Sauna therapy offers numerous health benefits, and portable sauna solutions like SaunaBox and Nurecover allow you to enjoy this therapeutic practice at home. But not all portable saunas are equal. In this SaunaBox vs Nurecover comparison, we’ll evaluate their features, design, performance, and value to help you choose the right one for an exceptional sauna experience.

Overview

Both the SaunaBox and Nurecover Tropic come with the essentials for an at-home sauna – a sauna tent, steam generator, and some basic accessories. But there are some key differences in what’s included.

With the SaunaBox, you get a pretty full-featured package. It has a fiberglass tent frame and insulated outer cover to really lock in the heat. The oversized floor mat does a nice job catching any sweat. And little extras like a chair, hand towel, and carry case are thrown in too. They also  back it with a 2-year warranty as well.

The Nurecover comes with essentially the same items, but all of them are a slightly scaled down version from the SaunaBox, both in terms of quality and actual size. And the chair they provide is laughably tiny – might as well sit on the floor. The sweat mat is also really small, so plan on bringing some additional towels to your sauna sessions. While the Nurecover does come in a bit cheaper, it also only has a 1-year warranty so for peace-of-mind alone, I think the additional price of the SaunaBox with a 2-year warranty gives it the immediate edge.

So to summarize, the SaunaBox feels more premium and thought-out for the full sauna experience. But the Nurecover gets you the core sauna setup for less. Neither is necessarily better, it just depends what you prioritize and your budget. 

What’s Included + Price

Design and Construction Quality

When it comes to the design and overall build, there are some notable differences between these two portable saunas.

The SaunaBox utilizes better materials and sturdier construction. The insulation between the inner and outer tent layers is significantly thicker compared to the Nurecover. We’re talking a solid amount of batting versus the Nurecover being basically paper-thin in this area.

The frame is another big factor. SaunaBox uses solid fiberglass reinforced poles, including extra supportive pieces across the middle and top. The Nurecover just has basic PVC pipes for the frame with no extra reinforcements. This makes the SaunaBox feel much more sturdy and rigid when set up.

Now the size is an interesting one. The Nurecover’s website lists the dimensions as being around 6’1″ tall. But in reality, it measured closer to 5’10”. So they’re overselling the interior height there. The SaunaBox, on the other hand, appeared to be spot-on with its 6’2″ listed height and had ample headroom.

As far as the overall footprint sizing, both units employ a similar square area of around 35″ x 35″. But the Nurecover’s advertised dimensions make it seem much larger than it actually is.

So when it comes to materials, sturdiness of the frame, accuracy on sizing, and overall build quality, the SaunaBox seems to have a clear edge over the Nurecover’s somewhat misleading specs and flimsier construction.

Non-Toxic Materials

When it comes to portable home saunas, overlooking product safety and the materials used would be a costly mistake. While some cheap, unbranded options from Amazon might cut corners, both SaunaBox and Nurecover make non-toxic construction a top priority. However, SaunaBox takes it a step further by meeting more rigorous certifications and compliance standards.

Their saunas are certified BPA-free, microplastics-free, ETL listed for product safety, RoHS compliant for restricting hazardous substances, and even REACH compliant for regulating chemicals. Nurecover’s tents are also BPA and microplastics-free, but don’t appear to meet the same extensive set of tests and guidelines.

Much like the superior insulation, sturdy frame, and overall higher-quality construction, SaunaBox again raises the bar when it comes to implementing and verifying safe, non-toxic materials across the board. While both brands are a safer choice than questionable third-party sellers, SaunaBox clearly goes above and beyond to ensure you can sweat with confidence, free from potentially concerning chemicals or hazards when their sauna is in use. It’s another advantage for those prioritizing a meticulously designed product.

Performance and Heat Distribution

At the end of the day, what really matters is how well these portable saunas actually work in terms of heating up and maintaining high temperatures. And in this area, there was a pretty stark difference that I experienced firsthand.

I put both units through a head-to-head testing over a 30-minute period. With the Nurecover, even after that extended heating time, the maximum temperature only reached around 104°F (40°C). Not super impressive at all.

On the flip side, the SaunaBox had no trouble ramping up much higher. After the same 30-minute period, interior temps were clocking in at a robust 122-123°F (50°C) range. That’s a full 20 degrees hotter!

The big culprit for the Nurecover seems to be that thin, lacking insulation in the tent walls and ceiling. All that heat can easily escape. But the SaunaBox’s thicker insulation does a much better job containing all the heat.

So in terms of actually achieving and maintaining the high temperatures you want from a sauna, the SaunaBox simply outperformed. The Nurecover struggled to even approach typical sauna-level heating.

For some, maybe those lower temps are sufficient. But if you want a more authentic, intense sauna session at home, the SaunaBox is clearly the way to go based on my testing. The superior insulation makes a huge difference.

Test Group

To get an outside perspective, I conducted a test with some of my mates to see which sauna they would prefer. I had 4 different friends come over, with each person testing the two saunas back-to-back for 20 minute sessions.

The results were quite telling – 3 out of the 4 friends overwhelmingly preferred the SaunaBox for its superior heat and more intense sauna experience. The one friend who liked the Nurecover better was someone who didn’t typically use saunas. For them, the Nurecover’s lower temperatures were enough and felt more comfortable compared to the SaunaBox’s higher heat.

But for my other sauna-loving friends, the SaunaBox was the clear winner. They appreciated being able to really crank up the heat to proper sauna levels and felt it provided a much more authentic, rejuvenating sweat session compared to the Nurecover’s limitations. The insulation difference really paid off in the SaunaBox’s favor based on their experiences.

Side note: all of my friends brought the SaunaBox chair over to the Nurecover, to avoid sitting in the toddler sized chair that the Nurecover comes with.

And the winner is….

If you read the above then it should be pretty obvious by now which sauna gets our vote. When you break it all down, the SaunaBox proved itself as the superior system in pretty much every way.

Sure, the Nurecover comes in a bit cheaper pricewise (and at the moment is giving a free ice bath with purchase). But you’re ultimately getting what you pay for – a lower quality product that fails to deliver a true intense sauna experience. Between the flimsier construction, lack of insulation, and struggles to even approach sauna-level temps, it just doesn’t stack up.

The SaunaBox, on the other hand, is the full package. The sturdy design, premium accessories like the oversized sweat mat, and most importantly – the ability to crank the heat well past 120°F. That’s what separates an “ok” sauna from the legitimately rejuvenating experience you’re after.

In my own testing, the temperature difference was night and day. And my sauna-loving friends agreed – the SaunaBox provided the type of deep, cleansing sweat that left you feeling incredibly refreshed after each session. The Nurecover simply couldn’t compete on heat intensity.

At the end of the day, you get what you pay for. Is the SaunaBox a bit more expensive? Yeah, but not dramatically so. And that little extra cost nets you a vastly superior portable sauna setup without any real compromises.

So for an at-home sauna you can really rely on, the SaunaBox is worth the investment over the Nurecover. It’s the definitive winner for quality, performance, and an authentic sauna experience.

Check out SaunaBox

Check out Nurecover

Want to learn more about the difference between traditional saunas vs infrared saunas? Check out our breakdown here