Silver Cross Pop Stroller review: a practical everyday stroller with great storage

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How we tested the Silver Cross Pop

• Three months of testing with a dad of two

• Used multiple times a week

• Tested with a two-year-old

Our tester, Matt, tested the Silver Cross Pop out for three months with his toddler. During testing, Matt scored the Silver Cross Pop on different criteria, including: assembly, safety and stability, ease of use, ease of folding and unfolding, comfort, design, ease of cleaning and value for money.

What’s in the box? 

• Seat

• Rain cover

• Storage basket

• Footrest

• Bumper bar

The Silver Cross Pop has all the essentials for getting out and about with your little one from birth up to four years. In the box is the main seat unit, including a footrest, padded bumper bar and rain cover. While the stroller doesn’t come with a footmuff, you can buy one for £75 RRP and it's currently available in four colours. 

How easy is the Silver Cross Pop to assemble?

It’s very easy to get started with the Silver Cross Pop. It comes with an instruction manual and warranty information, but most of the instructions were already done for our tester so it was assembled in a matter of minutes.

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How does it look?

We like the classic design of the Silver Cross Pop. There are currently four colourways available: black, bilberry (blue), forest (green) and bloom (pink). During testing, we tried out the pastel pink version which our tester felt looked understated and classy.

The seat has a lovely quilted padding, and the bumper bar has leatherette detailing. Matt says, “The grey padded seat is a lovely quality and looks expensive. The material on the sunshade is also of good quality and looks great. This is a design that will last.”

Is the Silver Cross Pop safe and sturdy?

Thanks to the buggy's umbrella fold, the Silver Cross Pop is larger and heavier than other lightweight strollers. But this means that it also feels very stable and is substantial enough for a child to grow into from birth up to four years.

We were impressed with how sturdy the seat, frame and sunshade felt. We put the stroller through a series of safety tests and there was no risk of the pram toppling backwards with a child in the seat, even with a heavy changing bag on the handlebars. The stroller did, however, topple when the changing bag was on the handles and the buggy was empty.

The seat is spacious enough for a growing toddler and is advertised as suitable for newborns, but Matt felt the seat didn’t lie flat enough for younger babies. The seat has an infinite recline which can be adjusted with one hand, but Matt adds, “The reclining mechanism looks impressive and very technical, but it is a little clunky and jerky.”

During testing, we marked the five-point harness down as it felt flimsy and the straps very thin, but the circular harness buckle is safe for little fingers and works well nonetheless. The brake is attached to the back of the stroller and can be engaged on both sides as there are two mini pedals. “These stand out in a bright red and are easily engaged,” Matt explains.

The Pop also comes with a bumper bar which is well padded and extra large too, which is a reassuring safety feature that doesn’t always come as standard.

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What’s it like to use day-to-day?

The idea behind the Pop is that you can quickly ‘pop’ it open, and we found that it performs well for most of your daily travel needs. 

The four double wheels make the buggy feel sturdy and these are lockable so that you can steer well on all kinds of terrain - on par in terms of performance with many top all-terrain prams. Matt says, “The wheels enable the pram to stand well, wheel well and perform amazingly over rough ground, including grass, gravel and sand. The buggy easily manages kerbs and handles itself very well over a mixture of terrain. The wheels are really good.”

While the Pop isn’t the smallest of strollers, it can easily tackle doorways and shop aisles. “It’s very easy to manoeuvre in small spaces, passing through doorways well and steering effortlessly,” Matt adds.

While the handles aren’t extendable, we found them to be a good height for different users. The only issue we had was the shape and angle of them. Matt says, “They are fixed at quite a jaunty angle which personally felt quite uncomfortable when pushing for a long time.” The thick foam on the handles also easily retains water when wet.

The included rain cover fits the stroller well and can easily be stored in the storage basket when not in use. The UPF50+ sunshade has an expanding zip so you can increase the amount of coverage on a sunny day.

How comfortable is the Silver Cross Pop?

This was an area that the stroller scored particularly well. The Silver Cross Pop has a lovely padded seat which lies almost flat, as well as an adjustable calf support, which made our tester’s child feel very comfortable when out and about. 

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How easy is it to fold?

“It's not a one-handed mechanism (even though it is advertised as so) but is swift enough to open quickly when needed. The lock can be found on the side of the frame which needs to be undone before unfolding,” Matt explains.

The main issue is just how bulky the stroller is when folded. While it does boast a carry handle, it is still quite awkward to carry around. “The pram is large, long, heavy and bulky when folded, so isn’t the best buggy to take on public transport. It was also tricky to fit into our Audi A1,” Matt says.

“It's length when folded means it needs to lie horizontally in the boot, which takes up a lot of room. The school run was quite difficult as we struggled to get the Pop in and out of the car," he adds.

What’s storage like?

The Silver Cross Pop excels when it comes to storage. The 5kg storage basket has great depth, which allowed our tester to fit a changing bag inside. He was able to add other items too, such as a change of clothes and shopping bag, which is ideal when running errands around town.

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Is the Silver Cross Pop easy to clean?

As part of our testing process, we put the Silver Cross Pop through a series of tests to see how it coped, including spilling juice on the seat and pushing the buggy through mud.

Matt says, “The material is very easy to clean and appears to be very waterproof. Juice ran off the fabric and cleaned off easily with wet wipes and kitchen roll. Mud was also easy to clean off as the fabric is really durable and hard wearing. Even though it has a quilted effect, this didn’t affect the cleaning process. The bright and bold patterns also obscure any marks.”

The covers are removable, however it cleans so well that we don’t think you would need to remove them for washing. If your stroller gets really grubby, you can purchase a Valet & Service package from Silver Cross which costs £125 to help prolong the life of your buggy.

Is it good value for money?

Retailing at £245, the Silver Cross Pop is good value for a high-performing everyday stroller. Not only is it a sturdy and practical buggy for your child to grow into, but it’s also comfortable and easy to push over different surfaces.

The storage basket is a particular highlight, especially when compared to the minimal storage on other lightweight buggies like the popular Babyzen Yoyo2. The only downside is how bulky the Pop is when folded which makes it hard to store or fit in your car.

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About the author 

Gemma Wilcock is a freelance writer and copywriter. She loves writing about subjects that will make parents' lives easier, including recommending the very best products including strollers, double buggies and cots.

As a mother of two children herself, she knows how important online reviews are when it comes to making the right purchase so is committed to creating in-depth and honest product reviews that parents can trust.