The Quinny Buzz Review

Since I got my Quinny Zapp Xtra, I seem to have developed a love for all things Quinny. After the realisation hit that the Zapp Xtra was not really a 'all terrain' kind of stroller, I soon got to thinking about how I could justify yet another pushchair to my lovely other half.

I decided that I needed a Buzz after reading multiple reviews. It fit the bill in looks and specification. What I really needed was a pushchair that I could take for a spin around a field, something strong and sturdy that I could take on the train, but I could not justify spending too much money. OK what I mean is...I could not justify spending Luke's money...

I took up refuge on eBay and watched many Buzz's go before my eyes, I eventually purchased a Quinny Buzz 3 in Rebel Red.

In The Box

The Quinny Buzz Rebel Red retails on Kiddicare at £345.00

The Buzz comes complete with a sun canopy, rain cover, shopping basket, buzz bag which is great for storage, and adaptors for attaching the Maxi-Cosi infant car seats.

The Footmuff has to be purchased separately at a cost of up to £60.00. I like the option to have the Footmuff in the matching colour. 

If you decide to invest in the Footmuff, you will eventually find that it is the same one used with the Zapp Xtra. I feel this could have been communicated a little better, as when ordering the footmuff for my Zapp Xtra it took me one wrong order and more re-search to find this out!

So what do Leo and I think?

I went over to pick up my Buzz in record time, I was so excited to take it out for a test drive and see how the wheels handled off roading. As usual I struggled putting it together but a few You Tube videos later we had it up and ready to go.

In comparison to the Zapp Xtra, the Buzz is pretty heavy but with this weight comes the sturdiness that allows you to climb on and off trains and stroll around the fields. I love the wheels on the Buzz as they really do give you the freedom to go where ever you want. I tend to use the Buzz more if I am going out for the day and need to get on and off trains or go on family walks. I feel more confident using the bigger of my Two buggies to accomplish these things.

I do find the Buzz a heavy pushchair to operate and it is not something I can push with One hand. I do feel that you get used to the weight of it though and it soon becomes second nature. Having said that, I do enjoy taking the Buzz out and I genuinely find it easier to travel with this due to it being so solid and sturdy.

Luke much prefers the Buzz over the Zapp as you can adjust the handle bar to his height, when Luke is out with the Zapp he does not like that the handles are at one level (my level).

Putting the Buzz up is done with the flick of one flap with just one hand and it is then that the unique hydraulic system takes over and the frame pops up automatically.

Once put together you can attach the seat unit to either face the parent, or out into the world to see the wonders of the people and sights passing by. We are currently using the parent facing option as I do enjoy a good old chit chat with Leo while out and about and he seems to enjoy this at present. I do think that the time is fastly approaching him wanting to be facing the other way, so he can see all that is going on around him...We may have to do this in the next few weeks.

The seat fully reclines and has 3 positions when in forward-facing mode, and 2 recline positions in rearward facing mode. I am very impressed with the seat unit and Leo is very comfortable while we are out on our adventures, even if I do happen to be finding each and every bump along the way, just to see how the Buzz handles it.

To fold the Buzz back down their are Two Silver buttons on either side of the seat, by pushing and sliding these buttons the frame will collapse flat. Of course I even struggled with this, but my general knowledge with putting pushchairs up and down is not great. When putting the Buzz down you can fold the seat down too, if the seat is facing outward, but if you have the seat in parent facing mode then you do need to take the seat off to collapse it.

Even when the frame is folded down it is quite chunky, and also pretty heavy but I can get it in the boot of my 206 by taking the wheels off.

The Buzz is suitable from birth to 15kg approx. 4 years old.

Quinny Buzz Features as per The Kiddicare Website

- Unique automatically unfolding system

- New for 2012 - All black wheels, matt finish frame and new safety harness

- Forward and rearward facing reclinable seat unit 

- The backrest fully reclines; 3 recline positions in forward-facing mode, and 2 recline positions in rearward facing mode.

-  Highly manoeuvrable front swivel wheel, that can be locked

- Height adjustable handlebar

- Adjustable footrest

- Ideal travel system in combination with matching Maxi-Cosi infant car seats or Bébé Confort Pebble car seat and Quinny Foldable carrycot or Quinny Safety carrycot (all available extra)

-  Including sun canopy, shopping basket, rain cover, adaptors and parasol clip

-  Approved confirming EN 1888 and BS7409

-  Pushchair seat: until 15 kg 

My Views:
Buzz Pros:

- Attractive Design

- Comfortable Seat Unit

- Great Wheels for Off Roading

- Hydraulic unfold

- The Buzz bag is great to keep the rain cover in, and is great storage.

Buzz Cons:

- A bulky pushchair, even when folded

- The wheels at the back are wide set and can be mis-leading. This comes from running over one to many feet...

- Heavy to push

- Small shopping basket

If you are looking for a off road style pushchair that has the capability to use as a travel system then the Buzz could be for you. The Buzz comes in 4 different colours for 2012:

Rocking Black
Rebel Red
Blue Scratch
Pink Blush

Over all the Quinny Buzz meets all of my needs, and as a second pushchair is all I could ask for. I will continue to use the Buzz for any train journeys I happen to take and for any off road experiences that I decide to frequent.

I hope this review has helped some potential Quinny Buzz buyers with a full and honest review!

Laura

xx

Please note that this review is based on a second hand Quinny Buzz and not that of a new model.

The Quinny Zapp Xtra Review

I recently became the proud owner of the Quinny Zapp Xtra (Rebel Red - The colour was very close to my heart).

