GravaStar Mars Pro Speaker Review: The Sci-Fi Singing Computer Companion

Speakers come in all shapes and sizes but I never thought I’d see one shaped like a droid from Star Wars but that’s exactly what the GravaStar Mars Pro Speaker looks like with its unique futuristic design. 

The speaker however has much more to it than just its appearance. With crisp sound quality and great use of immersive lighting, the GraveStar makes for a great desk speaker and while it has a couple of minor issues, it can easily bring your media setup to life.

The Sci-Fi Speaker

The GravaStar Mars Pro is very eye-catching and its design gives it a lot of personality beyond a regular speaker. I like to call mine “Little Spidey”. You can even open and close the legs, putting it into a “sitting mode”, or “standing mode”, it’s very cute.

The development team really went all-out to give it a real otherworldly feel. The outer shell is highly detailed with concave and convex lines, they even used hexagon nuts instead of Phillips screws, adding to the mecha feel of the device. 

There are three buttons on the speaker. The button on the left is the light button, which can be used to change color or mode of the device. The middle button turns the power on and pauses the music and the right button is the Bluetooth button. Finally, the touch screen on top of the speaker is for adjusting the volume.

For such a complex design, the button layout is surprisingly simple which is good as it makes the device easy to use and quick to get working. 

There were a couple of issues with the GravaStar though. The design may look cool but it’s a fingerprint magnet and will quickly be covered in smudges. The touch bar for the volume is also either a little too sensitive or not sensitive enough as I often wanted to adjust the volume and it  just wouldn’t respond.

Finally it’s also fairly heavy at 3.0kg. It’s still manageable to hold but when combined with it’s three long spider legs,it’s not going to be the kind of speaker you take around to friends’ houses. 

See The Lights

The speaker is decorated with dynamic lighting bars that can shine light in up to six different colors: Red, Dark Blue, Light Blue, Purple, Orange, and Green.

You can choose from three different light modes when you are using the speaker:

•     Normal Mode (The light stays still)
•     Breathing Mode (color fade from one to another)
•     Rhythm Mode (The light flickers with the bass)

My favorite of the three by far was Rhythm Mode, but I found it only suitable for certain kinds of music. When I’m listening to pop or rock songs the light just flickers randomly as if it can’t find the base.

With songs that have a heavy bass line however like EDM or Trance music, it works great and it can be really mesmerizing to see the lights change to the rhythm. I do wish it would better synched up with a wider variety of songs but the light show it produces is still pretty nice to look at on its own.

The Bluetooth Connection

The GravaStar Mars Pro is a Bluetooth speaker which makes use of Bluetooth 5.0. This means that the connection doesn’t drain the battery as quickly and it has a range of 10 meters. You can also physically connect it with your PC, phone, or TV using the 3.5mm audio jack.

There is an issue where the Bluetooth might not function if the speaker is paired with too many devices and you try to switch between them but that’s an issue a lot of Bluetooth devices have so I’m not sure how much I can blame the speaker for that. As such, I’d recommend only having it paired with one or two other devices at most to ensure a secure connection. 

The Sound Quality

The sound quality of the GravaStar Mars Pro is truly pristine. The base is very deep, and the music plays out clearly with rich sound quality. Regardless if you’re using it to listen to music, play video games, or watch movies, it gives a very immersive and comfortable experience.

With that being said, the speaker works best at a close range, using it with your computer at your desk. It’s not quite strong enough to fill out a whole living room so if you’re looking to get a speaker for your TV, this is not the one to go for. Likewise, it’s a bit too heavy to take on the go. This speaker is a computer companion through and through.

It also has a slight delay when you use it to play video games. For the most part, you won’t notice it, but with games that rely more on sound, like rhythm games or FPS games you may find that it’s not as accurate as you need to play properly. That being said, if you connect the speaker with a physical cable, there’s no delay at all.  

The Battery

I found that the speaker could be used for over 17 hours without running out of battery. This may be subject to change as the device will drain more battery when the volume is higher but overall, it’s can go a good amount of time without needing to be charged.

In terms of getting recharged, it took approximately 2 hours and 30 minutes for the speaker to go back up to full battery. It’s a bit of a wait but I suppose the fact that it lasts so long without charging balances it out. 

Closing Thoughts  

The GravaStar Mars Pro is certainly a unique little speaker. The alien design certainly makes it stand out, and the crystal clear sound quality makes it a great device for belting out your favorite tunes.  

That being said, it is very much made with a specific audience in mind. It’s meant to be a personal speaker, to sit on your desk or gaming set up and immerse the user in a small room of sound. It’s not really strong enough to be connected to larger shared devices and it’s a little too heavy to comfortably bring places.

Still, if you’re looking for a cute little droid to guard your PC while also bringing you the rifts of the latest Guilty Gear Album, this is certainly a speaker worth looking into.