Customer Reviews

Stokke Xplory Complete Stroller - Turquoise

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

 

 

It looks really cool and is easy to push. It comes with some accesories like a mosquito net and raincover.
However the cons outweight the pros, the biggest one being that it is poorly built of very cheap plastic.
It is not a sturdy stroller, don't get fooled by the price, expensive doesn't mean high quality.
The learning curve is steep, it takes ages to figure out what each of the white buttons are for and the instruction booklet is not helpful at all.
You must buy Stokke only accesories, like the diaper bag which is another $100 because no other diaper bag can be used with the Xplory (no place to store or hang it).
We also bought the $100 travel bag, and it turned out to be just a large plastic bag. No padding, no protection for the stroller, no special compartments to place the different items (chassis, seat, foot rest, etc..), and, not meant for air travel. Except the air travel part wasn't mentioned anywhere, and we found out the hard way when our stroller broke (the mechanism that opens the wheels) WHILE inside the travel bag (even though I took the time to put padding all around it), and the warranty didn't cover the repair, meaning we now have to spend $380 on a new chassis to be able to use it again. When you add that up to the over $1000 already spent, it is simply not worth it.
Buy a different stroller! One that is sturdier, which is what you would expect after spending $1000, not one you are afraid of bringing up and down stairs, in and out of the car, etc...because it "might" break.
On a final note, their customer service is terrible, not helpful at all.

This was the first stroller we bought for our baby, but we no longer use it due to several design flaws that turned out to be deal-breakers.
First the good stuff:
The height of the child seat or bassinet (they call it the "baby bag") is wonderful for a variety of reasons. The stroller is quite stable despite the height of the seat. The stair climbing feature - the rear wheels fold under -is great. The optional bag that sits on the lower platform (spare seat?) is very useful. Great for putting heavy things in while going shopping. The stroller can double as a child seat in restaurants. Easy to remove and wash fabric parts. Good warranty service.
Now the bad:
My main point - the design of the stroller around the single aluminum support beam has created some design limitations that they have had to work around, and their workarounds are not very good in many cases.
The Baby Bag is too short, and the cutout for the beam makes it even shorter practically. Our child had outgrown it by 4 months and we had to put him in the seat and recline it instead, which was not ideal.
The foot rest is very badly thought out - it needs to be removed entirely from the seat in order to change from forward to rear-facing (again, this is because of the beam), and it requires three hands to adjust or remove it - one for each of the catches on the left and right sides, and another to move the rest. Last time I checked I only had two hands.
This wouldn't be much of a problem if it weren't necessary to change between forward and rear facing so often, but since the seat will not recline very much in the forward-facing position (the beam again) you will find yourself executing this maneuver regularly. I don't know why they didn't design the footrest in two parts, that could fold like on a wheelchair, so it could clear the beam without having to remove the rest.
The safety bar for the seat doesn't open, and it's positioned too close to the seat, so getting the child in and out is difficult. It is removable, but it's not a quick procedure. Also you're not supposed to use this bar to carry the seat with the child in it, which defeats part of the purpose of having it there in the first place.
It's difficult to fold the stroller, you need to use both hands and one foot to close it, and if you start off with the seat rear-facing, you'll need to remove the seat first as well. This makes it less than ideal for getting into a taxi, for example, unless you have someone else there to hold the baby, and even so it takes too long.
The canopy is not waterproof. In a mild to heavy rain, water will soak through the fabric and drip inside. There is a plastic raincover , but as it zips to the front of the canopy, rather than covering it, it does not protect from water adequately. Also there is a fabric portion of the raincover which has the same problem as the canopy.
The mount for the optional sun parasol is not adjustable, so if you recline the seat the parasol cannot provide shade for the baby. Also, the flexible metal stem for the parasol itself is very stiff and doesn't adjust well, and it breaks easily, which will happen when you attempt to move the parasol into a useful position when the seat is reclined.
The oval handle is quite adjustable and comfortable for a range of users, however it's very hard to hang a bag from there, and there aren't really any other places to hang one on this stroller. Forget the small bag they sell to hang on the beam, it's a terrible solution. The lower bag is great for carrying shopping and such, but you don't want to have to always be reaching down there for bottles, food, toys, etc. and when the seat is forward-facing with the footrest installed, it's hard to get to that bag.
Lastly, the quality is not as good as one would expect given the price. The wheels are plastic and scratch and look bad quickly. The rear yoke for the back wheels isn't very strong so if you use the stair-climbing feature with much weight on the stroller it will deteriorate and break - we had to have ours repaired. Admittedly, this is due to the fact that we were abusing the stroller by climing stairs with it with the child in the seat (which they say not to do, presumably for safety reasons), but designers should be realistic and realize that if they allow you to fold the wheels under to climb or descend stairs more easily, then people are going to do that with the child in the stroller because in many cases there is no other alternative (what, take the baby out and leave it on the landing of the stairs while you go down to retrieve the stroller?). Also, there was a problem that developed where the seat would start slipping down. Our retailer contacted Stokke and they provided us with a little metal shim that solved the problem, but the annoying thing was that the instructions for this fix had a date printed on them that was before our purchase date - if they know this is a problem, why don't they provide the shim when you buy the stroller in the first place.
I hope that they will eventually redesign this and solve most of these problems. With the exception of the limitation on how the seat can recline, I think all of these flaws are solveable. But until they come out with a second version, I wouldn't spend money on this one. We got lucky - when ours broke, Stokke replaced the entire chassis, wheels and all (good warranty service, like I said) so we essentially had a new stroller, and we sold it and got enough to cover the cost of the stroller we had already bought to replace it. (a Quinny Buzz, btw - also not perfect but more useable for our purposes).

