Coleman tents · Vs review
Coleman Pop Up Tent VS. Sundome Tent (I Tested Both Tents!)
Both 2-person, both mine, run through 9 side-by-side tests.
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The short answer
The Pop Up is faster. The Sundome is the better tent.
Nothing sets up like the Pop Up: 15 seconds to open, 1.5 minutes including staking, under 2 minutes to pack away. But the Sundome 2 is more spacious where it counts, takes a full queen bed, has real storage, packs half as bulky, and held off my hose for 35 minutes against the Pop Up's 10. Buy the Pop Up for fair-weather backyard camping; buy the Sundome for everything else.
Side by side
Where they actually differ
| Measured (2-person) | Pop Up | Sundome |
|---|---|---|
| My score | 6.8 / 10 | 7.5 / 10 |
| Set up (1 person) | 1.5 minutes15 seconds to pop open | 5.5 minutes |
| Pack up | 1.75 minutes | 5 minutes |
| Peak height | 32.5 inches4-inch mattress max | 48.5 inchesTakes a 9-inch mattress |
| Base area | 34.1 square feetOval: corners unusable | 32.1 square feetFits a full queen bed |
| Pockets | 1Split into 2 | 2 |
| Lantern loops | 0 | 1 |
| E-ports | 0 | 1 |
| Heavy rain test | About 10 minutesSoaked through by 15 | 35 minutesResult from my Sundome 6 |
| Bathtub flooring | None | 7.5 inches |
| Rainy-day vents | 0 | 2 wall vents + a ground vent |
| Weight | 6.6 lbs | 6.4 lbs |
| Packed size | 29 x 29 x 3 inchesOver twice the bulk | 24 x 9 x 6 inches |
✓ = the better result, from my own testing of both tents. The Sundome's 35-minute rain result comes from my 6-person Sundome, which uses the same rainfly design; I did not hose the 2-person separately.
Which applies to you?
Get this one if…
Get the Sundome 2 if…
- You want to sleep on a queen bed: the Pop Up can't take one.
- You expect rain: 35 minutes against about 10, plus a 7.5-inch tub floor.
- You want headroom: 48.5 inches, not 32.5.
- You want it to pack small: 24 x 9 x 6 inches.
Get the Pop Up 2 if…
- You want it up in 15 seconds and away in under 2 minutes.
- You're camping in the backyard in fair weather.
- You don't mind a 4-inch mattress ceiling.
- You'd rather have the 4-person version. Honestly, I would.
Set Up
| Measured (2-person) | Pop Up | Sundome |
|---|---|---|
| Pops open in | 15 seconds | — |
| Staking and guying | 1 minute 15 seconds | — |
| Total set up | 1.5 minutes | 5.5 minutes |
The Pop Up is exactly what it says: take it out of the bag, pull the black strap off, throw it away from you, and it opens with the rainfly already attached. Fifteen seconds. Staking and guying takes the other minute and a quarter.
The Sundome is a conventional pitch. Poles through sleeves, poles into the pins, pole clips, drape the fly, secure it, stake, guy out. About 5.5 minutes.
Pack Up
| Measured (2-person) | Pop Up | Sundome |
|---|---|---|
| Pack up | 1.75 minutesFold to a taco, fold the taco | 5 minutes |
Folding the Pop Up down into a taco and then folding the taco takes me 1 minute 45 seconds. The Sundome needs the whole tear-down: fold the body, fold the fly, poles and stakes away, everything back in the bag, and that's about 5 minutes. No other Coleman tent packs away as easily as the Pop Up.
Peak Height
| Measured (2-person) | Pop Up | Sundome |
|---|---|---|
| Peak height | 32.5 inches | 48.5 inches |
| Thickest mattress I'd use | 4 inches | 9 inchesWithout feeling squished |
Sixteen inches is a lot at this size. In the Pop Up I wouldn't go thicker than a 4-inch mattress; in the Sundome I sat comfortably on a 9-inch one.
Base Area
| Measured (2-person) | Pop Up | Sundome |
|---|---|---|
| Base area | 34.1 square feetOval base | 32.1 square feetRectangular |
| Fits a queen bed | No | Yes80 by 59 inches |
| Fits a full-size mattress | NoOne side wouldn't inflate | Yes |
The Pop Up has the bigger number and the smaller usable floor, because its base is an oval. My Exped MegaMat Duo (74 by 43 inches) already had its corners touching the walls, and when I tried a full-size mattress (73 x 53 inches) one side wouldn't inflate at all. The Sundome swallows a whole queen.
Storage
| Measured (2-person) | Pop Up | Sundome |
|---|---|---|
| Pockets | 1Split into 2 | 2 |
| Lantern loops | 0 | 1 |
| E-ports | 0 | 1 |
One split pocket and nothing else on the Pop Up. The Sundome has two pockets, a lantern loop at the top and an e-port at the bottom.
Heavy Rain Test
| Measured (2-person) | Pop Up | Sundome |
|---|---|---|
| Time to first leak | About 10 minutes | 35 minutesResult from my Sundome 6 |
| After 15 minutes | Soaked throughDoor, seams, fabric, under the fly | Dry |
| Bathtub flooring | None | 7.5 inches |
The Pop Up's rainfly is tiny, and it shows. Fifteen minutes of heavy rain and the whole tent was soaked, water pouring in at the door, the taped floor-to-body seam leaking, every bit of fabric wet, even the underside of the rainfly.
The Sundome's fly is much longer. The first water came through the un-taped flooring seam at 35 minutes, and with a little seam sealant it should manage a couple of hours. It also has a proper 7.5-inch bathtub floor; the Pop Up has none.
Ventilation
| Measured (2-person) | Pop Up | Sundome |
|---|---|---|
| Vents with the fly on | 0 | 2 wall vents + a ground vent |
| Openings with the fly off | Ceiling mesh + door | 2 mesh walls + window + door |
With the rainfly on, the Pop Up has no vents at all, so no rainy-day ventilation whatsoever. With it off, it has some ceiling mesh and the door. The Sundome has two large wall vents plus a small ground vent in the rain, and two big mesh walls, a window and the door on a hot day.
Weight & Packed Size
| Measured (2-person) | Pop Up | Sundome |
|---|---|---|
| Weight | 6.6 lbs | 6.4 lbs |
| Packed size | 29 x 29 x 3 inchesOver twice as bulky | 24 x 9 x 6 inches |
Two tenths of a pound apart, and then the Pop Up packs to a great flat disc over twice the bulk of the Sundome's bag.
My recommendation
I love how easily the Pop Up springs open and how easily it goes back in the bag. No other Coleman tent sets up and packs up like it, and it's perfect for backyard camping in fair weather. But it isn't rugged or weather-resistant, ventilation is poor, and it's bulky.
Still weighing pitch speed against durability? I also ran the Sundome family against Coleman’s Instant tents in my Sundome vs Instant head-to-head.
If I were buying a Pop Up I'd get the 4-person instead. The 2-person is small: a full-size mattress ate most of my livable space and wouldn't fully inflate, and that was only an 8-inch bed. The 4-person takes a queen and gives me 6 more inches of headroom.
If you want a tent that lasts, or you expect rain, get the Sundome instead. Five minutes up, five minutes down, decent ventilation, and it handles heavy rain well once you add a little seam sealant. Full reviews: the Pop Up 2 and the Sundome 2.
Bonus: Before you buy either, read the post where I compare both of these against my other Coleman tents.
Every figure on this page comes from my own measurements of the tents I bought and tested.
