Excellent Choice for the Price Point
August 12, 2019
Thanks to weeSpring Parent Panel for providing me with the Britax DUALFIT, harness high back booster seat in exchange for my honest opinion. As parents of a 3 year old and a 1 year old, we have tried our share of car seats, from the infant car seat to the "all in one" style of car seats. This was our first time trying out a car seat made specifically for an older child. There were multiple things to like about this car seat, and a few concerns detailed below, but for the price point, this harness high back booster is a very good choice.
The Britax DUAL FIT has a slim, but comfortable and sturdy design. The installation was easy with the quick click, lower anchors. However, the construction of the tether hook at the top of the car seat seemed to make it more difficult to properly tighten the strap. The design of the backrest made it easy to adjust the height of the chair to my child's specific requirements, and the narrow foot print of this car seat allowed plenty of leg room while still being a comfortable ride.
As parents our initial assessment was that it was not as cushioned along the back, seat, and arms as some car seats in higher price points, but my son likes it and says it is comfortable. Even with the lighter cushioning, the sturdy steel construction and substantial headrest put our minds at ease with regard to safety.
We all liked the multiple cup and snack holders on both the left and right side of the seat. One thing of note is that the cup holders are an 1/8" too small for his water bottle (diameter 3.9"), which can rotate freely in the cup holders, but is difficult for even an adult to remove.
I feel like this car seat fits my 3 year old better than some of the "all in one" car seats, which were already becoming tight on him even though he was within the specs. There is plenty of length in the harness to allow for him to easily get into the car seat.
I also like that the lever to release the harness is tucked away more so than some other car seats we have tried. My son quickly figured out how to get out of those other car seats. I feel confident that he will not be able to loosen this harness as easily.
I have noticed that tightening the harness straps requires a little more attention than previous car seats. More force is required to pull on the strap to tighten it. I am hopeful that this will loosen up some over time. Also, there have been a few occasions where my child is properly seated in the car seat before leaving, but upon arriving at our destination is looser than I would like to see. I think this may be a result of the car seat being more upright than those we have used in the past. I believe slack is being created because his back is not fully against the back of the car seat. This has been easy to remedy, but is worth noting for other customers.
This product review was collected by the manufacturer.