Looking for something to occupy that empty space left by a cell phone?
Ever feel like your hands are missing something when your phone is on the charger, or are you attempting to not be looking at a screen while doing something that involves some minimal hand/eye coordination but you’re not skilled enough for juggling?
Gearbest sent me two fidget spinners and a stress/fidget cube to play with. They’re evidently the most popular thing in the US at the moment which caught me a little off guard.
They’re fun, cheap, and I see why people are getting addicted to these.
Bat Shaped fidget spinner
We’ll start with the bat-shaped but not officially licensed Bat Fidget Spinner. Coming in at $1.59 it’s a low cost starting investment to see whether this will relieve stress or stress you out further. You can get them here.
The body is solid. I’m not sure what it’s made of but I felt I could throw it and hurt someone. It spins well in my hand, balanced pretty sweet. Only issue I have with it is the outer bearings seem to be of a different quality than the inner one. I noted a hint of a less great bearing.
Also the plastic bearing cover on one of the gears popped off immediately. I got it on and it’s stayed since then with no issue, so I’m not sure if manufacturing, shipping, or random issue.
If you’re getting these and have a little one, consider popping off the bearing covers and chucking them. I tried dislodging the bearings since so many kids have been somehow eating them in the US, I couldn’t budge them.
Tri-Wing Fidget Spinner
This is by far my favorite of the items that were shipped. You put this down, spin it, and it can go for up to about two minutes. This feels like a different league of spinner than the bat one, but also feels a little like they used less awesome bearings on the outside.
It’s also not a bat one and therefor it must lose.
I didn’t manage to pry off the bearing covers or break into the inner portion to see if this was the case. This thing is sealed tightly.
I don’t think I had a fidget-gadget need until I started playing with this thing. Really reminds me of when I used to distance skate and then afterwards would disassemble the skates and clean/oil bearings.
I’d test to see if the bearing was slowing down by putting a wheel on and if it spun for less than three minutes it was probably new bearing time as it was slowing me down.
This thing is weighted beautifully and evidently costs $1.69 from Gearbest.
The spinners in action
Stress Reliever Magic Fidget Cube
This thing was immediately grabbed by the toddler and played with non-stop until she decided to go to bed. It’s got a joystick, a rolly ball, clicker thingies, a rocker switch, five buttons that make noise, a turntable thing for your thumb, and pretty much everything a kid could want.
It wasn’t particularly something I was interested in as it’s just a little too tiny for my hands, but it was great in hers. I didn’t quite trust it so I never let the toddler out of my sight while she played with it.
After Aerin let it go and went to bed I decided to see how breakable it was and applied full toddler pressure. The result was it fell apart with three clicker gears, a metal ball, and a small metal rod falling out along with the 5 buttons (which are one big pad).
Basically every choking hazard possible in one toy. I put the thing back together and superglued it together, re-attempted toddler pressure, and was fine. I’m not sure if it’s supposed to ship without a sealant or not, but a dab of superglue made it less of a choking hazard.
To be on the safe side I removed it from view until I pound the thing a few more times and make sure it’s now toddler-indestructible.
It’s an interesting toy, but it makes a decent amount of noise so I can’t see playing with it at a meeting or while on the phone which is when I usually am looking for something to do.
Also it was a little bit too tiny for my preference.
Coming in at $3.49 it’s not going to break the bank however.
