TentBox GO Review – Ultralight Aluminium Skeleton with Camp-Bed Vibes

36 kilograms, a minimalist round-tube aluminium frame and the confident claim of being the lightest roof tent in the world: the TentBox GO is designed to fit small cars too, offering maximum freedom for spontaneous trips. Our TentBox GO review shows how clever the concept really is – and why the road there isn’t quite as plug and play as you might hope.

This article is part of our lightweight roof tent comparison test. You’ll find our roof tent buying guide and an overview of 15½ other models in our big DOWNTOWN roof tent review.

Table of Contents

1. TentBox GO Review: How Much Effort Does Prep and Roof Tent Installation Take?
2. How Does Setup and Pack-Down Work?
3. How Does the TentBox GO Perform in Action?
4. Who Should Take a Closer Look at the TentBox GO?
5. Our Conclusion on the TentBox GO

Ever slept on a camp bed? That peculiar feeling of lying on a slightly elastic surface rather than a firm mattress is exactly what you get with the TentBox GO. According to the British manufacturer, TentBox is the best-selling roof tent brand in the world. Since its launch in 2015, TentBox have dominated the UK market in particular and grown rapidly – especially since Brexit. After entering the US market in 2022, the Brits have also been trying to win over the European community since 2025 with events and a strong social media presence. At €1,199, they put serious pressure on the competition in the fast-opening triangle tent segment. Now, alongside hard-shell and folding tents, they’re expanding their portfolio with a softshell model featuring a very special construction.

The manufacturer’s claim is confident: “The world’s lightest rooftent”. According to TentBox, the tent weighs just 33 kg without a mattress – although it tipped the scales at 36 kg in our office – without ladder and accessories. So where does the remarkably low weight come from? The answer lies in the load-bearing aluminium “skeleton”, the heart of the TentBox GO. It forms a continuous round-tube aluminium frame that carries the entire static load. Instead of lying on a continuous, heavy floor panel, you lie on a durable fabric that is tightly tensioned into the frame. This saves plenty of weight, because air famously weighs very little and the construction only uses material where forces actually occur. This plug-together construction also saves storage space: in winter, the TentBox GO roof tent can even be stored under the bed if you don’t have a garage or spacious basement.

But how does this lightweight construction perform in the real world? What compromises do you have to accept for the record weight on the car roof? For this TentBox GO review, we took the lightweight “roof box tent” camping in a three-way shootout with the OLC Adventure Ultra Light 130 and the Groenberg WEEKEND Comfort. With experience from 16 previous roof tent reviews and many years of private use, we put the concept through its paces.

Not Sure whether I Would Be Up for That!

TentBox GO On Review: How Much Effort Do Prep and Roof Tent Installation Take?

Before the first trip can begin, the TentBox GO demands real work: first, the tent has to be “built” from scratch. However, the frame construction makes a strong impression, with powder-coated aluminium tubes and stainless-steel screws throughout, and the tent fabric feels consistently premium. But it takes time until everything sits where it should. Pre-assembly is lengthy and not exactly straightforward: instead of the stated 60 minutes, we needed around 90 minutes – despite support from a master craftsman who understood the installation steps precisely. Some users online even report three hours of assembly time in videos. The video tutorial on the company website and the user manual are helpful, but some crucial information is missing in places. When asked, the manufacturer announced improvements.

In short: anyone who struggles with flat-pack furniture should enlist someone with above-average technical understanding for the GO’s pre-assembly.

Once the “puzzle work” on the ground is done, the tent plays its biggest trump card: its low weight. Thanks to just 36 kg, two people can lift the GO onto the car roof with almost no effort. Trying it completely alone, however – as suggested in a reel on the manufacturer’s website – is something we wouldn’t recommend if you care about your car’s paint.

Once the TentBox GO is positioned on the bars, the real struggle begins: bolting it down. In this respect, the Brits are far from alone – they’re no different from the vast majority of roof tents, nor from their competitor in the group review, the Ultra Light 130 from OLC Adventure.

We regularly wonder why the industry doesn’t follow the example set by manufacturers like Thule. On its Approach M roof tent (here’s the review), the Swedish manufacturer doesn’t use fiddly self-locking nuts that require tedious manual work, but clever wing plates that secure the bolts in under 10 seconds. With the TentBox GO, you spend a good three minutes ratcheting each bolt into place – with eight nuts, that costs valuable time and nerves you’d much rather spend inside the tent already. The same, however, applies to the OLC Adventure competitor in our group review.

How Does Setup and Pack-Down Work?

“Open or close in just 60 seconds”: with a bit of practice, this manufacturer’s claim is actually accurate. To remove the travel cover before opening, you have to walk all the way around the car once – just like with folding tents. Thanks to the lightweight polyester fabric, however, this step is effortless. In our lightweight group test, the GO sits somewhere in the middle for setup time and effort. It is still quick compared with the Groenberg WEEKEND. By contrast, the OLC Adventure Ultra Light is more pleasant to set up because it opens all by itself thanks to gas struts.

Pack-down time depends heavily on wind conditions and whether you’re working alone or as a pair. That’s down to the extremely light travel cover – what feels pleasant during setup becomes tricky during pack-down: even in light wind, the cover keeps slipping over the edges where it needs to be attached. In stronger wind, fitting it alone is basically impossible – unless you’re very resourceful and find something to weigh it down with.

Overall, the cover is a weak point on the GO: the material doesn’t make a particularly robust impression. The zips are rather thin and already kink under tension during the first test use when closing. Annoying if that means having to send in your cover. This needs improving.

