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This month in the Tried&Tested hot seat we have Joie with the new Encore Spinning System.
Suitable from birth to 4 years, this revolutionary spinning system gives you total flexibility to create a custom and convenient back seat experience as your child grows from birth to big kid, by using the same spinning base for both your baby car seat and your next-stage toddler car seat.
Here's what our parent testers thought...
What were your first impressions of the Encore Spinning System?
Megan: My first impressions of the system were really good. The base is not bulky and is easy to store and move. The spinning element is especially helpful getting a baby in and out of a normal car seat and being able to spin the base in to a second position provides an opportunity for both a conventional car seat and for this innovative seat to be used on one base. My husband quickly and easily installed the base in to the isofix points in the car and it was also easy to remove. The material of the seat itself was good quality and I liked the colour. I was really impressed with the quality of the seat. It is more lightweight than the bassionette on my travel system without losing any functionality. In fact it is more useful due to the secure adjustable straps, padding/inserts and storage on both the inside and outside of the seat.
Elly: My first impression was how smart the car seats all are. I like how all of the car seat options fit to an isofix base as I feel they are safer and more secure. The spinning base will make it a lot easier to get babies in and out of the car.
Jodie: Upon unboxing the Encore car seat we were very impressed with the look of the car seat. The colour is smart, co-ordinated and looks like a very high end product. We really love the neutral tones in the car seat and would be great for either gender. I loved the luxuriousness of the product and the inserts looked very plush and cosy. Although we did not need the newborn inserts I would have loved to have popped my newborn into this car seat, it looks so supportive and comfortable.
What did you like best about the Joie i-Base™ Encore and calmi?
Shane: The very smooth transition of the sliding motion. It wasn't jolty or stiff at all. The overall look. And how comfortable our little boy seemed to be in it straight away
Gabi: Our favourite part is that the seat rotates easily with the handles at the side, our son is quite heavy to lift in and out of cars with that awkward twist you need to do to avoid banging their heads but this seat solved that instantly. It also looks really comfy and I’m fairly confident he agrees as he fell asleep in it within minutes the first time we went out trying it out! With all the extra padding that we could take in and out to make it fit for size, security around his head and recline positions, he was also able to sleep soundly without his head wobbling forwards or side to side. Some car seats only have two options with padding but we loved that this was customisable!
Megan: We used the calmi for a car journey to my grandparents house. The guidance for car seats is that babies should not be in these for longer than two hours within a 24 period. We were therefore questioning how we were going to visit our grandparents with our baby, without staying overnight, as they lived two hours away. The calmi provided us with a practical solution whereby our baby could lie down for the journey, enabling them to be comfortable and to conform to the recommend guidelines. They were obviously comfortable in the seat as they slept for over an hour and a half of the journey each way! I also felt secure in the knowledge that they were safely strapped in and the padding in the seat provided an extra level of protection and quality. I find our baby feels very hot when in a carry car seat for more than a very short time but the calmi seat did not cause them to overheat due to the room our 10 week old had in the car. I can also see that there will be longevity with the base and the seat, as our baby had plenty of space, without the base taking up all of the car (although it did take up one passenger and the middle seat).
Were you happy with the installation of the i-Base™ Encore and car seat?
Gabi: We checked prior that it would definitely fit our cars using the Joie website and it could not have been simpler to put in! We did use the instructions to double check ourselves but in all honesty they weren’t really needed, it was the most simple, first time fix car seat I have ever put into a car. It also felt structurally solid once in place and gave us the instant peace of mind that our son would be very safe using it, especially with the green tabs showcasing you have secured your child and seat correctly.
Elly: The i-Base was easy to install in the car. It easily attaches to the isofix points and clicks in, it couldn't have been any easier. The calmi car seat is really simple to put in and clicks into place on the isofix base. I really like the green ticks on the base to reassure you that both the base and seat have been put in correctly. However, we were disappointed when we realised the calmi car seat did not fit alongside our existing car seat for our elder child. This surprised us as our car is not a small car (VW Tiguan). The Calmi takes up a lot of room because it lays laterally across the back seats which means the middle seat cannot be used and you would need a very small car seat for any other children to fit in the back too.
Jodie: Very! The i-Base was quick and self-explanatory to pop in. The little traffic light system was very clear and simple to understand and enabled us to check that the i-Base was installed successfully. The car seat then slotted in effortlessly and was ready to use
Would you be interested in using the entire Encore Spinning System? (that’s the i-Base™ Encore, calmi™, i-Level™ Recline and i-Harbour™)
Shane: I definitely would. Our son is 22 months now so we are beyond the use of some of these, but I wish I'd had something like the calmi when he was smaller as I imagine it would have been incredibly useful.
Megan: Yes I would definitely be interested in using the entire Encore Spinning System.
Elly: I would definitely be interested in using other seats from the Encore Spinning System range. They all use same base which is very handy, it saves time installing different bases and also money as you wouldn’t need to buy another one when the child moved on to the next size car seat. The i-Harbour would be my favourite as it has different positions for a growing child. and has 5 different recline positions. Plus you could easily fit two in the back of the car which is perfect for our growing family.
Is there a feature you would like to see added to the Encore spinning System?
Gabi: I really can’t think what to add to this product, I don’t feel like there is anything missing from it, I feel it is already head and shoulders above others on the market.
Elly: I think the Encore Spinning System has been really well designed and I can't think of anything major that I would add. It might be nice for the Calmi to have some different recline positions whereby the baby could sit up slightly. The only thing I would change would be the size of the Calmi to make it fit in the back with another child's car seat.
Megan: I would like an adaptor or feature which allows for additional joie products outside of this collection to be used with the base. I also feel that a zip for the cover of the seat would be better than the velcro. Our baby was kicking the cover and this caused it to come undone. Velcro is also a lot louder when trying to remove a sleeping baby from the seat!
Will you be using the products again?
Jodie: Absolutely we would purchase Joie products again. This has always been a brand we’ve trusted to use with our babies and will continue to do so. The i-Harbour has been much preferred to my child's previous car seat so we will continue to use this. It very much feels in a different league to our old car seat.
Shane: Yes, absolutely. My son is very happy in the seat which is also good to know for longer journeys as well as everyday short trips.
Gabi: Yes absolutely we love and trust the Joie brand as one of our go to’s!
Would you recommend the Encore Spinning System to others?
Gabi: 100% - I always preach to other parents and grandparents that you should never ever compromise on car seat quality and sometimes with that comes a higher price tag, but actually the price of this system is very competitive within the car seat market. You are carrying the world's most precious cargo in your car and their safety cannot come down to a price tag. Look at the tests and reviews of a brand to secure your mind.
Elly: I would recommend the Encore Spinning System as it has a car seat to suit every age and size. The spinning base makes it so much easier to get children in and out of the car and is very easy to install into the car. The car seats all look very smart and are comfortable and cosy. There is an option to suit everyone and all ages.
Jodie: Yes, I have already shown lots of my friends this new car seat and all of the amazing features and they have all been very impressed. I think a mum’s opinions of a product goes a long way, I always trust my friends opinions about products and often buy them based on their tried and tested reviews!