Meedo Apollo A86 M Soft Shell Rooftop Tent Review: A Surprisingly Solid Entry Into the RTT World

If you’ve never heard of Meedo, you’re not alone. They’re not a heritage outdoor brand with a wall full of legacy gear and a decades-long catalog. They’re a manufacturer that produces rooftop tents at the source level, which is a fancy way of saying they build the actual product rather than just slap a name on someone else’s work. You’ve almost certainly seen tents built on this same manufacturing DNA under a half-dozen other brand names. The difference with Meedo is that buying from them is a bit like skipping the restaurant markup and going directly to the farm. Less middleman, better price, same ingredients.

Their Norse mythology branding — Thor, Odin, Frigg — is a bit of a stretch for a rooftop tent company, but let’s be real, no one is buying a tent for the backstory. What matters is whether the thing keeps you dry, comfortable, and off the ground. So let’s get into it.

Delivery and Getting It Up on the Roof

This thing is 124 pounds. That’s not a small detail, that’s the first thing you need to know before you buy. Ours arrived via a rented box truck, delivered by Amazon rather than the usual UPS or FedEx hub shuffle, which probably explains why it showed up in great shape. The box had some cosmetic roughness on the outside but the tent itself was packed in a solid perimeter of foam padding and came out looking brand new.

Everything you need is packed inside the tent itself, so you’ll need to open it up before you can even start the install. That’s a little counterintuitive, but it’s a one-time thing. Inside you’ll find the 2.3-meter aluminum ladder, mounting hardware, rail end caps, knob nuts, screws, rail sliders, luggage rack brackets, pole supports, shoe bags, an LED light strip, and an adapter cable. It’s all there.

Getting it onto the roof is made simpler with a two-person lift. I wouldn’t recommend to try to hero this one solo. Once you’ve got it up there, the install itself is very straightforward. Meedo uses a clamp-and-knob system that works well even on OEM luggage racks, though the tighter the gap between your rack and your roof, the more patience you’ll need working the hardware into place. On a mid-size SUV with a factory rack it was a snug fit, but manageable. Figure about 45 minutes from opening the box to having it properly mounted and lined up. For aftermarket heavy-duty rails with more clearance, it’ll be even easier.

One thing worth checking before you consider: your roof rack’s weight capacity. 124 pounds of tent plus occupants adds up quickly, and OEM racks vary widely in what they’re rated to handle.

What the Meedo Apollo A86 Actually Made Of

Think of the A86 as the outdoor equivalent of a well-built work truck. It’s not trying to be the flashiest thing in the parking lot, but when the weather turns, you’re glad you have it.

The shell fabric is a 4000mm waterproof-rated Oxford cloth, which puts it solidly in “real weather” territory. For context, most budget rain jackets hover around 1500 to 2000mm. At 3000 to 4000mm, you’re dealing with sustained rain, not just a light drizzle. The seams are all taped. Even on the vehicle storage cover. That matters more than the fabric rating in a lot of cases, because unsealed seams are where cheap tents bleed water.

The frame and cover use aircraft-grade aluminum alloy, and the outer storage cover is reinforced in the high-wear spots (ladder), including where it rests against the roof rack when folded down. Wind resistance is rated for levels 6 to 7, which corresponds to sustained winds around 25 to 38 mph, plus the tent cover handles highway speeds without any issues. The velcro closure on the cover is secure and holds everything tight at speed.

It’s also rated as a 4-season tent, and while we didn’t push it into below-freezing temperatures during testing, the 1.5-inch high-density foam mattress, condensation mat, and felt insulation layer does a nice job of insulating you from the cold coming up through the floor, and that helps more than you would think.

Setting Up the Meedo Apollo A86 (And Packing It Back Down)

This is where soft shell RTTs have a clear edge over hard shells, and the A86 makes the most of it. Extend the ladder, pull the tent down, flip it open. Then you install eight pole supports for the windows and doors. That’s it. Under 10 minutes with the tent fully sheltered and ready to sleep in.

We set this thing up and packed it down about ten times throughout testing. And here’s the thing: the first couple of times feel slightly deliberate as you figure out the pole placement and the packing sequence. By the fifth or sixth time it becomes muscle memory, and you stop thinking about it entirely. Think of it like loading a dishwasher at a new house. There’s a brief learning curve, then it’s automatic.

Folded dimensions: 51.2 x 12.8 x 44.1 inches. Open: 88.2 x 51.2 x 43.2 inches.

Sleeping in the Meedo Apollo A86

Two camping weekends, multiple midweek setups, one full week left up through sustained bad weather. Here’s what we learned.

The mattress is one of those features that quietly overdelivers. At only 1.5 inches thick, it holds its own better than you’d expect. Most RTTs in this price range feel closer to a yoga mat than an actual bed, this one doesn’t fall into that trap. Between the condensation mat underneath and the felt insulation layer, it stays surprisingly comfortable and dry through the night. No, it’s not your mattress at home…but for a weekend trip, especially when paired with a good sleeping bag, there’s more than enough comfort here.

Length is a real win. At 88 inches, a six-foot tall person sleeps without their feet touching the end of the tent (pictured above). Width is 51 inches, which works well for two adults, or one adult plus kids with a little creative layout planning.

The rain performance held up throughout testing. Everything inside stayed dry through heavy rain. The one small habit to build: there’s a velcro lip on the vehicle cover at the base that can catch and slightly pool some rainwater in a heavy downpour. Just flip that flap down under before the weather rolls in. It’s a 5-second fix once you know about it, and it doesn’t compromise interior dryness at all.

Ventilation is well thought out. There are four side vents (two on each side – pictured below) in the top of the walls, two large doors on the left and right, two windows front and back, and a skylight on top. Every opening has a dual-zip setup for screened airflow or full closure, plus awnings on all four sides so you can keep windows open in light rain.