SubPack S2 review: portable mega-club experience, without the hearing loss

The vibrating back plate adds a physical dimension to music, games and VR in your home or office, but without the neighbour-ruining racket

Hearing music is one thing, but to really become enveloped by it, you need to feel the music too. Until recently that meant standing in front of an enormous speaker that pounded your body and ears with sound, the kind that makes your chest reverberate and your ears bleed. But what if you wanted that super-club experience at home? Meet the Subpac, a sub-like device you strap to your back to give you that body-rumbling feeling without deafening yourself or annoying your neighbours.

Pros: fun, immersive, discrete when strapped to a chair, adds something difficult to get without annoying everyone around you

Cons: expensive, difficult to wear about and about in today’s security climate, needs relatively large headphones to make the most of it