This pram is great in many ways. The height is perfect, it keeps baby up close to you. I have the attachment for my Prego car seat and I just pop the car seat in and my daughter is at eye level so she can keep an eye on me & I can get to her easily! The pram is very easy to push, I can operate it with one finger, when needed. It has great turning radius and the adjustable handle works well when pulling up to tables, etc. I really enjoy the clean look, as do many people that stop me everywhere we go and ask about it, it's quite an eye catcher. I like the different options for the seat with the baby bag, and the forward or rear facing seat options, especially since it can be used as a seat in restaurants and I don't have to worry about a highchair. But now that we are using the seat part more and leaving the car seat in the car, I notice more drawbacks. The center bar seems to get in the way at times when my baby is rear facing, she is always kicking the bar with her feet. The seat does not go on as easliy when you are using the rear facing option, you have to get it through the handle just right so that you don't have to take off the foot rest and you can not fold the pram with the seat on. I am also disappointed at how heavy it is when you are lifting it into the car, as well as how bulky it is when folded, it takes up a lot of room! The cross bar on the seat does not come off, so it can be difficult getting the baby in and out, especially when they are sleeping and you don't want to wake them! I am also not a fan of the clips used on the straps, they are very basic and little fingers can get pinched. The bag can be difficult to get in and out of and the diaper bag is not very good, it feels like I have to rummage through it to get at my stuff, but it does clip on the stroller and since there is no where else for any other bag to hang, you are kind of stuck, unless you want to carry the diaper bag all of the time. I would still reccomend this pram, just know about the drawbacks and see if you can live with them before you spend the money.

The stroller is a great concept, looks uber cool, and has some very nice features, but it is under-built, flimsy, and breaks easily.

One of the selling points is that it folds nicely for air travel (with $120 accessory travel bag). Unfortunately, the seat angle latch broke on our first trip and the latch to fold the wheels broke on our second trip! Stokke told that this happens 'often', and charges $250 for the repair! The latches are made of flimsy plastic, so are easy to break (and the travel bag has no padding to protect them). The weak latches should be re-engineered and failures covered by warranty!

Considering the premium pricepoint, I expected better engineering and support. Stokke 'Customer Service' is profoundly disappointing.

Stokke Xplory stroller is a Wonderful Stroller!!!

My wife and I shopped for a stroller for 3 months browsing through internet, visiting retail stores, and talking with many groups of mothers. At first we were hesitant to buy Stokke thinking that it's just a fancy and luxurious, but nothing-more kind of stroller. However the thing about this stroller that we loved was how this tall stroller, unlike any other strollers in the market, gave us a huge relief to our body since both of us had back problems. We didn't have to bend our backs as we worked our boy in and out of the stroller.

Another great feature we loved about this stroller was the bassinet. He sleeps so well on it as if it was his own crib. It's nice, spacious and comfortable. Now he's six months old and he still sleeps on it. The other day we had a trip to Vancouver, Canada and took our Stokke along with us. Amazingly, he had no problem sleeping throughout the night because of this bassinet.

Last but not least, every day we are enchanted by people who pass by us at the shopping mall, grocery stores, and outdoors. Because our stroller has a different look and style unlike other ordinary strollers, we are always stopped and surrounded by people who tell us how great and amazing our stroller is. However, that's not why we are excited. We are excited not because they commented on our stroller but because they complement on our baby who sleeps and plays in that stroller bassinet or seat.

We are grateful for our baby and happy with the stroller! It's worth every penny of it.

It's a great stroller, very innovative design. The chair is at a higher level so I feel closer to my baby and the large wheels make it feel very stable! Our daughter really loves it.

Realmente amo este coche, ademas de parecerme muy bonito es super practico. Tengo un hijo de un anio que lo adora. Antes tenia un coche tradicional, (de esos que van bajos), y el se aburria muy rapido, aguantaba unos 20 o 30 minutos. Ahora que va alto, puede estar horas, ya que ve todo desde otra prespectiva.
Las dos posiciones que tiene mirando hacia adelante son comodas, en una esta bien sentado y en la otra, esta un poco reclinado (no echado) lo suficiente como para que pueda quedarse dormido comodo. Mirando hacia atras tambien tiene dos posiciones y una de ellas es echado
A mi me sigue dando nervios ponerlo en la posicion de echado en lo alto, por eso (por precaucion) cuando lo echo, lo bajo. En realidad es muy estable, pero bajando me siento tranquila.
La bolsa para poner las compras es muy util y entra bastante
El plegado es bastante bueno, hace que sea muy facil subirlo y bajarlo por las escaleras
Como ya lo dije: amo este coche!!!

I for own like this stroller a lot. I'm willing to sacrifice minor issues with this stroller to be able to see my daughter riding high and always being able to make a connection with Mommy or Daddy. I don't want my daughter to be staring at everyone's knee caps as we go about our day. Traditional strollers seriously suck in this area. This stroller is about the child being a part of life. The designers and engineers knew exactly what they were doing when they created this stroller. Sure its larger than all the other strollers when folded, its not compact, it doesn't have a crap load of storage space for all your latte's and shopping bags... it's about your child, not you. I find the bag to be adequate to carry everything we need.

So, that's why most reviewers don't get this stroller. It's expensive too, but like I said, a sacrifice I'm willing to make for my child. I've been using it for over a year now and has had no problems at all.