Cozy N Safe Comet car seat

[soutermon]

Does anyone have this car seat? I can only find reviews on the manufacturers website and Halfords. Would like to see a few more reviews before I make a purchase.

As an aside, Which? reviews do not have any Cozy N Safe reviews at all.

That is because Cozy n Safe are what we call a "rebrander". They purchase generic seats from a car seat factory (these days usually based in Asia) and put their own branding on them. Those seats very rarely get chosen for Which? reviews because unlike say Britax who will produce one model of seat and sell that same model in several countries, the Cozy n Safe Comet under the covers will be called something like "Model C750" and it will be sold as Cozy n Safe Comet here, but Foppapedretti Revolve in Italy, or ABC Twist in Germany or Sweety Max in Czech Republic, etc etc. (I just made up those names).

These individual brandings are all much smaller and less recognisable/popular, so they are unlikely to get selected for the consumer tests. It also means that if a seat is tested under the name "ABC Max" or something you would not necessarily know that it is the same seat sold in Britain under a different name and brand.

I do not have hands on experience with this seat but I can share my opinion from looking at the seat on the website and what I know about car seats in general, I wouldn't recommend it. These are my thoughts:

• These generic seats tend to be low in quality and fairly flimsy in the protection they offer. It looks flimsy and not very padded/comfortable in the product videos. Especially sitting on the buckle in high backed booster mode.

• All-stages seats in general tend to be difficult to get a good fit for children at different ages and tend to offer a false economy - it is usually better value to buy a seat covering the rear facing/5 point harness stage, and then a separate high backed booster.

• It can only be used in the reclined position rear facing. This offers less protection than an upright position and can be frustrating for older children (but you must not use the seat differently than specified in the manual).

• The top tether only attaches to the base which always makes me anxious, as the base-seat attachment is a potential weak point.

• The belt routing for the seat to be used in high backed booster mode looks as though it would give a very poor fit.

• The maximum position for the headrest in high backed booster mode looks much too short to fit all the way up to 12 years. Maybe to around 6/7 years.

For the £165 this seat costs you probably won't get the use out of the high backed booster mode, and will need to buy a separate one (as well as the other problems). So IMO, you would be better off spending around £100 on a basic belt fitted rear facing seat and then around £50 on a high backed booster seat. Or you could spend about £150-180 and get a more sturdy, higher quality isofix spin seat, or a more sturdy, higher quality forward facing seat without worrying about the high backed booster mode.

Thank you so much for your in depth reply. I've taken your points into consideration and decided to look for something a bit better. Currently deliberating between the Cybex Sirona S I-Size and the Joie i-spin 360.

Those are both good options but the shell on the cybex is a bit short so it usually gets outgrown before the 105cm limit is reached.

You might want to compare with Britax Dualfix i-size as well as this is a similar price to the Joie one. And if you're interested in extended rear facing it's well worth looking at the Axkid seats and Britax Max way plus as well.

Thanks. We popped into a local shop today and liked the Maxi Cosi Mica Pro Eco i-Size now. It was easy to use and seemed sturdy as well as comfortable for the child.

Another vote for the dualfix m jere or the Joie ispim. Both amazing seats and reduced right now!

That's a good option too, the only thing I am not keen on is the one piece insert, it is great for newborns and great for children over about 6/8 months but there can be a bit in the middle where they're too big for the insert but they have loads of space around then without it, which is annoying.

The mica is a good seat but I’ve never seen a great fit with it. I’m forever seeing fit checks for it!

It's that tricky bit in the middle people ask for fit checks on. It fits lovely for kids outside of that range, so much you wouldn't need a check.

We have the Mica. The newborn insert didn't last long at all but the straps went nice and tight to secure our small baby once it was removed. She does get a bit of head flop in it though but our older daughter had that issue too in her Britax Dualfix.