The Quinny Zapp has two handles that keep your hands in a proper pushing position and it’s extremely lightweight (7.5kg), which makes it very easy to push.
The age suitability is listed as 6 months to 4 years but I wouldn’t advise it for use that young as the shoulder straps on the harness are fixed at a relatively high position making it quite challenging to properly secure a child under 12 months of age.
There’s no reclining seat, which is what disqualifies it for use by babies under six months, but with the removal of the cover and addition of brackets, the Quinny Zapp becomes a travel system as you can fix a Maxi Cosi infant car seat to the chassis. This would be a redeeming feature as when you’re struggling in the early days, a lightweight chassis that enables you to click in your car seat is a welcome product.
The Quinny Zapp is marketed as a brilliant choice for quick urban use and that is all I would recommend it for. Rural terrain would make mince meat of the Quinny Zapp and your child might not like you for that.
What we love
I did find the Quinny Zapp very stylish and colourful. We received the ‘Orient’ colour to test and I felt quite “blingy” out and about with it. ‘Orient’ is a red and fuchsia colour; very trendy and eye-catching. My daughter, Ella, was very drawn to it as it sat in our lounge after assembly and wanted to sit in it straight away.
The Quinny Zapp is extremely lightweight and required little effort to unfold and fold it. I stumbled a bit with the main chassis fold as it’s not entirely clear how to push the chassis base to open or close it.
I did really enjoy the separate handles on the Quinny Zapp. It enables you to keep your hands in a more natural pushing position, keeping mummy more comfortable over long distances.
What to watch out for
The lightweight nature of the Quinny Zapp doesn’t give much stability or sturdiness to the pushchair when pushing it on different surfaces. The Quinny Zapp is mainly for urban terrain and I wouldn’t recommend rural surfaces - it’s too rickety and bumpy, which makes for a very uncomfortable child. I tested the Quinny Zapp on a long walk on tarmac, gravel and dirt paths and it struggled mightily on anything other than tarmac or pavement. My daughter, Ella, was very uncomfortable and let me know about it.
Besides the terrain issues, I had a real problem with the fixed shoulder straps and shallow seat depth in addition to the lack of seat adjustment. The seat doesn’t recline or adjust in any way and with Ella, a 13 month old who weighs around 10kg, the straps were resting around her head and face, not on her shoulders and chest as they should be. I cinched up the straps the entire way and this was still a problem. Ella was clinging to the straps and was almost wrestling with them. Again, this doesn’t make for a very pleasant journey. The seat is quite shallow which caused Ella to sort of cling to the edge of the seat.
The canopy has a nice viewing window but doesn’t come down very far to provide adequate sun protection. We did get to use the rain canopy as well, due to a sudden shower, and I found that although easy to put on, it seemed slightly small; letting in the weather in a few areas.
The Quinny Zapp has very little storage space, even with a storage basket that you need to purchase as a separate accessory. The storage basket attaches under the chassis relatively simply but there’s not much room in the basket as the cross bar runs through the middle of the basket. I could just manage to fit the raincover in the storage basket and stuff Ella’s cool bag in rather awkwardly. Everything needs to be removed, however, when you fold the Quinny Zapp or it won’t fold all the way.
Quinny advises that you should not hang any bags from the handles, which pose a real difficulty: where do you put your changing bag? I ended up taking a few key items out of the changing bag, putting them in Ella’s baby rucksack and hanging that off one handle. If you’re out and about, expect to be carrying your shopping bags and changing bag as even if you flout the rules and attempt to hang something on the handles, you’ll quickly change your mind because it makes the Quinny Zapp very unstable and rickety.
The issue that was the most concerning to me with the Quinny Zapp was my daughter Ella’s comfort. She seemed miserable in the Quinny Zapp. he fought with the shoulder straps on the harness, clung to the edge of the seat held in only by the crotch strap and put up a mighty fuss about being in the Quinny Zapp. This is not how we usually take our walks so for us, the Quinny Zapp just doesn’t fit because my daughter really didn’t’ enjoy it.
Who is the Quinny Zapp best for?
City mums after a lightweight, easily collapsed 3-wheeler for quick dashes out and about with a toddler.
The Quinny Zapp is a good-looking and lightweight 3-wheel pushchair that allows a mum to get around quickly and collapse and open the pushchair with relative ease. However, it’s not a sturdy, comfortable pushchair and provides very little in the way of storage, durability and comfort.
