Evenflo Symphony™ DLX All-In-One Car Seat Review

When the Little Monkey was born we spent countless hours researching car seats and my brother finally made an executive decision and bought us a bucket car seat. Nine months later we needed a new one for the growing child. Ofcourse we got a 3 in 1 at that point yet I wasn’t comfortable putting Baby Boy in our current 3 in 1 car seat (he’s presently using the bucket seat) so when Evenflo sent me their Symphony™ DLX All-In-One Car Seat to review I was up for the challenge. This all in one car seat provides extended use from birth (5 lbs) to booster (110 lbs) so this could easily be the ONLY car seat your child needs.

As you may know we don’t own a car. Instead we taxi around town for the most part (unless we’re walking. We do walk a lot) and either Zipcar or rent one for longer drives. If we’re travelling locally we DO NOT take a car seat with us (read all about the taxi car seat rules here) however on occasion we do need it if we are meeting friends with cars on the other end or if we’re heading to the airport and need it for our travels. So light weight and easy installation are of utmost importance to us. Also I’d like to highlight that our 2 year old toddler is on the smaller side so these are the factors that came into play as we took the Evenflo Symphony™ DLX All-In-One Car Seat for a joyride.

I was especially excited about the auto-retracting, SureLATCH® connectors which meant that all it takes is two simple clicks and a push for a super-fast and super-snug installation. However as you can tell by the video our taxi did not have the clips needed to latch on to so the hubs did it the old school way – with a seat belt. Still very easy! Forward facing installation is a breeze but for the backward facing installation he definitely needed some extra effort to pass the seat belt from one end to another. I would be the one holding the kids whilst all this installation happens. So clearly I want it to be speedy! Installation, yes even the “harder” backward facing one was done in under 50 seconds.

Another highlight for us was the Infinite Slide™ harness which makes it super easy to adjust the belts for an accurate fit with no re-threading necessary. Definitely easier to adjust between Baby Boy and the Little Monkey! So I mentioned that I definitely did not feel secure putting Baby Boy in our current 3 in 1 car seat… but with the Evenflo Symphony DLX All-In-One I was totally comfortable. Why? Mainly because he looked comfy with all the secure padding and also because there are multiple positions you could recline to. He doesn’t have to sit upright if he was napping. The angle is what I love about the bucket seats so it was great to see that angle in this car seat as well. Other points that were appreciated by us was the removable head and body pillow and the easy-off, machine-washable car seat pad. Also when used with the 5-point harness the Evenflo Symphony™ DLX All-In-One Car Seat is certified for use in airplanes. Notice the little cup holders? We can now store milk and juice bottles on the go! 

Draw backs for us include that it doesn’t fit onto our Go-Go Babyz car seat trolley (travelmate) which means that the hubs has to lug the 21 pound car seat around. In addition this car seat is quite wide and bulky so it isn’t the best for travelling. Of course we haven’t tested the booster stage on this but given the performance of the infant and toddler stages I have no doubt that the booster stage will be just as pleasing for parents and comfortable for kids. Whilst we don’t believe this is a car seat for a travelling family it is a car seat for a city living family who needs a car seat occasionally. It’s a FABULOUS car seat for a family who owns a large car – the comfort levels cannot be beat!

Do you have a 3 in 1 car seat you like and trust?