my house.

I don't know who Amazon uses for their shipping but they might want a better quality control system or something. The box, when I found it, showed evidence of being smashed. The corners were all indented and one of the sides looked like an accordian. The top of the box was halfway open and the tape was barely holding down the other side. The box, which was laying on its side on my doorstep could easily be seen into. If I had ordered something that could be considered even slightly "fragile" it would have no doubt been broken.

Though the product I ordered was unharmed, I would like to see a change made in the shipping procedures.

This was the first time I have ordered something from Amazon and I would have to say that I was less than impressed.

Better than expected
I did order a 4x4x4 Rubik's Revenge Cube here and when I got the cube, it was stiff and hard to rotate. This new 5x5x5 was barely stiff and didn't require much lubrication. I use Silicone to lube the inside of the cube.

The cube is fragile like most cubes bigger than the standard 3x3x3. Though this cube moves very well and is built very well. My only concern is the 8 center pieces on each side. The very center piece of just fine but the pieces surrounding it are quite loose but are at least staying on.

People have actually complained about the cube being heavy, the pieces pop right off the cube a lot and the stickers peel too much.
The cube is heavier than a 3x3x3 and 4x4x4 but honestly, if you can't handle the weight of the cube you are just skin and bones. The pieces will pop right off if you try to speedcube with it or not take care of it; the commonsense stuff. Finally, the stickers will peel off eventually, but will peel immediately if you treat it poorly; scratching it, sliding it across a desk, storing it some place where it can be scratched or crushed.

Overall, the cube's construction is very well done and is not that challenging because I can solve a 3x3x3 and 4x4x4 without any trouble. This is a good brand, Eastsheen (a rival brand) cubes are garbage and this is the brand you should go with.