Customer Reviews

Evenflo Symphony 65 with Surelatch All In One Seat, North Bay

5 star:		(17)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

This is an exceptional design that offers full-size convertible car seat features and specs but can fit (rear-facing) in cars a few inches too short for other full-size convertible seats. The features and quality is also competitive with the better brands out there like the Britax Diplomat/Boulevard and Recaro Signo, which all have side impact protection.

I only use this in rear-facing mode for my 18mo, 22lb baby, so this review is written in the context of rear-facing usage.

PROS:

1) Its outer shell is 2-3 inches shorter than other full-size convertible seats. It can rear-face to 35lbs or forward-face (harnessed) to 65lbs like the biggest convertible seats available. However, the the shorter shell allows rear-facing in cars that normally could not fit a full-size convertible like the Britax Boulevard or Recaro Signo. Although the main shell is shorter, the adjustable heat restraint can be raised for taller children, once you are in forward facing mode. It just barely squeezes behind the driver seat (rear facing) in my Mazda 3, with the driver seat moved up a bit. The top edge of the shell squeezes between the top of the driver's seat and the extended head rest.

2) Compared to many Britax convertibles, it has about 2 inches more leg room for the baby in rear-facing mode. This is measured from the baby's back to the car's rear seat back. It may not sound like much, but when there's only 8-10 inches to work with, another 2 helps a lot. If it means my baby can comfortably stay rear facing until she's 2.5yr, that's a big plus. I did this comparison with my Britax Marathon (now up for sale).

3) Noticed the giant latch clips on this seat? They contain a spring loaded, auto retracting belt feeder. When installing the seat, you extend the latch clip to clip into your car, push the seat down with your weight, and the auto retractor pulls up any slack in the latch clip belt. As you take your weight off the seat, the seat stays down , and is quite secure. This is WAY easier than manually tightening the latch straps in every other convertible seat design.


CONS:
To achieve the shorter shell design, the adjustable head rest can extend 5-6 inches above the shell when in forward-facing mode. When fully extended, the head rest (including the head side impact part) is quite flimsy. It looks a bit unsafe, but I feel like it will do the job of keeping some energy absorbing foam between the baby's head and any intruding structure during a side impact. It's certainly not going to keep the head in place if the seat is on the driver side, and the car is hit on the passenger side. Only convertible seats with the head side impact protection built into the main shell may possibly pull that off (Recaro Signo, Priori, etc).

Overall I really like this seat, because it actually fits in my smaller Mazda3 and leaves enough room for a shorter adult in front. It also achieves this w/o compromising features, safety, or use with taller/bigger toddlers. The fit offers plenty of leg room and recline that's impossible with other large car seats in a smaller car.

We have only had this car seat for about a week and only rear facing. But so far we love it! I was less then thrilled with our first Graco car seat (the harness straps ALWAYS get suck underneath, huge pain to tighten/loosen.)
It's very easy to tighten/loosen the harness straps. Adjusting the height of the straps, the part by their shoulders, is just a matter of pulling up or down. They slide, meaning you don't have to rethread the whole seat to adjust the shoulder position.
She still has a couple good inches of leg room before she'll actually hit the back seat, which is good. (She's nine months old, tall for her age.)
It seems to be pretty bulky but that may be normal?? I don't have anything to compare it to.
It fits pretty well in our Gr Cherokee.

One thing to note...Evenflo makes another Symphony, which is cheaper. But note the other Symphony has a lesser weight limit for the harness. I believe the capacity is 60 pounds. It says the car seat can hold up to 100 pounds, which is correct when using it as a booster with the regular car seat belt. But to use the harness the limit is 60 pounds. This one is a 65 pound limit. I learned this I was about to buy the cheaper one! Just something to be aware of!

I typically shy away from all-in-one products as they don't live up the hype, but this car seat seems to have everything going for it.

I personally would not use a convertible seat for a newborn, but once your child becomes too heavy to carry around in an infant seat the Symphony 65 is the best choice! Sure you can get other brands that are rated for higher speed crashes, etc, but I do not feel that they are worth twice or three times the cost of this seat.

