Bababing Raffi Travel System Review

The new and improved 3-in-1 Raffi Travel system is the ultimate travel system. It has all of the award-winning features of the original Raffi plus much more, with easy one-handed folding abilities, making it the perfect travel system for being on the go. Boasting a large storage basket and is super lightweight. Suitable from birth until around 15kg, this all-terrain buggy comes in two bundles; as a pushchair and carrycot or as a complete travel system with the Bababing Hera i-Size car seat included, which are both at incredible prices.         

Pros & Cons

Features

Specifications, Weights & Dimensions

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What's in the box

• Chassis
• Carry cot with canopy
• Pushchair clips
• Mani changing bag
• Changing mat
• Bababing Hera i-Size car seat
• Adjustable seat unit with canopy
• 2 in 1 rain cover
• Car seat adapters
• Ubersnug footmuff
• Bottle holder
• Isofix base

Colour Options

The travel system comes in three mud-friendly colourways - navy blue, anthracite grey or gloss black.

Compatible With

The car seat adapters work with the Maxi Cosi Pebble Plus, Besafe iZi Go, Joie I-Level, Britax Romer Baby Safe I-Size and Cybex Cloud Z I-Size car seats.

The Parent Test 

The Bababing Raffi was reviewed by Charlie and Emma, parents to Ayla, who is now five months old. They live in Surrey with their French Bulldog Peanut and regularly go for long walks, so an off-road pram is necessary! They tried the car seat and pram out in their BMW1 1 Series Cabriolet and an Audi RS4. They put the Bababing Raffi Travel System to the test, and here's what they thought:

First Impressions

The Raffi is straightforward to assemble out of the box and includes many great accessories, like the rain cover and changing bag. The bag is especially good with lots of space! We have tested a few prams, and this is easily the sturdiest we've had so far; everything is chunky & strong and well-built. There's much tougher wheel quality than we were expecting too. Overall it's very well put together and solid. We love the blue with brown leather-style handle combination. It certainly feels very safe. The car seat is a 0/0+ size group and seems well tested to ensure babies' safety. Adding it to the pram chassis and putting it back into the car was really easy with the quick hand-release system.

Manoeuvrability

It is on the larger side for a pram which does, of course, impact the weight. However, the manoeuvring is still easy, and the whole unit moves smoothly. It's heavy on and off buses/trains but otherwise very easy and can be operated with one hand if needed. Size is fine for our biggest car, but in our smaller cars, it doesn't fit. We use it both around towns but also a lot of off-road when walking the dog, and it copes with all of this brilliantly. You can lock the front wheels like most prams for use on uneven ground, and it has good clearance from the ground thanks to the large wheels. This makes steering smooth and going over grassy areas easy. Baby always looks pretty comfortable inside, no matter where we go!         

Folding, Unfolding, Storage & Lifting 

As mentioned above, it is heavier than others we've tested but very easy to use. Everything fits together really well. Folding is quick and easy with a simple one-handed fold, but it would be easier if lighter. You do have to store the accessories, which does take up space in the house, but this is the same for any travel system. The adjustable seat unit on the Bababing Raffi can recline in 3 positions, and the carrycot can do the same, which can help if your baby has reflux. It fits in larger cars well, but smaller cars may struggle to fit it in alongside shopping. For quite a big pram, it does fold down surprisingly flat, in our estate car, we easily have enough space for 1-2 large cases with it in the boot.         

Travel System Component Change

All components fit together with ease, and swapping bits is super simple. The little levers on the sides are easy to detach and swap over. Everything seems well made, so Ayla seems very safe and secure. The adjustable seat unit is easy to use, too, with an easy one-handed adjustment. Adding the car seat to the chassis was also a breeze, but we found it easier to leave the car seat in the car and put Ayla straight into the carrycot/ child seat. The Bababing Hera ISOFIX i-Size base is fixed, so you cannot swivel to face you like many bases on the market, meaning getting her in and out of a low car was tricky. We regularly use the bassinet option as a travel cot when staying over at relatives and this did the job brilliantly.         

Comfort & Ease of Use

Very comfortable for babies and parents, the handles are thick and sturdy, made from a luxury leatherette finish, making it feel high quality - the large wheel diameter made for a very smooth, comfortable roll with good suspension for all terrains. The seat and bassinet are made from recycled fabrics which are mud-friendly and easily wipable. They come with a good-sized canopy with added sun visor and ventilation system to allow good airflow and sun protection. The Bababing Raffi pushchair also comes with the 2-in-1 rain covers included. The rain cover fits the carrycot and the forward and rear-facing seat unit's sun canopy. Unlike many prams on the market, the bumper bar is also included. It's made of the same brown leatherette finish as the handlebar, so it's nice and soft.

The car seat is 4.5kg which, once your baby is strapped in, makes it quite heavy, so being able to attach it to the Bababing Raffi pushchair chassis with the car seat adaptors meant that we didn't have to carry a sleeping Ayla around in her seat. Mostly, it stayed in the car, though. Baby regularly slept in the pram and did so very peacefully. She indeed found this pram the most comfortable out of our other prams; this is not a massive surprise, given how well-made the whole thing is, with plenty of attention to detail and high-quality parts.

Safety

The Raffi chassis has a centralised brake pedal which is easy to engage and disengage, whatever your footwear, even barefoot! It always felt firm and reliable. The 5-point safety restraint of the child seat kept our baby secure on everything from smooth pavement to rough terrain. This, combined with the incredibly sturdy frame, meant our baby was always safe and comfortable, which meant we could relax knowing she was all good! The whole pram felt balanced; we never feared it would tip over. The sunshade gave great coverage, so there was no need to use additional sun shades or universal attachments like we've had to with other prams. The ISOFIX Hera i-Size base allows easy click-in and click-out installation of the car seat. It has indicators to ensure you install it correctly and the baby is safe.

The car seat offers a 3-point Y-harness with padded shoulders for a comfortable, snug fit and a removable newborn insert included (for use until they are 60cm), making it suitable from birth. You can secure the car seat into the ISOFIX base or use a 3-point seatbelt to give you two options for safe installation. It also offers side-impact protection and hugs Ayla's head well. Being an i-Size, the car seat is height restrictive, rather than weight, so it is rear facing from 40-78cm (birth to approx 15m). It does not go forward facing, so you know your child will be safer in a crash.

The Basket

There is a large storage basket on the Bababing Raffi pushchair, which is very handy. It's large enough for our French bulldog to curl up and sleep in (which he does!) while we go to the local park, and it still has space to accommodate a changing bag and all your baby accessories at the same time. We've even managed to fit in some shopping as well! It's very easily accessible via a large opening and made with very sturdy material. The travel system also came with a changing bag which was very useful, alongside a changing mat. The bag has lots of space to fit everything needed for days out with Ayla.

Price

The price of the Bababing Raffi, if bought separately, would be around £1227.46, but you can get it as a package deal at £790 for the travel system, which is a great offer. You can also get the pram and carrycot as a bundle for just £652.50, so the extra for the car seat, base, rain cover, changing bag, car seat adaptors and other accessories are worth it. It's high quality and very easy to use, so worth the price. Not only that, we think it looks fantastic and actually looks as though it should cost more.

Final Thoughts

The Bababing Raffi travel system is high quality, sturdy & easy to use. It was not cheap but its also not too expensive. It has a reasonable package price and translates to a better user experience than cheaper options. We've tested a few prams, and this is easily the sturdiest we've used so far; it's solid! The colour options are great and give it a really premium look, more in-line with much more expensive makes/models. We would definitely recommend the Bababing Raffi Travel System if you have a medium-large car.

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