Axkid ONE Review

Quick Summary: The Axkid ONE offers really quick and easy installation in the car with ISOFIX. The fact that it can be used rear-facing in the car and with the harness for the higher 125cm or 23kg is brilliant, and will be great for parents of children on higher centiles. As it is i-Size tested, you know that you are buying ONE of the safest seats available for your child. We loved how adjustable the Axkid ONE was for each child, with the leg room and recline, and there's a massive range to choose from. We did find that the harness was quite difficult to tighten enough, but this might get easier each time you use the seat. When moving from car to car, or just transporting, it is easy to do, thanks to the grab handles on the side and the fact that it is so lightweight. For the technology and safety features in the seat, you are paying a much higher price than other seats in the Axkid range. From £600 for the ONE in core colours, it is the most expensive car seat we have tested.

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The Axkid ONE is a brand-new car seat from Swedish brand Axkid. Available as the ONE+, which includes an additional inlay to use it from birth, or the ONE, which can be used from 61cm or around 3 months old. It is an i-Size tested seat that fits with ISOFIX for longer. 

Installation

Very different from the brand's other extended rear-facing seats, the Axkid ONE is installed in the car using ISOFIX and a support leg. As the seat is so lightweight at 10kg, it allows for the ISOFIX points to take a higher weight limit of 23kg, as opposed to 18kg. The maximum weight for any i-Size, ISOFIX car seat to hold is 33kg for the seat and child.

The Axkid ONE is the only i-Size car seat that is tested with a Q6 dummy, so the average 6 year old child.

To start the installation, fold down the support leg until you hear a click and you can see the indicator at the top of it turn green. The stages are all clearly labelled with numbers 1-6 on the seat, making it clear and intuitive to go through the installation.

Next, you need to release the front brace release button which is at the top and slides, so that the front brace moves towards the seat. While still holding the front brace and the handle at the back of the Axkid ONE, sit it on your vehicle seat.

Then push the ISOFIX arms onto the ISOFIX points in until you hear a click and both indicators at the top of the arms are green.

You then need to adjust the front brace. It does automatically start tensioning itself against the vehicle seat, but you just need to turn the front brace knob clockwise until you feel the pressure and hear a click. It's very clever as it has a built-in torque limiter - once tightened enough, it knows and won't let you tighten any more. This process brings the brace firmly against the vehicle seat.

Finally, adjust the support leg! Pressing the button, you can pull the support leg down until it is touching the floor. Just pull the seat up slightly until you hear a click. The leg does know if it isn't fitted correctly and will beep until level with the floor.

Depending on which side of the vehicle you have installed the car seat, you will need to connect the ASIP pad on to the slots and slide down. There is a plastic cover on ONE side, so just move that over if it is covering the door side.

Some extended rear-facing seats that require seat belt and lower tethers to install can put off parents as it can look confusing to do, so it's great that this seat offers the ease of ISOFIX. Axkid has actually set its team members a 30-second challenge in which to do the installation, and we definitely think that it's doable!

Day-to-day use

If you are using the Axkid ONE+ from birth or the Axkid ONE from 61cm or around 3 months old, it comes with different inserts.

The Axkid ONE+ comes with two inserts, to be used together from birth to 61cm, and then just the larger insert to be used from 61-100cm, which is around 3 years old. You can then use the main part of the seat from 100-125cm, which is about 3-7 years old!

It's amazing that the Axkid ONE can be used up to 125cm and a maximum of 23kg, even though it is ISOFIX fitted. Usually, the maximum weight is 18kg for an ISOFIX seat.

We have been testing out the Axkid ONE with a large 2.5-year-old toddler and a 5-year-old little girl. As he is already at 100cm, we did need to remove the insert to ensure the toddler was comfortable in the seat.

The ONE has lots of different positions depending on the age and size of your child. It cleverly adjusts to find the best position for them.

It is really easy to adjust the legroom and recline position using two different dials and can be done with the child in or out of the seat. Rather than just deciding yourself on the optimum position for your child, there are handy guides at the side of the seat. Spin the dial that is just below the crotch strap to change the recline, and slide the button at the back of the seat to adjust the legroom backwards and forwards. 

When setting up for an infant from birth up to around 6 months old, the seat should be adjusted to the maximum recline and minimum legroom position. This is the 0-60cm guide and the yellow arrow points to where it needs to be.

If using with a toddler up to 3 years old, you can use any of the recline positions and several legroom positions using the guide at 60-100cm. From 3-7 years old, it should be used in the maximum upright position and maximum legroom position and using the guide 100-125cm.

Parents who may have argued about legroom being ONE of the reasons that they forward face their child definitely won't be able to say that about the Axkid ONE! There is 26cm between the shortest and longest positions and lots of room for older children to rest their legs. The sticker guides for the leg positions should always be followed to ensure a safe installation, but all positions, including fully extended, are internally crash-tested. 

As the button to adjust the legroom is on the back of the seat, it's possible for a passenger in the front seat to reach back and slide the car seat closer to the vehicle seat back if there is a room issue. We just found that you need to watch your fingers if fully extending, as they can get in between the button and the top of the support leg.

Before placing the child, it is always better to completely loosen the 5-point harness. There is a small button underneath the front of the seat to the right, which we did actually find tricky to locate each time! We also found the harness quite stiff to tighten sufficiently too. The height of the headrest moves up and down smoothly though, and should be adjusted to level or just below the child's shoulders. There is an eye level indicator on the headrest to give guidance too, great idea!

When seating your child, you can extend the leg room first, which gives you more space to get them in. You can then slide them forwards again, depending on which setting is advised. We did find that the seat of the Axkid ONE isn't the deepest, but it has been designed like this on purpose. As Axkid focus solely on extended rear-facing, the seat has been made shallower to allow the child to position their feet on the vehicle's seat and sit comfier. In lots of other ISOFIX seats, this isn't possible because of the rebound bars.

Conclusion

The Axkid ONE offers really quick and easy installation in the car with ISOFIX. The fact that it can be used rear-facing in the car and with the harness for the higher 125cm or 23kg is brilliant, and will be great for parents of children on higher centiles. As it is i-Size tested, you know that you are buying ONE of the safest seats available for your child.

We loved how adjustable the Axkid ONE was for each child, with the leg room and recline, and there's a massive range to choose from. We did find that the harness was quite difficult to tighten enough, but this might get easier each time you use the seat. 

When moving from car to car, or just transporting, it is easy to do, thanks to the grab handles on the side and the fact that it is so lightweight.

For the technology and safety features in the seat, you are paying a much higher price than other seats in the Axkid range. From £600 for the ONE in core colours, it is the most expensive car seat we have tested.