Didofy Stargazer travel system bundle review

The Stargazer is available as a standalone stroller, £424.99, as well as a 2-in-1 bundle which includes the pushchair and carrycot, along with accessories, for £699.99. It's also available as a larger travel system bundle for £799.99, which is what we tested. This bundle comes with a car seat and ISOFIX base, pushchair and carrycot, the latter of which is also suitable for overnight sleeping when travelling.

Thoughtful little extras include a coffee cup holder, changing backpack, foot muff for the pushchair, and rain cover. It offers great value for money, sitting in the middle of the market, compared to premium travel system offerings like the Uppababy Vista V2, around £1,570, and the Inglesina Electa travel system, around £1,295. For this reason, it was awarded Bronze in the best newborn pram/pushchair under £800 category in the MadeForMums Awards 2024.

<

First impressions?

The travel system comes in several boxes so it took up quite a bit of space in my hallway until we were ready to get it all out. Previously I had been using a Cosatto travel system that all came in one (admittedly large) box, so that’s perhaps something to be mindful of pre-delivery to make sure you have enough space to store it all.

All in all, the system made a good impression as it came out of the box. I liked the look of the chrome finish and the understated look of the grey fabric (it's also available in green or black). It’s perhaps a little on the 'muted' side for some tastes – I probably usually prefer something a little brighter and funkier, but that’s all down to personal taste.

How easy was the Didofy Stargazer to assemble?

Very – this is a super-easy travel system to put together. Nothing actually needed construction as such, the different parts just folded out and attached to each other – i.e. the bassinet on the chassis or the car seat on the chassis. You can use this pretty much straight out of the box without much fuss and, although there are instructions given for each of the elements, on the whole, it’s fairly self-explanatory.

What do you think of the Didofy Stargazer carrycot?

The carrycot has a luxurious feel to it for a number of reasons. The interior fabric feels and looks plush, with again a nicely understated design. I’d perhaps have preferred there to be some kind of design on the interior of the hood for the baby to look at – this is something my Cosatto travel system has and makes it a bit funkier to look at for parents too. That said, it’s easy enough to hang a toy from the top of the bassinet, and as it's so tall, it doesn’t interfere with the baby.

There’s plenty of room inside the carrycot, which measures W39cm x H30cm x L82cm and is designed to last up to around 6 months or 9kg. My baby is only 9 weeks old at the moment, but there’s plenty of room for her to grow in it and it feels like she will probably fit in it until that recommended age range. The mattress is firm and the baby seems comfortable enough in it. It also seems pretty breathable when I put it up against my own face, which is very reassuring considering it can be used for overnight sleeping. The rocking base is also a nice touch.

There are memory buttons on either side of the hood. This means you can either press both at the same time, or you can press one at a time to fold that down – ideal if you only have one hand available. The whole carrycot also fully collapses to fold down flat with just 2 clicks.

How easy is the carrycot to add on and take off the Didofy Stargazer pushchair?

It's a 2-button system – you need to push these together at the top of the bassinet to get it off the pram chassis. You can do it quickly and easily and with one hand. Once you’ve done it a couple of times it's very easy. You attached the carrycot onto the chassis simply by lining up the 2 inserts, which again is pretty easy to do one-handed once you’ve got the knack. You’ll hear a click when it's in place, so you can feel confident it’s attached correctly.

Does the Didofy Stargazer pushchair fold flat with the carrycot attached?

No, it doesn't. While you can fold down the chassis, the bassinet will stay on top of it at a right angle. If you’re travelling on public transport this means you’ll need to take it off completely and carry it separately. If you’re also carrying the baby – even if in a sling or carrier – I found it next to impossible and only manageable when I had my husband with me. I’ve seen some other bassinet prams fold down flat even with it attached, like the Joolz Aer+, so I’d probably look towards those if I were someone who frequently used public transport in the earlier stages.

Is the carrycot suitable for overnight sleeping?

Didofy says that the Stargazer carrycot is suitable for overnight sleeping, thanks to the fact it lies completely flat and has ventilation panels. We had the opportunity to use the bassinet for 3 nights while on a trip to London. I felt much more comfortable using this compared to the travel cots often found in hotels – especially as a first-time mum to such a young baby. It also means you don’t have to specifically book family or baby-friendly rooms, as you already have an overnight space with you, so it potentially saves you both money and hassle.

