RENPHO R3 Mini Review 2023

Q: Where can I find the User Manual for the RENPHO R3 Mini?

RENPHO R3 Mini comes with a user manual as standard. Alternatively, you can access the manual online here.

RENPHO is a fairly young company in the field of fitness equipment and technical gadgets. The brand’s product range also includes the RENPHO R3 – a mini massage gun. I tested it extensively myself and evaluated it in terms of functionality, usability, and quality, among other things. The results are presented in the following test report.

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Scope of Delivery and Attachments

The RENPHO R3 Mini is delivered in a plain white cardboard box. On the front of the box is a picture of the massage gun. On the back, in turn, are technical details about the device.

In the box, in turn, there is a carrying bag. This contains the following:

1 x RENPHO R3 Mini
1 x Ball Attachment
1 x Flat Head Attachment
1 x Bullet Attachment
1 x Fork Attachment
1 x Cushion Attachment
1 x Carry Bag
1 x USB-C Cable
1 x Manual

Accordingly, the massage gun comes with everything you need to use it. Only a power supply unit is not included. Accordingly, a charger from the cell phone or similar must be used for charging. Otherwise, the R3 Mini can “only” be charged via powerbank, on the laptop, etc.

I will now introduce you to the included attachments:

The ball attachment is a classic, all-purpose attachment. It can be used for almost any medium to large muscle group. Due to its shape, it is suitable for the quads or the gluteal muscle, for example.

The flat head attachment is also versatile and can be used for almost all muscles. It has a similar size to the ball attachment. Due to its shape, I can recommend it especially for massaging the chest muscles.

The bullet or cone attachment has a fairly small surface area. Therefore, this attachment transfers a lot of force to a small point. For this reason, it is suitable for trigger point and deep tissue massage. For example, the cone attachment is very good for massaging the undersides of the feet.

The fork attachment is U-shaped. For this reason, it is used wherever parts of the body are to be left out. Accordingly, it can be applied along the spine or Achilles tendon. The attachment can also be used to apply a mass along the neck or shoulders.

The air cushion attachment absorbs the shocks of the RENPHO R3 Mini. The massage feels correspondingly less deep and powerful. The air cushion attachment is therefore used to massage sensitive parts of the body.

The attachments of the RENPHO R3 Mini are mostly made of plastic. Only the head of the ball attachment is made of a type of foam. The attachments can be changed with the help of the massage gun’s plug-in system. Accordingly, they can be removed with a rotating pulling motion and also put back on the massager with a rotating motion.

Functionality

The RENPHO R3 can be used in many ways due to the variety of attachments included. This variety of functions is supported by the five selectable power levels:

1st Level: 1,800 rpm – muscle activation
2nd Level: 2,100 rpm – fascia massage
3rd Level: 2,500 rpm – lactic acid reduction
4th Level: 2,900 rpm – trigger point massage
5th Level: 3,200 rpm – muscle tension

As you can see from the shocks per minute, the R3 Mini can be used for both relaxed muscle activation and intensive treatment of muscle tension. This impression provided by the data was also confirmed by my practical test:

The massage on the lowest level is very light and pleasant. You don’t feel it deep in the muscle, but really only superficially. And I could actually notice that the muscle is better supplied with blood.

On the higher levels, however, the massage felt nice and intense. I preferred to use the third level for lactic acid removal. I could feel the muscle soreness very well during this. I also had the feeling that the muscle regenerated better afterward.

The stroke length of the mini massage gun has also provided for the deep massage. The massage head of the R3 Mini from RENPHO travels approx. 10 mm per stroke. This is only conditionally enough to reach the deep tissue.

Usability and Handling

A special feature of mini massage guns is their pleasant handling. Accordingly, I placed particular emphasis on this aspect in my test. Here, the RENPHO R3 Mini performed very well. On the one hand, it is quite handy with the dimensions I determined of approx. 19 x 15.1 x 5.7 cm at the widest points.

This also makes it very easy to transport in the included carrying bag.

On the other hand, the weight of 1.53 lbs (694 g) without attachment or 1.59 lbs (719 g) with ball attachment is quite low compared to normal massage guns. For a mini-massage gun, the weight is rather in the upper range. For this reason, there is also a point deduction in the category.

