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See the 8 tests

1. In the Box
2. Set Up & Take Down
3. Spaciousness
4. Comfort & Features
5. Ventilation
6. Rain & Wind Protection
7. Quality
8. Portability
9. Pros, Cons, Recommendation
10. Bonus – MUST read!

In the Box

I bought this one from Amazon. There is nothing to assemble — the poles and the rainfly are already on the tent.

• Poles Pre-attachedfiberglass, built into the tent
• Rainfly Pre-attachedattached directly to the tent, so it never comes off
• Stakes 8
• Guylines 2pre-attached, with their tensioners

Plus the carry bag and the instructions, which are sewn straight onto it.

Set Up & Take Down

Take it out of the bag, slide the black strap off, and toss it away from you the moment you do — or it pops up in your face. That part takes 15 seconds.

• Pop up (no staking) 0.25 min
• Full set-up (with staking) 1.5 min
• Take down (no staking) 1.25 min
• Take down (with staking) 2 min
• Stake loops 63 on each side

If you’re staking it down, zip the window and the door shut first. Do it afterwards and the zips fight you. Then 3 stakes each side and both guylines out, which is another 1 minute 15.

Packing up is the harder half. Unzip both panels so the air can escape, fold the poles together until it looks like a taco, stand it on one end, then fold that end down and drop a knee on it so the poles can’t spring back. I find the last fold easiest gripping it between my legs.

Spaciousness

• Peak height 39inat the center of the tent

I’m 5’3″, and sitting upright on my Exped MegaMat — about 4 inches of loft — my head never touched the top.

On the 6-inch Alps queen airbed it does. I’d keep any mattress in here under 6 inches; the lower it is, the more livable the tent.

• Longest length 9ft 1in
• Longest width 6ft 8in
• Base area 60.6 sq ft
• Single sleeping pads 3
• Queen mattresses 1

The base isn’t rectangular though, it’s an oval, and that is what decides everything below.

Because of that shape the most pads I could inflate in here was 3 — my Exped MegaMat Duo 10 (a 74 x 43in double) plus a 72 x 20in Sea to Summit single — and that still leaves space for gear. Or 2 adults and 2 kids, with not much room left over.

An almost queen-sized mattress fits with plenty of room to spare, which is really what this tent is: a very comfortable 2-person tent.

There’s no vestibule, so footwear stays outside.

Comfort & Features

• Doors 1on the front length
• Door size 41 x 35in
• Windows 1
• Window size 35 x 17in
• Zippers 2 per paneleach one opens from the inside and the outside

If you don’t want the door open, zip up the window mesh instead. Latches hold both the door and the window fabric up for maximum airflow, and you can use either one on its own.

• Pockets 1split into 2, 17 x 8in
• Gear lofts None
• Lantern loops None
• E-port None

No lantern loop, but the window and door latches hold one fine. You could use the zipper instead — I’d rather not put that strain on it.

Ventilation

• Vents None
• Mesh Regularceiling only
• Rainfly Sweeps back, never off

On a hot day you unhook the 4 S-hooks at the front, undo the Velcro by the guylines and sweep the fly to the back — you don’t even have to pull the stakes. There are latches back there to tie it up. It can’t come off completely because it’s attached directly to the tent.

With the fly back and the door wide open there’s actually a decent amount of air coming through the ceiling mesh and the door.

In the rain it’s the opposite. The fly has to be down, the door has to be shut, and with no vents at all there’s hardly any ventilation.

Rain & Wind Protection

• Rain test 10 minlight to moderate
• Result Damp at the base, seam seeped

A small pool formed on the rainfly, which didn’t look like it would be a big issue on its own.

But after those 10 minutes, while most of the tent body was still dry, a little water had started seeping in through the white fabric near the bottom of the tent. It felt slightly damp.

And all around the flooring, water was coming up through the holes in the seam. The seam tape held most of it back, but one small spot let water through, and it looks like it’ll leak properly before long.

• Bathtub flooring None
• Seam taping Most seams taped
• Guylines 2

For wind, there are only 2 guylines. Guyed out and shaken it wasn’t the most stable, but it was okay — the peak isn’t high, so it should take light to moderate winds.

This is, in fact, my worst Coleman tent against rain. Other Coleman tents do far better, and I’ve put this one head to head with two of them: Coleman Pop Up Tent V.S. Skydome Tent and Coleman Pop Up Tent V.S. Sundome Tent.

Quality

• Tent body 185T 68D polyester
• Rainfly 185T 68D polyester
• Flooring Polyesterno bathtub feature

The flooring doesn’t feel like polyethylene, so my guess is polyester. It doesn’t seem very thick, and there’s no bathtub feature extending up the sides, which means less rain protection.

Most of the seams are taped, apart from the ceiling mesh and the door, which both sit under cover anyway. The stitching is doubled and fine for the most part, but some parts don’t seem as well stitched, and I found loose threads.

The zippers don’t feel super smooth either. There’s real tension on that last stretch of the door and window, which is exactly why I stake the tent down only after zipping up.

• Poles Fiberglasspre-attached
• Mesh Regular
• Carry bag Good qualityexactly the right size for the packed tent

The poles have taken a couple of years of light use with no issues at all.

Portability

• Packed size 36 x 36 x 5in
• Weight 8.2 lbs7 lbs for the tent and bag, 1.2 lbs for the 8 stakes
• Straps 1 handle, at the top

It packs into a big flat disc rather than a bundle. Here it is beside a Coleman Sundome 2 and a 32-ounce Nalgene bottle.

Pros, Cons, Recommendation

So what are the pros and cons, and would I recommend the Coleman 4-Person Pop Up Tent?

Pops open in 15 seconds

I found the Coleman 4-Person Pop Up Tent super easy to pop open — just 15 seconds if you don’t stake it down and use the guylines. It’s also super easy to pack up.

Takes almost exactly the same time to set up and pack up as the 2-Person version

What I like even more is that even though this one is quite a bit bigger than the 2-person version, the set up and take down process is almost exactly the same, and takes me almost exactly the same time.

Pro Tip If the Pop Up 4 is a little too pricey, get the Pop Up 2 instead — here’s how the Coleman Pop Up 2 and 4 compare. Or if you have a bit more in your budget, upgrade to the Coleman Instant 4: here’s how those 2 tents stack up.

A decent amount of ventilation on hot days

Because of the ceiling mesh, once the rainfly is swept back.

Very inexpensive

I also found it very inexpensive for a tent this size.

Not weather resistant

It doesn’t stand up to rain at all. After just 10 minutes of light to moderate rain the bottom of the white fabric felt a bit damp, and water started seeping in through the floor seams.

At best a 3-person capacity

I really liked that I could fit a queen-sized mattress in here with plenty of room left for gear, so it’s perfectly comfortable for 2 people. But it is definitely not a 4-person tent, even if you sleep shoulder to shoulder. At best it’s a 3-person tent, with some room for gear.

Few storage options

There’s only 1 pocket, split into 2, which is tiny for a 4-person tent. No lantern loop and no gear loft either.

The quality is ok, but definitely not the best

Some parts of the tent weren’t as well stitched and there were loose threads. The flooring seems a little thin, and I noticed some tension trying to zip the door and window up.

Bonus – MUST read!

Every figure above is from my own testing — measured by hand, bought with my own money.