Is the SaunaBox Solara Full Spectrum Sauna Worth $3,000?

Everyone’s been asking about the new SaunaBox Solara Full Spectrum Sauna, so we decided to dig in before it even ships. It’s popping up all over Facebook and YouTube, but no one’s actually had one yet. I’ve tested over 40 saunas in the last seven years, and I can usually tell a lot just from the specs, build quality, and manufacturer details.

From what we’re seeing, the Solara looks like it’s built by Golden Designs — basically a Costco-style sauna with a few upgrades. It’s marketed as “full spectrum,” but really it’s a far infrared unit with a small red light therapy panel built in. The controller looks nice, the design is clean, and it’s low EMF on paper, but we’ll have to test that once it’s out.

At $3,000, it’s bumping up against better-built options like the Heavenly Heat Eco and LifePro models. If it delivers on heat coverage and EMF claims, it could be a solid compact sauna for apartments or condos. But for now, I’d say it looks like a $2,000 sauna with a few premium touches.

If anyone in the Certified Sauna community gets one, let me know your thoughts — I’ll update this review once it’s in the wild.

Read the transcript >

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Transcript

People were asking about the Sana Box Solara full-spectrum sauna. They’re asking, is it good or bad? Has anybody had any reviews on it? I don’t know if this sauna just came out, and that’s why a lot of people are asking about it. But we’ve been getting a lot of comments on it, not only on the Facebook group, but in YouTube. So I want to talk about it real quick, your initial impressions on it. I don’t know if you’ve owned one before, but we could talk about that. And then we’ll dive into some things that you see on it.

So someone asked me about the Sana Box Solara full-spectrum sauna. Is it actually any good or just another overhyped infrared box? I’ve tested over 40 saunas in the last seven years, everything from high-end brands to cheap Amazon units. So even if I haven’t owned this exact model, I can usually tell a lot just by looking at the specs and build and reviews from our customer group. So it looks to be about $3,000. And initially, people were just asking, is it good or bad? They’re asking questions about it.

From your initial look at it, you said this is probably closer to something along the lines of a Costco as opposed to a Heavenly Heat Eco. Yeah, it looks like it was built by Golden Designs. It looks very similar to a Costco sauna, shortened. There’s been a bunch of people that asked about it in the Facebook group. But as far as I know, I mean, maybe in a few weeks it’ll change, but they’re available on pre-order. I haven’t seen anybody with one. Hard to say.

It’s got a really small red light therapy panel in it, but at least it’s a true red light therapy panel. So when they say you get red light, at least you’re actually getting some. Not only do I see a red light therapy panel, it looks like the controller is super nice. The controller looks super nice, looks nice to use. It also has Bluetooth connectivity, which is good and bad. And you can talk about that a little bit.

It looks like it is low EMF, which is something that you’re probably going to have to test later on if you end up getting one. This looks like a lot of sauna and heat coverage for… I mean, it’s not a crazy good price. That’s the thing. If it was $2,000, I’d say this is probably a great deal because it looks like it’s got great heat coverage and it has a lot of features. But for $3,000, I’m like, you’re really close to an ECO at that point.

Yeah. I mean, this is definitely a step up from the Amazon Costco models. It looks like it was built better, but there’s no way that it’s built. There’s nothing that’s built like an ECO. So I wouldn’t really compare it to necessarily a heavenly heat or something like that. The other thing is, I haven’t seen one in person, but when you look at the pictures on the actual website, some of them look like AutoCAD and then some of them look like Photo Studio. I’m not sure which ones the sauna actually looks like, which can kind of give you an idea of what to expect from the components and things like that.

Maybe it’s amazing. They also have on the website, if you flip through the pictures, I’m looking at it right now, they have a Tri-Field TF2 right in there. All you have to do is take that and flip it to one setting over and you can see all of the EMF. So it’s pretty easy to figure out whether or not it is what you said it was. From what you see in the images, how does that heater layout look? It looks great. The only thing that I see, that’s what’s hard. Everyone asks about it in the Facebook group, but nobody has one because it’s just a pre-ordered item. So maybe, I don’t know, maybe by the time this video releases, they’ll actually be out in the wild.

