The Best Full-size Strollers of 2017

Best Overall Full-Size Stroller

BOB Revolution Flex

$382.49 (15% off) at Amazon See It

The BOB Revolution Flex won our hearts and an Editors' Choice award with improved ease of use in their new version. With one of the highest overall scores and the best performance for maneuverability, it is easy to see why the Revolution impressed. This BOB is easy to push and turn with great off-road capabilities and the potential for running. It sports large pneumatic tires, adjustable tracking, and a locking swivel front wheel that keeps it moving straight no matter what it encounters. This stroller offers a variety of features and functions for baby's comfort and parent convenience, and we think many parents will be attracted to the versatility of being jog and trail worthy that they can easily overlook the larger size and weight. While it may not be the best choice for families that want something more compact, if outdoor adventures are in your future it is a great cross-over choice for the busy family.

Read Full Review: BOB Revolution

High-end with a Reasonable Price

UPPAbaby Cruz

$549.99 at Amazon See It

The UPPAbaby Cruz is a sleek, no-nonsense product with a top score in ease of use and good scores for quality, ease of setup, and weight and folded size. While this is not the lightest option in the group, it does have a low weight of 21.1 lbs, which is about four pounds lower than the average. The Cruz has a large canopy, giant storage with a 25 lbs capacity, and easy to use seatback recline and leg rest adjustability. The Cruz lost a little ground in testing for maneuverability because it is a little larger and the four wheel design paled in comparison to the three wheel models that were easier to navigate. However, it isn't hard to push or turn and scored above average in our tests. The Cruz may not be the best bet for adventurous parents who plan to off-road with their baby or hope to jog when the baby is older, but it is great for days out in the city running errands and picnics in the park.

Read Full Review: UPPAbaby Cruz

Best Value Winner

Britax B-Agile 3

$202.49 (25% off) at Amazon See It

The Britax B-Agile 3 is an inexpensive stroller with a simple design and high performance. This lightweight product has a very easy fold and is small enough to fit in most trunks or carried with ease. The rubber covered handlebar feels good in the hand and is an adequate height for most parents. It scores well for ease of setup and has brakes that are easy to use. This reasonably priced option is a nice looking, good quality, simple option. This stroller also scored well in our lightweight stroller review, proving it has what it takes to do double duty as an umbrella product.

Read Full Review: Britax B-Agile 3

Money Saving Full-size Stroller

Baby Jogger City Mini

$259.00 at Amazon See It

The Baby Jogger City Mini is a lightweight, compact option that earned high scores for maneuverability and weight and folded size, and has a very friendly price made even friendlier if you consider its ability to function as a lightweight stroller. The City Mini was easy to push and turn with a trike design that makes turning and navigating crowded spaces a breeze. We were able to push it one-handed on most flat surfaces, but despite its moniker, it is not suitable for jogging. The City Mini has an easy to use harness and recline adjustment, as well as a nice sized storage bin and canopy with two peek-a-boo windows and a nicely padded seat for added passenger comfort. While it only has shocks on the front wheel and a stationary handlebar, it is still a nice product for a very nice price. The City Mini may not be the best option for parents who want to go off the beaten path as the plastic wheels, and limited suspension features will make it frustrating to push and uncomfortable for passengers. However, if you stick to the city streets and running errands, you'll be happy with the City Mini and the comfort it offers the baby.

Read Full Review: Baby Jogger City Mini

Best for Versatility

UPPAbaby Vista

$879.99 at Amazon See It

The UPPAbaby Vista earned the top score in this review with impressive results in almost every test. Unfortunately, thanks to a $820 list price and heavier size, it missed winning an Editors' Choice award that went to its smaller and less expensive brother the UPPAbaby Cruz. The truth is this full-size stroller is a very nice product that testers really enjoyed for its versatility of seating and features. This stroller is easy to use, easy to push and can accommodate up to three children, making it a versatile option for growing families with top quality to last for years. The Vista comes standard with a bassinet and toddler seat, and the frame accepts up to two infant car seats at the same time, or 2 toddler seats, and other variations including several using the bassinet with seats that can sit forward or back. This variety makes the Vista one of the most versatile in the review and a great choice for growing families.

Read Full Review: UPPAbaby Vista

Analysis and Test Results

We started by considering more than 150 competing full-size strollers and narrowed our options down to 19 popular finalists for our side-by-side comparison process that includes everything from maneuverability to ease of use. The finalists were selected based on their quality, innovations, or popularity. Our goal is to provide you with practical and detailed information on the products that are most likely on your short-list. The table above shows a comparison of the overall scores for each stroller we tested.


During testing, we focused on six key metrics, where ease of use and maneuverability were emphasized. Our ratings were based on a combination of real-world testing and extensive side-by-side in-house lab tests where each product was compared to the competition.

Ease of Use

Ease of use includes the features you will use repeatedly every day and impact normal day-to-day functionality. For instance, we looked at sunshades and how well they cover your baby, how easy they are to use, and if they offer a peek-a-boo window or ventilation. These kinds of features will impact your everyday experience, and a stroller's ability to perform as desired and expected will be the difference between one you enjoy and one you'd like to kick to the curb.


