SaunaBox SmartSteam Pro Full Review: Best Portable Sauna?

Looking for a cheap home sauna? Most cost thousands of dollars, which is unrealistic for most people. The SaunaBox SmartSteam Pro solves that problem.

It’s portable, easy to set up, and much cheaper than traditional home saunas. In this review I’ll cover the pros and cons, who it’s best for, who should avoid it, and my personal experience using it.

In the Box

Everything you need comes in the package.

• Support frame
• Sauna cover
• Chair
• Sweat mat
• Microfiber window wipe
• Remote control
• Heater
• Phone holder
• Towel hook
• Carrying bags

The only thing you need to buy separately is distilled water for the steamer.

Price and Where to Buy

I paid $360 after taxes with free shipping. I bought mine during a Black Friday promotion, which included a free Eucalyptus Essential Oil gift (normally $18 on its own). You can purchase the sauna on saunabox.com or Amazon.

One thing worth knowing about biohacking companies like SaunaBox is that they tend to run sales frequently… Usually multiple times per month throughout the year. If it isn’t on sale right now, there’s a good chance it will be within a week or two.

Pros

This portable sauna has a lot going for it, especially at this price point.

Cons

The biggest annoyance is the water tank. It needs to be refilled with distilled water before every session.

At first I assumed the tank would last two or three sessions, but that wasn’t the case. During my second session the steam output dropped because I hadn’t refilled it.

Another downside is the amount of moisture. Since the SaunaBox SmartSteam Pro uses steam, you get completely soaked. After a 20-minute session on level seven I’m usually drenched. It honestly looks like I just stepped out of a swimming pool.

All that moisture can be a little annoying to deal with but that’s exactly what a ‘steam’ sauna is. If you don’t like that then a steam sauna may not be for you.

Setup

Putting the SaunaBox SmartSteam Pro together took me about 35 minutes. Inside the box there’s a QR code that links to a YouTube video showing the entire setup process. The instructions are clear and easy to follow.

Most of the time goes into connecting the support poles that form the frame. Once the frame is built, the fabric cover slides over the structure. After that you place the sweat mat on the floor and set the chair inside.

Next comes the steamer connection. A short hose connects the steamer to the outside port on the bottom right side of the sauna. Then a longer hose connects to the inside port and attaches to the steam output box.

Place the steam output box under the chair toward the back so you don’t accidentally touch it during a session.

Once everything is connected, fill the steamer with distilled water, plug it into a standard outlet, choose one of the seven heat levels, and wait for it to warm up (usually 15-20 minutes).

Size and Placement

The SaunaBox SmartSteam Pro is 6’2″ high and 35 inches (2’11”) from the back center to either side. Its small footprint makes it ideal for small spaces.

For placement, it looks best tucked near a corner of a room. This keeps it out of the way, gives the structure something to sit naturally against, and makes the space feel less cluttered when it’s set up.

Comfort

My first couple of sessions felt a little claustrophobic, but that feeling went away pretty quickly. I’m 5’10, so when I removed the chair I was able to stand inside the sauna and do some light static stretches like standing quad and glute stretches.

One thing you’ll notice right away is the size of the chair. It’s small. Honestly it looks like a kid’s chair. That size makes sense because the sauna interior isn’t very wide, and a bigger chair simply wouldn’t fit. To fully test the space I put the chair back in, and after a few sessions I found that sitting with one leg on each side of the chair is much more comfortable than keeping both legs together in front. (picture)

Since I’m fairly skinny I can sit comfortably enough, but wider or larger people might find it cramped. That said, the interior walls don’t get hot to the touch, so it’s completely fine if your back or limbs brush against the sides.

A carrying bag is included for the chair, although the material feels cheap compared to the rest of the setup like the cover and frame.

Heating

Heat is obviously the most important part of any sauna. The steamer in the SaunaBox SmartSteam Pro reaches around 120 degrees in about 20 minutes.

The website says it can reach 140 degrees in that time, but my unit hasn’t hit that temperature yet. After 20 minutes of heating, the lower part of the sauna feels closer to 90 degrees.

Letting it run longer (around 25 minutes) before getting in helps. After about 40 to 50 minutes the lower section feels closer to 120 degrees while the top is closer to 140 degrees.

Because heat rises, the upper half of the sauna tends to feel 10 to 20 degrees hotter than the bottom.

At the start of a session my legs feel cold for the first five minutes. Once the steam begins building, the temperature rises quickly. From minute five until the end of my 20-minute sessions is when the real heat kicks in. The final five to seven minutes are usually the most intense.

Running Costs

The steamer draws only 0.703 kWh, which works out to roughly 5 cents for every 10 minutes it’s running. A 20-minute session costs about a dime in electricity. So, 4 sessions per week for a month would cost less than $5 dollars in electricity.

It plugs into any standard 110–120V outlet, so there’s no special wiring or dedicated circuit needed. Any regular wall outlet in your home will work.

Door and Window Design

Opening and closing the sauna is done with a zipper. Fortunately, this part of the SaunaBox SmartSteam Pro feels well built.

Bright neon yellow makes the zipper easy to see from both inside and outside the sauna. It also feels strong and smooth when opening and closing.

One small issue happens when the zipper slides behind a support pole while the door is open. Because the zipper has pulls on both sides, you need to move the inside pull past the pole before closing the door. If not, you might end up pulling too hard and damaging it. Video showing this

A small plastic window attaches with Velcro on the door. In theory you could use it to see outside, but in reality it fogs up almost instantly. I tried positioning the sauna toward a TV, but the window became too foggy to see anything.

Light still comes through the window though, and you can open it if it gets too hot inside.

Remote Control

A remote control comes with the SaunaBox SmartSteam Pro, but I rarely use it.

The remote only works from very close range. At that distance it’s easier to just press the buttons on the steamer.

SaunaBox recommends unplugging the steamer when it’s not in use, but since you need to plug it in before every session anyway, the remote doesn’t save much effort.

Between plugging in the steamer and refilling the water tank, pressing two buttons on the machine itself is usually faster.

Noise Level

The steamer produces a light humming sound during operation. It’s quiet enough that it genuinely wouldn’t bother most people. If you use your sauna sessions to decompress or clear your head, the noise level isn’t an issue.

Maintenance

Maintenance is simple. After each session I wipe the inside walls and ceiling using the included microfiber towel. That helps prevent mold and smells.

Every three or four sessions I empty and clean the steam output box, wash the sweat mat in the washing machine, and wipe the floor underneath it.

Leaving the sauna door open after each session lets the steam escape and helps it dry faster.

Durability and Warranty

I’ve owned my SaunaBox SmartSteam Pro for three months now and nothing has degraded. The fabric, zipper, frame, and steamer all feel the same as they did out of the box.

Every order comes with a one-year warranty. It’s worth noting that the warranty a company offers is usually a reasonable signal of how long they expect the product to last under regular use. Hopefully it holds up well beyond that first year, but so far there are no signs of concern.

Conclusion

In my opinion, the SaunaBox SmartSteam Pro is worth every bit of the $360 I paid for it.

You get a portable sauna that’s easy to set up, simple to use, BPA and microplastics free, and doesn’t take up much space. Maintenance is minimal, running costs are negligible, and the heating performance is great for the price.

It’s not perfect. The chair is small, the remote isn’t very useful, and you’ll need to refill the water tank every session. Still, compared to most saunas in this price range, it performs well and gets the job done.

Any questions or concerns before buying? Let me know in the comments below!

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