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Be Safe iZi Twist B-E iSize car seat review

It's our pick of the best premium car seat – but is it right for you?
Heidi Scrimgeour
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    • Score

    Pros

    • Simple to install
    • Rear-facing until age four
    • Rotating seat for easier access

    Cons

    • Heavy to lift
    • Not suitable from birth (6m+)

    The best premium car seat for babies is the Be Safe iZi Twist B-E iSize car seat. Our tester Jenny Meechan, mum to Orlaith, six months, tried and tested this car seat for GoodtoKnow.

    If you want to keep your child rear-facing for as long as possible – the safest possible position in the car – this iSize seat is ideal for you.

    Credit: BeSafe

    Design

    Weighs: 15kg | Suitable for: Six months – four years

    A rear-facing car seat is the safest option for a child under four years old. In the event of a head-on crash, a rear-facing seat helps to keep a child’s head, neck and spine in alignment, dispersing the impact across the body. Not all parents realise that rear-facing seats are safer, or that it’s recommended to keep a child in a rear-facing seat for as long as possible (and up to age four) before moving on to a forward-facing seat.

    This rear-facing car seat not only keeps your child in the safest seating position in the event of a collision, it also rotates to help make it easy to get your little one in and out of the car. Given that this seat can be used up to age four, the side-to-side rotation should ensure that getting your child in and out of the car quickly and easily doesn’t get any more complicated, no matter how much bigger they get.

    This seat also has visual and audio indicators to ensure you’ve fitted it correctly in the car. We think this is a brilliant feature because it’s absolutely vital that your child’s car seat is correctly installed in the vehicle – car seats can save lives, but they need to be correctly installed. Our tester found it gave her real peace of mind to know the seat was safely secured and properly installed every single time she took her baby out in the car. “This car seat is very easy to install – the instructions are really clear and it only takes a minute or two,” she says. “It completely eliminates any guesswork by using electronic indicators to let you know if it’s installed correctly or needs to be adjusted. This function was hugely helpful for peace of mind as well as general guidance.”

    It’s worth pointing out that this car seat can’t be used from birth – it’s suitable from six months onwards. That means you’ll need another seat for your baby’s first few months, or perhaps you already have an infant carrier sweat suitable from birth and are shopping around for the next stage car seat for your baby. This would be a good choice, as it allows you to keep your baby rear facing up to age four.

    Comfort and features

    This is an iSize seat, which means it meets or exceeds the very latest European car seat safety regulations. As well as enabling you to keep your child in the safer rear-facing position up until your little one is four years old, this seat has built-in side impact protection in shell of the seat, as well as additional side impact protection. The headrest also has Dynamic Force Absorber, which acts like a trampoline in a collision, reducing acceleration gently.

    This seat is adjustable with four recline settings – this is really handy when you want to adjust the seat position for extra comfort if your little one nods off in the car, or for relaxation on longer journeys.

    It also has a 10-step adjustable headrest so the seat can easily accommodate adjustments as your little one grows. And we love the magnetic belt assistants – no more rummaging around beneath your baby to find the straps!

    This seat rates really well for safety features – it has passed the world’s toughest crash test and has built-in side impact protection in the seat shell, as well as a protective soft headrest.

    Our tester remarked on how easy it was to put her baby in this car seat and get her out again. “The seat rotates, meaning you don’t have to lean over your baby awkwardly,” she says. “I found the straps are straightforward to tighten and loosen – they glide really effortlessly between positions and didn’t dig in to my baby’s shoulders, as I find some car seat straps can.”

    Value for money

    Less expensive seats are available, but we think this car seat represents good value for money when you factor in that it can be used up to age four and has additional safety features, including being rear-facing for longer and having side-to-side rotation and indicators to confirm when it’s safely installed in your car.
    Our tester wouldn’t hesitate to recommend this car seat to a friend. “It’s difficult to put a price on safety and this seat seems to have extra safety features that other car seats don’t, which I think adds real value,” she says. “It’s very easy to use and reassuringly safe – the electronic indicator that tells you when it’s safely installed is a huge pro. It’s so easy to use and it’s been very reassuring to know it’s keeping my daughter so safe when we travel.”
    We think this seat would particularly suit safety-conscious parents who are willing to pay a premium for reassurance when it comes to safety but, who also care about the aesthetics of their baby’s car seat. This  seat feels extra safe, according to our tester, but also looks simple and stylish.
    It can sometimes feel as thought you have to choose between safety features or style-appeal when it comes to car sears, but this is a thoughtfully-designed seat with all the features we’d look for but in a stylish, smart-looking package.
    And did we mention that it allows you to keep your baby in the safer rear-facing position all the way up to age four?! For that reason alone, we think this car seat is excellent value for money.

    Verdict

    "This is so easy to install and the additional safety features, including the installation indicator, gave me extra confidence when driving around with my baby in the car," says Hanna. "My little one seems very comfortable in this seat and I like the cleverly placed wedge to keep newborns snug and supported, allowing them to lie even flatter by lifting their back instead of the bottom."