iKamper full brand review - our honest thoughts

2023 was a mixed year in terms of weather, but we did have a very hot summer, and lots of us decided to make the most of the weather by heading out on a camping trip. For many people, camping trips involve not much more than a pop-up tent and a crate of beers. But for people who want to take their camping experience up a level, car roof tents are a must-have accessory.

Even if you're not familiar with car roof tents, I'm almost certain that you've probably seen one while you've been out and about, most likely a Tentbox as that seems to be the most popular car roof tent brand at the moment (we've been lucky enough to try the Tentbox Classic as well as a few other tents in the range).

iKamper is a car roof tent brand that we've seen more of recently, so we thought it would be useful to take a closer look at this brand to see what the iKamper car roof tents are like. Let's get into it:

What makes iKamper car roof tents different to the Tentbox range?

If we had to point to one main difference between the iKamper range and the Tentbox range (as well as other car roof tents that we've tried), it would be that the iKamper range feels a bit more premium. That is certainly reflected in the price difference between the 2 brands, with every model of iKamper car roof tent starting at over £3000. The Tentbox roof tents are still quite expensive, but you can pick up a Tentbox Lite for less than £2000 and you can pick up a couple of other roof tents from the Tentbox range for less than £3000.

Variety

The Tentbox range currently consists of 5 different car roof tents, whereas the iKamper range currently features 7 different car roof tents, so we'd probably say that iKamper slightly pips Tentbox in terms of variety of choice.

Materials

It's quite hard to compare the materials used in iKamper roof tents and Tentbox roof tents because although there are differences, the materials used by each brand have advantages and disadvantages. For example, Tentbox uses high density foam for the mattresses in their tents, whereas iKamper uses insulated polyfoam. As the name suggests, the high density foam in the Tentbox mattresses can possibly hold its shape for longer, but the insulated polyfoam from iKamper can help to keep you warmer, so for us it's hard to pick a favourite. iKamper does come out on top slightly in terms of the thickness of mattress, with all iKamper roof tents containing a 2.5 inch mattress and all Tentbox roof tents containing a 2.3 inch mattress.

Setup

iKamper claims that all of their tents can be set up in under 3 minutes, with some even able to be set up in under 60 seconds. The Blue Dot Voyager roof tent from iKamper just needs to be pushed up and it's ready to use, so it can be setup in about 10 seconds. The Tentbox range varies a bit lot though - some of the roof tents from Tentbox can be set up in seconds, such as the Tentbox Classic, there are other models which can take as long as 5 minutes, such as the Lite.

If you're looking for a lighter car roof tent then Tentbox is the best choice -

the Tentbox Lite weighs 50kg and is lighter than anything in the iKamper range. However, The iKamper range features the Skycamp Mini, which at 57kg is one of the smallest and lightest hard shell roof tents that you can buy, and it's worth mentioning that the Tentbox Lite doesn't have a hard shell.

What are the third-party reviews like for iKamper?

Unlike Tentbox, iKamper doesn't have an active or verified Trustpilot profile, but the brand does have a profile on Reviews.io, and what we like about that platform is that you can look at reviews for specific products from the brand. Every product from iKamper has a rating of at least 4 stars out of 5 on the Reviews.io platform, which is impressive.

Final thoughts

So to conclude, we'd say that iKamper is a great option for somebody who wants a car roof tent that feels premium and which is built to last, but the only slight downside is the price point which, for us, wouldn't make iKamper an ideal choice for people dipping their toes into the world of car roof tents.

If you've tried an iKamper car roof tent then let us know in the comments what you think of this brand. If you want to read something similar we have a guide to the best car roof tents that we've tried.

iKamper full brand review – our honest thoughts