iCandy Orange 3 Review

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iCandy knows what works for their families, so the Orange is now in its third generation and just gets better and better. Like its smaller brother, the Peach 7, which is now on its seventh version, you can trust the brand to constantly make improvements to the functions and usability, as well as the style.

A consideration for parents is whether a pushchair will grow with their family and be suitable for use with future children too. The iCandy Orange is a great single pushchair, but it’s future-proofed too with the option to double up or even turn it into a twin.

Chassis

As the Orange is the most versatile from the iCandy range, it has a slightly larger chassis to cater for the 30 possible configurations that it offers. Whether you need one carrycot or seat, a seat and a carrycot or two seats or two carrycots - it can do it all.

We’d almost call it the workhorse of the brand, but that is by no means a derogatory term! Larger wheels, a good size on everything from the seats to basket all lend themselves to giving you a pushchair that handles day-to-day life for so many parents.

The chassis of the Orange is the popular Phantom, whichever of the five colours you choose from, apart from the Black Edition which has a Jet chassis. The sleek metallic of the Phantom chassis is a great match with the fabrics and lends a real style hit. The plastics are all dark grey, which blends well.

One of the first things we want to cover on the chassis of the Orange is the rather larger shopping basket - wow! Both wide and deep, it covers the whole underside of the pushchair and there’s not many that can beat this size. It can take a total of 64 litres and 10kg, so it’s strong too and ample for all of those family days out. Don’t worry where you’ll keep the picnic basket, coats or random toys, as this will be able to carry it all for you. As a pushchair that can carry multiple children, it’s a great basket size to carry double the amount of supplies. It curves up at the front and back, to stop things from falling out and has high sides too. It’s easily accessible from the front or back to get things in and out.

Built into the back of the basket is an integrated Ride-on Board. If you’ve already got an older child when you purchase this pushchair, they’ll love being able to hop on the back to travel with their younger sibling. You can use this with the included elevators, which moves either the carrycot or seat further forward and gives them plenty of space to hold on to the handlebars. It can be used up to 20kg, which we’d love to see increased slightly, just as the seat itself can be used to 25kg. The centre of the Board has a rougher texture to give them some foot grip on the plastic. It’s nice not to have an extra purchase for this, or something in your walking space.

This is a pushchair which is a good option for taller parents. The handlebar has a range of 98-108cm and our 5’ 6'' tester could actually push comfortably in the lowest position! It’s covered in a smooth black leatherette, which is comfortable to hold, but it is quite chunky, which smaller hands may not prefer. To protect this covering, you have a wide plastic section in the middle of the handlebar, which it will rest on when folding and self-standing. Moving smoothly up and down to one of five positions is done by squeezing the button in the centre.

As the wheels of your pushchair are what keep you on the move, they are important to look at. If you are a family that doesn’t stick to the city and enjoys park walks and adventures in a more rural setting, larger wheels and suspension will make days out much easier. The Orange has increased tread and grip on both the larger rear wheels and smaller front ones. They are large enough to take you over the majority of terrains with no issues and we have used on grass and rough tracks, as well as the smoother pavements and shopping centres.

The push of the iCandy is beautifully smooth, with a great turning circle of the front wheels. If you do come across a rougher ground, the front wheels can be locked by lifting up the catches at the back. All four wheels have a soft suspension that bounces gently over bumps to give a smoother ride for your little one.

The rounded pedal brake of the Orange is just on the inside of the right rear wheel and is pressed on and lifted off. Not flip flop friendly, but easy to do, and there's a reassuring click once engaged.

Carrycot

The iCandy Orange carrycot is covered in a beautiful fabric, which is different to what we’ve seen on other pushchairs. It’s a thick and soft jersey with a diamond design stitching on the apron. The six colours are all completely on trend and includes Light Slate Marl, Dark Slate Marl, Black Edition, Sandstone Marl, Mist Blue Marl and Royal Blue Marl.

We love that the carrycot has been approved for overnight sleep! This is one less thing for parents to have to worry about when travelling with their baby. Not only is it a comfortable, safe place for them to be, but it’s what they are used to from long walks and shopping trips too, so they are more likely to sleep. Whether you need for an overnight stay at the grandparents, or a full holiday, you can use it on the floor, with the six feet keeping it slightly raised.

