Getting going
Once you have the base and the seat, the instructions are very clear and easy to follow. There are plenty of diagrams in the instruction booklet, and there are also pictures on the seat itself.
Both the seat and base units have audible and visual installation feedback, which means you can be completely confident that everything is fitted correctly. It's so simple that it would be very difficult to get things wrong, even in a hurry, and installation is only a one-person job.
In Anna’s opinion, the five-point harness is the best thing about this seat and it's the feature that made the Maxi-Cosi her favourite product overall.
When you press the harness release button, the straps pop open and loosen automatically, so you don’t have to fiddle around trying to adjust the straps to get your child in and out of the seat. It's a lifesaver if you're trying to wrestle an uncompromising toddler into the car and the harness is secure enough not to be clicked open by small fingers.
The harness is simple and quick to adjust too and switching from forward to rear-facing (and back again) is also a breeze – things that make using this seat a pleasure rather than a chore.
If you lose the manual, there are copies available on Maxi-Cosi's website alongside an FAQ section, customer service contact details and links to social media. There are no instructional videos on the site itself, but there are some on YouTube.
The Pearl Pro i-Size doesn’t come with any extras, but there are a range of accessories available to buy, including a summer cover, sun canopy, back seat mirror and cup holder. It also comes with a lifetime guarantee.
What's it like to use day-to-day?
During testing, Anna's two-year-old was happy in this seat, however it did need to be reclined for comfort. Without reclining, she found her son was a little too upright.
While there wasn’t as much legroom in rear-facing mode as in the BeSafe iZi Modular i-Size, there was enough room for him to feel comfortable. At 88cm tall already, Anna felt that it still left him with plenty of growing room.
Using the seat day-to-day was practically stress-free for Anna as it fitted in well with the family's routine. This included trips to nursery and to school (getting her child in and out of the seat twice on each trip), to the supermarket and to lots of evening activities.
The seat tilts to provide the most comfortable position at any given time and the headrest adjusts easily – all offering minimal fuss and bother for a busy mum of two.
Added to this, the four recline positions meant that Anna's toddler fell asleep on long car journeys, and the padding in both the seat itself and on the harness meant that he was content throughout. These longer trips were up to two and a half hours long, so the seat was really put through its paces.
Her son couldn’t climb into the seat himself before each trip, but this was the case with all the rear-facing seats she tested. He could climb out himself at the end of the journey, but this was more difficult when the seat was in a forward-facing position because of the support leg.
The support leg also prevented Anna's older child (aged five) from climbing through the car to get out when his own side of the car opened onto traffic, meaning she had to go round to that side to let him out. With that said, this will be an issue with all seats that have a support leg.
It will be worth noting as well that the ISOFIX base you need to be able to install the seat means that it couldn’t be used in a taxi or an aeroplane, so it wouldn't be an option for holidays.
How easy is it to clean?
Anna's seat was a mottled shade of blue which hid a multitude of stains, but these stains did also wipe off very easily.
The cover was much simpler to remove than on lot of the other seats we tested, like the Cozy N Safe Galaxy, the Graco Nautilus and Maxi-Cosi’s own AxissFix Air – the Velcro poppers and elastic make the job completely stress-free.
The fabric stood up well to machine washing and stains typically came out first time. Milk and juice were easily washed out, but a few slight stains remained from smoothies. The hardest part, however, was drying the cover – it’s so padded that it took 24 hours to dry even in hot weather, so it would be worth investing in a spare cover.