TOPIC: Hero RGBA CR Ares

My first ever review on my first ever saber. Where do I even start? I actually placed my first saber order back on May 5th, and then I saw this saber and was like, “Wow, this looks great, I gotta get it!”. And so I did and this came before the saber I ordered back in May.

I really wanted to get a true two-handed saber and this definitely fits the bill. And the fact that it comes in a crystal reveal is even better.

The Ares is everything I was hoping it would be. Everything I’ve read on the forums and seen on YouTube reviews about the craftsmanship quality of Saberforge’s sabers is true; these are true works of art.

Okay, so now onto actually reviewing this saber.

The first thing that jumped out to me, after I stopped staring with my mouth open, was how the power and auxiliary buttons were implemented. I wasn't expecting the 2 tiny buttons, but I actually like them. They're very low profile and IMO blend right into the saber as actual parts rather than 2 "large", illuminated switches.

A few physical measurements:
Length of saber from pommel to tip of emitter shroud: ~14.75 inches (~37.5 cm)
Blade Plug length: 2.25 inches (5.7cm)
Total length of saber with 37" blade installed: 4 ft (122cm)
The diameter, measured at the bottom of the body (between body and pommel) is 1.5 inches (3.8cm)
Weight with blade plug and kill key installed: 21.8 ounces (618 grams)

The crystal chamber opens 1.25 inches tall

The crystal portion of this saber just looks fantastic to me; it really looks great on this saber.

There are 3 set screws: 1 at the base of the emitter above the tsuba (round guard at the top of the grip) for blade retention, 1 just above the crystal chamber which locks/unlocks the chamber to open/close, and 1 just below the crystal chamber that holds the chamber/emitter section into the rest of the switch/body. You can loosen that last screw I mentioned and unscrew the entire chamber out which will reveal the wiring etc in the switch section.

The pommel is very well vented for sound. It's so much louder than my sinister prophecy that I got earlier this week. There are 3 spots for the sound to come out. The usual hole in the very bottom, the narrow vertical openings around the bottom half, and the narrow horizontal openings around the top half. The inside of the pommel is sort of in 2 sections separate by a circular piece of metal that looks like a target. It's not physically in 2 parts...more like 2 halves? Not sure the best way to describe it. That separation is between the vertical and horizontal slots. The large hollowness really helps resonate the sound and make it quite loud.

As far as spinning, I would think this would be a fairly decent spinning saber, though I don't have a lot of experience doing that. The saber itself is quite heavy and with a blade in it, it's that much heavier. Though it's very well balanced especially with a 32" blade. The balance point is right about at the halfway point of the metal blade holder that sticks out of the emitter; about 2 inches above the tsuba. I can hold it right below the tsuba and it's very comfortable, and from there I can whip around fairly well even with my very rookie spinning skills.

The soundboard and RGBA are quite fun to play with. I wanted at least one RGBA and soundboard to play with different fonts and colors, along with a FoC option. I know it's not as bright as the 12W+ options, but even the 3W+ single colors are still pretty darn bright. It's also really fun to have the crystal change colors as well. The crystal has its own wiring and own LEDs which shine on the underside of the crystal. The wires for the main LEDs go in and up through the 3 rods of the crystal chamber to the LED unit above.

Overall, I'm extremely pleased with this saber; it's just gorgeous. The photos I took below of a bunch of the different colors are purposefully underexposed by quite a bit. Trust me, this saber is not as dim as the photos might portray it to be. I also added a touch of flash so the rest of the saber could be seen, which also affects the blade brightness a little in the photos. I wanted to try and reduce as much of the white core you get in the photos as possible so the color would be solid throughout the blade (still couldn't get rid of all of it). I also tried to get the colors in the photos to show as close as possible to what they look like in person, which I think I accomplished.

If anyone is on the fence about getting an RGBA or crystal reveal, it's totally worth it. Especially since Saberforge now makes the CRs duel worthy.

