Our Verdict
This high-end massage gun is a sleek, powerful machine with excellent app guidance that could offer elite athletes the edge.
For
- Elegant machine
- App easy to navigate
- Excellent routines and guidance
- Impressive power and battery life
- £170 cheaper than main rival
Against
- Expensive
- Overkill for amateur use
- Pressure alert light visible only from behind
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Top-of-the-range massage guns appear on the wish lists of anyone who takes sport seriously, even though the science is still inconclusive on their effectiveness and they cost a fortune. The Hypervolt 2 Pro is no exception in that last regard. It’s made by Hyperice – a California-based manufacturer of recovery technology – and is designed to deliver targeted pulses of pressure to prime your muscles for exercise, boost mobility, relieve tension and accelerate recovery.
It’s also Hyperice’s most powerful massage device ever, with five preset speeds controlled by a new digital dial. At £379, it’s £80 more than the brand’s next model down, yet a whopping £170 cheaper than the Theragun PRO, Hyperice’s chief rival in the massage gun game.
First Impressions
The Hypervolt 2 Pro is fundamentally a souped-up version of the Hypervolt Plus – and as the inclusion of “Pro” in its name indicates, this is a massage gun built for elite athletes. Hyperice founder Anthony Katz describes the Hypervolt 2 Pro as a high-end performance device for athletes who “are slightly bigger or have more dense muscle tissue”, compared with earlier iterations that are “made for everybody”.
Hyperice has cranked up the Hypervolt 2 Pro’s speed options from three to five, ranging from 1,700 to 2,700 percussions per minute (PPM). By comparison, the rival Theragun PRO maxes out at 2,400 PPM. It also includes an upgrade to a battery used in performance versions of electric cars, meaning more power and more battery life (three hours, up from 2.5 hours for the Hypervolt Plus).
It’s slightly lighter, at 1.18kg versus 1.36kg for the Plus, and its brushless high-torque 90W motor delivers improved noise reduction, although to the untrained ear it’s hard to tell. However, the most telling upgrade from the Hypervolt Plus is the addition of an infinity wheel – basically a digital dial – at the back of the device in place of the old push button to change speed settings.
Notable Features
While this digital dial looks smart and feels satisfying as you toggle through the five speed settings, it’s arguably less practical than the earlier models. Twisting the dial requires two-handed operation, whereas you could use one hand with the button, and Hypervolt’s patented light sensor that alerts the user if they’re applying too much pressure is visible only when looking at the back of the device. This makes it pretty redundant when massaging the upper body, back or shoulders.
Another change is the Hypervolt 2 Pro’s new pill-shaped handle. While I’m sure it was designed to be more ergonomic in the palm of the hand, I actually found it more awkward to hold than the symmetrical round handle of the Hypervolt Plus and original Hypervolt.
Despite these somewhat over-engineered upgrades, the Hypervolt 2 Pro is an elegant machine. It is sleeker, more robust, and with an all-black body, bar a silver band around the base of the handle and a small rectangular mechanism under the front of the gun. Sliding this mechanism forwards releases the device’s battery pack so you can quickly reload a new power unit when it starts to run out of juice.
Added Extras
The Hypervolt 2 Pro comes with five head attachments (fork, ball, cushion, flat and bullet), a universal plug adapter and compact carry case to keep all the accessories together.
Like earlier generations, it also connects via Bluetooth to the Hyperice App, which has a library of guided routines. These range from a three-minute training warm-up targeting the quads, calves and hamstrings to a “full body flush” that lasts 30 minutes.
Routines like the latter feel like overkill, given most gym-goers barely have time for a post-sweat shower, let alone a half-hour warm down. Nevertheless, I found it a comprehensive resource, easy to navigate for routines organised by muscle group, and it means you can easily track and log your sessions.
It also syncs with other apps, like Apple Health, Strava and Garmin, to monitor your daily movement and then recommend sessions based on your activity. Been chained to your desk all day? There’s a seven-minute “desk tension” routine for that. Can’t sleep? Try “night time relief”.
There’s even a three-minute drill with a PGA Tour fitness specialist that promises to “improve your swing”. The Bluetooth connection also enables automated speed settings that increase or decrease the tempo without you having to fiddle with the dial.
See related
- The Best Massage Guns For Any Budget
- Therabody Theragun Mini Review: Mini By Name But Mighty By Design
- Theragun Review: What Is Percussive Therapy And Does It Work?
Verdict
After a couple weeks of use it’s safe to say the Hypervolt 2 Pro is out of my league. My muscles are clearly far too supple for its top-end power, meaning I rarely left the comfort of its lowest setting, and found myself too impatient to choose anything other than the shortest routines in the app.
However, I can see the value of this elite-level recovery tool for those whose full-time job is on the sports field. If you’re striving for marginal gains and have the funds to invest in those small wins, the Hypervolt 2 Pro could well give you the edge over your competition.
Buy from Hyperice | £379
