Cybex Sirona S2 i-Size and SX2 i-Size Review

Quick Summary: Both the Cybex Sirona S2 i-Size and SX2 i-Size car seats tick lots of boxes for lots of parents. Whether they are looking for a car seat to use from birth, or a next stage spin car seat for an older baby, these can cater for you. We love the additional safety features that have been designed to keep your child safe and that they allow the safest rear-facing position to be used right up to their 105cm height limit. The rotating feature also makes it so easy to get baby in and out and they are really simple to install.

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Things we love…

The Sirona S i-Size has been a popular spin car seat for lots of parents and now Cybex have updated it with the Sirona S2 i-Size and SX2 i-Size! During the latest ADAC 10/21 testing, the SX2 was awarded Best in Class for the toddler car seat category and a Good 2.1 rating.

One of the biggest changes for these car seats is that they are now suitable for use from 61cm, which is around 3 months old, instead of from birth like the Sirona S i-Size. As many parents will use an infant carrier with their newborn, it makes sense to make this change. If, however, you do want to use them straight away for the longevity and cost effectiveness, then you can purchase the new newborn inlay which fits inside the car seats to create a cosy space, in a flatter position for babies from 45-60cm. The Sirona S2 i-Size newborn inlay is available in either Black or Grey.

These car seats are very similar aesthetically to the predecessor, and the only obvious difference is the lack of insert and a black support leg instead of silver! The installation is still just as simple. Start off by sitting the car seat on the vehicle seat, extend both ISOFIX arms by squeezing the front and back of the grey button and then connect on to your ISOFIX points in your car. Once connected and your indicator is green, push the car seat towards the vehicle seat so that it firmly touches the back rest.

Your only other job is to extend the support leg until it touches the footwell and the green indicator at the front of the base turns to green. Just take care not to overextend the leg and cause the base to lift from the seat of the car. That's it!

It's then up to you to decide the travelling position of the car seat. As these are i-Size tested car seats, it is to be used rear-facing for a minimum of 15 months and 76cm tall. After this point, it can be used forward facing, but we would recommend rear-facing for as long as possible. It's great that you can use rear-facing for the entire time if you want the safest position.

As safety features are obviously the most important feature of any car seat, these car seats have plenty. A difference in the two seats is that the SX2 has Advanced Linear Side-impact Protection that needs popping out on the car door side. In combination with the energy-absorbing shell, it can reduce the force of a side impact collision by 25%! The energy-absorbing shell is designed to flex with an impact and channel the forces away from baby too.

The Sirona S2 has a different integrated L.S.P. System that you don't need to pop out. It also works in combination with the energy-absorbing shell to reduce the force of a side impact.

Another safety feature added to both of these seats is the Energy Reduction Technology. When forward facing, the harness reduces the forces on the neck of the child in a frontal collision by approximately 20% compared to other harness systems.

Spin seats are so popular right now and lots of parents look for this feature when car seat shopping. They won't be disappointed with the Sirona S2 i-Size or SX2 i-Size as they have a 360° rotation mechanism that takes away the awkward position often needed to load or remove your child. Parents with bad backs will praise the easy rotation to the door side. To spin the seat, use the recline button under the front of the seat to put it into the most upright position. You can feel that extra movement, which will then allow you to swivel it to the door.

The Sirona S2 i-Size and SX2 i-Size now have five recline positions both rear and forward facing! This can be done with one hand and gives a much comfier napping position for little one when travelling in the car.

Ensuring the seat grows with your child from 3 months (or birth if you have the insert), to around 4 years old, the headrest and harness can be adjusted to 12 different settings to find the perfect fit for your child. You're looking to get the harness to level or just below their shoulders for rear facing and level or just above the shoulders for forward facing. The button to adjust is on the back of the headrest for good access.It's very easy to sit little one on top of their harness when you're trying to get them correctly placed in their car seat. To help with this, Cybex have added a little belt holder at each side of the seats so that you can hook the harness straps in and out of the way.

Things to look out for…

Although it is simple to rotate the Sirona S2 i-Size and SX2 i-Size to the car door, the upright position of the seats required for the rotation function, might make for an uncomfortable movement for younger babies who don't have great head control. It is possible for their heads to flop forward, meaning that you have to hold them back as you are unfastening the harness.

Having the spin feature means that you can move from rear to forward facing easily too. On the previous model, there was Driving Direction Control which prevented misuse of the seat and forward facing too soon. Cybex have now passed this over to the parent to decide when to forward face, within the regulation advice. As lots of parents don't read instructions carefully, this could mean that they forward face sooner than advised. There is a red line on the car seats though that is a visual reminder that once the head rest reaches this mark, it should be around the height that the child can face forward.

At £319.95, the SX2 is on the higher end of the scale for a spin car seat in this age category - £40 more if you want to include the newborn inlay. If you love the Sirona SX2 i-Size but have a lower budget, then definitely take a look at the Sirona S2 i-Size. This is a very similar car seat, only having a different LSP side impact protection system and sits at a more accessible price of £269.95.

Our verdict

Both the Cybex Sirona S2 i-Size and SX2 i-Size car seats tick lots of boxes for lots of parents. Whether they are looking for a car seat to use from birth, or a next stage spin car seat for an older baby, these can cater for you.

We love the additional safety features that have been designed to keep your child safe and that they allow the safest rear-facing position to be used right up to their 105cm height limit. The rotating feature also makes it so easy to get baby in and out and they are really simple to install.

We just wish that the Driving Direction Control was still a feature, as think it's important that the parent has to make more of a conscious decision when deciding to forward face their child. It would also be better if the rotating feature was operated in a slightly different way so that young babies weren't moved into the upright position to spin.