I recently decided I was going to splurge (seriously, some of these were not cheap after shipping. One of the joys of being stuck in Canada, I suppose) and buy a whole bunch of fidget spinners.

I spent a considerable amount of time researching the different options available, but these 5 seemed to keep popping up as favoured ones.

It’s also important to note that I was only really interested in metal spinners. I didn’t want anything plastic. It was bad enough I was going to spend all that money on getting them shipped to me. I was going to invest. In for a penny, in for a pound.

Part of the reason I decided on going for 5 instead of just 1 or 2 was because no one online compared them, and no one could give me a real justification that one was better than another. I was in search of the best of the best fidget spinner. I think I found an objective answer (although, of course, all of this is wildly subjective, so take that for what it’s worth to you).

The Need for Spin

I spend a lot of time sitting at my desk at work, chatting in meetings. I am naturally a bit of a fidgeter (I broke the battery doors on all the TV remotes growing up, much to the dismay of my dad). Although I have a fidget cube and a Rubik’s cube, I wanted to get a high-end fidget spinner.

The classic 3-winged plastic fidget spinners are great. I’ve owned 2. But they lack a certain character that these ones have. I wanted something really cool. After having bought all of these, I can happily say: mission accomplished.

Meet the Contestants

All of these are available through different outlets online under different names. Especially the imported ones (by INNÔPLUS) that you’ll notice below. While you might come across a few phonies in the process, it’s not difficult to find a legit one fairly easily.

Ranking System

There’s no definitive fidget spinner ranking system, but I’ll try to touch on some of the most important elements that might persuade you one way or another.

Cost - As a Canadian, most of these are unavailable up here, so you’re forced to buy from American sites, pay extra for shipping, and get slapped by your credit card company with the conversion from USD to CAD.
Ship Time - Not the biggest deal because nothing is getting Prime’d to your place, but one or two of these (as I’ll explain below) took considerably longer to get to me than others.
Weight - Specifically with metal fidget spinners, you want something that doesn’t feel too light. We don’t want it to feel like a cinderblock, but something that has a presence so you know it’s there. Each one of these spinners is different, so I’ll explore that below.
Spin & Balance - The feel of the bearing and the balance of the spinner as its spinning in your hand plays a huge role in the ranking. This is subjective, and most of them are pretty subjective, but I’ll explain some of the ones that have left me down.
Feel - Apart from balance, this touches on how the actual thing feels in your hands.
Size - Really difficult to tell how big a fidget spinner’s going to be online, so hopefully at least seeing them together will help give you a better idea.
Coolness Factor - Aesthetics are another huge reason to get any one of these things. It’s logical that it factors into the overall ranking.
Overall - I’ll summarize what I love about each spinner + touch on anything not covered previously.

The Winning Lineup

Alright - I’ll explain each one of these spinners in depth in order from my most favourite to least. Won’t keep you waiting in suspense. Perhaps this is bad blogging etiquette, but anyone who wants to know what #1 is would just scroll anyways. So here you are: in order.

First Place: Viking Fidget Spinner

Cost - $30.09 CAD after tax and shipping. The cheapest on the list!
Ship Time - This was the first one that arrived! Don’t think it took more than a week and a half. Arrived a solid 1 week before any of the other ones. So far, it’s objectively winning in 2 categories.
Weight - This one has an excellent weight. It’s not light, and maybe it verges on too heavy, but to me it’s exactly what I want in a fidget spinner. It just feels solid in your palm. I really like that.
Spin & Balance - Absolutely incredible spin and balance, I think largely owed to its design. If you were to see a side-profile of this spinner, you’d see that it has a slight taper from thicker in the middle to skinnier along the edges. Also because the solid pieces spread out so far (with just the little teeth protruding at the ends), it spins super nicely. The length of time this spinner will spin is very reasonable. More than you’ll need before messing with it again and spinning it some more.
Feel - I touched on this a bunch in the spin and balance section, but the feel is excellent. The graphics around the spinner (save for the middle where you put your fingers) are engraved, so it definitely is more impressive than a sticker or a paint job. The teeth are well rounded over so it has no chance of hurting you when you’re fidgeting with it. The only criticism I’d give it is that the place where you put your fingers is only a sticker (I think), but I’ll admit it seems like a pretty sturdy sticker, so I’m not too concerned about it peeling off anytime soon. Either way, the actual spinner has a design that won’t wear out.
Size - Perfect size. Not too big, but far from the smallest. I don’t know. It just feels like what you’d hope. Bigger than a twoonie (if you’re a Canadian).
Coolness Factor - I was borderline not going to order this one because I almost thought it was too cheesy. But, seeing it in person, it is easily the #1 coolest fidget spinner. It feels a lot like an Aztek coin. A lot of people have said it feels like one of the gold coins from Pirates of the Caribbean. Have to agree. Seeing this one in person, holding it, easily tops the charts in coolness.
Overall - It’s just the perfect spinner. The weight, the balance, the feel. Customer service from Asgard Gifts was excellent, including cost and shipping time. It feels the most premium, it’s not gimmicky. I can’t get over it. The best by a mile.

