Several months ago, I wrote an article on whether it’s worth it to buy an expensive car seat. Since then I’ve had the opportunity to test a car seat that costs considerably more than I have spent in the past (the Evenflo Platinum Symphony DLX car seat, which is listed at toyrus.ca for $269.99). Which begs the question once again, is it worth it to buy an expensive car seat?
Evenflo Platinum Symphony DLX
The Evenflo Platinum Symphony DLX car seat is the full meal deal. Designed to safely harness children from 5 lbs to 110 lbs, this car seat will grow with your child through infancy, toddlerhood, preschool, and grade school (rear-facing, forward-facing, booster). I’m a strong advocate of extended rear-facing and was thrilled that the Evenflo Platinum Symphony DLX is designed for rear-facing up to 40 lbs. My 18 month old is currently rear-facing in this car seat and has plenty of growing room -I expect I can keep him comfortably rear-facing until 3 years old (at least) if I choose. My cheaper car seats did not accommodate rear-facing this long, or this comfortably.
Furthermore, properly installing the Evenflo Platinum Symphony DLX is a breeze. The directions are easy to understand (bonus!) and, with the SureLATCH installation, I was able to install the car seat in my minivan in less than 5 minutes. When I first pulled this car seat out of the box, I was concerned by how bulky it looked; however, appearances are deceiving! This car seat fits perfectly in my van and seems to take up less space than my other car seats.
The straps/buckles quickly adjust so they’re positioned exactly right for your child, every single time you put your child in the car. This means there is no awkward strap adjustment, or stages where the straps don’t quite sit right. If needed, you could take your toddler out of the seat and put a newborn in it, and the straps would easily adjust to properly secure the newborn without requiring you to do anything other than tighten the straps.
Also, to offer increased protection in case of a car accident, the Evenflo Platinum Symphony DLX has e3 side impact protection (3 layers of engineered foam designed and tested to reduce side impact forces up to 50%).
Finally, this car seat has a few extras to keep your child comfortable. Outlast Performance Fabric balances child’s body temperature by absorbing hot and cold temperatures and releasing as needed. This help keeps your child warm on cold days and cool on hot days (my 18 month old did get less sweaty in the car this summer compared to his siblings in cheaper car seats). And, there are bucket pockets to prevent buckle burns on hot days and to eliminate digging around for buckles under the child. Honestly, I didn’t used the buckle pockets all that often -I kept forgetting that they were there.
Final Thoughts
When I began testing the Evenflo Plantinum Symphony DLX about three months ago, I was certain that I would remain committed to my initial stance that there wasn’t a lot of difference between cheap car seat and expensive ones. So, here I am, surprised by the fact that I now sit in the “buying an expensive car seat is totally worth it” camp. While all the comfort features are nice, what sold me on recommending an expensive car seat is seeing first-hand the extra safety features they offer. The fact that these features make it incredibly easy to ensure that my child is buckled in properly and allow me to comfortably place a toddler/preschooler in a rear-facing position, makes the extra cost worth it.
Tell us: What brands of car seats do you own?
Disclosure: This review was sponsored by Evenflo.
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