The preliminary pictures that somebody shared with me, it didn’t look like it had a floor heater in it. That would be the only thing that I would like to see. I know the Heavenly Heat Eco doesn’t have a floor heater either, but that sucker is super intense. But you have stuff like the Life Pro that has floor heater and side heaters and it works super good. So I would probably compare this to that. I think they have a model that’s like $2,200. So both of those would be in the same price range. The size isn’t the same though. This is short, like really short. Let me look at the dimensions. It’s 35 inches wide, 37 inches deep, 63 inches high. So it’s five feet, three inches tall, 37 inches deep. I forget what the Eco is, but that’s about similar to that, yeah. But the Eco is built like a tank. I don’t think, there’s nothing on the market that’s built like an Eco.

But what if this sucker preheats like the Eco? What if maybe the build quality is not as good, but maybe you turn that damn thing on and it’s bang. Did it list what kind of heaters it has and is that the type that you would recommend for people? Yeah, but I don’t really need to know. I mean, everybody was posting about that in the Facebook group. It’s a full spectrum, blah, blah, blah bullshit. It’s a far infrared sauna. It’s got a small red light therapy panel in it. That’s it. It’s not anything more or anything less than that. It’s great. I mean, I don’t see anything wrong with it at all. But to say that it’s all this other that people are purporting, no. Looks fantastic. I’d have to try it though. I’d want to see the performance. You’d want to double check some stuff. The look and feel of it looks awesome though.

Should fit. Should work on a 15 amp circuit. It should be great for apartments, condos. Should be another option for, I mean, this year people are going to have so many options for new saunas that’ll fit anywhere. It’s crazy. We didn’t have this five years ago. You got the LifePro Cozy. You got the LifePro One Person. You’ve got the Heavenly Heat Eco. You’ve got, you know what I mean, like there’s going to be five or six options for pretty much every single person’s criteria going forward, which is amazing. None of this stuff existed. You either get wood burning, you get 240 dry electric, or you get whatever infrared was offered that at the time you couldn’t plug into, you know, whatever. Or you get one of the little zippy tents. Now, I mean, there’s like 15 different things to choose from. So it’s just getting better and better. This was people’s complaint all along. For the last five years, the number one complaint is, you know, I can’t find something in the price range that I want. Can’t find something I can power. You know what I mean? So now this takes care of all that.

From what you see at a $3,000 price range, if everything checks out, if the EMF is low and everything that they claim is good and the red light therapy panel does actually output what it needs to, what do you see for price versus value here? I mean, it looks like it should be a $2,000 sauna, kind of like a Costco. They have added a red light therapy panel in there, albeit it’s relatively small. You could get something similar on Amazon for $400. That’s the same or better, but it wouldn’t be integrated into the sauna. You know, you’re paying for that convenience.

It does look like they have an updated control panel. It does look like everything else is buttoned up in a better fashion than the big box stores. So I don’t know. I’d have to see it in person and really, you know, see, is it the same damn thing just painted black or is it something, you know, where the fit and finish is improved, where the build quality is a little bit better, where the attention to detail, you know, heater coverage, heater placement, the simple stuff like sanding of the wood, is there any splintering? Cheap saunas, you know, a lot of times the wood quality really not that great. From what I can see in the pictures, this looks pretty good. Maybe once they release it, you know, we’ll be able to try one.

So my first impression, it’s got potential. I’d want to see the real EMF numbers and heat coverage. They basically are showing it on the website. I just want to see the other 50% of it. And heat coverage, I’d like to experience it before, you know, saying yay or nay. It looks like though, as small as it is, it’s going to heat up and work really well. If anyone in our Facebook group owns one, drop your feedback below. Let me know in the comments. That’s how we separate hype from reality. See you in the next one.