Bugaboo Fox 2

Fantastic!! Go anywhere pram!! – This pram is has great functionality easy the fold out and pack down, 3 seat settings allowing baby to sit very up right sit up a little and lay back changing smoothly between the three, easily adjustable while baby is sleeping. We walk everyday and go on a range of terrains from the road, beach, walking tracks and through paddocks this pram will… Read more ·  1

go almost anywhere! Our baby has loved her bugaboo from birth having the convenience of the bassinet from birth through to the fully up right setting on the he pram So many accessories can be added for baby's comfort

Falls apart after one child and good care – I would caution anyone who is looking at bugaboo products after our experience. These items sell for over $1000 in price and ours fell apart after raising one child to 2 years. With our second child following 2 years, we had a wheel pop off in mid use. This can be a serious safety hazard. I had to repair the wheel which gave it a bit longer of a… Read more

life. We also took ours on one airplane ride and the fabric became damaged. I am not sure how because it was in a protective bag…

Today our sun shade broke on a key plastic hinge making it unusable. At this point of time we are way past our warranty.

To give you context of how bad these strollers are, My mothers single chair Maclaren has lasted her 33 years being used with 4 kids and two grand kids. Not to mention constant use in travel and abuse in airports. I thought the bugaboo would be an investment piece that would last us.

To give you an idea, le creuset has their pots with a lifetime warranty and it is viewed as an investment piece. Pots seem to have a better service model than luxury children’s products…

On balance, OK... but expensive for what it is, and doesn't suit tall parents/babies – Initial impressions: Feels weighty and good quality in the chassis and larger components, although the smaller components (clips, hooks, buttons) feel plasticky and unlike they’d stand up to longer term use. Difficult and time consuming to assemble from new. The idea of a rear- or front-facing child seat PLUS a bassinet assembly is appealing to… Read more

most new parents, however it’s not unique. Some manufacturers even do it better. The weight distribution is good, and the pram feels sturdy and balanced overall. This DOES change for the worse, however, when fully extending the push handle. This is something that happens across all products in the world for tall people, and it’s something that is very rarely addressed by manufacturers. I’m 6’1” and my 15 month old is the height of many 2.5 year olds, and so all feedback below should take that fact into account, however I think the vast number of prams suffer from this issue and it is ignoring the fact that men are on average far taller than women. Dads use prams too.

Great: • Child seat position is nice and high. • Soft gliding ride. • Seat base is ergonomically better than many prams. • The swivel joint in the bumper bar is such a GREAT idea. You can get a kid in and out of this pram with one hand. This is how all prams should operate. • The five-point harness uses four separate belts that clip individually and separately into the buckle. Much, much better than other prams where the over-shoulder straps have to first clip onto the waist straps to then be put into the buckle (which makes one-handed belt fiddling impossible). Most people are holding their toddler or baby while they’re holding straps and moving buckles out of the way to get the child into the seat, so in effect operating one-handed. • Compatible with many car seat brands for snap-in travel capsule use with very young babies, so even greater value to be found in its use. • Bassinet is plush and looks very comfy, but is on the smaller side, particularly in length. • Swapping the child seat assembly around between front- and rear-facing is very quick and easy.

Good: • I *think* the upholstery on the handle is leather. Much nicer than foam. But to be fair, for a RRP of ~$1800, so it should be! • Good amount of ground clearance. Not great, though. Just good. • Range of EOM accessories is really good. • Having the child seat forward facing allows you to have a reclined position – really good for much younger babies who like to see the world. Not all babies want to be able to see mum or dad, and would rather look at the view as you’re walking, but when they’re too young to sit up they do need to recline quite a bit. A third semi-upright position forward-facing would be ideal (there’s only fully reclined, or totally upright).

Meh:

• Don’t know why you’d put white wheel inserts on an all-terrain pram. Aesthetically they don’t add anything, and white just shows all the dirt and water marks. Let’s just say there’s a reason most pram wheels are black.

