Gravastar Mars Pro Bluetooth Speakers Review – Form over Function

Pros — Exceptionally well-built, incredible attention to detail
– Unique design that also acts as a decorative piece
– Gets fairly loud given the size
– The feet allow multiple positioning and angles for best sound
– Good battery life

Cons — The Gravastar Mars Pro is expensive
– Heavy for portable use
– Mono output unless you buy two of them
– Bass distorts at very high SPL
– Too much sub-bass boost drowns out the mids
– Treble lacks definition and clarity

INTRODUCTION

Gravastar comes up with the craziest of designs that look unlike anything on the market. It’s TWS IEMs, the Sirius Pro, stood out in terms of overall aesthetics which is more of a “love it or hate it” affair. I personally find the Gravastar offerings to be unique in their design language, and hope that the brand keeps doing their own thing.

The Mars Pro is Gravastar’s flagship bluetooth speakers, coming in at a premium price-tag which pits it against some established Bluetooth bookshelf speakers. However, the Mars Pro has the same ace up its sleeve – the unique design language. Nobody who glanced at it for the first time could tell that it was a speaker, which tells a lot about the intention of such a product.

Gravastar Mars Pro not only intends to be a conversation starter, it also tries to be a competent speaker in the process. Does it hit the mark, or is it all skin-deep? Let’s find out.

Note: the ratings given will be subjective to the price tier. Dunu was kind enough to send me the Luna as part of the Review Tour (thanks Tom!)

Price, while reviewed: $330. Can be bought from Gravastar’s Official Website.

PHYSICAL THINGS AND USABILITY

PACKAGING AND ACCESSORIES

The package itself is quite a looker. Inside, you get the speaker itself, a type-C to type-C cable for charging, and another type-C + aux cable. More on the last bit in the build section.

BUILD QUALITY

Now, where to start…

The Gravastar Mars Pro looks like an alien trooper, for the lack of a better description. Depending on the edition, you can get weapons and shield on the side of the speaker (Shark 14 version) or a set of half-broken horns (Aurochs). Really, it’s one bizareness after another, but they all somehow mesh into the overarching theme.

Onto the more material side of things, the chassis is hand-painted zinc-alloy for the most part. The attention to detail here is extraordinary, and I can’t quite recall such a feat on a product that’s not marketed as artisan or boutique. There are subtle bumps and damage marks on the chassis that feel real to the touch.

At the bottom, three adjustable feet (with integrated LEDs) provide the balance and act as a base upon which the speaker stands. You can fold and unfold the legs to set the speakers in various angles. Unfortunately, the feet only have three adjustable positions, so maneuverability is a bit compromised. There are rubber nubs underneath the feet for better grip.

At the front of the unit there is the speaker grille, which also houses a bunch of LED strips. The conical driver dome is entirely encased by a metal cage, which also protects it against external damage. The bass port is one the back but it’s exposed, which is the only weak-link in this otherwise bullet-proof build.

At the bottom there’s a type-C port that also doubles as aux-in via the supplied type-C+aux cable. At the top, there are three buttons for operating the unit, and a touch-sensitive volume bar.

One thing that’s not apparent at all from the pictures is the sheer heft of the unit: it’s about 1.5 kgs. Yes, you read that right: 1.5 kgs of metal put in a shell that’s about 18 cm in diameter. This makes for a very dense and hefty speaker that’s on par in terms of weight with much larger speakers.

However, I’m not gonna dock points for this simply because Gravastar made the Mars Pro to have such heft by the material choice alone. Thus, the Mars Pro is the best built Bluetooth speaker I’ve ever laid my eyes or hands on, bar none.

GENERAL OPERATION

General operation is fairly simple. There are three buttons on the back of the device. The center buttons acts as power button, and is flanked by the LED control button and the Bluetooth pairing button.

Pressing the LED button cycles through the RGB colors, whereas long pressing the power button turns the unit on or off. There is also a touch sensitive volume control bar on top that is only activated during playback. I have made a short video to demo the entire thing so please have a look below:

DRIVER SETUP

The only driver description we get from Gravastar’s site is that it is a “full-range subwoofer”. The exposed bass reflector on the back is suspended by a flexible material to allow better low-end control.

TONALITY AND TECHNICALITIES

The sound is where I am a bit disappointed in the Mars Pro. Sure, it gets loud, and sounds surprisingly full for a single speaker, but it’s all in… mono. For stereo playback, you need two of them, which makes the total cost go over USD$500. Ouch!

Judging them as a sole unit, the lack in sub-bass rumble is immediately obvious. Even far higher tier floor-standing speakers fall short here, so nothing against Gravastar. However, they decided to boost the bass despite the physically limited driver. This results in distortion in bass-heavy tracks when the volume is pushed very high.

The mids are recessed, and highs even more so. The rolled-off highs help in reducing fatigue, but it also imparts a sense of muddiness and mushiness across the spectrum. Imaging, staging is out of the equation as, well, it’s a mono speaker by itself. I did not have a second unit to judge those factors.

Dynamics are again mushy, with sudden bass drops getting compressed into a puddle of bass. Crescendos lack the upper octaves because, well, rolled off treble.

I think I wouldn’t mind the sound of the Mars Pro on a $50-$100 bluetooth speaker. But these are three times the price at least, so based on sound quality alone – not a good value. The likes of Sony SRS-XG300 costs lower while having a more controlled sound that’s more balanced across the spectrum.

CONCLUDING REMARKS

The Gravastar Mars Pro is one of the, if not the most unique Bluetooth portable speaker you can find around. It resonates with my geeky heart in terms of design and overall finish, and I have saved a spot for the Mars Pro on my table since getting the unit.

Unfortunately, too much attention was put into design and not a lot of it was spared for the sound. Given the asking price (which is magnified due to the unique chassis), one should and probably would expect better sound.

I hope Gravastar rethinks the tuning of the Mars Pro, lessens the bass a bit, and focuses on getting a more balanced sound across the spectrum rather than heavy, dense bass that clouds everything it touches.

The Gravastar Mars Pro only gets a recommendation if you need something to decorate your desktop or side-table and like the particular steam-punk aesthetics it is going for. If sound quality is the priority and nothing else – better look elsewhere.

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