First Look | Maxi-Cosi’s innovative new Coral infant car seat
With two ways of carrying your baby, the Maxi-Cosi Coral is a new type of infant car seat. We give it an initial test with a 2-month-old baby
Maxi-Cosi is well known for being a pioneer in baby and child travel. Drawing on its 35-year history in designing car seats, strollers and travel systems, the brand has now come up the Coral, an innovative new baby car seat with split functionality.
But first the basics: A group 0+ car seat, the Coral is suitable from birth up to 13kg/29lb and 45-75cm (approx 12 months), rear-facing and i-Size compliant.
What makes the Coral different?
The Coral has a detachable soft carrier inside the car seat shell, which weighs 1.7kg. This means you have two ways of carrying your baby to and from the car:
- Using the lightweight soft carrier, you can lift your baby in and out of the car seat shell with one click of a button, leaving the plastic shell in the car ready for your next journey
- You can lift and carry your baby in the entire seat, which weights 5.3Kg – great if you want to use the car seat on a pushchair as part of a travel system
Sounds good, but just how useful is the detachable carrier?
Very useful. Weighing just 1.7kg, I found it extremely easy to lift our baby out of the car (even one-handed) and keep close to me using the detachable carrier. The lightness of the detachable carrier is one of its main benefits. It is also much less bulky to carry than a traditional car seat and takes up less space if you intend to take it into a cafe or restaurant or store it in your home.
The soft carrier also features retractable handles that enable you to carry your child ergonomically, while good padding and leg support ensure the child's comfort.
I found it extremely easy to lift our baby out of the car (even one-handed) and keep close to me using the detachable carrier
The 3-point easy-in harness allows you to put your baby straight into the soft carrier without having to lift up or move the straps and buckle. This means there is no need to move the straps out of the way before lowering baby into the seat.
The soft carrier is an especially useful feature when your baby is sleeping, so you can move them around without waking them. Note: safety experts recommend that infants should not sit or sleep in an upright car seat for more than 2 hours at a time.
Do you use a base with the Coral or a seat belt?
The Coral can be used with both. It’s compatible with the Maxi-Cosi FamilyFix 3 base, which connects to the ISOFIX anchors in your car, or it can be fitted using a standard car seat belt.
While safety testing shows both options are equally safe, the ISOFIX base option ensures that the seat is easily correctly fitted to the base, whereas the seat belt needs to be threaded exactly through the seat's guides.
The FamilyFix 3 can also be used with other Maxi-Cosi seats: including the lie-flat Jade safety carrycot, Pebble Pro i-Size and Pearl Pro2 i-Size car seats – meaning it will see you through from newborn up to age 4.
Is it easy to fit the Coral safely?
The instructions and colour-coded warnings on the Coral make installation straightforward. The car seat shell has a red/green visual indicator to show that the soft carrier has been correctly clipped in, while the FamilyFix 3 base unit has both visual and audio indicators – a green light on the indicator panel and a short beep – that confirm when the Coral is correctly secured.
What are the other key features of the Coral?
- Extra-large sun canopy - connected to the plastic shell, the sun canopy offers sunlight protection for your baby’s eyes, while keeping them cool and safe from harmful UV rays
- ISOFIX base and belted installation – so you can use it safely with a belt in cars if you don’t have the base
- Newborn insert that sits inside the soft carrier for added protection and comfort, and which can be removed as your baby grows
- Soft carrier cover is removable and machine washable – a particularly useful feature to combat leaky nappies, posseting, sticky fingers or sickness
- Memory buttons so it's easier to remove the car seat from a pushchair when using as a travel system
Which pushchairs can you use it with to create a travel system?
The Coral fits on compatible Maxi-Cosi and Quinny pushchairs, including the Zelia and Quinny VNC, to create a travel system.
Any other accessories?
You can purchase a separate Coral Summer Liner/Inlay, which is thermo-regulating to keep your baby cool and comfortable, as well as a Maxi-Cosi rain cover and footmuff.
How much is the Coral?
The Coral retails at £239, the Coral car seat comes in three colours – Essential Black, Essential Graphite and Neo Green.
Available from John Lewis
The Maxi-Cosi FamilyFix3 ISOFIX base unit costs £199 and is sold separately. Available from John Lewis
Pics: Georgina Probert | Maxi-Cosi
About the author
Georgina Probert is a lifestyle and parenting journalist and mum to 2 girls aged 2 months and 4 years. She is a freelance writer who lives in Kent with her husband, daughters and cat Molly.
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Authors
Georgina has been a journalist for more than 14 years, working on a wide range of magazines including Family First, Homes & Gardens, Good Homes and Cage & Aviary Birds.
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