Sometimes, carrycot hoods aren’t quite as big as those on your seat, but as the Orange uses the same hood on the seat and carrycot, it’s a great size. The panel extends out with a zip to give you coverage right up to the bumper bar. At the back of the hood is a fabric panel that you can lift to expose a mesh panel. This will allow air to circulate around the carrycot as your little one sleeps. If you are using it indoors for baby to sleep, you will just need to lower the carrycot hood. While open, the flap sits neatly and doesn’t deter from the aesthetics of the carrycot. If you are using it indoors for baby to sleep, you will just need to lower the carrycot hood.

Inside, it is lined with a soft fleece and has a substantial mattress to keep baby comfortable. The fleece lining can be completely removed should you need to give it a good clean.

Keeping the apron in place are two poppers on the side and two connected to the hood. We’d usually prefer a zip to keep it secure, but the apron on the carrycot is well-fitted and stays in place snuggly.

Included in your box are elevators, which increase the height of the carrycot and also brings it closer to you at the back of the pushchair. This is perfect for parents wanting to look straight in at their precious newborn, and also for mums that may have had a c-section, as you don’t need to bend as much to reach them. You can also spin the elevators the other way, to move the carrycot further away and give you a better space between the handlebars for a child using the Ride-on Board. For shorter parents, the lower position might be preferable, but we really do love the position that the elevators achieve.

Removing the carrycot completely from the frame is done by pressing the buttons below the bumper bar at the same time. It’s relatively easy to do, but we’d love if they were memory buttons so you could do one at a time and with one hand if needed. To transport the carrycot, you can use the bumper bar, which is gate opening to make it easier to get baby in and out.

Seat

Once baby is six months old, you can move them into the bucket style seat of the iCandy Orange. In single mode, you only receive one frame with a carrycot fabric and a seat fabric, so you’ll need to switch these over when you’re ready. If you follow the instructions, it doesn’t take too long to do, but you’ll only need to do it once anyway.

The seat has an amazing weight limit of 25kg, which very few children will reach before they are out of their pushchair and walking. If you decide to have raised up on your elevators, it does reduce the weight limit to 15kg, but you’re probably not going to use these when they’re older anyway. When used facing the back, it’s a fab height to chat with your toddler as you stroll, used facing the front you’ve got tons of space for a child on the Ride-on Board or the perfect height to be pushed up to the table in a cafe or restaurant.

The seat itself is a good size, both width, depth and height wise at 47cm tall. To secure your child there’s a five-point harness with three positions and a large buckle. Some harnesses have pads that slip down, but these have stayed nicely in place during our testing period. If you want to split the shoulder straps from the waist straps, you can, but we found it much easier to clip both sections in together. Press the centre of the buckle to release it again.

The leatherette-covered bumper bar spins easily out of the way from either side using the small button on the outside. You do have to press in the small gap though, so mums with longer nails might struggle.

To recline the seat to one of three positions, just push the button at the back of the seat. You’ve got a nice angle for sleeping, one in between and one that is upright for nosy toddlers.

The hood on the Orange seat is the same as the one on your carrycot. Made from a soft jersey material, it extends with a zip and comes right down to the bumper bar. Little one will be protected from all of the elements under there. When forward facing, you can use the peekaboo window to keep an eye on them or just add a bit of airflow through.

The back of the seat has a large zipped pocket on it, which is plenty big enough to fit your purse, phone and keys to hand. It also hides another zip inside so that you can access the holes to rethread your harness when moving up as your child grows.

The one thing that is missing on this seat is an adjustable foot rest. Though it’s a small feature, it can really help to make younger babies more comfortable and give a bit more support for shorter legs.

Car seat adaptors are included with the pushchair to create a travel system with an infant carrier of your choice.

Accessories

As well as your car seat adaptors and elevators, the Orange pushchair Bundle comes with a coordinating backpack changing bag and footmuff!

Most parents these days seem to want a backpack-style changing bag, and we love the one included with this bundle. Looks can be deceiving, and at first glance, it can look like quite a small bag. This is when you have the top tied tight, but loosen these ties and you've actually got a great-sized bag, big enough for all your changing essentials plus a few bits for mum and dad. Inside there are pockets to keep things organised and a changing mat. You've also got a large front pocket, if you want to separate things. It’s made from the same soft material as the pushchair and is comfortable to carry on your back. Unfortunately, there aren't any hooks for the bag to hang from your pushchair handle, so you will need to carry it or use up some space in the basket.

