Joie 360 or Joie i-spin

[CumbrianYellowBee89]

Hello ladies,

Is there much difference between the Joie 360 and the newer Joie i-spin?

Except one being approx £199 and the other £280

[BertieBotts]

Yes there is.

Safety testing wise the 360 gets OK results, in particular not especially good results on side impacts. The i-spin gets really good results on both front and side crashes.

They have moved the button to spin it and made it more accessible in the i-spin. With the 360 it tends to be stuck between the child seat and the car seat if that makes sense. Can be difficult to grab.

I-spin MUST be used rear facing until child is 15 months regardless of weight. 360 is allowed to be used forward facing from 9kg, regardless of age. This is just a difference in the legislation they are approved under. It's recommended to keep your child rear facing as long as possible as it's much safer. You can "lock" the i-spin to prevent anyone from using it forward facing accidentally.

Weight/height limits slightly differ:
360 has an 18kg weight limit and no height limit. Has one of the tallest shells of any 18kg limit seat so may last a tall, light child longer.

i-spin has a 19kg weight limit but a standing height limit of 105cm despite having the same tall shell. Likely to be outgrown by height before weight, but may be better if you have a child on a lower height than weight centile.

I'd strongly recommend you go somewhere you can try the seats out in your car before you purchase. The Joie rotating seats are known for rattling in certain cars which can be really annoying. You'll also want to look at the angle of recline (this varies depending on your back seat slope) and the amount of room in the front for the driver/passenger.

In a similar price range I would look at Britax Dualfix, GB Vaya and Cybex Sirona. There are a couple of variations of each of the Cybex and Britax models.

[BertieBotts]

I have a sort of in between version they only sell in Germany - it's essentially the original one with the side impact protection of the i-spin. It doesn't rattle in our car and I don't find the button placement to be a problem, but some people seem to - it probably depends on how squishy your seats are.

[CumbrianYellowBee89]

Thank you @BertieBotts that's been really helpful