In our tests, the UPPAbaby Vista (above left) and the UPPAbaby Cruz (above left) both earned high scores for ease of use. These products have nicely executed features that work well and both offer high maximum storage capacity and the largest canopies now made with thicker reflective fabric. The UPPAbaby strollers have adjustable leg rests, easy to use recline adjustment and indicators for proper seat attachment. The Vista even has color-coded brakes for at-a-glance confirmation that the brakes are set.


The top two strollers in this metric lacked amenities like a parent or child tray, but these accessories are available for purchase if you think you need them. We believe these conveniences are useful and recommend you consider the cost of adding them in your decision-making process. However, we don't think they are mandatory, and we feel that some offered standard by the competition aren't even useful.


The worst performers in our ease of use tests were the Quinny Buzz Xtra and the 4moms Origami. Both have smaller sunshades, awkward designs, smaller storage, and are bulky when folded and relatively heavy. The 4moms Origami includes a parent tray and lots of gadgets, but it is hard to use with a gadgety feel.

Maneuverability

To test maneuverability, each product was put through a course of convoluted turns and corners covering a variety of surfaces including hardwood, pavement, gravel, grass, snow/ice, and dirt. To compare each stroller, we created the crowded-supermarket-from-hell simulator which is a multi-surface obstacle course that contains all kinds of tight corners and real-world challenges you'll face in real life. We then compared each product to the others for ease of pushing, turning, and general performance over various surfaces.


The top performers for maneuverability all share a 3-wheel design and larger rubber tires. The top scoring product, the BOB Revolution Flex, earned a 9 of 10 and features pneumatic (air-filled) tires, adjustable suspension and tracking, and a locking swivel front wheel. The second place options scored 8s and included the Mountain Buggy Swift, Baby Jogger City Mini GT, and the Baby Trend Expedition. All performed well in our obstacle course and managed uneven terrain better than the competition. The BOB Revolution Flex and Baby Trend Expedition also have jogging capability with both winning awards in our jogging stroller review.


The BOB Revolution Flex, Mountain Buggy Swift, and the Baby Trend Expedition all provide an impressive combination of easy pushing, smooth ride, and effortless turns. Quality construction made these three more responsive and easier to guide through tight aisles and turns. Bumps in the sidewalk were handled with ease by the larger air-filled tires with minimal impact passed on to the baby. The BOB Revolution Flex was noticeably better than both the Baby Trend Expedition and the Mountain Buggy Swift thanks to large wheels and very effective shocks.



It is worth noting that most of the high scoring strollers performed well on both paved and unpaved surfaces. On pavement, their large wheels made for very easy pushing, single-handed turning, and they excelled in smaller spaces. When we went over grass or gravel in the park, their advantages were even more pronounced. Smaller wheel products with solid tires got bogged down off the pavement and on rough surfaces, often to relatively unworkable levels. The plastic wheels also transmit bumps and jarring shocks directly to the baby because they do not absorb the energy and/or they lacked suspension. If you need to stroll regularly over grass, gravel, or dirt, then maneuverability should be a key factor in your decision-making process.

The Baby Jogger City Mini GT is a little bit of an anomaly in this metric. It performed well in our tests but has smaller wheels than the other top options. It is not as good at traversing rougher terrain as the larger wheel products, but it is still superior to the plastic wheeled competition, dual front wheel designs, and options without suspension. Baby Jogger advertises the GT as an all-terrain option. While we don't feel it is a good choice for regular off-roading, our tests do indicate it manages uneven surfaces better than the other small wheeled competition.


The worst performers in our maneuverability tests were the 4moms Origami and the Chicco Bravo LE. These options use foam filled plastic wheels under 7" in diameter on the front and less than 8" in diameter in the back. They both have a four-wheel design, with the 4moms design placing the front wheels far out in front of the frame where they caught on every obstacle in our test course. We found turning these full-size strollers through our obstacle course was harder, and travel over bumpy and/or non-paved surfaces frustrating, or impossible. Also, the 4moms product felt "loose" when turning, meaning there was flex in the frame when we pushed and turned (possibly a byproduct of the self-folding design); this made it less responsive and required more effort to turn.

Quality

Many parents believe that quality is directly related to price, and while this is somewhat true, we found that some of the mid-range products actually offer quality on par, or better than, the more expensive choices. This is good news for parents hoping to find a high-performing, quality full-size stroller without breaking the bank.


The highest quality options are the BOB Revolution Flex (with a price of $500) and the UPPAbaby Vista ($799) each with an 8 of 10. Both combine quality components made of high-end materials with a fit and finish that stands apart from the crowd with a significant price gap between the two. In general, products earned higher scores in this metric if they offered comfortable and durable fabric, pneumatic or foam filled rubber tires, and sleek frames with smooth finishes and little flex. The lowest scoring products in the group earned 4s. These were the 4moms Origami, the Baby Trend Expedition and the Graco Aire 3. These low scoring options show the wide range of prices possible for similar quality with a range from $120 to $850. Most of these strollers share plastic wheels, stationary handlebars, and have a lot of flex in the frames with multiple connection joints. The Best Value winner, the Baby Jogger City Mini earned a 6, which is above average with a budget-friendly price under $280.

