Speedcubing is a great hobby, with speedcubers lowering their solves to staggeringly quick times. An essential group of accessories for any speedcuber is a speed cube mat and timer. Learn more about the reasons to buy a speed cube mat and timer to become a better speedcuber.
Emulate the Competition Environment
Official World Cube Association competitions employ SpeedStacks Stackmats timers and mats to time competitors accurately and fairly. Emulating the competition environment can help with competition nerves and ensure that you are used to using a stackmat timer.
Stackmat: The Speed Stacks Stackmat timer and a full-size compatible mat. Generation 2, Generation 3 Pro Timer, Generation 4 Pro Timer, and/or Generation 5 Pro Timer must be used for time measurement.
Protect your cube and solving surface
When using a stackmat, the solver is required to put the cube down on the surface in front of them, typically a soft mat surface, start the timer with both of their hands, and once completing their solve, drop the cube onto the surface and stop the timer with both of their hands. However, without a mat there is a risk of either damaging the cube or cubing surface without a mat. A mat cushions the impact of the cube landing on the table, stopping any adverse damage and also reducing the sound of the cube dropping onto the mat.
A mini mat from tuyendungnamdinh
Many mat and timer options
There a numerous mat and timer options available currently, with the obvious timer choice for most cubers being the SpeedStacks G5 Timer, currently retailing for $32.95, since it is one of the only options that are actively used in World Cube Association sanctioned competitions.
Another time option includes the GAN Timer, available in a silver and black colorway, and notably features Bluetooth connectivity where solve times can automatically sync to GAN's Cube Station app to be accessed across multiple devices.
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As for mats, there are multiple options available, including standard size mats from SpeedStacks and standard and mini size mats from tuyendungnamdinh both available, alongside some mats from other speedcube manufacturers.
The mini mats have been a popular choice, providing a more portable option for those who want to cube on the go.
Do note that SpeedStacks Gen 5 timer mats are not interchangeable with the Gen 4 or 3 timer mats, due to the s different position of the timer attachments on both timers.
A Gen 3/4 timer-compatible mat, not compatible with the latest G5 timer.
A Completely Different Option
Released a few years ago, renown manufacturer YongJun (YJ) released their own "Pocket Timer", which instead of the traditional timer pads which detect hand placement to start and stop the timer, use infrared light on the sides of the small rectangular device to detect the placement of the hands.
$13.68 The YJ Pocket Timer is speedcubing's first touchless timer! Through the use of infrared technology, this little timer can accurately sense motion to start/stop the timer which is great for on-the-go solving when space is limited. The Pocket Timer has… >> SHOP PRODUCT <<YJ Pocket Timer