So why did I choose to purchase the Quinny Zapp Xtra over other choices out there?

Well....it fit in with my 3 main necessities:

• I wanted a parent facing stroller - I did have the Mothercare Spin up until this point, and I like to have the option of whether Leo is facing me or not. He is 7 months old and for the moment I would rather he faced me - When the time comes for him to face out to the world, this is possible with the Zapp!
• I wanted RED! With the Spin it was in Silver...I wanted to have a vibrant exciting colour, and Red was the perfect one for me! It was not too out there but it shouts 'Here comes Leo'!
• I wanted 3 Wheeler - When I was in the market for my original Pushchair back in April 2011, all the above were on my list of 'Needs' and I got none of them! So when it came to returning to the market for my stroller, I wanted to make sure I got EVERYTHING I neglected the first time round!

So that is what drew my attention to the Quinny Zapp, and it all kind of went very fast from there...10pm at night and I am getting the jitters from my Pushchair Addiction. Maybe I didn't need a new stroller just yet, but I managed to justify it to myself and then TOLD Luke in no un-certain terms what I was doing. Then my card details were inserted and Kiddicare were instructed to deliver that week. I was like a child at Christmas!


In The Box
The Quinny Zapp Xtra Rebel Red retails on Kiddicare at £229.99

The Zapp Xtra Comes complete with a sun canopy, raincover, shopping basket and adaptors for attaching the maxi-cosi infant car seats.

The Footmuff has to be purchased separately at a cost of up to £60.00. I like the option to have the Footmuff, especially as it is so cold out at the moment, It would be a nice touch to include this in the price, but this may just be my wishful thinking.

If you decide to invest in the Footmuff, you will eventually find that it is the same one used with the Buzz. I feel this could have been communicated to a better level, as it took me one wrong order and more re-search to find this out!

The Zapp comes with some impressive features and my first impressions were glowing recommendation to anyone and everyone that would ask...or didn't ask for that matter!

I en-listed help in putting the Pushchair together as my ability to attempt this task alone on first 'Go' is always time consuming and frustrating. Apparently though the instructions (if you call them that...they are just diagrams!)  make this task first attempt a trial for anyone. It is actually very simple once you realise what you have to do. 

The frame folds tightly and compact and will fit in pretty much any car (even those small ones!), the only thing that takes up the majority of the space is the 'seat' as this has to be stowed away separately and cannot be folded up with the frame, as you can with other strollers.

Once put together you can attach the seat either to face the parent, or out into the world to see the wonders of the people and sights passing by. We are currently using the parent facing option as I do enjoy a good old chit chat with Leo while out and about and he seems to enjoy this at present. I know the time will come in the next few months where Leo is not wanting to speak to his Mummy any longer and it will be high time to let him see the wonders of the world on his own!

The seat has 2 recline positions in the parent facing option and 3 recline positions in rearward facing.

It has to be said that Leo is incredibly comfortable in the seat which cups him nicely, he sits in it just lovely.

One of the main reasons for the change was in his old Pushchair he did seem to 'dangle' somewhat, he was not seated as I would have liked, so this did prompt us to change sooner than we may have otherwise, I am very happy that we did choose the Quinny Zapp.

The Zapp Xtra is suitable from birth to approx. 4 years old, one of my thoughts on up-grading earlier was that if I was intending to spend this kind of money on a Stroller, then I wanted to make sure I got my moneys worth out of it.

Quinny Zapp Xtra Features as per The Kiddicare Website

Eye-catching sleek and attractive design.

Highly manoeuvrable front wheel on the Zapp Xtra can rotate 360° and is lockable.

The Zapp Xtra is the most compact buggy in the world when folded (70 x 25 x 29 cm - frame only).

3D compact fold.

The Zapp Xtra is the ideal travel system when combined with the Maxi-Cosi Pebble or CabrioFix infant car seat (both sold separately).

Comes complete with a sun canopy, raincover, shopping basket and adaptors for attaching the maxi-cosi infant car seats.

3 recline positions when facing forward.

2 recline positions when rearward facing

My Views:
Zapp Xtra Pros:

• Light weight.
• Portable.
• Compact.
• Convenient for my every day needs.

Zapp Xtra Cons:

• The entire Pushchair doesn't feel extremely sturdy (flimsy), this is in comparison to the Mothercare Spin that I used previously which was very 'solid'. It has been absolutely fine and I have taken it up and down some steep slopes, it just has a plastic feel to it on a whole.
• It Folds in two parts - It would be nice if it folded all in one piece.
• A small shopping trolley.

Over all I feel that the Quinny Zapp Xtra is a brilliant Stroller and it caters for all my personal needs, and suits Leo down to the ground. All being well (with my Pushchair addiction) this will cater for Leo and I until we no longer need a Stroller.

I am very happy with my choice and read numerous reviews on many different Strollers before purchasing my Zapp, but none of them seemed to come as close in Specification or looks! (I swear I don't always judge a book by it's cover!)

If you are looking for a compact, easy to navigate and good looking Stroller that you can pick in 7 unique colours:

• Rocking Black
• Rebel Red
• Natural Mavis
• Blue Scratch
• Pink Blush
• Fading Green
• Graphic Purple

Then it sounds like you may have met your match (as I did...) with the Quinny Zapp Xtra.

I hope this review has helped some potential Quinny Zapp Xtra buyers with a full and honest review! I think if you join me in the Quinny boat, you will have a very, VERY happy baby!

Laura xx

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