Percussion Massagers vs Vibration Massagers
A percussion massager hammers down on your body and goes deep into your muscle tissue. It mimics the massage you get from a professional deep-tissue massage therapist.
A vibration massager doesn't go deep into your muscle tissue unless you have very little muscle density. They tend to be very cheap devices usually costing less than $50.
A vibration massage may be less satisfying to an athlete than a percussion massage.
A percussion massage is great for enhancing muscle strength and range of motion, accelerating muscle recovery, and improving overall muscle ability.
Both percussion and vibration massages can be effective at preventing delayed-onset muscle soreness.
Hypervolt – a little bit of both
The Hypervolt is marketed as a percussion massager and not as a vibration massager.
There are 3 speed settings on the Hypervolt: the lowest speed setting feels like a percussion massage; the medium speed setting feels like a combination of both percussion and vibration; and the highest speed setting feels like a vibration massage.
Some people complain the highest setting on the Hypervolt make them itch.
In comparison, the Theragun feels like a percussion massage at all settings. This is because it has a longer stroke length (16mm) compared to Hypervolt (13mm).
Hypervolt vs Hypervolt Plus
The main difference between the Hypervolt and the newer Hypervolt Plus is a stronger motor. The original Hypervolt uses a 60 watt motor and the Hypervolt Plus uses a 90 watt motor.
The more powerful motor allows you to apply more pressure before the motor stalls under too much load.
At the highest setting on the Hypervolt Plus it still feels more like a vibration than a percussion if you apply very little pressure. It starts to feel more percussive at the highest setting when you apply enough pressure.
Like the original Hypervolt, the Hypervolt Plus is still the quietest percussive massager on the market. You would not wake up a baby at the lowest setting and at the highest setting you can still have a conversation.
The original Hypervolt weighs 2.5 lbs while the Hypervolt Plus weighs 3 lbs.
The Hypervolt Plus uses the same battery as the original Hypervolt but because of the bigger motor, it last for up to just over 2 hours while the same battery on the original Hypervolt can last up to 3 hours.
Like the original, the Hypervolt Plus comes with 5 attachments.
Pros
- Quiet
- 3 speed settings
- Good looking design
- Cheaper than Theragun
- Comes with 5 attacments
- Good battery life
Cons
- Carrying case not included
- Not for people with thick muscles
- Not as deep as the Theragun
Conclusion:
For $100 more than the original Hypervolt you get a more powerful motor but battery life is reduced by about an hour. Also, the massage is not as deep as the Theragun. At high speeds, the massage is more vibration than percussion.
Is this a worthy upgrade from the orginal Hypervolt?
Nope.
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