Pop up tents · Vs review
Coleman Pop Up 2 V.S. Pop Up 4 Tent (I Bought & Tested Both!)
Two Coleman pop-up tents, side by side in my yard, across 5 head-to-head tests.
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Note: Amazon only lists the 4-person version of this tent now, so the Pop Up 2's button below goes to that listing. Everything I measured on this page is my own 2-person tent.
Coleman Pop Up 2The lighter one
- Setup1.5 min
- Peak32.5 in
- Base area34.1 sq ft
- Weight6.6 lbs
Coleman Pop Up 4The one I'd buy
- Setup1.5 min
- Peak39 in
- Base area60.6 sq ft
- Weight8.2 lbs
The short answer
Buy the Pop Up 4 unless weight, packed size or the extra $30 is the problem. It pops open in the same 15 seconds and gives you a queen bed's worth of floor instead of a squashed full size.
The Coleman Pop Up 4 is 60.6 square feet against 34.1, so my almost-queen airbed went in with room left for gear, and at 39 inches of peak height I sat up on a 6-inch mattress. The Coleman Pop Up 2 answers on exactly three things: 5.4 lbs against 7, a 29 by 29 by 3 inch packed size, and about $30 less. Unless weight, packed size or budget is what decides it, the 4-person is the one I'd buy. They score within 0.1 of each other, so this is about what fits inside, not about build quality.
Side by side
Where they actually differ
| Measured | Pop Up 2 | Pop Up 4 |
|---|---|---|
| Full set up (staked and guyed) | 1.5 min | 1.5 min |
| Pack away | 1 min 45 sec | 2 minHarder to grip |
| Peak height | 32.5 inches | 39 inches6.5 inches more |
| Base length | 7 ft 7 in | 9 ft 1 in |
| Base width | 4 ft 6 in | 6 ft 8 in |
| Floor area | 34.1 sq ft | 60.6 sq ftAlmost double |
| Regular sleeping pads that fit | 2 | 3 |
| A full-size mattress (73 × 53 in) | One side wouldn't fully inflate | Fits, with space left for gear |
| An almost-queen airbed | No | Fits, with lots of space left for gear |
| Thickest mattress that still worked | 4 inches | 6 inches |
| Door size | 34.5 × 26 in | 41 × 35 in |
| Window (mesh panel in the door) | 30 × 13 in | 35 × 17 in |
| Storage pocket | 16 × 8 in, split in two | 17 × 8 in, split in two |
| Weight (tent + carry bag) | 5.4 lbs | 7 lbsAbout 30% heavier |
| Weight with the 8 stakes | 6.6 lbs | 8.2 lbs |
| Packed size | 29 × 29 × 3 in | 36 × 36 × 5 inSlightly more than twice as big |
| Packed volume | 2,523 cu in | 6,480 cu in |
| List price | $100 | $130 |
| What I paid | About $25 less | About $25 more |
✓ = the better result, from my own testing. Shared: both pop open in 15 seconds with the rainfly already attached · both take 8 stakes and 2 pre-attached guylines · both have 1 door, 1 window, no vestibule and an oval floor with no bathtub flooring · neither has a vent you can use in the rain · both leaked in my rain tests, so 10 to 15 minutes of light rain is the limit · both carry Coleman's 1-year warranty, and I bought both from Amazon.
Which applies to you?
Get this one if…
Get the Pop Up 2 if…
- Weight is the deciding factor: 5.4 lbs against 7, or 6.6 against 8.2 once you add the stakes.
- Packed size is the deciding factor: 29 by 29 by 3 inches against 36 by 36 by 5, which is well under half the volume.
- Budget is the deciding factor: it lists for $100 against $130, and I paid about $25 less for mine.
- Just know what you give up: 32.5 inches of peak height, so a 4-inch mattress is the ceiling, and a full-size bed won't fully inflate in there.
Get the Pop Up 4 if…
- You want a real bed inside: 60.6 sq ft took my almost-queen airbed with lots of room left for gear.
- You want to sit up. 39 inches of peak height, and I was fine on a 6-inch mattress.
- You're sleeping 3: three regular pads go in side by side, and the door and window are bigger too.
- None of weight, packed size or budget is what decides it for you. The extra 1.6 lbs and 15 seconds of pack-away are the whole cost.
Set Up & Pack Away
| Measured | Pop Up 2 | Pop Up 4 |
|---|---|---|
| Pop open | 15 sec | 15 sec |
| Staking and guying | 1 min 15 sec | 1 min 15 sec |
| Full set up | 1.5 min | 1.5 min |
| Pack away | 1 min 45 sec | 2 minHarder to get a grip on |
Set up is the same on both: out of the bag, black strap off, throw it, and it pops open in 15 seconds with the rainfly already attached. Then 6 stakes, 3 a side, and the 2 pre-attached guylines: another minute and a quarter. One and a half minutes each, and the count of stakes and guylines is identical.
Packing away is where they split, and only by 15 seconds. I expected the 4-person to be a real fight because it's bigger than I am, but once I'd done it a few times it folded down fine. It just takes longer to get a good grip on it. 1 minute 45 for the 2-person, 2 minutes flat for the 4-person.
