I think Mars has really been stepping up their offerings, there is just a lack of motivation from growers that experienced the Blurple craze. It left a lot of us with a bad taste in our mouths, while it is reassuring that data is testing well; manipulation in the past of data has left us wary.
The best thing mars could do is provide true side by side grows with hard data, to help influence their rebranding effort.
An entire look at a Mars hydro run vs say a Timber or HLG run from clone would be enlightening; I believe would be revealing that there are budget options with decent efficiency and coverage as simple as an Amazon cart away.
I have not tested it, but I'd be willing to bet that three sp-250 lights would stand up to a new 1000w DE Gavita and outperform. I'd also wager three sp-250 (total 750w) would out perform any prebuilt 600-660w fixture in the $800-$1400 range.
But I'm not willing to spend the money until I can see and trace the results.