Despite this, the R3 Mini lies very well in hand and does not become heavy even during prolonged use. The handle also contributes to this. It is coated with rubber, which is why it does not slip out of hand so easily.

The operation of the gun is also very easy. It has only one button. When this is held, the device switches on. Pressing the button switches through the five power levels. The current level is indicated by an LED. To switch off, the button is held again.

Power Supply

The RENPHO R3 Mini has a battery with a capacity of 2,500 mAh. According to the user manual, one charge is enough to operate the massage gun for 80 minutes. My test roughly confirmed this – at least on the higher levels. If I used the massage gun at low power, the battery lasted quite a while longer.

Nevertheless, the battery life could be a bit longer. Likewise, the battery cannot be replaced, which is, unfortunately, the case with most massage guns. For this reason, there is “only” one point deduction for the two points of criticism.

The battery is simply charged via a USB-C port. You can easily charge the massage gun on a PC, laptop, or power bank with the included cable. However, an external power supply is needed for charging via a wall socket since none is included. For this purpose, you can simply use the power adapter of a cell phone.

A light at the bottom of the handle indicates the battery level. It consists of four small lamps. Depending on how many of them light up, the battery status is displayed as follows:

100 % to 75 % battery charge: all four lamps light up.
< 75 % to 50 % battery charge: three lamps light up.
< 50 % to 25 % battery charge: two lamps light up.
< 25% to 10% battery charge: one lamp up.
< 10 % battery charge: one lamp flashes.

Noise

I measured the volume from a distance of 40 cm in my practical test as follows:

1st Level: ~ 49 dB to 50 dB – similar to birds chirping
2nd Level: ~ 50.5 dB to 51 dB – similar to heavy rain
3rd Level: ~ 51.5 dB to 52 dB – similar to a radio or TV
4th Level: ~ 52.5 dB to 54 dB – similar to a radio or TV
5th Level: ~ 53 dB to 54.5 dB – similar to a conversation

Accordingly, the RENPHO R3 Mini is very quiet. I was even very surprised that despite the difference in performance, the volume between the first and fifth levels is not too high. Nothing stands in the way of a quiet, relaxing massage with the R3 Mini.

Material and Quality

At first glance, and also when I held the massage gun in my hand for the first time, it looked very high-quality to me. The pistol makes quite a solid impression. In addition, the materials were used intelligently.

The workmanship of the mini massage gun is also extremely clean. So I could not see any crooked lines or other material defects. Here, the massage gun belongs to the upper class. I also find the large ventilation inlets on the top very good. These prevent the motor from heating up too much inside.

In addition, I could notice an unpleasant smell at the beginning. This indicates rather inferior material. After some time, however, it has fortunately settled to some extent. Nevertheless, the smell left me with an uneasy feeling. There are corresponding deductions from me in this category.

Price Performance

I paid €99.99 for the RENPHO R3 Mini myself. At the time of this review, the price was around $99.99, but it was reduced to $69.99 with the help of a coupon. Accordingly, the massage gun is not particularly cheap, but it is still one of the cheapest mini massage guns in my massage gun reviews.

Price-wise, I can, therefore, rather recommend the pistol. After all, you have to spend some money to get a certain quality. The cheapest models are often cheap but sometimes even dangerous Asian imports.

Tip: The Bob And Brad C2 costs almost exactly the same as the RENPHO R3 Mini. The two massage guns also appear to be virtually identical in other respects. So it may be worth comparing the prices of the two devices and opting for the cheaper one.

Conclusion – RENPHO R3 Mini Review

Summary

The RENPHO R3 Mini is a very good massage gun in the smallest format. It comes with a whole five attachments, making it very versatile. In addition, the gun has five different power levels that cover all important types of massage.

I also particularly liked the volume of the mini massage gun. This turns out very good compared to most other models. In addition, the R3 Mini has both very good handling and top quality.

The weaknesses of the RENPHO R3 Mini, on the other hand, are limited. The price is fair but could be a bit lower. Furthermore, the battery is not replaceable. However, this is the case with most massage guns. I also noticed the smell of the R3 was a bit unpleasant. After some time, however, this has settled.

All in all, I can recommend the RENPHO R3 Mini to anyone who is looking for a good mini massage gun with a few weaknesses at a fair price.