Poor: • Doesn’t fold up nearly as easily as the marketing videos. It’s actually really awkward. • Heavy for what it is. My Mountain Buggy Urban Elite is much lighter. I think realistically, many shorter women would struggle to get this in and out of a sedan boot. • Change over between child seat stroller and baby bassinet assembly is slow and not something you’d do on-the-go (out of the back of your vehicle for example). Plus carrying both in your boot would be bulky. My Valco Snap Ultra uses the same part for the seat and the bassinet, with some zip on upholstery pieces, so it’s less time consuming and less bulky. Sometimes you want both options for your baby when you go somewhere. • Solid wheels, not pneumatic. I suppose this is marketed towards people who can’t or won’t manage the maintenance of air-filled tyres. No punctures, but extra weight and the need for additional suspension components (which adds more weight again). Personally, I hate solid rubber wheels (although at least they’re not plastic like many prams now). • Two front wheels is, I think, inferior for all-terrain handling. Three-wheelers are better for proper exercise-level walking and navigating up and down curbs. • Very bulky for what it is. The seat assembly is almost like a sub-frame within another frame, and it ends up being a lot of infrastructure for what is a very simple seat piece. • That, in turn, pushes the child seat assembly further forward, which means, even at 6’1”, that I can’t see my kiddo from behind the seat while I’m walking. I like to be able to glance down and see she’s ok. • Not much stowage. No secure zip pocket for cash and phone. Bottom parcel basket only sits loosely on top of the frame, and has just two securing points. • Bottom parcel basket partially obscures the brake pedal. • It’s yet another pram where the seat doesn’t adjust to the exact angle you’d like it. My kiddo is taller, I like it reclined a little from straight up and down. This one only goes to full recline, or full upright. • Handle extension is tricky because it’s hard to find the click-in positions, and you need to click it in symmetrically so you can flip the securing clips back down to lock it in place. This is more of an issue given you have to completely retract the handle each time you fold the pram. A more positive feel would be better; adjustment stages that really snap into place. • The push handle fully extended is really only *just* high enough for me. I find it irritating that the handle only seems to push out further backwards and doesn’t angle up far enough. Fully extending it makes the pram take up significantly more space, and also pushes the user back farther behind the pram. I do not like this. • The brake is a ratchet type lever, and you can’t tell at a glance if it’s applied or not. After using this for a while I realised there’s a little red indicator near the wheel, but it’s not actually obvious. • Mine came with the bassinet option assembled to the sub-frame. You have to pull this off the frame to then assemble the child seat piece onto the same frame. It was awful to figure out how to get this apart, and the manual is not much help.

Terrible: • Assembly out of the box is frustrating and illogical. The visual manual is pretty near hopeless. • A total PAIT the fold and lift into your car boot. It folds up fairly compact… until you pick it up and it falls open partially. There’s no ratchet to keep it folded tightly, or even a simple strap to keep the folded chassis together. It’s reasonably heavy, so loading and unloading this will give you the sh*ts. You cannot just pick it up easily because it’s heavy enough to be awkward. You need to grab it at two locations, and then it falls open again part way. • On the subject of how it folds down, there’s no way to fold this so that the centre piece of the handle doesn’t get all scratched up and ruined on the ground. Consider-ing this is designed for outdoor use, it’s going to look shabby really fast. • The foot rest is too shallow and there’s very little to hook heels into. Seriously. It’s almost useless. It has a rounded shape too, so your kiddo’s feet will slide straight off it. Why no proper foot rests? Seems like a massive oversight. • As with many, many prams and strollers, if you’re tall it means you’re going to need the push handle fully extended, and if you’re tall you also know what that means: it’s wobbly and annoying. • It’s going to be fairly useless and have a very short usability window for my tall toddler. It just isn’t made for taller kids. If your kid is tall, you’ll have to buy another brand, or accept you’ll only get a couple of years of usability and this won’t serve as a pram to take on longer walks once the child is walking but can’t walk far. • The sun visor is fairly downward-facing once extended, and will only be useful for very short kids. If you extend it enough to cover their face from sun (which isn’t very far extended), you obscure their view. The issue is it seems to fold down more so than projecting outward in front to create maximum shaded area, it also folds up on itself on the inside, so the flaps of fabric fall downwards and obscure you child’s view. Again, this is something I’ve seen done successfully on far less expensive units so it shouldn’t be a big ask. • The rain cover has an opaque part and a clear part. The opaque part comes down way too far and obscures anything but a very short child’s view. For the love of god, just make the whole cover transparent! • Ironically, on the flipside of that is the mesh sun screen part of the regular sun cover. It’s up really high! And quite small, so not much of a view, particularly for shorter kids.

