Maxi-Cosi – buggy, travel system and car seat reviews, plus celebrity fans

The stylish Maxi-Cosi Elea with the Pebble car seat

Maxi-Cosi Elea reviews

2011 saw the release of Maxi-Cosi’s Elea, a buggy offering plenty of user-friendly features including one-handed steering, two ways to compact fold and four bold colour choices.

Our review of the Elea buggy highlights some other great features, including the fact that it’s suitable from birth without the need for an extra carrycot. It’s so good the Elea made our 10 of the best buggies suitable for a newborn in 2011.

The Elea is also travel system compatible with either the Maxi-Cosi Pebble car seat or the Maxi-Cosi CabrioFix car seat. Read our Elea travel system review for more on the folding mechanisms, height adjustable handles and other top qualities, as well as a few things to watch out for, too.

Maxi-Cosi's Loola Up is popular, both as a buggy and travel system

Maxi-Cosi Loola Up reviews

The first thing to mention about the Maxi-Cosi Loola Up is that both as a buggy and as a travel system, it scored full 5-star reviews. Impressive! 

The stylish Loola Up buggy is so compact it can fold small enough to fit in your car boot and leave enough room for your shopping. The ability to switch easily between forward facing and parent facing using only one hand is one of the reasons why the Loola Up made our 2011 guides to 10 of the best forward and rear facing buggies. This popular buggy also features in our 10 of the best buggies for less than £350 and our 10 of the best buggies, as rated by MFM mums for 2011.

If compatibility with a car seat is a crucial feature for you, read our review of the Loola Up travel system. This system sees the Loola Up buggy teamed with the Maxi-Cosi CabrioFix,  Maxi-Cosi Pebble or the Maxi-Cosi Créatis.Fix car seats.

With smooth suspension and an accessible shopping basket, the Loola Up travel system is a durable and practical way to transport your little one around.

We love this purple version of the Maxi-Cosi Noa buggy

Maxi-Cosi Noa and Mura buggy reviews

Even if you’re completely blown away by Maxi-Cosi’s Elea and Loola Up buggies, the Noa and the Mura are two more buggies in the range that are not to be missed.

Heading on a family holiday? Maxi-Cosi’s Noa buggy is ideal. “Light and super easy to fold, with sandal-friendly brakes, this is a buggy designed for summer holidays and trips abroad,” says our reviewer.

When it comes to easy-of-use, the Noa has it covered - it is fitted with a handy spring-out handle that enables you to pull the buggy along trolley-style, as if you were wheeling your suitcase through the airport.

Then there's Maxi-Cosi’s Mura. This is an eye-catching 3-wheeler that is “pretty close to perfect” according to our reviewer, who gave the buggy 4.5 stars out of 5. Negotiating doorways can be quite tricky due to the buggy’s wide wheel base, but our reviewer says you shouldn’t be put off as the general quality and design of the Mura is superb. Plus it’s extremely versatile - it comes with a choice of three or four wheels, the ability to be teamed with a Maxi-Cos car seat to make a travel system, and you can buy either a washable soft cot or a carrycot to make it suitable for a newborn.

The Mura even made our 10 of the best buggies for less than £350 in 2011 – stylish and good value.

Maxi-Cosi CabrioFix car seat is compatible with many buggy brands

Maxi-Cosi ‘from birth’ car seat reviews, including Pebble and CabrioFix

Boasting Maxi-Cosi's trademark side impact protection system and the ability to work with other buggy brands to create a travel system, it's easy to see why the CabrioFix car seat is so popular. Check out our CabrioFix review to find out more.

The CabrioFix isn't the brand's only Group 0+ car seat though. Following on from the CabrioFix is the Pebble. Find out how it scored our Pebble review. The Pebble can be installed easily into the car with the use of the FamilyFix base, which you install using ISOFIX attachments. The base then remains in the car for you to clip your car seat in and out of when needed. The base also works with the Group 1 Pearl car seat, which means you only need to buy the one base and you’re sorted from birth to 4 years.

In March 2010, Dorel, the company behind Maxi-Cosi, issued a safety notice for Maxi-Cosi FamilyFix bases sold before 4 March 2010 as there was a possible mechanical problem. The company advised all FamilyFix base owners to stop using the base and to call Maxi-Cosi Customer Care on 01842 763 281 to get their base checked locally before continuing to use. There have been no problems since.

Although slightly awkward to fit into the car at first, the Créatis.Fix scored 4.5 out of 5 for its super comfy padding and optimum shock absorption. “Shaped like a giant egg, the Créatis.Fix scores highly on looks, safety, space and ease of use – if you have a big car,” says our reviewer of the Créatis.Fix.

Finally, while Maxi-Cosi’s fourth car seat suitable from birth may not be travel system compatible, it does offer other nifty, long-lasting features. Our review of the Opal highlights the fact this multi-group car seat can be used from birth in the rear facing position and then swiveled into a forward facing position for use up to 4 years.

Dannii Minogue and Kris Smith show off their bundle of joy Ethan

Celebrity owners of Maxi-Cosi car seats

Maxi-Cosi is well-known for its range of car seats even among the celebs. Dannii Minogue and Denise Van Outen are busy celebrity mums with the right idea – they’ve both been spotted transporting their babies around in the Maxi-Cosi CabrioFix car seat.

But the CabrioFix isn’t the only car seat to take Hollywood’s fancy. Here in Britain, it seems the Maxi-Cosi Pebble is a favourite choice for keeping WAG Carly Cole’s daughter Ruby and ex S Club 7 singer Rachel Stevens’ daughter Amelie safe.

The Tobi car seat was awarded top marks in our review!

Maxi-Cosi ‘from 9 months’ car seat reviews

Maxi-Cosi also makes forward facing car seats that are suitable from 9kg, roughly 9 months.

Our reviewer gave the Tobi car seat an impressive 5 stars out of 5, describing it as “stylish without compromising on comfort”.

The Pearl car seat is designed to fit into Maxi-Cosi’s FamilyFix base and is a follow-on car seat to the Pebble.

It’s also hard to fault the other two car seats in this category – the Axiss and Priori XP. Both the Axiss and the Priori XP scored 4.5 stars out of 5 in our reviews.

The Axiss has a 90-degree turning seat, which makes lifting your child in and out super easy, but is probably best left in the car due to its size.

The Priori XP is also pretty heavy to move between cars, but offers a range of features to make car travel simple. Our reviewer described it as “perfect for wriggly, car-seat-hating toddlers.”

The FeroFix "cut-out" design makes it easier to fasten

Maxi-Cosi ‘from 4 years’ car seat reviews

Maxi-Cosi has a number of Group 2/3 car seats (suitable from 15kg, roughly 4 years of age) in the range.

“Flexible enough to be moved from car to car, but robust enough for everyday use and longer journeys, the award-winning Maxi-Cosi Rodi XR is a comfortable, lightweight group 2-3 car seat with increased side protection,” says our reviewer of the Rodi XR car seat.

Another massive hit in this car seat category is the Rodi AirProtect car seat, which featured in our 10 of the hottest baby products coming soon roundup before it was even on the market! Scoring a remarkable 5 out of 5, read our review of the Rodi AirProtect to find out this car seat’s top features.

The Fero also boasts Maxi-Cosi’s “AirProtect” technology. Our Fero review highlights the car seat's positive points, including how the seat’s height adjustor also increases the seat width at the same time.

The fourth car seat in this Group is the FeroFix car seat. The FeroFix is similar in design to the Fero, except it comes with easy-to-use ISOFIX connectors, giving you the option to attach the car seat with either ISOFIX or your car’s 3-point seatbelt.