Arctic Blue (0,255,255,0) (R,G,B,A)

Green/Lime Green (0,255,0,150) (The crystal is definitely a different shade than the blade; a lot more amber showing in the crystal)

Blood Orange (255,0,0,255)

Purple (140,0,255,0) (I think it looks a little more indigo in person; I've since increased the red a little)

Red (255,0,0,0)

Amber (0,0,0,255)

Deep Blue (0,0,255,0)

Congratulations jml5308, Awesome Saber Review, writeup and images with the first of its kind to be shared. Interesting setup of the two mini-tactiles for Activation and Auxiliary. How do you find the switch plate (low profile guard around it) and does a covertech come standard with it? Thank you.

Daaaaammmnnn that is a sweet lookin saber! Congrats & Enjoy!

OvrcAHst wrote:
I don't find the switch plate too intrusive. It's generally not in the way of my grip at all. It also provides pretty good protection from accidentally hitting a button even if your hand does end up gripping over the top of it.

Though, if you have large thumbs or fairly long nails, it could be a little awkward to try and get to that activation button because the raised section at the top makes it a little difficult to come straight down on it.

And yes, a covertech is standard. Looking back at my photos I guess the covertech knob never made it into any of them. I will add one showing it. It is way at the bottom right above the pommel.

What a way to introduce an awesome new saber! Great review, and a beautiful saber.

Congratulations Sir!

There are some hilts that just look good with the RGBA option. This one is definitely one of them! Great job on the review and that is an awesome saber! Thank you for the pics and details. \

Sounds like it is a bit heavier than otherwise would have been expected. Also, I wonder if they did the 2 activation switches that way for the lack of a location to drill another hole maybe?

Congrats on the saber, man. That is a mean-looking one. I was thinking of getting one because the tsuba on this might be easier on my knuckles than the one on my Katana (The wings on the tsuba's phoenix design are sharp and I have nicked myself a few times). Don't get me wrong, I love my Katana, but lately I've been having some electronic/physical problems with it and I will be sending it into the shop for repairs, so, I've been tempted to get this as a backup saber via the ETSY site in case my other one doesn't get sent back soon. But, I have some measurement questions for you: what's the estimated diameter of the tsuba and what is the length of the body from the base of the pommel to the base of the tsuba? The info would be much appreciated.

Thanks.

Epic looking saber, bro. Are the blade colors in the pictures what they look like in real life?

KiakahiSonic7 wrote: 61.03mm (2.4028") 275mm (10.8267")

Those photos are gorgeous! Phenomenal job! Congrats on your hilt!

OvrcAHst wrote:
These are accurate.


Eddlyss64 wrote:
Yes, I would say they're pretty darn close; hard to get them exact. I used a DSLR, underexposed a lot to try and remove as much "blown out" white core as possible, and used a smidgen of flash so that you could see the hilt (otherwise it's totally dark and all you see is the blade, crystal, wall glow, and a silhouette of the hilt). I then held the ignited saber next to my computer with Lightroom and tried to adjust the color in the photo to match the blade.

It didn't take a lot of adjusting, some a little more than others. The arctic blue definitely looked a lot darker in the original photo, the blood orange a bit more red, and the purple a lot more indigo.

The exposure and flash make the saber look a lot dimmer in the photos though; I was aiming to show color accuracy rather than total brightness.


Borommakot wrote:
Thanks!

Eddlyss64 wrote:
jml5308 wrote:
The photos are wonderful, jml5308!
I am sure without a proper skill in wielding a camera, one could not take a balanced composition which could show both the hilt and the colours properly like in your pictures! My pictures, for example, are usually either "washed out" or grainy
Congrats on your Ares!

Blood Orange on that just looks fantastic.

Congrats.

Congratz, the Ares is one mean looking saber!

By the way, I noticed there is no recharge port?

Execute66 wrote:
Definitely a recharge port. The new Saberforge kill key is in a few of the photos and you can see the port on some of the close-ups of the lit up crystal photos.