Design
Looking at the Quinny Buzz it's not surprising that it's a Dutch design. With its bright colour combinations and brushed aluminium frame it's a pretty funky looking pram to be getting around town in.
It comes in a Buzz 3 or Buzz 4 option, both of which have four wheels, the difference being that the front wheels are situated together on the 3 and spread apart on the 4.
The Buzz is very solidly constructed and has well designed, quality made components. You all know how much I hate those cheapo, pincy plastic harness buckles? The Buzz has a beautiful racing car style seat belt that is slotted together like a car seat buckle.
Features
As you would expect this pram has many features including rear and forward facing seat positions, 3 position recline, 5 point, mutli-position harness with shoulder and crotch pads, a comfortable foam seat plus an additional XL seat cover for older children. It also comes with a removable bumper bar, an adjustable footrest and adjustable three level handlebar.
An under the seat basket is an optional extra accessory for this pram but it does include a small bag that clips onto the chassis called a Buzz Box.
Performance
We road-tested the Buzz 3. The ride was very smooth and maneuverability impressive, one of the best prams I’ve test-driven. It doesn’t have any suspension but the large rear wheels cushion some of the impact of a bumpy environment. It can be pushed with one hand comfortably and for long periods of time.
Although the Buzz is a big pram it’s quite light at 12 kgs and the steering is so smooth you don’t really feel it. The back wheels are on the broader side, sometimes I did catch one of them on something I would have rather avoided including the occasional passerby (they never pay attention, you know what I mean!)
You can fold the Buzz with the seat on (facing forward) but it's actually easier to fold by taking the seat off. The fold requires two hands and a bit of oomph. Also you do have to make sure your folded Buzz is locked before you move it otherwise it will unfold in your arms. The folded size is large; make sure you check it will fit in your boot if you have a smaller sized car.
The automatic unfold is another matter altogether, press the button and bingo your ride is ready. Make sure you keep yourself and your children clear when the Buzz is unfolding.
The brakes are an on/off type of action, you press the red tab above one back wheel for stop and grey tab above the other back wheel for go. I couldn’t always feel when the brakes were on; occasionally I had to check to make sure; occasionally I thought they were on and they weren't. They were always nice and firm when on.
The hood is on the smaller side and you will need to invest in a generic brand sunshade if you spend a lot of time outdoors. It is very useful, however, that you can adjust it up and down the chassis and push it right down to cover your child’s head if they are sleeping. The hood also features a peek-a-boo window and windows either side so your baby can see out when you have it low.
You recline this pram from the front, you need two hands but it is pretty easy (unless you have bags hanging from the handle, anything hanging gets in the way). I like the way the foot rest adjusts with the seat, it makes the Buzz a pretty comfy place to sleep if you are a toddler.
This pram works for public transport users. You can easily wheel it onto busses and trains. My only complaint is that it is hard to reach the breaks when it was parked in the bays on the bus. If you have to fold it to get on the bus I’d think again about a Quinny Buzz.
The seat covers are spot clean or hand wash only. However, they do come up nicely on the gentle cycle of the washing machine. We don’t normally test a pram beyond their operating instructions but we unwittingly conducted the ultimate test with a banana …. need I go on?
One thing that stands out about the Buzz is the great quality and design, from the funky colours and stitching, the thick durable rain cover to the easily adjustable footrest and handlebar. A little bit of the stitching on our tester pram did come undone (about 2 cms) if this was an issue for you I’m sure Quinny would replace it.
One very last thing, this pram gets the dads' thumbs up. Whenever the boys hit the park they always choose the Buzz because it's a bit of a speedster on the footpath and the long adjustable handle makes it really comfy to push if you are on the taller side.
With the Dreami carrycot
The Quinny Buzz seat is suitable from birth, however, you can opt for the flat carrycot, Dreami, as an additional accessory.
I've got to say the Dreami is a really lovely place for a newborn to travel. It features a three point harness, firm fitting mattress, soft internal lining that can be removed for hand washing and large hood with handle that has a peekaboo window. It comes with a boot cover, mozzie net, raincover and matching fleece blanket.
The Dreami is easy to use with the Buzz chassis, once you have the adapters in place you just lower the carrycot into place and click on or depress a button on either site of the carrycot to remove.
You can purchase the Dreami as part of a Buzz package (which is cheaper at $1299.00) or purchase it as a stand alone item.
Drawbacks
Without doubt the biggest drawback of the Buzz is the lack of storage. It’s not just the under seat basket that’s missing in action but I found this pram tipped very easily if you had a baby bag or shopping on the back. This really limited what I could carry around with me. The Buzz Box is useful, it will fit your rain cover but not much more and it does get grubby on a rainy day.
My nappy bag kept slipping down the handle which was both annoying and useful. I couldn’t reach it but having it lower down the chassis meant that the pram was more stable.
Also there is no logical place on the handle for the wrist strap. As a result it kept falling down and dragging on the ground. I was very tempted to leave it off the pram which defeats the purpose of having it in the first place.
Conclusion
I absolutely loved the Buzz for its good looks and when we were out and about, pounding the pavement. But it just fell a bit short in the function department. I guess you'd say it's a little bit more of a show pony than a workhorse.
But you can't beat it in terms of quality and if I were buying a Buzz I'd opt for a darker colour, they look great and are easier to keep clean.
About Quinny
Quinny is another one of those snazzy Dutch brands producing well designed prams. The make three different models of which two, the Buzz and Zapp, are available in Australia.
