Fidget Cubes are a bit of a craze at the moment – everyone seems to want or have one! Do a quick Google search and you’ll find plenty of references to them being “absolutely amazing”, “life changing” – as well as links to PLENTY of articles complaining about the “tenth most funded Kickstarter campaign” being “hit with shipping delays”. So what is a Fidget Cube and why are people buying them?
Table of Contents
Features
- Designed for anxiety relief
- Designed for stress relief
- Huge following – 154,926 individuals pledged $6,465,690 (roughly £5,000,000)
- An absolute PLETHORA of fidgeting options!
Design
It’s worth noting, that there are now more fake Fidget Cube’s available than even makes any sense, but they all seem to have the same features and fidgeting options. If you lookup Fidget Cube on Amazon, you’ll get (at the time of writing this post) over 637 results!
Focussing on the original Fidget Cube though, the design is relatively simple. Each side measures in at 1.3 inches and the cube weighs in at 1.4oz (~40g). You get a decent choice of colours, on the most part the vinyl housing is white and the buttons/fidgety bits are coloured, however there are a couple of colour options with darker coloured vinyl (black/grey).
Each of the 6 sides has a different fidget option and this is where your colour choice comes in to play. All of the fidget options are made of (I assume) the same high quality vinyl – leaving the Fidget Cube with an overall high quality feel.
Fidget Cube fidgeting options
I’ll admit (and my wife will back me up here) – I fidget. Anything I happen to be holding, I’ll find some way to twizzle, flick, spin, throw, click or fling it! The first time I heard of the Fidget Cube, my response was it’s absolute nonsense and absolutely unnecessary. A colleague of mine then bought one, I saw it and my opinion was the same – utter nonsense! Then, I got my hands on it, and everything changed.
- On one side, you’ve got 5 clicky buttons. 3 of the buttons provide a very satisfying clicky response whereas the other 2 are completely silent. I also found the 3 buttons to have a non-clicky middle press, which is a fun challenge for yourself in a meeting environment 😉
- On another side, you’ve got a switch. Imagine a light switch in your pocket – without the worry of blowing a lightbulb. This one really brings out your inner child!
- Another side has a “joystick”. When explaining this, I compare it to an Xbox/PlayStation controller joystick. You have the full range of motion and wiggling this is VERY smooth. The Fidget Cube I used also had what felt like a magnetic edge, where you could fling the joystick and it would almost stick. Very satisfying!
- Another side contains a circular disc. This has the very simple function of spinning. Feel free to think of yourself as a DJ whilst spinning this one.
- Then, there’s the 3 “cogs”/”gears” with a ball bearing just underneath. All of these roll/spin VERY smoothly and the ball bearing can even be pushed inwards with a slightly clicky response.
- The final side I don’t really understand. It contains a recessed, smoothed out oval shape which the designers/creators claim to be modelled after worry stones. If I’m honest, this side doesn’t do anything for me so I tend to avoid it!
Summary
So who is this product for? It’s marketed towards literally everyone! You don’t even have to be a fidgeter, you can use one of these if you have anxiety or stress symptoms then this little pocket sized device is perfect for you!
Funnily enough, I actually found that having this device handy helped me concentrate. If I’m working on a problem or trying to write some code (e.g. a SQL query) that has me a bit confused, I’ll pickup my Fidget Cube, will lean back in my chair, look at the ceiling and I’ll fidget while working everything out in my head.
The Verge summarised the Fidget Cube pretty well – “The Fidget Cube is basically a baby toy for adults and I love it”
Useful links
Official Fidget Cube (Antsy Labs): https://www.antsylabs.com/products/fidget-cube?variant=30253660748
Amazon UK: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B01N9VT6D6/
Amazon US: https://www.amazon.com/Generic-Fidget1-Relieves-Anxiety-Attention/dp/B01N3UN0QE/
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This is not a sponsored/paid review. All opinions are entirely my own and unbiased.
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