Gravastar Sirius Pro
7.50 / 10 Read ReviewsGravastar's unique design flair always sets its products apart, and the Sirius Pro true wireless earbuds are no different. Combine that eye-catching aesthetic with excellent audio quality, and you know you've got Gravastar hardware in your hands.
Specifications- Brand: Gravastar
- Battery Life: Up to 6 hours on buds, 16 hours on charge case
- Bluetooth: 5.2
- Additional Tips: 4
- Noise Cancellation: No
- Charging Case: Yes
- Codecs: SBC, AAC
- Drivers: 7.2mm dynamic with additional Knowles balanced armature drivers
- IP rating: IPX5
- Codec support: AAC, SBC
- Weight: 4.7g/0.16oz
- Great sound, fun listen
- Truly unique design
- Comfortable wear
- Good build quality
- Integrated bottle opener
- Battery life so-so for price
- No ANC
How can you tell a Gravastar product apart from its competitors? Well, it's quite simple: they look completely different from anything you'll find elsewhere.
Gravastar eschews traditional black and white earbuds, and the case its earbuds come in isn't some oval-shaped or oblong affair. No, the Gravastar Sirius Pro earbuds come in a completely unique carry case that looks like something from a sci-fi movie and doubles up as a bottle opener. Yes, you read that right.
Looks aside, the Gravastar Sirius Pro backs up its interesting aesthetic with solid audio performance, deep, rich bass, and a very comfortable fit. So, is the Gravastar Sirius Pro going to become your next set of earbuds?
Gravastar Sirius Pro Style and Comfort
A lot of time and effort has gone into the Gravastar Sirius Pro case. From the moment you take it out of the box, you begin noticing the small details that make the Sirius Pro the unique prospect that it is; the little groves, indents, fake bolts, and so on.
Once out of the box, you can try to figure out how to remove the earbuds from the case itself. Typically with earbuds, the case opens easily with the flick of a thumb or a finger revealing its contents. The Sirius Pro does not do that. Your eyes are immediately drawn to the small cog on the side of the case that most people try to twist. Whereas you need to push it in to reveal the earbuds, lifting the clasp and allowing you to free the earbuds from the cage.
The case itself is a zinc alloy and comes with extra gubbins to make it feel industrial, like an artifact from a sci-fi movie or something you might find walking through Fallout or another dystopian hellscape.
The earbuds themselves are interesting, carrying the outline of the Gravastar Mars Pro speaker on the back, which doubles up as the company logo. In terms of style, the earbud housing is a small, circular shape and it doesn't have too many bells and whistles. It's a grey color matching the case itself and uses a similar font, with Gravastar found on the outside.
Each Sirius Pro earbud weighs 4.7g/0.16oz each, which is pretty par for the course. You won't find them weighing heavily on your ears and you certainly won't notice them when you pop them in for a long listening session. You'll also find four different ear tip sizes which you should switch through to find the most comfortable fit as a comfortable fit and proper seal delivers the best audio experience.
Finally, the Gravastar Sirius Pro case that I have for review is of a grey design, but you can also purchase the Gravastar Sirius Pro buds in a number of different colors. There's the War Damage yellow, which looks like something out of Star Wars or a Warhammer Space Marine pack, as well as Space Grey and the ultra colorful Neon Green, which is quite something.
Gravastar Sirius Pro Battery Life and Connectivity
Battery life is an important feature for any earbuds and the Gravastar Sirius Pro battery life, I have to say, isn't the greatest.
On a full charge, you can get up to six hours of playback—as claimed by Gravastar. However, during my review period, I found that the Sirius Pro earbuds would only last between three to four hours at maximum, and that was with the volume turned down to between 50% to 70% (because listening at 100% is insane!).
When you stack that up against other earbuds that retail for a similar price, it isn't the best performance. You do get another three full charges from the earbuds carry case, taking you up to around 16 hours of playback. It isn't the end of the world for the Sirius Pro but they're certainly not the earbuds that you would take on a long flight where you don't want to have to recharge your earbuds multiple times in a row.
Sirius Pro connectivity comes from Bluetooth 5.2, which works well, while the Bluetooth audio codecs in use are AAC and SBC. These two Bluetooth audio codecs are the "standard" codecs you will find on most, if not all, true wireless earbuds these days. You won't find advanced audio codecs such as aptX, aptX Adaptive, or LDAC, which is a slight shame, but it doesn't hamper the music or other audio that you play through these earbuds.
