[Kralik]

I recently acquired both a Likebook Mars and a Likebook Ares. The Ares is basically an upgraded Mars. Since information on the former is sparse, here are a few comparison points:

PRICE: The Ares is about $285 (AliExpress) while the Mars is $230 (Amazon). Whether the extra $55 is worth it depends on your use case. Buying from Amazon lets you add a 3-year protection plan for about $35, has Prime shipping, and has real customer service should you get a lemon.

HARDWARE: The obvious hardware improvement that the Ares has is the Wacom layer, pen, and note-taking abilities. In addition you get double the storage (32 GB instead of 16 GB), speakers, and a microphone. USB C connection is good for the future but could be a pro or con depending on what you have. The battery is slightly larger than the Mars but it's probably a wash. You LOSE the 3.5mm headphone jack. I was disappointed because I had read a review that stated it has one, but it does NOT. Fortunately, I only used it rarely and probably won't need it with the built-in speakers.

Some other observations:
--The screen is flush with the bezel! This makes it much easier to hit buttons at the edge of the screen. Supposedly it will also help with a more uniform light distribution, though I don't feel the Mars is lacking there so it's probably fine either way.
--Since I don't want to risk damaging my screen while writing, I applied the screen protector. I did not use the protector on the Mars, nor have I ever used a screen protector on eBook readers (always on phones though). The plus side is a nice feel, matte, and reduced glare. The downside is reduced text clarity. I would consider this a con against the Ares because the protector is necessary IMO.
--The SD card slot is a pop-out tray. Very nice.
--There is a red charging light in the upper-right corner inside the bezel. For various reasons I find such lights annoying, but it was easy enough to cover with a small square of electric tape (black tape on black bezel).
--There is a virtual home button at the bottom of the Ares bezel.

AESTHETICS: The Ares has a has a nice textured back with alternating lines/patterns. There was a lopsided sticker with some blahblah details that I removed, so all it says is "likebook" versus the Mars that has similar details printed directly on it. The Mars has a bit of a bulge in the back/center area, whereas the Ares is flat. I prefer the muted black bezel around the Mars versus the sharp black of the Ares. The Ares bezel looks the same as any other tablet.

The included case for the Mars is plasticky while the Ares has a leathery front with the words "READING & THINKING CHANGE THE WORLD" subtly imprinted on it. The back of the Ares case is soft, clear, and flexible. TPU I think? It has a spot for you to clip the pen. Overall I think the Ares case is more pleasant to handle. You can't really make out the textured back pattern on the Ares once the case is applied. One oddity is that the corners bulge out slightly and aren't quite square. The case for the Mars kinda snaps shut closed while the Ares does not.

WEIGHT/SIZE: Both models are practically the same in this regard. The Ares in its case weighs about 13 grams more than the Mars, not including the pen. The Ares lays ever so slightly flatter because it does not have the side bump on its case that the Mars does.

PERFORMANCE: I believe both units have the same processor. When I first started up the Ares, I was amazed at how much more peppy it felt than the Mars. However, to be objective I did a factory reset on the Mars and ran comparisons. They seemed identical. This tells me it's more of an issue with the extra apps I already had on the Mars. One tip I've found is to disable Google Services when I don't need access to the Play Store (I don't use Gmail or other Google things).

VERSUS ONYX: The Boox Nova Pro is a little more expensive on Amazon than the Ares and does not have speakers, a microphone, or an SD card slot. On the other hand, the Nova has a better processor and should be getting Android 9.0 soon versus Ares' promised Android 8.0.

SUMMARY tl;dr:
Ares Pros:
--WACOM layer and pen (in theory the biggest reason to upgrade)
--Required screen protector decreases ambient glare
--Flush bezel and screen
--Has microphone and speakers
--Hidden SD card
--Back texture
--Better case

Ares Cons:
--No 3.5mm headphone jack
--Required screen protector slightly degrades text clarity
--Price, of course!

Neutral:
--USB C
--Charging light

I hope you enjoyed reading this. Let me know if you have any followup questions and I may be able to check. Thanks!