Second Place: Stainless Steel Fidget Spinner

Cost - $47.28 CAD after conversion and shipping. The second most expensive on the list.
Ship Time - This was what I’ll call “average”. I think it was about 3 weeks, which is the same length of time as the next two. For “international” shipping, we’ll call that reasonable.
Weight - It might be the lightest fidget spinner because it’s the smallest, but it definitely doesn’t feel too light. I think how tight the design of the spinner is, it almost makes it feel less heavy (if that makes any sense?), but honestly: it’s a good weight. We’ll leave it at that.
Spin & Balance - I think this is the best spinner in relativity to spin. The bearing is one of the quietest of the 5, so it’s a great combination. The balance of this thing is really great because the wings don’t protrude very far. Honestly, not a whole lot else to say about spin and balance specifically.
Feel - It’s really rounded all over, so the feel is really great in the hands. I’d say it feels chunky, and as I describe a little more below, that’s because this spinner is thick. Seriously thick for how small it is. At first, it was sort of off putting. It felt sort of bad in the hands, but the more I’ve played with all 5, I realize that the feel is actually quite nice, it’s just different. This spinner didn’t start as my #2, but it’s earned it over time.
Size - This is the one that shocked me the most. It is way smaller than I would’ve thought it would be. If you scroll back up to see how it ranks next to the other ones, it’s considerably smaller than all the other ones. I still would love to see this be manufactured a little bigger, but its small size might mean it’s a little less obnoxious if you want to slip it into your pocket and go somewhere. (Although its thickness doesn’t really help in that regard.)
Coolness Factor - Eh. Not bad. It’s cool in the way that it’s different from all the other ones, so it’s got that going for it. It’s sort of a subtle sophisticated… It doesn’t beat you over the head, but the more you play with it, the more you like it.
Overall - Again, this is my #2. It’s unique, so that’s pretty sweet. Not as unique as the Viking one, but still pretty cool. If I couldn’t get the Viking fidget spinner, this is the one I’d take from the list.

Third & Fourth Place: INNÔPLUS Fidget Spinners

These two are manufactured by the same company, and my feelings about them are pretty similar in most areas, so I’ll review them together.