My daughter slept well in it overnight and I was able to use it as a bedside crib with the pram next to the bed. You also have the option to take the bassinet off and place it on the floor, as it has a rocking base which you can use – I’d only do this if you’re placing the bassinet quite far from the bed to make sure nothing like pillows or blankets can fall into it. You can extend small feet to stop it from rocking if you prefer, too. There are ventilation flaps at each end of the carrycot, which you can use when sleeping overnight to ensure good airflow around the baby, which is excellent.

A carrycot is something you don’t get too much use out of since a baby grows out of it so quickly, but having this additional function of an overnight sleeper adds value for money. We have a couple more trips planned before my daughter turns 6 months and it’s great to have.

What do you think of the car seat that comes with the Didofy Stargazer?

The car seat included in the travel system is i-Size and suitable from birth up to around 15 months (40-87cm, maximum weight 13kg). It feels sturdy and secure but is lightweight (just 3.2kg) for carrying around, and getting it in and out of the car and onto the chassis. It is ECE R129 safety certified and has side impact protection, and has an insert that you can use for newborns, then remove as they get older. There’s a 3-point safety harness which was quick and easy to adjust.

Like the other elements of the Stargazer bundle, the seat fabric is made from recycled PET bottles, but nevertheless it feels soft and comfy. Just to note that the seat is black, while the rest of the system comes in black, green or grey.

The seat comes with an ISOFIX base in the £799.99 bundle which means you can simply snap the seat into place and off again rather than having to spend too much time faffing around with seatbelts. However, you can also install it with a seatbelt, which is useful if you need to use it in someone else’s car.

You will need adaptors to fit onto the pram chassis, which are supplied in the box. I found it useful to keep the adapters in the car so that I wouldn’t forget them when travelling.

How easy is the Didofy Stargazer to fold?

Very. The Stargazer has Didofy's signature GravityFold mechanism which means you can fold the chassis down one-handed and with one movement with a simple push of the lever on the handlebar. When you want to unfold it, it’s similarly easy.

Technically you can fold down the pram when the carrycot is attached, however, the carrycot stays at a right angle to the base, so isn’t really practical. You can leave the pushchair seat on and this folds down a bit easier – the neat thing here is that it folds when either in parent or world-facing mode.

What is the Didofy Stargazer like when folded?

The chassis folds down relatively small – W64cm x H69cm x D37cm without the seat and W64cm x H69cm x D39cm with the seat – and is light and easy to move. Being picky, I’d perhaps have liked some kind of handle – even a fabric one – to help carry it, but that’s not a dealbreaker for me. It fits into the boot of my small car (a Mini Cooper 5 door), but you do need to take the wheels off and it needs to stand on its side and take out the parcel shelf – of course, larger boots won't have this problem.

You can just about get the bassinet when folded down or the pushchair inserts in too but it’s a tight squeeze and leaves no room for anything else. That’s to be expected with a small car however, and I would expect the same from pretty much any pram – indeed my previous one was pretty much the same.

If you want or need to save space, depending on where you’re going and what you're doing (and how old your child is), you don’t need to take the bassinet or the pushchair as you can attach the car seat to the chassis and simply use that instead, so that makes it better for those of us who are still quite attached to their small cars!

The bassinet also folds down at the sides, but I found it didn’t like to stay down, particularly when trying to carry it. You also need to take it apart from the chassis for it to be at its most compact.

How good is it to push and steer?

The Didofy Stargazer feels sturdily built but also quite adept at getting around different surfaces and different spaces. The best experience – of course – is when pushing it along a smooth surface such as a well-kept pavement. It has 4-wheel suspension, but if you go over something bumpy such as cobbles etc, your baby will rattle around – in my experience the baby quite enjoys that but others might feel differently.

To me, this pram feels best suited to urban environments. We took it off-road into some woodlands and across grass, where it coped just about OK, but I probably wouldn’t want to use it for this purpose very regularly. If you’re somebody who likes to go off-roading a lot, something with pneumatic tyres is probably a better option.

Mounting kerbs works quite well and I found I was easily able to push it up and down even the largest kerbs in my neighbourhood. If the handlebar is in its highest position, the centre of gravity changes a little making this harder to do, but you can either use your knee or change the bar to a different position if it’s causing a problem.

Steering is very good on the Didofy Stargazer. You can either have the wheels in a locked forward position or a more flexible position for tighter spaces. When in the flexible position, I found it easy to get around tight spaces such as supermarkets, but I preferred to have it on the locked position when out for longer walks around the park and so on as it seemed less likely to veer off in a direction I didn’t want it to.

