V-Cube 7
Other such puzzles have since been introduced by a number of Chinese companies,[1] some of which have mechanisms which improve on the original.
Six of these (the central tiles of the six faces) are attached directly to the internal "spider" frame and are fixed in position relative to one another.
The V-Cube 6 uses essentially the same mechanism, except that on the latter the central rows, which hold the rest of the pieces together, are completely hidden.
The fixed black or white center piece is branded with the logo of the manufacturer, which is V on cubes by Verdes.
This departure from a true cube shape is necessary, since the mechanism used on this puzzle would not function properly with layers of identical thickness.
Note from the image at right that if a 7×7×7 were to be constructed with layers of identical thickness the corner pieces (shown in red) would lose contact with the rest of the puzzle when a side was rotated 45 degrees.
Cubes from other manufacturers can be found with rounded or flat sides, but all use thicker outer layers.
Seven of the corners can be independently rotated, and the orientation of the eighth depends on the other seven, giving 8!×37 combinations.
The most common strategy involves grouping similar edge pieces into solid strips, and centers into one-colored blocks.
The world record fastest solve is 1 minute, 34.15 seconds, set by Max Park of the United States on 18-21 July 2024 at Rubik's WCA North American Championship 2024 in Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States.
[7] The world record mean of three solves is also held by Max Park of the United States with a time of 1 minute, 39.68 seconds, set on 20 April 2024 at Nub Open Yucaipa 2024 in Yucaipa, California, with the times of 1:36.19, 1:38.19 and 1:44.65.