How Does the TentBox GO Perform in Action?

Handling, Access and Co.

Like many hard-shell tents, the TentBox GO offers no awning, leaving the entrance unprotected from rain. On the positive side, the ladder allows access from two sides. A minor criticism shared with both rivals in the review: the ladder has no angled steps, which can be uncomfortable barefoot. It also sits comparatively close to the car, requiring care to avoid paint damage.

Once you’re up top, however, the construction reveals a great advantage: not only can you leave the ladder inside the tent during transport and even while sleeping – the latter matters for anyone who wants to feel safer in the roof tent at night – but you can also leave thick bedding inside the tent without issue while driving. The storage space is record-breaking. Thanks to the aluminium tube construction rising towards one side, the GO fits more inside than any of the 18 roof tents we’ve tested so far. Strong! There’s just one drawback: the resulting 27 cm overall height makes entering multi-storey and underground car parks very difficult.

Storage and Organisation

The interior of the TentBox GO offers a pleasant sense of space, which is mainly due to the impressive height at the front. The lighting concept works well too, which makes it pleasant to spend time inside the tent during the day: if you like brightness, you’ll appreciate the two large side windows with smooth-running, separately opening mosquito nets and the skylight with a fixed mosquito net. Unlike on the Groenberg roof tent, fixing the rolled-up window fabric works without issue. At the same time, full blackout for a siesta is possible once all windows are zipped shut.

The interior organisation, however, is rather underwhelming: there are only two bags, which can be hung into the frame at the top. They are intended for a tablet, but have to be removed when closing, otherwise they block the frame from sliding together. Practical side pockets near the floor for a phone or headphones are also missing.

What Is It Like to Sleep in the TentBox GO?

When it comes to sleeping comfort, TentBox goes its own way: the sleeping surface is designed to be used without a mattress. It consists of a strong woven fabric that is tightly tensioned into the frame. The result is an elastic sleeping feel, similar to a classic camp bed. If you don’t like that camp-bed feeling, you can add an inflatable mattress for €199. One advantage of this construction: you get natural ventilation from below, making condensation almost impossible – a common issue with classic tents. Two ventilation slits at the head and foot also provide extra fresh air.

However, the elastic sleeping surface is only comfortable if you use the GO alone and leave out the central additional frame. This is intended for use by two people, presumably to prevent mutual “bouncing” or rolling together in the middle. The frame can either be installed during pre-assembly or by experienced hands on site in around three minutes. But the raised section it creates in the middle is unpleasant if you end up lying on it while sleeping and makes a side-sleeping position virtually impossible. It also takes away valuable sleeping width. With an effective sleeping width of 105 cm, each person gets only around 52 cm. Even if you decide as a couple to remove the frame and use the optional mattress, that still isn’t necessarily a perfect solution: there is still a chance you’ll roll into each other in the middle.

In short: the tent is better suited to solo use – but then it’s really comfortable and offers genuinely plenty of space.

Who Should Take a Closer Look at the TentBox GO?

Like its competitors in our lightweight roof tent comparison test, the GO is a genuine all-rounder thanks to its low weight and compact dimensions, fitting almost any car. Overall, it is particularly interesting for …

• … Minimalists with limited storage space: The tent can theoretically be disassembled again after the camping season and stored away compactly in the basement or under the bed.
• … Efficiency fans and EVs: The low wedge shape when closed, combined with the minimal weight of 36 kg, should keep the effect on consumption lower than with most other tents on the market.
• … Frequent location changes: Because the TentBox GO is ready to use extremely quickly at your destination, it suits trips with lots of stops.
• … Singles rather than couples: The latter cannot lie comfortably in the GO because of the intrusive centre pole. An additional mattress could make two-person use possible.

Our Conclusion about the TentBox GO

The GO is an ultralight roof tent that can be lifted onto the roof by two people, deploys quickly on site and offers a comfortable, camp-bed-style sleeping setup for one person. The frustration lies in that last point: contrary to the manufacturer’s claim, solo use is where the comfort begins and ends. Time-consuming pre-assembly adds to the disappointment, as does the battle with the travel cover during pack-down in any kind of wind. The verdict is difficult to soften: despite the British brand’s sales records, the TentBox GO falls short of expectations.

Tops

• At 36 kg, one of the lightest roof tents on the market
• Quick setup on site
• Plenty of space inside the closed tent
• Comfortable sleep when used solo

Flops

• Pre-assembly requires lots of time and increased technical understanding
• Fitting the travel cover in windy conditions is very difficult

Tip: Allow enough time for pre-assembly!

More info at eu.tentbox.com

The Test Field

All roof tents in test: Front Runner Feather Lite (Click here) | Decathlon MH 900 (Click here) | Vickywood Cumaru Light 127 ECO (Click here) | Yakima SkyRise HD Tent MD (Click here) | Qeedo Freedom Air 2 (Click here) | Thule Foothill (Click here) | Gentle Tent Sky Loft (Click here) | Arcta Vento (Click here) | Thule Approach M (Click here) | Intrepid Geo 3.0 (Click here) | Naturbummler Alu-Kraftkiste (Click here) | Thule Outset (Click here) | Naturbummler Flitzer I L (Zum Test) | qeedo Freedom Hybrid 2+ (Click here) | VICKYWOOD TEAK 135 (Click here) | Roof Space 2 | OLC Adventure Ultra Light 130 (Click here) | Groenberg WEEKEND COMFORT (Click here) | TentBox GO

Words: Felicia Nastal Photos: Tim Eckermann