REASONS TO BUY
Good value
Efficient
Great accessories
REASONS TO AVOID
Condensation in tubing
Loud
Medela Pump In Style Advanced Review
Great pump with the most accessories for the best price
Medela Pump in Style with On the Go Tote
Credit: Medela
By Lindsay Smith ⋅ March 4, 2014
Contributions From: Curtis Smith
RELATED: The Best Breast Pumps of 2025
Our Verdict
The Medela pump in Style Advanced was chosen as our Best Value Award winner for so many reasons. To put it simply, it's just a great pump. It is efficient, producing a large volume of milk in a good amount of time. It is portable, with the pump built right into the tote bag, you can just pick it up and head to your next destination. To top it off, it comes with some great accessories all included at a very competitive price. While some pumps may be cheaper, they just don't come with the same quality pump or parts. We did find this pump to be a little noisy, as are most electric pumps, and for some, the tubing may need to be replaced on occasion, (see “hygiene” below). Still, this pump remained a strong leader among our testing line-up.
Our Analysis and Test Results
Medela is one of the most popular pump brands available in the United States and have been selling pumps here for over 30 years now. They also developed the "Corporate Lactation Program" in which they aim to support women breastfeeding and pumping at work by educating the companies they work for.
Medela in Style Advanced with on the go tote. Above we see the pump built into the tote bag, along with all the accessories included with your purchase. A great value in our opinion.
Credit: Micah James
Efficiency
The Pump In Style is designed with a “two-phase expression process” that is designed to mimic that of a baby nursing. This means the pump starts with a quick, gentle, repetitive tug, which aims to stimulate your let-down reflex (beginning of milk flow). Next, the pump transitions to the full expression phase, which is a slower, stronger, and longer suction. This phase should produce the majority of your milk. The pump also gives you the option to either prolong or shorten the stimulation phase as you deem necessary for your optimal milk production. We like that their two-phase expression process was also a feature in their manual pump we tested and loved, the Medela Harmony Manual.
Comfort
It wasn't quite as comfortable as their Harmony Manual (a manual pump is naturally a little more comfortable), or the Spectra S1. Still, it is a good pump for repetitive use. Our testers did notice some soreness around the nipple area with multiple uses, however this was very common across the board. The pump was still much more comfortable than many of the others we tested.
We found this to be a great, portable pumping package.
Credit: Micah James
Ease of Use
The Pump In Style Advanced scored the highest out of all the pumps we tested in this category. First off, the pump is directly attached to the tote. You simply unzip a small compartment that actually houses the pump. The plug is easily stored inside the compartment, making it easy to just grab and plug in, or you can use the battery-operated adapter. It is also easy to roll up the tubing and keep it stored in the same compartment. Next, you simply grab the breast flanges and bottles, hook them up to the tubing, and go! We also liked that since the breast flanges are separate from the tubing hook-up, it was easy to make a “homemade pumping bra” out of an old sports bra by cutting two holes in the front for the breast flanges to slide through. Store-bought or homemade pumping bras are nice, especially when first starting to pump, as it can take a while for your confidence and coordination to come together in order to hold both pumps and bottles while maintaining suction on both breasts. If you do not want to purchase or make your own pumping bra, the technique would be to get a good suction position on one breast, then make an “L” shaped hold with your inner elbow holding that flange in place while you place the other flange on your breast. Then you can have one free hand available to operate the pump while the other arm and hand are holding the breast flanges in place. Trust us, it's not as complicated as it sounds and definitely gets easier with practice!
This pump is built for portability! You can remove the pump from the tote bag, but it is not easy and we do not recommend removing unless necessary.
Credit: Micah James
Portability
We also gave this pump a perfect score for portability. The reason we scored this pump the highest for portability is that the pump is specifically designed to be easily brought and used anywhere, whether it be home, work, or even in the back of your car. The nice thing about it is the pump, which is actually built right into the tote. It's not removable, which can be both a positive and a negative in many ways, but as far as portability goes, it makes things much easier. All you have to do is set your tote bag next to you, unzip the pump compartment, hook up your tubing to your breast flanges, and you are off and running. Another great aspect to portability with this pump is its ability to run on batteries. It takes 8 AA batteries, which we know is a lot, but it was one of the longest-running pumps in our dry run at over 6 hours! This time can vary depending on the settings you use and how long you pump for during each session, which is different for everyone. The pump also comes with an AC adapter to use when a plug is available. Our testers also tried the backpack version, and we do not recommend it as highly as there was much less room for anything other than the essentials.
You can clearly see here the condensation that builds up in the tubing after just one pumping session. This is a hygienic concern as mold and mildew could eventually develop.
Credit: Micah James
Hygiene
There were many reviews stating problems with condensation building up in the tubing. We found this true, and it happened very quickly after using the pump. About six pumping sessions in, we noticed some condensation, and the condensation increased with each use. We did not notice that this affected the strength of the pump, but we were concerned with the risk of mildew building up after a period of time. We found the best thing to do in this case was to replace the tubing. Even if you try to clean it and dry it out, it still had the same issue with condensation. The good news is the replacement tubing is easy to find.
Acoustics
This pump also scored fairly low on acoustics. If you are looking for something quiet, this is not the pump for you. Still, a lot of the pumps we tested were loud just based on their motor working hard to express milk, and, depending on how high a setting you put it on, it could get louder. One positive on the noise level is that if you pump at work, people can hear it, in which case they are less likely to walk in on your pumping session. This is a very popular pump in many workplaces, and most people can recognize the sound. Our testers even had co-workers comment on how familiar with the sound they were, and that they waited to come through the break room until the pumping sound had stopped. However, if you are planning on being an exclusive pumper, this may not work for you in the middle of the night with your significant other and baby sleeping close by. It really depends on what your needs are. Many women choose to set their pump up in another location so it is always ready for them to pump at night, while other women choose to pump at their bedside.
Conclusion
We believe this pump offers an excellent value. It may not be the “Cadillac” like the Spectra S1, but it comes in more than $100 cheaper, and still gets the job done in an efficient manner. We really appreciated its ease of use and portability, as well as all the great accessories included. We also like how easy it was to use with a pumping bra. We see why it's become one of the most popular pumps out there for all of these reasons, and we'd highly recommend it as a great value for any family.
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