Elvie Stride Breast Pump review: tried and tested by an exclusively breastfeeding mum

At the time of testing, I’d been breastfeeding almost exclusively for 11 months and wanted to carry on as my daughter moved into toddlerhood.

Having not got on well with other breast pumps, including the likes of Medela, and with my daughter still shunning both bottles and sippy cups of formula, I was keen to try the Elvie Stride to see if it would allow for more flexibility and freedom.

Elvie Stride Electric Breast Pump at a glance

RRP: £169 | Buy now from Amazon

What we love

• Hospital-grade strength

• Wearable, worn in your bra

• Can be controlled using the Elvie app

• Nice and quiet thanks to noise-reducing technology

• Lightweight and portable

• Rechargeable

• Collects up to 150ml of milk at any one time

• Tangle-free tube

• Closed system

• BPA-free

• Dishwasher-safe

What to know

• Not as discreet as it could be

• May run out of charge half way through a pumping session if not fully charged

How we tested

I put the Elvie Stride through its paces in my day-to-day life and scored it on the following areas:

• Safety

• Sturdiness

• Ease of assembly

• Suction strength

• Day-to-day use

• Size and portability

• Convenience

• Discretion

• Comfort

• Cleaning and hygiene

• Aesthetics

• Value for money

What are the key features of the Elvie Stride Breast Pump?

Launched towards the end of 2021, the Elvie Stride is a hands-free electric breast pump designed to be portable, lightweight and discreet, with hospital-grade strength (up to -300mmHg of suction power with a single cup) to make expressing easy, whether you’re at work or on the go.

It comes with one cup weighing less than 150g that you tuck inside your nursing bra to collect milk, although it can be used as a double pump with two cups. You’ll also find one 24mm breast shield in the box as well as a hub that you clip to your trouser band or belt. You can purchase additional breast shield sizes (21mm and 28mm) for a more comfortable fit if needed.

With no less than 10 intensity settings as well as a Stimulation and Expression mode, the Stride works from either the hub itself or remotely via the free Elvie app, which gave me full control wherever I planned on pumping that day. I was also able to keep an eye on the volume of milk I was expressing in real time without having to take the cup out of my bra, which I found super useful, and track things like my pumping history.

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What’s the difference between the Elvie and the Elvie Stride?

Mumsnet tested the original Elvie Breast Pump back in 2019 with a mum to twins. It scored highly and was subsequently awarded Best Discreet Breast Pump.

In terms of performance and design, the Elvie Stride has more intensity settings than the original Elvie (10 versus seven) as well as more advanced suction (up to -300mHG versus -220mHG), but you’ll find it noisier than its almost silent predecessor due to the extra suction power. The Elvie is completely wire-free, while the Elvie Stride has a connecting external hub.

Price and competition: is the Elvie Stride good value for money?

One of the downsides of the original Elvie is its price. With an RRP of £249 for a single pump and £449 for a double, this sits outside many parents' budgets. The Elvie Stride is the more affordable option of the two, retailing at £169 for a single pump and £299 for a double.

Yet the Elvie Stride is more expensive than many other hospital-grade electric breast pumps, such as the popular Ardo Calypso Double Plus Electric Breast Pump (£140) and the Lansinoh 2-in-1 Double Electric Breast Pump (£120).

However it’s a lot smaller, which makes it far more attractive for mums looking for a more flexible and compact solution. The fact that it’s wearable only adds to the charm.

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First impressions

Packaged neatly and compactly inside its box, with no plastic packaging in sight, the Elvie Stride leaves a very good first impression.

It feels less clinical than other breast pumps and the hub is palm-sized, sleek and quick to set up, with a five-minute charge needed to get it up and running (although there’s no plug provided; just a USB cable).

The app is clear and helpful with step-by-step instructions for set-up, assembly, expressing and cleaning, which can be accessed for the first time without you having to create an account. You will, however, need to create an account if you want to control your pump remotely.

Set-up took me 10 minutes in total and felt much less complicated and overwhelming than with other breast pumps I’ve used.

Related: The best wearable breast pumps - the hands free pumps Mumsnetters swear by

Performance: how easy is the Elvie Stride to use?

Using the Elvie Stride couldn’t be easier, especially for someone like me who hasn’t had a great experience with other breast pumps.

The breast shield can be correctly positioned on your breast using the sizing symbol. You can then use the pump’s pour hole to double check nipple alignment once the cup is fully in place.

Positioning the pump is simple: all you need to do is thread the tube underneath your clothes, clip the grey cap into place (you can rotate this to find a comfortable angle for the tube depending on what you’re wearing that day) and then place the cup onto your breast before holding it in place with your nursing bra.

It switches from Stimulation mode to Expression mode after two minutes and it’s recommended that you lean forward at the end of your pumping session to help all the milk drain from the pump’s nipple tunnel. There’s also a pour hole so that you can easily transfer your milk to a baby bottle or breast milk storage bag without any leaks.

It took a bit of time for the milk to start flowing, but as my letdown is quite slow, this wasn’t a surprise. The pump also stopped working half way through a session as I hadn’t fully charged it and it ran out of power. It would typically provide around three hours of pumping time when fully charged.

I used the pump when hanging out with family and, while it could be heard, it wasn’t at all distracting.

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How comfortable is the Elvie Stride?

I felt a slight tug when turning the pump on, which took me by surprise, but as breast pumps go, I found the Elvie Stride to be comfortable overall.

You’d probably experience a bit of breast soreness after a while, but that does depend on the intensity setting you use. As I typically struggle to get milk out with a breast pump, I had it set to nine most of the time.

The Elvie Stride isn’t fully discreet as I could see it underneath my jumper, but that’s likely what you can expect from even the best wearable breast pumps.

If you want to use the Elvie Stride as a double breast pump, the tube splitter allows you to connect a second cup.

How easy is it to clean?

There are only five parts to sterilise, which makes the Elvie Stride simple to clean. I used the top rack of my dishwasher to wash the components before putting them in boiling water for five minutes to make sure they were fully sterilised. You can also use a baby bottle steriliser or mild soap and water.

Obviously the hub must be kept dry, but it can be wiped down easily with a clean cloth if needed. Elvie recommends that you clean the pump after every use and sterilise once a day, which makes it fairly low maintenance.

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Our final verdict

Overall rating: 3.5/5

For mums worried about expressing on the go or in public, the Elvie Stride is a great, efficient option that will provide the level of discretion they need.

As a mum who hasn’t always got on with breast pumps and needed more flexibility when expressing, I found the Elvie Stride to be comfortable, with an app that made it a breeze to use.

The Elvie Stride doesn’t offer the cup capacity of other hospital-grade breast pumps, which is why it might be better suited to shorter pumping sessions, but with a price tag of almost £170, it’s not a pump you’d want to use sparingly either.

As wearable breast pumps go, though, the Elvie Stride is a well-designed offering that’s sure to please many breastfeeding mums looking for flexibility.

About Mumsnet Reviews

All Mumsnet product reviews are written by real parents after weeks of research and testing – this includes recommendations from the Mumsnet Talk boards. We work hard to provide honest and independent advice you can trust. Sometimes, we earn revenue through affiliate (click-to-buy) links in our articles. However, we never allow this to influence our coverage.