Newer Rubik's cubes are not horrible to turn at all, other than through the perspective of an elite, competitive speed cuber.

Rubik's cubes have a long history of being crap. They used to have crappy stickers that would peel off, and would explode. The newer ones don't explode.

You can definitely corner twist.

Modern Rubik's brand cubes have hidden screws under two of the faces (yellow and white, I think) where you can adjust tension to some extent.