Swandoo Albert i-Size Car Seat Review
The award-winning baby Swandoo Albert i-Size car seat is designed for the little ones - 40-85 cm or up to 13kg. From birth to approx. 18 months. Swandoo's design team developed a true icon, Albert’s unique shell structure not only provides superior safety, comfort and peace of mind, but is also a stylish solution for modern families. The Swandoo Albert is safe and beautiful, it's full of small but clever ideas and details to give parents peace of mind and help make family life that little bit easier. We love it, but what did 3 of our parent testers make of it? Keep reading to find out...
Parent Tester 1 - Sean
I was recently giving the opportunity to review the Swandoo Albert car seat for Natural Baby Shower who are the UK exclusive retailers of Swandoo.
Overall, I loved the Swandoo Albert car seat and would highly recommend it. It’s an i-Size car seat that can carry your little one up to 13kg, from birth to approx. 18 months.
It arrived really concisely packaged in smaller boxes than I was expecting. There was no excess packaging which gets a big tick from me to reduce the amount of waste produced by the product. All materials used were recyclable, there was a little stuffing for protection, but this was all cardboard and easily recycled. It was really well packaged and snug inside the box meaning there was very little chance of it being damaged in transit which is always nice to know with car seats.
A little feature I did like was there was a neat little carry handle on the outside of the box made out of excess harness material from the car seat making the box really easy to pick up and move around, even when the car seat is still inside. The handle then nicely tucks down flat when not needed. I thought this was a really nice feature and shows Swandoo have thought of every little detail.
Upon first impressions I really liked the car seat, it looks quite different from other car seats on the market. The cocoon shape looks like it’s going to be really comfortable for my little one and the seat looks really cosy. It’s also a really lightweight car seat, a lot lighter than my other car seat, this makes it easier to carry and makes travelling around so much easier when using the car seat outside of the car. The Albert comes with a super comfy looking newborn pillow insert, we unfortunately didn’t need to use this with my baby being 4 months old, but it does look like it would be really comfy and cushiony.
I then moved on to open the base, which comes separately. Again it was really neatly packaged and using only recyclable materials. It really is a very intuitive and easy to install base. I had no problem installing it into the car as it’s very logical and simple to use. There is an instruction manual if you do want to double check you’ve done it right and to take a look at the steps. The step by step guide for the base and the car seat is really clear and easy to follow, I really don’t think you can get it wrong if you follow this guide. It’s also worth mentioning that this guide actually can be stored in the bottom of the car seat meaning it is always there when you need it, just in case!
You can tell the team at Swandoo have really taken the time to think of small details to make this car seat as good as it can be. You can also tell that the founders are parents themselves as they have included little features that you would only know would be helpful from your own personal experiences with car seats. For example, I love the installation glow in the dark aids, these are so useful when trying to install the car seat in the dark, especially as the nights are starting to get darker earlier. It’s little details like this that make the car seat really stand out from the rest on the market. My favourite feature of all was the side buddy protection feature. It gave me that extra peace of mind that my little one is safe when travelling in the car and that really is invaluable to a parent.
The super soft fabrics can also be removed to be washed which is a big plus for every parent. The fabric can then be easily popped back on using the handy tool that comes in the box which helps you to hook the fabric back on.
Once we were all installed and set up, we popped our little one into the car seat and he instantly looked super comfy. The material is so soft and nice to touch, the unique shape also was really snug around him, it almost hugged his body. We had no complaints from our little one at all whilst he was in the car seat. He was in an ergonomic position, surrounded by super soft cushioned material, he was a very happy baby!
Another feature I liked was that the car seat comes with car seat adaptors in the box as opposed to you having to buy them separately which is always a bit of a hassle. We used the Albert on our Babyzen YOYO+ and our Mountain Swift.
Over all my partner and I really enjoyed testing out Swandoo Albert, however there were a few little niggles we had that I think are worth mentioning.
I am undecided if this is a true negative, or simply a personal preference so it really is up to the user to decide. But I am more used to a central pull mechanism to adjust the seat belt harness, the Albert has separate harness adjustments so you can do all of them separately. I think it is more that I am more used to 1 central adjustment feature, so this did take some getting used to but I wouldn’t write it off as a negative, simply different.
I loved the integrated sun canopy feature. It was really easy to use, offered UPF50+ protection for my little one, plus it extends beyond the handle for extra protection. I liked how this neatly tucks away into the back of the car seat to keep it streamlined and neat when you don’t need the sun canopy. However, with the sun canopy being attached to the carry handle, it does make it a little awkward when you are trying to carry the car seat with the sun canopy up. The sun canopy also can’t be put up when the car seat is in the car which is a shame.
The Swandoo Albert is a truly unique and well made car seat, the numerous little details and added extras make it a great car seat for every family and I often find myself opting to use the Albert instead of my original car seat I had before the Albert arrived. We have had quite a few compliments when out and about the Albert and I can’t recommend it enough.
Parent Tester 2 – Katie Hughes
We have been extremely lucky with being chosen to review the Swandoo car seat! It arrived so quickly after I chose the colour. I was given an hour time slot the day before in which it would arrive which was really handy so that I could plan my day out and not miss it! It arrived nicely packaged in a cardboard box with enough padding to keep it safe and in perfect condition. The colour we chose was the Chia Black, it’s a really beautiful grey and the material is a lovely soft material of high quality. Which is also easy to wipe when dirty, which is a must with little hands!
It’s extremely easy to use and my daughter seems to be much more happy in it than in her previous car seat.
I love the fact that the seat is shallow and that my daughter can see easily out of it. The handle of the car seat sits in a forward position in the car which means there is nothing blocking her vision, I think this is why she’s so much happier in it. I also like the way that the headrest moves so easily and the harness is simple to adjust.
The car seat even has a glow in the dark section where you feed through the seatbelt for putting in the car at night and a UPF50 sunshade for sunny days. The stroller adaptors that come with the seat are universal and are compatible with so many different pushchairs. The ‘side impact buddy’ is really easy to put on (we leave ours in the seat after I take Iyla out) and the car seat itself is so lightweight which is brilliant, especially when I’m carrying the seat and walking with a toddler to the house.
The I-Size base was extremely easy to put in and makes getting the car seat in and out so much easier. With a green indicator which shows you when the seat is secure. But one of the things I really like is the little instruction guide which slots in under the base of the seat. So you have them handy at all times!
Overall this car seat has been absolutely amazing and a complete game changer for us considering with our previous seat Iyla cried on all journeys. She seems to really like being in this seat which makes car journeys so much nicer for us all now. We love this seat and are so very grateful for being chosen to try it out.
Parent Tester 3 - Richard Warren
The Swandoo Albert is top quality, I would 100% recommend. We first used it to carry our son out of the hospital, it’s lighter than we thought it would be and he felt really snug in it, settled really nicely.
The seat easily slots into the car seat base in the car and you just bring the handle down to give him full protection. We’ve been attaching it to our Uppababy buggy (with adaptors) straight from the car and it sits comfortably on that too.
Really like the hood feature the way that tucks neatly into the seat when not in use and connects over the handle when you want to shield him from the sun. There’s also a neat slot at the side of the inner seat to tuck in a blanket.
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