How well does the Didofy Stargazer work on public transport?

I don’t need to use public transport all that often as I live right in the city centre, but we took the Stargazer and carrycot on the train from Cardiff to London and then used it on the Tube. The chassis folds down very neatly and it fits into the large luggage rack on our intercity train very easily. The bassinet also folds down and we were able to wrangle it into the luggage rack too – I don’t think either would have fitted on an overhead luggage rack, so that may be something to bear in mind if you’re intending to travel at busy times.

The one criticism I have here is that although the carrycot does fold down when you’re trying to carry it one-handed, it has a tendency to extend open and be a bit awkward – a tie or clip to keep it in the folded position would make things a lot easier. If I was to travel a long distance like that again I would probably invest in a bungee cord to wrap around it to keep it as compact as possible.

Using it on the tube was easy enough if you only use stations with step-free access, such as Paddington and King’s Cross. With those Tube trains there’s plenty of space to simply wheel the pushchair onto the train without needing to fold it down. Had we used it in places with steps, folding down the base and the bassinet and attempting to carry both would probably have been a struggle, but it would likely be easier when my daughter is a bit older.

What’s the chassis like?

The chassis on the Didofy Stargazer has a gunmetal finish and looks both well-made and stylish. In the time we have been using it, I haven’t noticed any scrapes or nicks, which is good considering I’ve pushed into things several times. At the top, there is a leatherette finish which feels nice to hold and push. So far this is lasting well and still looks brand new after several weeks of use – it’ll be interesting to see how it copes over the lifespan of the product.

The carrycot sits quite high on the chassis, which makes it easy to see your baby, and easy to attend to them without bending down too far. This is good for saving your back, especially if you’re on the tall side, or if you're recovering from a C-section.

How do you rate the handle on the Didofy Stargazer?

The buggy handle on the Stargazer is great. It feels comfortable and has an attractive chrome finish and leatherette covering on the top part, which means it doesn’t get too cold if you’re using it without gloves in the winter. You can quickly and easily adjust it into one of 3 positions to match your preferred height. This is particularly important for my husband who is quite tall (over 6 foot) and says it’s the first time he’s been able to comfortably push a pram without having to hunch over.

Personally I prefer it in the lower position, so it’s great to be able to adjust this very simply so we can switch between us with ease. One thing to note however, when you’re using it in the highest position it’s a little harder to push the pram down for going up kerbs and so on. My husband gets around this by using his knee to help, but another way is to quickly move the handle into a lower position too.

What do you think of the Didofy Stargazer seat unit?

The Stargazer seat can be put into a lie-flat position, making it safe for newborns and young babies. We used it like this a few times when we wanted a smaller overall space, and it also meant my baby could see more of the world too which was great.

The hood of the pushchair in the lie-flat position doesn’t extend very high, so if there’s a chance of rain, or it’s very cold or windy, you’d be better off with the carrycot when the baby is young. It’s very easy to recline and you can either have the baby outward facing or inward towards you.

The bundle comes with a footmuff which is designed to keep the baby warm during the colder months, however, my daughter being so young meant her legs don’t reach the footmuff yet so we supplemented it with a blanket.

What’s the hood like?

The hood of the Didofy Stargazer carrycot can be folded down very quickly and easily for ease of transport or when using it for overnight sleeping. When you want to push it into the upright position, it locks into place with a satisfying click. It’s a very sufficient hood and I’ve been happy to push the baby in it even when it’s been windy and lightly raining and she doesn’t seem to have been reached or bothered by the weather.

The hood of the pram seat is less impressive – it’s quite small and doesn’t stay in place as easily, especially when using it in the lie-flat position. I spent a lot of time having to pull it back up to try and get it to stay in place until eventually I just gave up and let it do what it wanted to do. For this reason, I wouldn’t use it with my small baby in anything other than pretty good weather.

What are the wheels like on the Didofy Stargazer?

The wheels are made from textured plastic and look and feel solid. They aren’t like pneumatic tyres which can trap dirt – particularly mud and so on – so are great for cleaning. However, this does mean that although they can cope with most terrains, the ride isn’t as smooth on off-road surfaces. If, like me, you live in an urban area and mainly use the pram in such environments, then this should be fine for occasional off-road adventures.

Taking the wheels on and off is very quick and easy with a simple mechanism. This is lucky as I need to remove them to put the chassis in the boot of my small car.