The SureLatch system makes proper installation of the seat so easy that I wouldn't have to rely on my husband to install it. The LATCH handles are larger than most models, which makes installation super easy. Also, hearing the LATCH system click as you push on the seat to tighten it is reassuring that it's working.

The padding in the seat is very soft, comfortable, machine washable and easily removable (comparable to pricier brands, but superior to other seats in this price range). The Infinite Slide Harness is nice, but difficult to adjust with baby in the seat (also requires you to move both harnesses at the same time).

I am impressed by the fact that this seat has good safety ratings, including side impact protection, but is not extremely large in size like other side impact rated models (namely the Safety 1st Air Protect). This seat fits great in all positions even in my small sedan yet is roomy for the child.

The front adjustment for the harness is a huge improvement over the wheel adjustment that other Evenflo models have. Also, the chest clip on the Symphony is much easier to use than cheaper Evenflo models.

Head pads for side impact protection is a great option that not many other car seats in this price range offer. My son enjoys being able to see out of the car window since the head pads in this seat are smaller than other comparable seats.

There are a lot of requirements of when you can use this seat rear-facing vs forward-facing vs booster and LATCH vs seat belt, but it is clearly marked on the product and you should expect such requirements with an all-in-one seat.

I am not sure if we will use this seat as a booster, but think that even without that feature it would be the best choice.

I have very little experience with car seats, as I only started helping out with my roommate's now 18-month old son some 9 months ago. From what little I've seen and the research I've done, however, this seat is definitely one of the easiest and most flexible around.

* In both roomie's '03 Pontiac Vibe and my '01 Ford Focus wagon, installation couldn't be easier: plug the two LATCH clips into the seat/back gap like plugging in a power cord, then kneel on the seat while clipping the top tether on the back of the seat and pull that tight, and it's rock solid and good to go in 30 seconds.
* Releasing the LATCH clips is as easy as pushing one button on each, then loosening the tether with a button push and a tether pull, then unclipping the tether. The tether unclip is the only remotely difficult part; you just have to make sure the anchor is all the way in the end of the clip before pressing on the flexible part of the clip, then push the open clip straight in the opposite direction to get off the anchor. It's easy to get blocked from unclipping it if you're impatient and can't see what you're doing.
* The shoulder straps are insanely easy to adjust upward as baby grows - just a little upward tug while holding the red part and they slide right up; there are no detents. Tightening the crotch belt is similarly easy, as is adjusting the height of the headrest.
* The buckles are also easy to operate; his baby seat (BabyTrend Flexloc) buckle button was nearly impossible for me to push one-handed, and putting the puzzle pieces together to fasten it was a pain, but this one operates smoothly and easily both on and off.
* The recline function is, again, super easy - just a little pull to release the clip and rotate the angle of the seat in its base. I noted that this is easier without the headrest on the seat in my Focus (as is routing the top tether).
* Tonight I took the cover off to wash, and I was shocked at just how easy it was to remove - just a few strategically-placed plastic clips, and I expect it will be just as easy to replace. The tag says machine wash cold, tumble dry 10-15 minutes on low heat. (The BabyTrend FlexLoc seat was a pain to take apart and wash and had to be flat-dried.) Note that you should restick the velcro to its mate before washing lest you tear up some of the edge tape like me. Like one of the bad reviews here, I did note that you can't take the straps off to wash. I wiped these down with some white vinegar (Mom's classic anti-pee smell remedy) and we'll see how they do. I also wiped down all the hard surfaces with vinegar for good measure. I think I might gift roomie with a PiddlePad or two, though.
* Baby seems to like the seat just fine. He's only about 23 pounds so far, but the seat has plenty of room for him to grow and he really likes being able to see where we're going now (his rear-facing baby seat was making him cranky).
* The seat is rated up to 65 pounds, so with luck this will be the only seat roomie ever has to buy, and I know his wallet will appreciate that.

Check other stores for other colors than this brown - at the least, a major kids' chain carries a gray one and a gray one with a circle pattern for the list price and probably qualifies for free shipping on their website.