Cost - $37.50 CAD after conversion and shipping. Each.
Ship Time - Again, average. Arrived within a day as the last one. 3 weeks or so.
Weight - The blue one feels lighter at first because of its round and compact design, and the dark one feels heavier, but I think that’s more because of its large design. So, in reality, the weight is probably very similar. However the dark one I think still edges it out as heavier.
Spin & Balance - The blue one is funny: it spins flawlessly, and it almost feels like it’s not spinning because the bearing is so smooth and the wings are so rounded. I think the 4 wings also helps balance it out really nicely (the correlation between balance and number of wings is discussed more in the next spinner ranking). So as much as I like the blue one, it almost is too perfect that it doesn’t feel like it’s spinning. It needs to have a little haptic feedback or it defeats the purpose. The dark one, on the other hand, feels heavy when it spins because the wings protrude so far. I sort of dig it, because it’s different, but it’s sort of clunky. It might be the 4th ranked in terms of spin. The bearing is great and it lasts a while, but I don’t love it.
Feel - Again, the blue one is so smooth and rounded that it sort of feels… boring. I don’t know. It’s weird and sort of doesn’t make sense. It’s too perfect and smooth. The dark one feels way too sharp. The corners and edges are very angular. The points on the end are way too “sharp”. I dropped it on my parents’ dining table and it left a small indent. (Mom, if you’re somehow reading this, it was the old dining table you just got rid of. Also, I’m sorry.) The feel of each of these is very different, but both err on either side of being really nice.
Size - Blue one is perfect fidget spinner size. I’ll give it that. Not too thick, and the wings are a great length. The dark one feels massive. The wings protrude the farthest by far, and even though I dig it, it’s just too big for being thrown in your pocket and going somewhere; thus sort of defeating the purpose.
Coolness Factor - The advertising images make these look awesome, but the reality is sort of disappointing. I really didn’t like the red and blue aesthetic, though it was the nicest of the colours that design came in. The dark one was really cool looking, but in reality it’s just sort of bland. Both spinners have “glow in the dark” little inserts around the wings but to use them is silly. You have to “charge” them in direct sunlight, but then you need to go to a really dark place to be able to see them. It doesn’t really work in any practical way.
Overall - These were sort of underwhelming for different reasons. Both were close in different ways—and other people might like them more than I did—but neither quite did it for me. I’ll still play with them from time to time, but the other 2 are definitely better.

Fifth Place: Brass Fidget Spinner

Cost - $44.67 CAD after conversion and shipping. Second most expensive, by far the most disappointing.
Ship Time - Ha! Insultingly long! 4+ weeks easily. I specifically bought it from the website that said, “I’m the original designer of this fidget spinner. Please support local by buying from the original manufacturer.” Did that, and he took weeks and weeks to get it to me. Underwhelming.
Weight - Lightest I think, really didn’t love it. It wasn’t as light as a plastic fidget spinner, but didn’t quite feel as substantial as you’d hope. I don’t know. Maybe I just feel so blah about the whole spinner that the weight is the least of my concerns lol.
Spin & Balance - OK, here’s the biggest reason this spinner absolutely fails and easily claims the #5 spot. The spin and balance are absolutely brutal for a toy literally dedicated to those two things. The two wing design is—what I believe—the biggest culprit for this. Although technically it’s still balanced, the massive percentage of the spinner that has no wing whatsoever means that it is easily unbalanced. This is particularly noticeable when you spin it in your fingers and turn your hand over from having your palm facing down to palm facing up. I wish you could feel it in your hand. You’d instantly understand what I mean compared to the other ones. As a result of this easily-thrown-out-of-balance quirk, the spin is significantly reduced. The shortest spinning fidget spinner when placed in your hand. Spun on a table, it’s the same as the others.
Feel - The machined edges are nice. A little sharper than I’d prefer but no big deal. The thing is precise—no doubt about that. But because of the spin and balance, it just doesn’t come across as a particularly good fidget spinner.
Size - A little long but really not a big deal with only 2 wings. The skinny factor makes it feel like less of a footprint, so I wouldn’t knock it for its size. The thickness is also perfect. Overall: size is good. But that’s one of the few things.
Coolness Factor - I really love the colour, and the design looked amazing online. But because it actually sucks in your hands, the coolness factor drops. So this one’s a mixed bag. Cool in photos: bad in real life.
Overall - The biggest disappointment of the list. Is it still a premium fidget spinner? Maybe by some standards. But I wouldn’t say it holds a candle to the other 4 on this list.

Overall

Keep in mind all of this is insanely subjective. My preferences might not be the same as yours.

A huge part of this is what you want the fidget spinner for. Are you hoping to pocket it easily and take it with you? Are you just looking for the maximum bearing spin? Are aesthetics more important than feel?

At the end of the day, if you were to buy any single one of these on their own, you’d probably be really pretty happy. It’s only when you’ve got all 5 next to each other that a lot of these differences feel more pronounced.

Do you own any of these fidget spinners? What do you think? Leave me a comment! 👇🏻

Ranked: Top 5 Premium Fidget Spinners