Safety 1st Clic It! Review

Safety 1st has produced a car seat stroller system that is feature rich and budget friendly. We tested it side-by-side with five other frame strollers, and the Safety 1st edged out the competition to secure our Best Value award. While it is designed to fit more than one brand of car seat, we suggest only using it with brands that click-in, namely: Cosco, Eddie Bauer and Safety 1st. Other brands listed as compatible require the use of straps to retain the car seat. We feel the extra steps required to use the straps defeat the ease-of-use that makes a car seat stroller desirable.

The Clic-It stroller frame has quite a few innovations that we found useful. The most novel among these is the canopy that deploys from the parent tray, and augments the sun protection provided by the car seat's sunshade.

Performance Comparison

Ease-of-Use

The Safety 1st earned an 8 of 10 rating in ease of use, which places it at the top of our review, alongside the Graco SnugRider.

Ease-of-Folding
In our tests, the Safety 1st scored higher than any other car seat stroller in ease of fold. The Safety 1st is somewhat less simple when unfolding however. Folding can be done one handed because the stroller has a fold-lock which will automatically catch, but unfolding the Safety 1st requires two hands because the fold lock does not automatically unlock.

Storage

We found the storage on the Safety 1st to be sufficient, as it has a large basket with a capacity of 10 lbs. When a car seat is attached, the opening to the basket is made smaller, especially when compared to competitors like the Graco SnugRider, which has a fold down flap that allows for greater access to the basket. The access issue becomes particularly obvious, when hauling out a large diaper bag frequently, or when trying to stash shopping bags when running errands.

The Clic It! has one of the best parent consoles in our test, with two sizable cup holders, and the largest covered compartment in our test. The parent compartment has enough space to conveniently carry most cellphones and a set of car keys. The cup holders are very large, considerably larger than other top scoring competitors such as the Chicco KeyFit or the Graco SnugRider. One concern we have about the parent console is the placement high on the handle bar, directly over baby. Please refer to the Safety section (below) for more detail on our concerns regarding cup holder position and risks.

The Clic-It has the ability to self-stand, and while seemingly minor, this addition makes for simple vertical storage in a closet or hallway, and helps to minimalize fuss when loading everything in or out of the car.

Ease of Attaching Car Seat

It earned an 8 of 10 rating for its ease of attaching a car seat. When attaching click-in compatible Safety 1st, Cosco or Eddie Bauer systems, the connection was simple, clean and secure. It was nearly the best in ease-of-attachment, only the Chicco KeyFit Caddy and the Graco SnugRider scored higher, each with a 9 of 10 ratings. It did not score as well as the KeyFit or the SnugRider because the amount of seat wobble present once the seat was attached. The SnugRider for instance, has a nice solid connection that had substantially less lateral seat wobble.

Set-up Tip: the click-in compatible Safety 1st, Cosco and Eddie Bauer car seats require that the height adjustment bar on the rear of the stroller to be lowered for a proper connection.

Strap-in Compatible Car Seats Not Recommended

The Clic-It offers compatibility with multiple brands (such as Graco, Peg Perego, Maxi-Cosi, Chicco, etc) by having a strap to connect the seat and frame. We are not fans of any strap retention method. In comparison to a click-in connection, the usability of the product with a strap-in connection becomes so degraded that we feel it is simply not worth it. We do not recommend purchasing this product for use with any car seat other than the specific Safety 1st, Cosco, and Eddie Bauer models that provide a click-in connection.

Safety

It earned the highest rating in Safety of the six competitors, with a 6 of 10 rating. The nearest competitor was the Graco SnugRider, which earned a 5 of 10 rating.

We found that the connection with click-in compatible car seats firm, although there is some seat wobble evident. But, despite a bit of play, the connection was solid and secure in our tests.

The brakes are easy to engage and disengage and we found that using them with sandals did not hurt our toes. Once engaged, the brakes feel firm and keep the wheels at a full stop.

It has deeper cup holders, at 2.8" deep, than most of its competitors. The placement and depth of the cup holders concerns us because they are often too shallow to hold cups or bottles steadily, and are typically positioned directly over the baby. The cup holders are reasonably deep, and provide a more secure hold than many competitors, but their use still requires caution since they are placed directly above baby. We found it was the only car seat stroller we tested that would restrain a tall water bottle when descending a 6" curb. However, care still needs to be taken to avoid spilling or dislodging a container as it might fall onto baby.

It is very important to never place hot liquids in a stroller's cup holders. We would expand this warning for the Clic-It, and other car seat strollers with a parent console placed above baby, to include items that may fall out of the cup holders and could cause injury, (e.g.) heavy water bottles, etc.

Maneuverability

The safety 1st had a slightly above average showing in our Maneuverability tests, bringing home a 5 of 10 rating. It's at home on hard flat surfaces, but on rougher paved surfaces or gravel performance dipped considerably.

The frame is the most solid of all the car seat strollers in this test. The frame aided nicely when descending and ascending curbs, and we found that its feel was confidence inducing. The stiff frame combined with the 360 degree swivel wheels, allows the ability to handle excellently one-handed.

The Safety 1st stroller frame has double, 6.25" never-flat wheels that swivel 360 degrees in the front, and two equally large wheels in the back. While the ride was smooth on hard flat surfaces, it was rough when dealing with door thresholds or bumps. Consequently we found that it gave its best performance in the aisles of the supermarket.

It incorporates suspension in the front wheel assembly, but we found it to be so stiff that it was not very effective in smoothing out bumps in the sidewalk or road. In comparison to other products in our test, it rattled more on rougher paved surfaces.

Folded Size and Weight

The Safety 1st earned a 7 of 10 rating which was about average relative to competitors. At 12 lbs 15 oz it is the third heaviest stroller in the review, but still relatively light and only two pounds heavier than the lightest frame in our review.

When folded it is one of the most compact and will fit in just about any car trunk.

Best Applications

The Safety 1st car seat stroller is the best option for parents who have one of the click-in compatible Safety 1st, Cosco, or Eddie Bauer car seats.

Value

The Safety 1st Clic-It carries a $70 list price, but can often be found for less online, and offers the most bang for your buck of all the frame strollers in our test. We consider it to be a superb value.

Conclusion

The Safety 1st Clic-It earned our Best Value Award winner because of its strong overall performance and attractive price. For anyone with a click-in compatible Safety 1st, Cosco, or Eddie Bauer car seat, it is an excellent choice.