SAFE, EASY TANK OF A CARSEAT
December 12, 2019
The Maxi Cosi Magellan XP is a great car seat and my daughter (20 months) really seems to enjoy it. I received this as a FREE sample to try it and submit my honest review. FIRST UP: this is a hefty car seat, its ~25 pounds, which, to me, makes me feel like it is safe, because it is clearly made with quality parts that are going to hold up if we're in a crash, because its got a really solid frame. My husband whined that it didn't have a handle on it to make it easy to carry - but let's be realistic, this isn't a car seat that you're carrying around from car to car, or taking on a plane with you (dear god don't haul a 25 pound car seat around an airport, there are reasonable lightweight ones for travel) - but you DO want a tank like this for your day-to-day to keep your child safe. SECOND: okay, the install. As mentioned, I am using this for a 20-month old, so she is still rear-facing. She is < 35 pounds still, so I can use the latch system and wanted to try that out (I appreciated that the manual is specific about weights for latch vs seatbelt), and it was...reasonably easy to do. I like the zipper feature on the seat to really easily access the path for both the latch and seatbelt paths. It is REALLY nice that there are spots inside the seat that the latch system can connect to for storage (I have other car seats where there is no spot to store them and they hang and swing around which is annoying, especially when moving the seat or traveling). Then it was easy to feed the latch system through, lock under the lock paths (very nice touch), and click in to my car's latch system. The ONLY annoying part - it was really difficult to tighten the latch belt enough. I had to have my husband help me. I think that it would have been easier if I had used the seatbelt, because that path looked easy and I'm familiar with how to lock that. I just wish that the latch belt was a bit easier to tighten as well. I also needed to recline the seat a bit so that the seat was at the right incline - its easy to do, but I had to unlatch and move the seat to access the lever - bah. Guess I should have looked at the level before latching! (they tell you to check that first...2nd time mom here, I ignored the direction, hah) THIRD: getting kiddo in - super easy. I like that there are slots to hold the seatbelt straps out of the way, and its easy to adjust the height of the shoulder straps. I wish the strap-loosener wasn't covered in fabric - I struggle to find it every time to loosen the straps when getting kiddo out. (Struggle for just like, 2 seconds) Not a big deal, but annoying design feature. BUT what is an awesome design feature? The built in cup holders!! OMG these are the BEST because I am definitely one of those moms that gives my kids snacks and water in the car, and so the fact that there are 2 easy to reach cupholders built in, to hold a water cup and then some snacks is really perfect - one of the first things I started using, and something that is really different from our other seats.
I've got 2 kids, and before trying this Magellan seat, I had regularly used 2 other brands of car seats (one as the day-to-day tank in my car, the other as a lighter weight in my husband's car and for travel). This one is right up there with the tanks in my car in terms of being a great, safe car seat, easily adjustable, relatively easy to install, and even better by having the cup holders and some of the design features like the locking paths and spots to hold the straps out of the way which are really unique and clearly were added based on feedback from real parents! When I first got it, I thought I would try it and then gift it to a friend expecting her 2nd kid...but now, selfishly, I've decided to keep it for myself instead!! Definitely recommending it to her! It is an excellent choice for a car seat and I'm excited for my daughter to grow with it.
This product review was collected by the manufacturer.