Britax Affinity 2 Travel System Review
Reviewed by David Savage
When asked to review the new Affinity 2 Travel System from Britax I was delighted, although I did assume (wrongly) that all pushchairs are the same. The Britax Affinity 2 Travel System consists of a pushchair, or stroller if you prefer that term, a hard carrycot and compatible car set (the pushchair, carrycot and car seat are purchased separately) and I received the pushchair and carrycot in a beautiful Lagoon Green for the Britax Inspired by Nature collection (the Inspired by Nature collection features new bold and vibrant colours) for review.
On delivery I received 3 packages; one for the pushchair, one for the colour pack and one for the carrycot.
The box for the pushchair contained the frame, the seat, seat bar, wheels, raincover and 2 user manuals in a plethora of different languages. The box for the carrycot contained a fully assembled carrycot, raincover and user manual. The colour pack contains the seat cover, hood, strap covers, cosytoes and a cover for the under chair storage tray.
Assembly of the Pushchair: I followed the user manual on how to assemble and this was a mistake, I found the user manual not very user friendly and although had pictures they weren’t explanations as to what the pictures represent. So assembly took 35 minutes although assembly is fairly straightforward, I felt the manual made it more difficult than need be. I did find out after assembly that the Britax website has some great videos on how to assemble which I since watched just to confirm that I put it together correctly.
So despite the manual, assembly is easy. The pushchair features the Click & Go system so that every piece just clicks into place. The wheels just push on to the frame and are quick release (should you every need to remove them), the seat pushes down and clicks into place enabling you to remove easily and replace with the carrycot should you require it. I love this system and ease of use.
Fitting the Colour Pack: This came with no instructions but is straightforward (although I did put the shoulder strap covers on upside to begin with) and again there is a great instructional video on the Britax website. The seat cover goes on first with the straps going through the pre-cut holes. The hood pushes on using the Click & Go system and then zips closed at the bottom (this was quite fiddly). Then add the cosytoes (just slips on and held on with poppers). The final piece is the under chair tray cover that again just slots in and held in place with poppers.
The carrycot needed no assembly.
Once assembled it was time to put it through its paces and I have been using it for the past week or so, especially as the weather has been better recently and we took more trips to the park. Now as I started this review I assumed a pushchair is the same as any other one. Wrong! You certainly get what you pay for. The Britax Affinity 2 has 2 large fixed wheels and 2 smaller front wheels (with one that swivels for easy turning) and are equipped with suspension springs making it a very smooth ride.
You can position the seat at different angles by pulling the tab at the top/back of the seat under the hood and the seat can be rear or forward facing (carrycot rear facing only). The footrest is also adjustable.
The pushchair has an adjustable height handle, just push the button on the inside of the handle and hold it in to adjust releasing to lock in place.
The pushchair has a large brake which is colour coded red and green to let you know if in locked on unlocked position (red for lock and green for unlocked). It is quite large so very easy to use with your foot.
The pushchair frame folds down to about half its size for easy storage. It is extremely easy by removing the seat using the Click & Go system, Pressing the button on the handle to fold the handle in, pressing the clips either side and pull the tabs on each side of the frame and fold. As I said it folds to about half the size for easy storage.
When the weather isn’t so good there is a very warm cosytoes to keep the child warm and a raincover, the carrycot also comes with its on raincover.
The carrycot has a large handle on hood for easy carrying. It has a very well-padded interior base with a Velcro scrap to hold the child in place (if required) and feels very soft and comfortable. The top unzips to remove (also held on with poppers). There are also plastic feet on bottom of the carrycot to protect the base if placed on floor or other flat surface.
Overall the Britax Affinity 2 Travel System is excellent. Apart from the not so user friendly user manual the pushchair with its Click & Go system is so easy to use. There is quite a bit of storage space underneath and it manoeuvres extremely easy and feels comfortable to push across a variety of different surfaces (pavement, roads, grass, even and uneven surfaces). It is quite lightweight (around 11kg with frame and seat) with its aluminium frame but very sturdy and solid.
The wheels have a quick release function should you need to remove for any reason (for easier storage of replacing wheels etc.…).
When purchasing you can even choose the chassis colour (white, black or silver) and the fabric colour (lagoon green, cosmos black, flame red, wood brown, ocean blue or mineral lilac) to suit your own personal taste.
So it my opinion the Britax Affinity 2 is a complete high-quality, easy to use, luxury travel system as you can affix the pushchair seat, carrycot or compatible Britax Click & Go car seat (i.e BABY-SAFE range) and that is great on all types of terrain and is very versatile.
If you are looking for a good looking, quality pushchair or carrycot or a complete travel system then I can highly recommend the Britax Affinity 2. I started this review by saying that I assumed a pushchair was just a pushchair, a seat on wheels, but after using the Affinity system and then going back to a normal pushchair there is a huge difference in ease of use, stability, durability and quality and although on the expensive side you get what you pay for – packed full on innovation and versatility and definitely value for money.
My only negative is the user manual is not that clear, you are better off watching the assembly videos on the Britax website.
The Britax Affinity 2 Travel System is suitable for children from birth to 17kg or 3 years.
Rating: 5/5
RRP: £465 (Pushchair) / £120 (Carrycot)
For more information or to buy visit www.britax.co.uk.
