I’m an expert outdoor gear tester and this is the best pop-up tent I’ve tried

While it feels like most pop-up tents have been using the same out-dated design since 2007, the Quechua 3-person Blackout Pop-up 2 Seconds XL Tent brings the pop-up genre into the year 2024 with a more high-tech, innovative and advanced approach.

The end result? This tent is infinitely better than 90% of other pop-up tents, with enhanced comfort, features and weather protection.

This is a two-skin tent with quick pop-up style pitching (although two seconds is misleading and it’s more like two minutes).

It copes far better in wind and rain than most other pop-up tents, has a spacious (and super-dark) interior for a good night’s sleep, and you get a good-sized porch for gear storage.

For a pop-up tent, it’s all very impressive – and online reviews mirror this conclusion. The tent has a 4.6/5 rating on the Decathlon website across over 900 reviews, with 699 five-star reviews (and only 28 one-star reviews).

The negatives? At £139.99 it’s expensive for a pop-up tent (you could nearly buy five Eurohike Pop 200s for the same cost) and at this price point some campers may prefer to invest in a regular tent instead.

It’s also very heavy (5.5kg on our scales) and not particularly portable, so it’s only suitable for campsite camping, rather than backpacking. It’s not the easiest to put down, either. In fact, packing it away can prove a rather infuriating process.

Having said all of that, this is still the best pop-up tent we’ve tested in recent years. It has superb liveability, a really clever design, enough durability to cope with wind and rain, and – despite the high price for pop-up tents – is a real bargain in our eyes. Recommended.

New for 2025 (it’s out in February), the Coleman Fast Pitch Swagger 3is a fast-pitch tent, rather than a pop-up one.

It utilises a clever hub-connected pole system, which expands and extends (a bit like a gazebo) to create a wonderfully taut and spacious structure – it’s all rather innovative. The end result, however, is a tent with some big pros and cons.

The main positive is liveability. This tent has amazing headroom thanks to its steep walls and wide roof. There’s good space in the width, too, and the all-round comfort levels are superb.

You get some nice features including a porch, integrated awning, several vents and mesh pockets for storing things like head torches. Weatherproofing is solid, too, with a two-skin design, loads of pegging out points, a bathtub-style groundsheet, strong 150-denier fabrics and a 3,000mm hydrostatic head rating.

The negatives are the price and the weight. At £250, this is a rather pricey tent, and thus only suitable for serious campers who’ll get enough use out of it.

At 10kg, it’s ridiculously heavy with a large packed-away size too, so it’s not very portable at all. The porch could be bigger and better designed, and it’s not the quickest to pitch either – it only just fits into the ‘fast-pitch’ category, taking about five minutes to get right.

All in all, however, this is an impressive tent with first-rate liveability and spaciousness, courtesy of the clever hub-connected pole structure. It works very well – and, if it’s within your budget, the Coleman Fast Pitch Swagger 3 is far better than most basic pop-up tents.

Read our full Coleman Fast Pitch Swagger 3 review for more info.

The Vango Classic Instant 300 is not a “real” pop-up tent. Neither does it pack down like a giant disc, nor does it spring into shape automatically once you open its carry bag. Instead it’s more of a quick-pitch tent, with a clever hub pole system that expands into shape – using an umbrella-like concertinaed effect.

The end result has big pros and cons. Let’s start with the positives. The Vango Classic Instant 300 has better features than every budget pop-up tent on the market: you get two entry doors, two good-sized porches (with in-built footprints), and a two-skin design. Plus the A-frame, triangular shape delivers superb liveability, excellent headroom and bucket-loads of spaciousness.

The negatives? This tent is quite pricey at £160, it’s excessively heavy (7kg) and has a humongous packed-away size, so its portability is poor. It’s not the quickest to pitch or take down, and you will have to fiddle around with the flysheet.

Which all begs the question – would it be better to just buy a “normal” tent rather than a quick-pitch one? The super-high walls are vulnerable in the wind too and there’s not enough clearance between the flysheet and inner.

However, at this price point, you might struggle to find anything as spacious and comparable. For three campers, the Vango Classic Instant 300 is comfy; for two it’s positively palatial – which means you’ll be the envy of everyone else on the festival campsite.

Find out more in our full Vango Classic Instant 300 review.