The matching duopod is a combined seat liner and footmuff in one! Have the top on during colder months and zip it off just to add a bit of comfort and protection to the seat. It's fully reversible too, for two different styles and to cope with the weather - super soft fleece on one side for the cold and breathable cotton on the other for when it's warm. It looks lovely in place and secures with two poppers to the inside of the hood. 

Fold

We love a simple fold here at PX, and the Orange ticks that box. You can do it with or without the seat unit in place but it has to be in the world-facing position. All you do is put the handle to the lowest position and then press the buttons and pull on the triggers at each side. This will drop the handle down and the front of the frame in.

The frame will free stand, even with your seat on and an automatic lock keeps it together. It’s certainly not the smallest fold at L:84 x W62 x D29, but this is a pushchair capable of carrying two toddlers. If you do need to make it smaller, you can split it down to a two piece fold and remove the rear wheels.

To get it back up on the go, you need to release the lock on the side, which is harder to reach with the seat unit in place, and then lift the handlebar up. The lock is made from a light grey to make it easier to identify.

Tandem Mode (Double and Twin)

As this makes such a brilliant double pushchair, as well as single, we thought we’d dedicate a whole section of how it works, for those of you expecting a second child. You can purchase this as a double, or just add the converter base, adaptors and additional seat fabric when you’re expecting another child.

The converter adaptors are what gives you two extra points at the front and rear of the chassis to increase your potential configurations with a combination of seats, car seats or carrycots.

There’s always some compromise with tandem pushchairs, but there’s less of that with the iCandy Orange because of the chassis size, the placement of the adaptors and the full size for both seats and carrycots.

With thirty overall configurations, you’ll find 13 that can take either a newborn and a toddler or two seats once the baby gets bigger. We doubt anyone will use all of those, but you’ll certainly be able to find the few that best suit your family’s needs. 

Our favourite for a newborn and a toddler, is a carrycot at the back and your seat up on the elevators facing forward. This gives you the perfect view down at your newborn baby, and an outward facing position for your toddler. If you’d prefer to have your toddler facing you for a chat, you could have the carrycot in the front lower position and your toddler facing you on the elevators. There is also the possibility to have the carrycot in the raised position near you and the toddler facing in on the lower front position, but this is really the only configuration that doesn’t give you much space between the different components. All of the others give plenty of room and a view to see out, which is what the larger chassis of the Orange is great at offering.

Again, using some of these positions with the elevators can make it quite high, so might not be right if you are slightly shorter, blocking your vision with the hoods extended. It’s also extended past the chassis in some of the configurations, so you’ll need to keep an eye on that if you’re manoeuvring in tight shop aisles.

Our fave for two toddlers has to be the cinema seating! One seat is at the front of the chassis and the other is just behind, slightly raised, at the back of the chassis. Though they are both a bit lower to the ground, it gives them both a great point of view and you can see them both well too. It can also be used this way facing you.

Using anything in the lower back position does hang over the brake area, so we did find ourselves reaching under with our foot to find the brake each time.

The iCandy Orange is also a brilliant twin pushchair. Capable of taking two full-sized carrycot and two full-sized seat units, you are ready to go from day one! There are twelve twin configurations!

You can use two carrycots together on the chassis using the converter adaptors and elevators. Choose from both facing your or one facing forwards and the other facing you. For your newborns, you can also add two infant carriers with two sets of car seat adaptors. Or you can completely mix it up and use one carrycot and one infant carrier!

Bear in mind that you obviously need two of everything with twins, so it will take more space in your car boot.

Once your babies have outgrown their carrycots, you can switch them over to your seat units. You’ve then got lots of options for them! Whether you’d prefer them to be both facing you, both facing out, one either way, on the front and higher position, back and higher position, or of course the amazing cinema seating. This one is particularly good with children of the same age that might be at a similar stage in what they like.

As the chassis is designed so well to take two, there’s hardly any compromise with the seating options and all offer great space for both children travelling. iCandy does have other pushchairs that convert to a tandem, but the Orange is really made to excel at it.