We have had this car seat for nearly a month and I really like it. My son is nearly 17 months old, 24 pounds, and around 30 inches long. We have him rear facing, and I'd like to keep him that way until he is at least 18 months, preferably until he is 24 months. The seat is incredibly easy to install with the Surelatch system - a very big selling point with my husband! It is very comfortable as well, with the added padding under his little bottom. He is able to sleep comfortably as well - his head doesn't slump forward - it is at a good angle. The seat is also shorter in height than the other convertible seat we had and fits really well behind the drivers seat in our Ford Flex. My husband can have his seat all the way back and still not bump the baby's seat. The only downside to this is that according to the owner's manual the baby's head has to be at least one inch below the top of the back of the seat at the lowest setting. You cannot raise the back while it is rear facing. He is nearly at that point. I was really hoping that he would be able to stay rear facing longer, but it is simply not possible with this seat. Our other incredibly basic Graco seat will work for this, but it is not nearly as easy to adjust or install as this one, in addition to it being much taller (my husbands seat DOES bump this one).
So, overall, I am pleased with this purchase, but I am a little saddened that we will either have to go back to the basic Graco seat for a few months or turn him around to forward facing a little earlier than my ideal time frame.

We bought this car seat for our daughter based on mostly positive reviews. However, there are three issues we have had with it over the past 1.5 years. First we noticed our daughters head would always lean forward when she fell asleep or to the side a little too much. Seems to be the way they designed the headrest because it is slightly forward from where the back is. Second, where the straps go into the base, when she vomitted it would drop down into the base through the holes and there is no way to get down in there to clean it out. All we could do is wash the cover and the straps and clean up as much as we could, but there still was a smell coming from the base. The last issue we had was that the material started wearing out where her legs are on the side. The material could be a little more durable. Other than that, it does seem to take a little less room than some other car seats so it is good for smaller spaces. If you have the money though, I'd recommend getting a Britax as we have had none of the issues we had with the Evenflo and our daughter loves it.

This is one car seat that deserves all the praises. You can install it in a minute. Though not ideal for switching between cars. I installed this on my odyssey 2005, and snap got it done in a minutes. My kid 16 months enjoys the cushion surface, and the fact that he can see things around. I guess, he's excited.

The cushioning material is good, not cheap. It comes with a head rests, and additional infant cushion which is nice. I would definitely recommend this one.

a friend had one so I bought two. the straps tighten from the crotch instead of the shoulders, which I think is better. the surelatch is a blessing, makes install/removal very quick and easy.

My son is pretty average. I like to think so. He is rather long (and is within his target weight for a 12 month old), so I definitely wanted to get him a car seat that would provide him with comfort. This is just prefect. I love the padding that's included and love the fact that this car seat will grow with him. This car seat is used mainly in my parents car, and their Land Rover has the anchors for the sure LATCH technology. So, it fits alright. The only complaint from my father when he uses it in their car, is that it is not tight enough in the up right position facing forward. When my parents drive around my little one, my son doesn't shift from side to side, and that's what counts in my book.

Now, when we use this car seat in our car without the sure LATCH technology (because we do not have those anchors in our older car) we rely on just the belt. With the belt, this car seat is still amazing and does not move around and offers my son amazing comfort. He loves it. I love the belt self adjusting feature as well. Although this feature is a little tough to move up and down, which I guess is perfect because then my son cannot move it around.

The only annoying feature is the cup holder. I think it's cheap. As a matter of fact, it broke on us the other day. Because this car seat does take up a lot of space, when others sit next to it, this can cause the cup holder to break right off. Of course depending on how rowdy the people next to the car seat are. lol BUT the cup holder can be placed on either side, so I guess that one was my fault.

Other than that, I love this car seat for my one year old. He falls asleep easily in it and the recline is perfect to avoid the dangling head issues you may have with other car seats.

I love the sure latch system. It makes taking in and out the car seat really easy. It grows with your child's height. The only bad thing is that the sliding straps don't actually stay up, so I have to pull them up every time I put my kid in, to get it to the right shoulder height. But that is really, really easy. It is nice that I never have to take the car seat out to change the height as he grows. I recommend it!