Weight and Folded Size

To test weight and folded size we performed our own measurements. This proved important as we discovered that some manufacturers provided weights or measurements that excluded components such as wheels or detachable seats. Our measurements all include wheels and seats. We did not include accessory items like bassinets or rain covers.

The best scoring products for weight and folded size, scoring 8 of 10, are the Britax B-Agile 3 and the Baby Jogger City Mini. Both strollers weigh about 17 lbs and are close to 6,500 cubic inches. These strollers were also included in our umbrella stroller review because their lighter weights and smaller sizes were on par with many lightweight strollers currently on the market.


The lowest scorers for weight and folded size are the 4mom Origami and the Quinny Buzz Xtra. The 4moms Origami is 34lbs and the heaviest we tested, while the largest is the Quinny Buzz at 17,160 cubic inches. The average for the group is closer to 11,500 cubic inches and 24 lbs, with the BOB Revolution Flex (27.3 lbs) and UPPAbaby Cruz (21.2 lbs) coming in closer to these values.

Car Seat Compatibility

The photos above show the UPPAbaby Cruz coupled with the Chicco Keyfit 30 (left) and the UPPAbaby Mesa (right).

Most of the full-size strollers we tested are compatible with different infant car seats, and some are light enough to work as a possible stand in for a car seat frame product. A few of the products are really restricted in the seats you can use or don't accept infant seats at all. Other strollers have a lot of flexibility in brands and models that will work, including the Chicco Keyfit 30, Peg Perego Primo Viaggio 4-35, and the UPPAbaby Mesa, which all won awards in our review of infant car seats.

If your plan is to use your stroller in conjunction with an infant car seat carrier, then we encourage you to choose a car seat first and then find the best strolling product to go with it. We also think most parents should consider purchasing a car seat frame product for the first 6-9 months because they are easier to use, lighter, cheaper, and can give parents a better idea of how they will be using their primary full-size stroller.

The photos above show two car seat connectors types, the snap-in connectors (left) and the frame "click on" connectors (left).

We tested the strollers with their brand compatible car seat if we had it in the lab and we ordered an adapter for the Chicco Keyfit 30 if one was available. We used the Chicco because it was compatible with the most products in the review, and it is an award-winning seat with a reasonable price tag. For the most part, the products worked best combined with the same brand seat, i.e. the UPPAbaby Vista and UPPAbaby Cruz with the UPPAbaby Mesa. However, many of them worked equally well with the Chicco, and a few even seemed more stable or easier to install.


Some seats connected using a click-in method, while others required click and strap-in steps. On the whole, we prefer the click only variety because they are easier, more foolproof, and sometimes feel more stable. That being said the strap isn't more challenging, it is just another step in the process and we worry parents will fail to attach the strap, which could lead to potential safety issues. If you choose a product that has a strap, like the BOB Revolution Flex, we encourage you to use the straps every time as the manufacturer describes.

Ease of Setup

Ease of setup has the least impact on the final score because it is a one-time task. We considered how long it takes, difficulty, required tools, and how useful the manual is.

The easiest to assemble is the UPPAbaby Cruz, with a perfect 10 of 10. It took just over four and a half minutes to put the UPPAbaby Cruz together with a simple startup guide, and we found it is so intuitive you may not need the manual. Close behind is the BOB Revolution Flex, Britax B-Agile 3, and UPPAbaby Vista, all of which set up in about 5 and a half minutes with great documentation. The worst to set-up is the Bugaboo Bee 3, which took us more than 23 minutes to assemble, due to far more component assembly than the competition and documentation so poor that we put different portions together incorrectly.

We were disappointed to find many of the more expensive products ($500-$1,200) were the hardest to setup, due in part to poor documentation and sometimes a lot of parts. These include the Bugaboo Cameleon 3, Quinny Buzz Xtra, 4moms Origami, Baby Jogger City Select, and Bumbleride Indie 4. We find the combination of a high price tag and poor documentation to be particularly distasteful. Excellent manuals are largely a result of an intentional investment decision by the manufacturer to create clear, easy-to-understand documentation in each language they consider a target market. In our experience, poor documentation typically takes an "international approach" where vague illustrations without text are in one part of the manual, and small text referring to the figures is in a different section.

Conclusion

Is there one right choice for everyone? We don't think so. Your needs will vary from others due to your strolling habits, travel needs, where you live, family size, and your budget. In this review, our goal is to share relative differences we saw between top competing products so that you can make the most informed decision for you and your baby.

We hope that with our awards and ratings you can narrow down the field to a few top contenders. We strive to provide details that make it significantly simpler to find the exact right product for your family's budget and needs. If you still aren't sure what item is best for you and feel none of the top performers offer exactly what you want, please read our Buying Advice for further guidance on what to consider and how to narrow your options. Also, review our comparison chart to compare a select few based on the features and performance metrics you are most interested in.