Filip Brož I never dreamed that I would ever see a speaker that levitates in the air and plays. However, Crazybaby's Mars Audio System exceeded all my expectations and experiences with portable speakers. The prestigious design award Reddot Design Award 2016 speaks for itself. In many ways, the Mars loudspeaker reveals the direction music companies will take.
The Mars portable audio system was introduced at this year's CES 2016 to great acclaim. That's not surprising. Imagine you're walking past a booth with UFO saucer-shaped speakers flying around. When I first unboxed the Mars, I was amazed and shocked at the same time. After pressing two buttons, the round speaker silently rose to a height of two centimeters and began to play.
The speaker consists of two separate parts. The imaginary brain is the Mars Base. Its cylindrical shape is very reminiscent of the Mac Pro. Inside, however, there are no computer components, but a flashy audio system with a subwoofer. At the top is the Mars Craft disk, which resembles a flying saucer.
For how big and heavy the Mars Base is, I have to admit I was expecting better sound. Not that it is particularly bad, the subwoofer fulfills its role very well and the flying saucer also plays the highs and mids as it should, but overall the sound coming out of the Crazybaby Mars is very quiet. If you wanted to build it somewhere outside, it won't be too prominent. In smaller rooms, however, they will satisfy both in terms of sound and appearance. It easily becomes an attraction for visitors.
An important feature of the entire system is the 360-degree sound projection. This means that it doesn't matter how far you are from the system and at what angle. The sound is the same throughout the room. Crazybaby Mars communicates with your mobile devices via Bluetooth 4.0.
Minimalist design
The principle of levitation is very simple. The speaker can levitate due to the magnetic field. The edges of the Mars are also magnetic, so if you drop your platter during playback, it's immediately caught and can't break. In addition, you can spin it up and add even more efficiency to everything.
At the same time, the music is always playing, even when the plate is not levitating. The advantage of the Mars speaker is that you can use the disk as a stand-alone speaker, which can be easily attached to any magnetic surface, for example a door frame, a car or a railing. The Mars is also IPX7 waterproof certified, so fun by the pool or in the rain is no problem.
Mars can play for up to eight hours straight on a single charge. Once the battery drops below twenty percent, the saucer will return to the base and start recharging. After all, charging can also take place while playing. In addition, you can also connect an iPhone or other device that you want to charge to the speaker via two USB ports. The overall impression and efficiency are also underlined by the LEDs located on the side of the flying saucer. You can control them with crazybaby+ app.
The application automatically pairs with the speaker when you start it, and in addition to selecting LEDs and displaying them, you can also use a practical equalizer, levitation control, and other settings. There's also a sensitive microphone inside the Mars, so you can use the speaker for conference calls.
You can also connect two Mars speakers, thanks to which you will get a much better listening experience. In the application, you can choose the option of doubling (Double-up), when both systems complement each other and share certain frequencies, or stereo, where the left and right channels are classically divided between themselves.
Believable sound
The frequency range of the Mars is 50 Hz to 10 KHz and the power of the subwoofer is 10 watts. The speaker can easily cope with any music genre, from modern hits to classics. However, its maximum volume is quite weak and I dare say that even a small portable speaker type Bose SoundLink Mini 2 or speakers from JBL, they would outplay Mars without any problems. But what makes the speaker from Crazybaby stand out is its clean design, which makes it a great addition to interiors.
Controlling the entire speaker is very intuitive. A soundtrack greets you every time you turn it on and off. However, caution pays off when the speaker falls down and you want to get it back into the air. A couple of times I misplaced it on the base causing all the magnets to not work and the plate falling over repeatedly. So you always have to pick up the correct location and light snapping of the plate into the base.
The surface of the Crazybaby speaker consists of first-class aircraft aluminum with a solid shell that protects the entire system. The total weight of the speaker is less than four kilograms. But you have to pay for the whole very effective experience. At EasyStore.cz Crazybaby Mars costs 13 crowns (are also available black a white variant). That's not much, and if you're looking for a first-class musical experience, it's worth investing elsewhere. However, in other aspects like design, efficiency, Mars wins. It's guaranteed to attract attention and if you're not such an audiophile, you'll certainly be fine with the present sound.
