Avionaut Stardust

[Greentoytractor]

Anyone have this seat? My almost 4 year old is coming up to 105cm and so needs a new car seat. I'm keen to stay rear facing a while longer. I was looking at the axkid or besafe stretch but the Stardust seems like it would have more longevity as it turns into a high back booster. I don't know much about the brand though. Any thoughts? I have a Kia Sportage if that makes a difference.

@bertiebotts shamelessly tagging! :)

Not Bertie Botts but Avionaut are a really reputable brand that make a lot of good seats like the pixel pro and avionaut sky. Have been looking at this for my 2 year old. I hear lots of good feedback, the only thing is that apparently the legroom isn't great.

Thanks! I guess I'm just wondering what the catch is? I know the weight limit for rear facing is lower at 21kg vs 36kg, but still seems it will be fine up to age 5 or so, plus then you don't need to buy a new high back booster?

Or are the dedicated erf seats better/safer?

I'm possibly over thinking this!

The main stockist near me doesn't carry the Avionaut so difficult to test it out in the car.

I have a Kia Sportage and have just recently bought the Stardust. My 1 year old currently uses it, but on the odd occasion I have picked my 4 year old niece up from school, she's jumped in it and she likes it so much that my sister is thinking of getting one for her car. I did have the Joie spin but I hated it. I love this new one. So easy to adjust, so easy to spin and its nowhere near as bulky as my Joie seat. I did try it out in a shop first though so I would recommend doing that to make sure as it's quite expensive compared to other seats

I've been wondering the same thing! The main drawbacks I've heard of are a) not as much legroom as the ERFs and b) I've seen admin on the car seat groups say that the HBB mode doesn't get you to the recommended height of 150cm, more like around 135cm. I haven't tried one out myself yet though.

Ahh this is good to know as I currently have the Joie i-spin, so gives me an idea of size

I don't know that much about it, sorry. My general feeling about combination seats is that they have to make a compromise somewhere. High back boosters should ideally be light and flexible, but a spin seat especially with a higher capacity on the harnessed mode needs to be quite strong and solid, so that's the only thing I'd be a bit unsure about. But all the ERF specialists who have actually seen it in person seem to love it and rave about it in a way they haven't about other all-stage seats e.g. the Britax Swivel or Joie Spin XL, and the belt fit does look good in booster mode, which is unusual in the combination seats.

Avionaut as a brand I do like. Their seats are really thoughtfully designed and I think that's a really good thing. Their safety reputation is also very good.

It is good that you get the spin up to 125cm. Not many seats on the market do that. I agree that the 21/22kg weight limit isn't likely to be a problem for most people especially if you don't plan to stay rear facing more than a year or so more.

In terms of saving money on not needing to buy a HBB later I think this is a red herring, you can get a good HBB for under £100 and the Britax 125cm seat is about £200 on offer, so you could get both seats for less than the Avionaut, though without the spin of course. OTOH it does seem a shame to go straight into a HBB if you could get a seat which can rear face for now. How far off 105cm is your LO? They tend to grow in arms and legs and in spurts so sometimes you can get longer out of a 105cm seat than you'd expect.

You might want to compare with Tinyseats 2 - it's more expensive but it does fold up for travel which might be a useful feature.

Personally I don't think there is much difference which rear facing seat, the difference is likely to be in the performance as a high back booster. As long as the seat is rear facing and meets some kind of safety standard, it's going to offer excellent safety. You don't need to spend out loads on a RF seat, the most basic cheapest one will get you the same safety because the safety benefit is in the fact it's RF. This one has not had an ADAC test yet.

@BertieBotts thank you, very helpful!

My youngest needs to move up into the Joie 360, or else I'd keep my eldest in it for a bit longer. I definitely don't want to move to a HBB yet. The main selling point of the Avionaut for me was the fact it turned into a HBB, but if that's a bit of a false economy then maybe that's not so much of a differentiator. I liked the fact it's isofx, but actually I don't think we'll be moving it between cars very often so maybe that doesn't matter.

Money isn't a huge object, although obviously don't want to waste it unnecessarily! I don't mind spending a bit more on an axkid or besafe stretch if they're better seats, especially seeing as they'll hopefully do for two children.

I hadn't considered the britax erf seat, I mainly hear about the besafe and axkids, but it does look a fair bit cheaper.

I am not really on the FB groups any more, but I did hear that one of them has sort of unofficially blacklisted Britax and doesn't recommend their seats - which I don't understand personally, as Britax are a well renowned brand and they have been staples in the ERF world for decades. I'd happily trust a Britax for my kids' seats.

I've made comparisons to appliance brands before - IMO, Britax is like the Bosch of car seats (Sturdy, well made, reliable, does the job well even on the cheaper models) whereas Avionaut are kind of like Samsung. They have a lot of features which are pleasingly designed and lovely to use, and a price to match. Quality in terms of build is fine.

No experience of the Stardust, other than reading rave reviews about it from many of the ERF retailers.

The Britax rear facing seat above can be quite bulky with the leg room block, which might be a squeeze. It also has a much shorter shell that the BeSafe and Axkid models, which might be an issue if you plan to rear face longer than 5 years and your child carry their height in their torso.

We had a Stretch which got us beyond 7 years - brilliant seat.

I’ve got a Britax max safe pro and just bought a stardust last week for my second child. I do like the stardust but I think how long it would last RF depends how long your child is in the torso, do you live near anywhere to go and try it out? I also like the Britax, I think the issue is with the strap fraying where not pulled correctly so there have been some returns of it. Even without the leg room block it is huge, I’ve got a Tiguan and to have the leg room block the front seat would be touching the dashboard, but my giant 3yo loves it. I think it ultimately depends how long you want to rear face and whether your child will hit weight limits before height limits (both my boys are tall but also heavy hence I got a 36kg seat)