How good are the brakes?

One of the best things about the Didofy Stargazer is the flip-flop-friendly brake. Essentially, this means you don’t ever need to pull it up with your toes – something a lot of other prams need you to do. Whether or not you wear flip-flops, it’s a much more comfortable experience – you simply tap it on and off in exactly the same motion. It’s not something you’d easily be able to kick on or off without realising it, while there’s also a coloured marker to show you whether they’re on (red) or off (green), too. The brakes seem to hold pretty well and I used them with confidence in a number of situations, including on a moving tube train.

What is the shopping basket like on the Didofy Stargazer?

The basket at the bottom of the chassis is lovely and big and is stated to hold up to 5kg. It can easily fit quite large bags and is easy to get smaller stuff in and out of. My larger changing bag does fit but needs a bit of wrangling to get in and out thanks to the high sides. That said, this gives good protection all around the sides too so things don’t fall out. Overall, this is much bigger and more useful than my previous pram so I loved having this flexibility to carry things while out and about and while travelling.

What’s in the box?

• Frame
• Wheels
• 2-way seat
• Carry cot
• Car seat
• Car seat adapters
• ISOFIX base
• Changing bag (including changing mat)
• Footmuff
• Rain cover
• Drinks holder
• Instructions

What did you think of the packaging of the Didofy Stargazer?

The bundle came in several cardboard boxes, all of which can be recycled quite easily. There were also several plastic bags which can be recycled, but you may find you need to take them to a specific recycling location depending on your local authority. Everything was well packaged and I didn’t feel as if anything was likely to be damaged in transit.

How sustainable is the Didofy Stargazer?

One of the key USPs of the Stargazer is that it has been manufactured with sustainability in mind. The fabrics are made from sustainable, recycled PET bottles – 92 for the stroller, and 73 for the carrycot. I asked Didofy to confirm whether it could be recycled at the end of its life and they said the fabrics could be. There is currently no chassis recycling program, however, Didofy advised that most UK recycling centres will allocate it to metal recycling rather than landfills.

What are the repair options for the Didofy Stargazer?

The warranty of the bundle is 2 years, which should see it covered for all of the carrycot’s usage – at least with one child – and a good proportion of the pushchair’s life too. Didofy offers repairs and replacements outside of the warranty period too – the company advises that you contact customer service should you need it.

What would you have wanted to know before purchasing the Didofy Stargazer travel system?

I’d perhaps give some consideration to how much I need all elements of the bundle – for example, if I already had an older child, whether I need all the optional extras such as the footmuff and so on. Also, I would have wanted to know about the pushchair not being able to fold flat with the carrycot attached, as this would be an issue for someone travelling alone on public transport when the baby is very young.

Who would this pushchair be most useful for?

The Didofy Stargazer bundle is aimed pretty squarely at new parents – after all, the bassinet will only be useful up until your baby is about 6 months old. If your baby is older than that already, then it’s better to buy just the individual parts you need, unless perhaps you have someone you can pass it on to or are planning to have more children in the future. It's a great purchase for new parents who want to buy everything they need for the first 6 months of their baby's life in one easy bundle, as well as those who are keen to buy as sustainably as possible.

Is the Didofy Stargazer bundle worth the money?

At just under £800 for the bundle, this sounds like quite an expensive proposition at first. However, you get quite a bit for your money and, with extras like the bassinet being able to be used overnight, it represents pretty good value for money. There are cheaper bundles out there, however,r they don’t typically come with so many extras, such as the ISOFIX car seat base and the footmuff for the pushchair, so it does feel like you get a good all-around bit of kit here. The Didofy Stargazer is a really decent mid-market, mid-price travel system.

Where can I buy the Didofy Stargazer travel system bundle?

Available from Didofy, Kiddies Kingdom and Baby Planet.

MadeForMums verdict

There are lots of different options for travel systems on the market, but the Didofy Stargazer sits firmly in the middle, coming in at a mid-range price while still offering a good range of functionality, extras and accessories. The carrycot is great for overnight sleeping in the first 6 months, so if you think you’re going to be away at all in the early days, you’ll get added value there.

The adjustable height of the handlebar is a particular win for tall people so I’d recommend it on that basis alone. If you’re a city/urban dweller, this copes well with a range of terrains, but if you’re likely to go off-roading a lot, there are probably better options more suited to rural life. Overall it’s a great buy with a lot to offer at a fairly reasonable price.