All-New Bluetooth Capability

Along with the PRO, the Theragun Elite is the first handheld massager with Bluetooth. The built in bluetooth compatibility works with the Theragun app to allow you to not only track the pressure you apply, which is an amazing breakthrough, but you can also adjust your massager's speed using your smart phone.

 

In addition, there are also guided sessions for specific body areas, plus specific routines such as a nightly sleep preparation that is really useful for bedtime relaxation. Furthermore, the app allows you to track and store your session information.

 

The fact that the app stores the sessions length and frequency by data and time, means you now have access to your recovery data and analytics, helping you spot trends in your performance and recovery, to help you optimize your performance and use.

 

In addition, once you pair the Theragun Elite to your smart phone, you can also adjust the speed in any increment ranging from 1750-2400, via the app. So in reality, the speed level can be customized far beyond 5 speeds, even!

 

Is the Theragun Elite Powerful Enough?

As mentioned, the Theragun Elite is supposed to be the stepped down version of the PRO. For example, the Elite is advertised as only putting out 40lbs of force, compared to the 60 lbs of force generated by its big brother Theragun PRO. However, when testing the Elite, you will discover that 40 lbs of torque still provides a considerable amount of force. Furthermore, although it isn't as powerful as the top of the line PRO, it does offer the same motion of 2,400 percussions per minute, so your muscles will get plenty of attention.

 

In addition, the Elite offers five speed variable options, in case you need to dial back the power. This is great in case you want to treat very sore areas with caution.

 

 

Most of all, we believe power is a key attribute of evaluating a massage gun's value, since if a massager isn't powerful enough for your sore muscles, you won't be completely satisfied. So with that in mind, let's poll the rest of the team here, rather than just going off of my opinion, so you get a better sense of the Theragun Elite's power rating.

 

This rating will help you get a better understanding of the power you can expect from this massage gun.

 

Theragun Elite Power Rating

In conclusion, the graph above shows that the Theragun Elite did pretty well with our testers, ultimately earning it an average rating of 8 when used at the top level 5 setting.

 

I personally rated the Theragun a 8 for power at level 2. It isn't as powerful as the PRO, but it still gets your knots out quickly. While I did find myself applying a little bit more manual pressure than I did with the PRO, for the pricepoint, the Elite is still very powerful and provides a lot of value.

How does the Theragun Elite feel on your Back?

 

Rather than just describing the power capability of the Theragun Elite to you, we also wanted to give you a brief description of the feeling it provides when applied to different body areas. The Theragun Elite weighs slightly above 2 lbs, making it extremely easy to treat all areas of your body with very little strain.

 

Back: Firstly, I liked how the triangular design allows you to reach your own traps pretty easy, but as expected with any handheld massager, you may need a partner to reach 100% of your back. The thumb and dampener felt the best on my back.

Legs: The Elite is strong enough to handle all of the larger leg muscles, and you can self-treat pretty easily. The cone attachment was great for knots in my quads, while the dampener, ball and thumb felt better on my calves, hamstrings and glutes.

Front Shoulders, Forearms: The dampener and wedge attachments worked great on these areas, as I was able to treat slightly built muscle areas without irritating them.

Back pain? Check out our top picks for relieving back pain.

 

Accessory Options

The Theragun Elite includes a premium carrying case. While many other handheld massage guns require you to buy the case separately, Theragun doesn't skimp there.

 

In addition, the Theragun Elite comes with one built-in lithium ion battery (more on that below in the Battery Power section), a standalone charger and five attachment heads. The attachment heads include a standard ball, a dampener, a wedge, a cone, and a thumb attachment. As I mentioned earlier in this review, the dampener is perfect for treating less developed areas on the body and in a way, serves as a "step-down" for the power on this device.

 

• Standard smaller round ball: This attachment felt great on my glutes and quads, and wasn't as intrusive as the cone or thumb tip.
• Cone and Thumb tips: These simulate a therapist's thumb. These tips allows you to get into the muscles deeper and really helped target some trigger points that needed treatment. These tips are good in doses -- they are painfully good!
• Dampener and Wedge tips: These were great for treating thinner muscle areas and when testing on less developed people around the office. They are less intense than the other attachments, which is good when needed.

 

Battery Life

The Theragun Elite allows you to use a wireless charger for easier and faster charging. As mentioned, it comes with 1 built in battery with a 120 minute battery life. Due to its power, you only need to use it for 5-10 minutes each session, without really needing more, so the battery life won't be an issue for most users.

 

Most importantly, the Elite is fully rechargeable and comes with a AC charger for countless sessions.

 

If you’re convinced the Theragun is the right massager for you, the pricing information for the massager is below.