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Bob and Brad M7 Plus Mini massage gun review
Although I love my job, I have to admit that sitting at a laptop for eight hours a day takes a toll on my neck. My post-work yoga classes help a little, but my upper back is usually suffering by the end of the week.
Some of the best massage guns have unique features like heat and ice tools, and the Bob and Brad M7 Plus Mini is one of them. It comes with five attachments, one of which is a heat tool capable of reaching 107°F (42°C).
The M7 Plus Mini is a pretty powerful device, with a maximum amplitude of 9mm and a top RPM of 3,000. I tested this massage gun for three weeks on myself and my boyfriend, who is an avid runner and weightlifter.
While the M7 Plus Mini proved a little too powerful on some occasions, it could be the perfect tool for those with super tight muscles. Find out the full story in this Bob and Brad M7 Plus Mini massage gun review.
Bob and Brad M7 Plus Mini massage gun review: Cheat sheet
- What is it? A relatively affordable massage gun with a heat head
- Who is it for? Athletes, gym-goers and those with sore muscles
- What does it cost? $89 / £69, but it’s often on sale for $59-$69
- What do we like? It’s very powerful and the heat head is soothing
- What don’t we like? Even the lowest setting is a little too powerful
Bob and Brad M7 Plus Mini massage gun review: Specs
Price | $89 / £69 |
Dimensions | 5.3 x 3.35 x 1.9 inches |
Weight | 14 ounces |
Speed | 2,000 RPM – 3,000 RPM |
Amplitude | 9mm |
Battery | USB-C rechargeable, 1 hour on max speed |
Colors | Black |
Attachments | Heat/blue light head, Ball head, U-shaped head, Air Cushion head, Bullet head |
Bob and Brad M7 Plus Mini massage gun review: Price & availability
The Bob and Brad M7 Plus Mini massage gun is $89 from Amazon U.S. and £69 from Amazon U.K.
This $89/£69 price places it at the cheaper end of Bob and Brad’s line. At the other end of the spectrum is the $299 Bob and Brad D6 Pro Plus, which has a 16mm amplitude compared to the M7 Plus Mini’s 9mm. Alternatively, the cheapest massage gun from Bob and Brad is the $69 Q2 Max, which has a metal head and 7mm amplitude.
Seeing as the M7 Plus Mini is often on sale for around $59, I think if you can snag this product for that price, then it’s a fantastic deal. The M7 Plus Mini is powerful and versatile; I especially made use of the heated head on my stiff neck.
Bob and Brad M7 Plus Mini massage gun review: Design
Well, it almost goes without saying that the M7 Plus Mini is going to be lightweight — the clue is quite literally in the name.
Even so, this massage gun is markedly lighter than alternatives. The $299 D6 Pro Plus is a pretty hefty 44 ounces and the $69 Q2 Max is 15 ounces, which makes the M7 Plus Mini light, considering alternatives. The Hyperice Hypervolt Go 2 ($149) is 24 ounces, although it has much better battery life of 180 minutes compared to the M7 Mini Plus’s 60 minutes, so I guess that’s the tradeoff.
Thanks to its low weight of 14 ounces, the M7 Plus Mini is easy to handle and maneuver. I was able to massage my shoulders without needing to twist around uncomfortably. When I was using the massage gun on my boyfriend’s back, I was able to hold it up for long periods without tiring.
You turn the massage gun on with a small sunken button on the main cylinder of the gun itself. The button needs to be held down for two seconds to be turned on and off, which I found quite annoying. I’d rather it be turned on by a double press or a single press, and then turned off with a double press.
Unlike the super-cheap unbranded massage gun I’d been using before, cycling through the speed settings is circular, so it doesn’t turn off when you reach the highest speed. This means it’s easy to flit between settings depending on muscle soreness.
I’ll discuss the functionality of all the heads in the ‘Performance’ section below, but here’s a quick run down: Heat/blue light head, Ball head, U-shaped head, Air Cushion head, Bullet head. I mostly used the ball head for my shoulders and the heat head for the really sore muscles.
Bob and Brad M7 Plus Mini massage gun review: Performance
As the M7 Plus Mini’s slowest speed is 2,000 RPM, it’s still pretty intense even at its weakest. I found the M7 Plus Mini to be most comfortable when it was running out of battery.
Maybe I just have really sensitive muscles. The M7 Plus Mini goes up to 3,000 RPM, which is intense. This was too much for both my boyfriend and me, but could be good for runners or larger muscles, like the quads or biceps.
I found the air cushion head to be more tolerable at higher speeds, as it’s kind of like a bellow/ball combination. There wasn’t too much pressure on the surface as it’s made of a bouncy material.
Quite conveniently for me (but not for him), my boyfriend pulled a muscle in his shoulder about halfway through my testing period. This meant I could actually put the massage gun to work on tender muscles.
For this, I started with the heat head to warm up the area. Note: You have to charge the heat head separately from the massage gun itself. It has a USB-C port for charging.
After warming up the area with the heat head, I used the ball head over the sore area. I considered using the bullet head, but I thought it would be too painful, as it’s a concentrated surface area and therefore more intense.
This continued for about five days, and then I started using the bullet head on the sore area. My boyfriend reported that this was too intense on the muscle, even on the weakest setting and resorted to his old faithful: a tennis ball and a wall (where you put the ball against the sore muscle and stand against a wall, therefore releasing the tension).
The lowest power is 2,000 RPM, which is 250 RPM faster than the Theragun Mini’s weakest speed of 1,750 RPM. While it’s a good thing that the M7 Plus Mini is powerful, I think it should have a wider range.
Having a max RPM of 3,000 is fantastic for people who want to be pummelled by a massage gun, but I think it’s worth having a very weak setting for those a little more sore or frail than others.
The $399 Hyperice Hypervolt 2 Pro has a lowest speed of 1,700 and a max amplitude of 14mm, so this could be a better option for those requiring a softer speed for sore muscles. However, it’s incredibly expensive at over $300 pricier than the M7 Plus Mini.
While this isn’t relevant to performance in a fitness way, I’m just going to briefly mention the heat head/blue light head. Bob and Brad claim that the blue light attachment can be used for “skin whitening.”
Ethics aside, the M7 Plus Mini is a fitness-oriented product designed by physiotherapists, not a skincare-focused product designed by dermatologists. As a result, I’d be wary of using the blue light attachment for skincare.
Bob and Brad M7 Plus Mini massage gun review: Verdict
Whether the M7 Plus Mini is for you depends on, well, you. For me, I found the lowest speed to be a little too powerful on my traps and rhomboid major (the two places I suffer from aches due to hunching over my laptop for 40 hours a week).
However, when my boyfriend was uninjured, he found the weakest speed fine for ironing out muscle pain after weightlifting and running. My favorite attachment was the heat head, and I found myself using this more than any other head.
I think this is a very well-priced massage gun for its power, but if you’re particularly susceptible to painful muscles, I think a product with a larger speed range would be better. For that purpose, I’d recommend the Bob and Brad Q2 Max or the Theragun Mini. For most people, though, the M7 Plus Mini is a perfect first massage gun.
