According to the German consumer ratings magazine Stiftung Warentest, these are the top five car seats in each category that have earned either a “good” or “very good” quality rating. The number in parenthesis is the score received, the lower the score, the better the car seat did in tests. When fewer than five seats are listed, that means that no other car seats in that category received a “good” or “very good” rating.
Note: Isofix is the international name for an anchoring-type car seat installation. The term LATCH is often used for this system in the US and LUAS or Canfix is used in Canada.
Group 0, up to 10 kg (22 lbs)
- Römer Baby-Safe Sleeper* (1.8)
Group 0+, up to 13 kg (28.7 lbs)
- Maxi Cosi Cabriofix with Easyfix base** (1.4), without base (2.7)
- Römer Baby Safe Plus with Isofix base* (1.5), without base (2.1)
- Recaro Young Profi Plus Isofix (1.7), without base (2.0)
- Storchenmühle Twin 0+ Isofix (1.7), without base (2.0)
- Graco Logico S HP with base*** (1.8), without base (1.6)
Group 0/I, up to 18 kg (39.7 lbs)
Group I, 9 to 18 kg (19.8 to 39.7 lbs)
- Kiddy Infinity Pro (1.6)
- Maxi Cosi Priorifix (1.8)
- Chicco Key1 Isofix (2.0)
- Römer Duo Plus* (2.0)
- Römer Safefix Plus Isofix* (2.0)
Group I/II/III, 9 to 36 kg (19.8 to 79 lbs)
- Kiddy Comfort Pro (2.1)
Group II/III, 15 to 36 kg (33 to 79 lbs)
- Römer Kidfix* (1.7)
- Maxi Cosi Rodi XR (1.8)
- Concord Lift Evo PT (1.9)
- Bébé Confort Moby (1.9)
- Cybex Solution X (1.9)
* Römer, also spelled Roemer, is the same company as Britax, but the seats sold under the brand name Britax do not appear to be identical to the seats sold under the brand name Römer
** Sold in the US as the Maxi Cosi Mico
*** Sold in the US as the Graco Infant SafeSeat, is also identical to the Teutonia Tario.
{ 5 comments… read them below or add one }
Roemer is sold in the US under the name Britax, but it would take me a minute to figure out which is which seat. They might not be the same product even, but I know they are the same company.
Wow! Great reviews! Not sure when we’ll be buying our next car seat but probably soon enough … I’m due in March! We’re planning on reusing our seat from the States from Bubba Joe.
Question – one of the largest differences I’ve noticed with car seats in Germany is the lack of a 5 point harness. They use a 3 point. Why is that?
That’s why we bought a Roemer in Germany– it had a five point harness. The US Maxi Cosi also has a 5-point, but when we were in Germany, it was sold as a 3-point.
I updated the post with the Britax info and also the ratings for the infant seats without the base. After looking at the Britax USA website, the seats don’t look like they are the same as the Römer seats.
I don’t know why a lot of the German car seats only have 3 point belts. I guess it must not be that big a deal. I did notice that while the Maxi Cosi Cabriofix has a three point belt, the Maxi Cosi Priorifix we just got has a five point belt. I’d need to go to the store and look at the other brands, but maybe they don’t figure a five point belt is needed until the child is front-facing/older.
The Britax/Romer range varies throughout the world. In New Zealand we are stuck with whatever Australia has, and the Oz standards don’t include Isofix/Latch (still testing them 10 years on, apparently). We buy our seats from Europe as I believe their standards are the best in the world. A quick look at the Britax USA site shows completely different seats to Europe also.