Base Area & What Fits
| Measured | Pop Up 2 | Pop Up 4 |
|---|---|---|
| Base length | 7 ft 7 in | 9 ft 1 in |
| Base width | 4 ft 6 in | 6 ft 8 in |
| Floor area | 34.1 sq ft | 60.6 sq ftAlmost double |
| Regular pads that fit | 2 | 3 |
| A full-size mattress (73 × 53 in) | One side wouldn't fully inflate | Fits, with space left for gear |
| An almost-queen airbed | No | Fits, with lots of space left |
The 2-person measures 7 feet 7 by 4 feet 6 at its longest points, the 4-person 9 feet 1 by 6 feet 8: 34.1 square feet against 60.6, almost double.
In the 2-person, my Exped MegaMat Duo 10 (74 by 43 inches, two regular pads’ worth) went in nicely with its corners touching the sides. Push up to an almost full-size Coleman Quickbed at 73 by 53 and it gets squashed. One side was fine, the other wouldn't fully inflate.
The 4-person took three regular pads: the MegaMat plus my Sea to Summit pad (72 by 20 inches), so 3 adults with plenty of space left for gear. An almost-queen mattress went in too, again with room to spare.
One thing worth saying out loud: it is not really a 4-person tent. The base is oval, not rectangular, so you lose space at the sides. Two people very comfortably, 3 adults shoulder to shoulder, or 2 adults and 2 kids. Four adults means two of you sleeping at the curved edges, and at 5'3" I already felt squashed there.
Peak Height
| Measured | Pop Up 2 | Pop Up 4 |
|---|---|---|
| Peak height | 32.5 inches | 39 inches |
| Thickest mattress that still worked | 4 inches | 6 inches |
| Sitting bolt upright | Head hits the roof, even on a 4-inch pad | Head touches the ceiling mesh on a 6-inch bed |
32.5 inches at the centre of the 2-person against 39 in the 4-person. On a tent this low, 6.5 inches is the difference between one mattress and another.
In the 2-person, 4 inches of mattress is my ceiling. On my Exped MegaMat, sitting the way I actually sit (a bit of slouch), my head cleared the roof; sitting bolt upright it didn't. In the 4-person I'd go to 6 inches: on my 6-inch ALPS Vertex airbed my head touched the ceiling mesh only when I sat perfectly straight.
Weight & Packed Size
| Measured | Pop Up 2 | Pop Up 4 |
|---|---|---|
| Weight (tent + carry bag) | 5.4 lbs | 7 lbsAbout 30% heavier |
| Weight with the 8 stakes | 6.6 lbs | 8.2 lbs |
| Packed size | 29 × 29 × 3 in | 36 × 36 × 5 in |
| Packed volume | 2,523 cu in | 6,480 cu inSlightly more than twice as big |
5.4 lbs against 7 for the tent and its carry bag, about 30% heavier. The 8 stakes add 1.2 lbs to either one.
Packed size is the bigger gap. Both fold into a flat disc, but the 2-person's is 29 by 29 by 3 inches and the 4-person's is 36 by 36 by 5, slightly more than twice as big. Neither of these is going in a car boot sideways.
Price & What's In The Box
| Measured | Pop Up 2 | Pop Up 4 |
|---|---|---|
| List price | $100 | $130 |
| What I paid | About $25 less | About $25 more |
| In the box | Tent in its carry bag, 8 stakes, 2 guylines | Tent in its carry bag, 8 stakes, 2 guylines |
| Warranty | 1 year | 1 year |
I paid about $25 more for the 4-person, both from Amazon a couple of years ago. They arrive the same way: tent inside the carry bag with the rainfly, poles and both guylines already attached, plus 8 stakes in the bag's own pocket.
My recommendation
I got plenty of use out of both of these over the few years I've had them, and for the money they are both worth it. My rule is simple: the Coleman Pop Up 4 unless weight, packed size or budget is what decides it.
About $30 more buys almost double the floor (60.6 square feet against 34.1), 6.5 more inches of headroom, and room for a real mattress instead of a full size that won't fully inflate. The door and window are bigger too. It costs 15 seconds more to pack away and 1.6 lbs to carry, and it pops open in the same 15 seconds.
If weight, packed size or the $30 IS what decides it, the Coleman Pop Up 2 is still a tent I'm happy to recommend. They score within 0.1 of each other, 7.6 against 7.5, so you're giving up space and headroom, not quality.
One thing that applies to both: neither is a rain tent. Both leaked on me at around 10 to 15 minutes of light rain, so these are dry-weekend, backyard and festival tents. If rain is on the cards, start with my pop-up tent roundup instead.
Bonus: I bought and tested 7 pop-up tents against each other (set-up timings, rain tests, base areas, the lot), and both of these are in there. They also turn up in my best Coleman tents and my best tents under $100.
Every figure on this page comes from my own measurements of the tents I bought and tested in my own yard, not from a spec sheet.