Gravastar Sirius Pro Sound Quality
Now, onto the sound quality. Gravastar has a great reputation for making audio products that sound fantastic. We have previously reviewed Gravastar's Venus portable Bluetooth speaker, and the Mars Pro, which is like a bigger, amped-up version of the Venus (and it looks like a robotic spider to boot!).
So, how do the Gravastars Sirius Pro earbuds stack up against this reputation? Overall, very, very good.
The sound of the Gravastar Sirius Pro earbuds is rich and full of bass that is definitely emphasized, with a mid-range that sounds nicely balanced versus the heavier tones of the low-end. However, I wouldn't call these earbuds "balanced" in the sense the EQ presents in a "U" shape. The curve is definitely going to shift from bass down through the mids and then up the other side towards the top-end. But the overall tone of the Sirius Pro buds is nice.
It's a very easy, fun listening experience that if you push with your preferred music, will still sound fantastic.
One thing to know about the Sirius Pro earbuds is that alongside the 7.2mm dynamic drivers, the earbuds also include Knowles balanced armature drivers. Knowles balanced armature drivers are traditionally found in hearing aids to provide better audio fidelity and realism versus standard drivers. The Sirius Pro uses these in tandem with the dynamic drivers creating a hybrid driver system, which balances out the bass by providing clearer treble. Combining the regular drivers with the balanced armature drivers helps to create a clarity that makes any music you throw up the Sirius Pro earbuds sound really, really good.
Something that you might miss from the Sirius Pro earbuds, however, is active noise cancellation. The earbuds have "environmental noise cancellation," but that's just another fancy term for passive noise cancellation. What that means is the earbuds will cancel some noise depending on how well you can create a seal with your ear, but there's no active noise cancellation taking place here, which is where the microphones on the earbuds actively attempt to keep the noise out from your ears.
It's not a humongous loss in the grand scheme of things. But it does mean that the Sirius Pro earbuds are attempting to crack into the market where there are a lot of earbuds offering similar levels of audio quality that also feature active noise cancellation. The Sirius Pro buds have the right soundstage to push it ahead of many of these competitors, but it might be that you wouldn't choose these earbuds to take to the gym and you perhaps would prefer earbuds with active noise cancellation on a flight or a train journey.
The Gravastar Sirius Pro earbuds also include several integrated sound modes that you switch between using the earbud touch controls, triple-tapping the left earbud to switch to movie mode, and the right earbud to switch to gaming mode. Both modes have specific tuning for the different media types, while both come with 5.1 virtual surround sound.
Without the option to adjust an EQ manually you are at the whim of the earbuds, but it seems that Gravastar has done an excellent job of tuning these audio modes on the earbuds and during movies and gaming, the sound quality was still very good.
Should You Buy the Gravastar Sirius Pro Earbuds?
So, are the Gravastar Series Pro true wireless earbuds worth the money? Should you pick up a pair of these futuristic sci-fi earbuds and use them for your daily driver?
Well, when it comes to the sound, the Gravastar Sirius Pro earbuds do not disappoint. If you want a neutral set of earbuds, you need to go elsewhere. But these earbuds do sound very good overall, the dynamic 7.2mm drivers working well in conjunction with the Knowles balanced armature drivers to deliver a sound quality that you would expect from a Gravastar product. I certainly enjoyed throwing all sorts of music genres at it and the Sirius Pro earbuds respond very well to almost any genre you can think of.
Furthermore, the integrated headphone modes mean that you can use the Gravastar Sirius Pro buds for any manner of audio listening experience. They are relatively well-rounded and well-suited to a variety of audio experiences.
The biggest downside for the Gravastar Sirius Pro buds is the battery life lasting only up to six hours, and more like four throughout my testing. It's really not good enough for earbuds priced at this level—and on that the Gravastar Sirius Pro buds retail for $130. Which, when you can buy an alternative that lasts for twice as long (although perhaps will not sound quite as good), many people will opt for the longer battery life over slight improvements in audio experience.
So are the Sirius Pro buds worth the money? It's a tricky question.
If you love the style and aesthetic of the Gravastar buds, absolutely go for them. They are unique, and of course, they come with a bottle opener so you can always open your fresh cold drink whenever you need to. And if you want a talking point, putting these on the table will always catch the eye of someone. If you are looking for something with longer battery life, perhaps you need to look elsewhere.