It’s rather cheap and cheerful, but for festival camping and weekend campsite getaways the Mountain Warehouse Pop Up 3 Man Tent fits the brief – as long as the weather is fair.

The positives? On sale at £49.99 (at the time of writing), it’s very affordable – a bona fide bargain. The interior is roomy and you get some nice features including an insect screen, air vents and fibreglass poles.

Pitching is as rapid as it gets, too. Simply open the bag, let go and the tent springs into shape in just five seconds – that’s Usain Bolt quick.

The negatives? This is a single-skin tent only (you don’t get a separate flysheet outer layer and bedroom inner), which means you get less protection and will be more vulnerable to rain and condensation.

Indeed, despite having taped seams and a 1,500mm hydrostatic head waterproof rating, I wouldn’t fancy camping in this tent in wet weather. It might cope ok with a light downpour or two, but ultimately I’d describe it as a tent for fine summery conditions.

A few other features are lacking, too. You don’t get a porch, it’s a little cramped for three (it feels far more spacious with two campers) and packing it away can be a little tricky.

All in all, though, it is what it is: an entry-level, cheap, basic pop-up tent for simple camping adventures in fine weather. And for that purpose it hits the nail on the head – just don’t take it out in a storm or up a mountain.

Read our full Mountain Warehouse Pop Up 3 Man Tent review for more info.

Regatta sells a couple of pop-up style tents for campsite and festival camping. The clever 3-Person Instant Tent (£160) uses an umbrella-like, concertinaed pole structure to create a roomy shelter with a quick-and-easy set-up – but it’s quite pricey and more of a quick-pitch tent, rather than a classic pop-up one.

A better option with mass appeal is, perhaps, the RegattaMalawi 2 Man Pop Up Festival Tent – a cheap, lightweight, super-simple pop-up tent for fuss-free camping adventures.

The Malawi is definitely not worth £120 – that seems very over-priced – but, at the time of writing, it’s available for much less on Regatta’s website, depending on the colour, which is far more sensible.
For less than £50, therefore, you get a nice pop-up tent that ticks most of the boxes for simple camping. But it’s not perfect and there are some significant drawbacks.

The positives? The Malawi is lightweight (2,275g) with good portability. Sized 90cm x 6cm, in the shape of a giant disc, it’s easy to carry and store, even if you’re travelling to a festival or campsite by public transport.

You get some nice features including four brightly coloured guylines, several vent windows, three internal gear storage pockets and a mesh door, while the internal space is decent enough for two campers. Setting it up is super quick, too – literally a minute or two, including pegging out.

The negatives? You don’t get a porch, so there’s nowhere to put your backpacks or wet wellington boots. Internally it can feel a little cramped for two and, ultimately, this tent is only designed for fair weather. If you experience torrential downpours or strong winds, we’re dubious about whether this tent has the strength, stability or waterproofing to cope.

And, finally, in the competitive budget end of the market, £47.95 isn’t actually that cheap – why buy this tent if you can get the Eurohike Pop 200 for £29.99?

Having said this, the Regatta Malawi ticks most of the boxes for simple camping. It’s lightweight, packable, quick to pitch and comfortable with some nice design touches – and for less than £50, that’s pretty good.

For a more detailed look at this tent, read our detailed review of the Regatta Malawi 2 Pop Up Festival Tent.

This is the most basic of basic tents. It’s a gold medallist and world record holder when it comes to being basic. You get zero pretentiousness, minimal features and limited performance; but the value for money dial has been turned up to 11.

For just £29.99 (on sale – the RRP is £85), the Eurohike Pop 200 tent is so damn cheap, it feels like you’re virtually stealing it from Go Outdoors.

Of course, this approach has big positives and negatives. The good news is the Eurohike Pop 200 is lightweight, super easy to pitch and surprisingly comfortable inside. The bad news is it’ll always be at-risk of leaking, ripping or blowing away in bad weather. It’s certainly not an option if any rain is forecast.

Is this a risk you’re willing to take for a bargain? If price is your number one priority and you’ll be campsite camping in dry, calm weather, it might just do the trick – at an absolute bargain price point. For anything more rugged, we’d suggest you steer well clear.

See our Eurohike Pop 200 2-Person Tent review for more info.