Downright infuriating and perplexing:

• What. In. Tarnation. Is the entirely cosmetic hood around the top of the child seat assembly even for? It has a zip, but it’s sewn up at one end and has no access to a zip slider body, so you cannot zip this piece off. Nothing attaches to it. It has absolutely no function… except to get in the way. In my case, this is EXTRA EXTRA annoy-ing and pointless, because it slants downwards and nearly hits my kiddo’s head, and it’s going to very soon mean she’s too tall for this pram unless I can take it off (she’s 15 months). It removes about 2 good inches of head space she would otherwise have. In a pram which is already not that suitable for taller toddlers, it forms the final nail in the coffin for usability. I am baffled about why this part is even fitted to the pram as it doesn’t seem to be necessary for the sun hood at all.

Overall Opinion

This pram is marketed as an all-terrain stroller, a claim I find a little bit of a stretch com-paring it to other dedicated all-terrain strollers such as the Mountain Buggy Urban Jungle.

I understand the change from the old-fashioned pneumatic wheels to sold rubber wheels necessitates suspension components. However, I’m not sure that combination actually achieves as good a ride as air-filled tyres and no suspension. The suspension itself is limited and doesn’t perform as well as you’d need it to in order to truly be “all-terrain”. It does of-ten get bogged when tipping the pram forward and placing the weight onto the front wheel suspension (for example on uneven footpaths), and will get stuck until the wheel flips around or you shuffle the pram weight. Whilst the ride is, in general, a smooth glide, this only extends as far as small undulations, and not up-and-down steps or curbs or slightly rockier paved surfaces (for instance, fine gravel is ok, but the larger blue metal or goat track type of surfaces will not be great as the benefit of the suspension is lost and the need for softer tyres comes into play).

The marketing claim of “Power Steering”, with much smaller subtext “It’s like power steer-ing for your pram”, is dubious, and frankly, annoying. As a woman, I find a lot of marketing guff is thrown towards us with the expectation we don’t know much about the technicalities or mechanics of what we’re buying. Empty claims like this elicit nothing but an eye-roll from me. (For the record, power steering is not even remotely related to features the pram manufacturer is talking about with this product, I’m not even sure how they think this would be a relevant claim other than to just assume complete idiocy of their mostly female customer demographic. There’s literally nothing on this pram that makes it steer any better than other all-terrain prams. It has wheels that swivel – like pretty much all other prams.)

While we’re on marketing claims, I’m still unclear what “advanced central joint suspension” there is. They seem to move slightly, however it just feels like the regular amount of give you’d get in an assembled pram of many parts.

“Strong yet light” – we-e-e-ell, I guess “light” is a relative term. It’s not as light as other all-terrain prams.

It’s main benefit is in it being an all-in-one pram assembly with a bassinet and a stroller seat configuration, which ultimately does save first time parents money and the hassle of owning two different prams. As with most things though, it comes down to your individual needs. For the taller parent (as well as taller children), there are much better options than this pram. The price point for this pram is very high considering the multitude of small grievances I have with it. As a comparison, my Valco Snap Ultra is only a little more annoy-ing, but retails at significantly less than half the price of the Fox2.

It’s not a good option for tall kids. At all. There’s a large period of time after most kids learn to walk where they can walk short distances, but will need to be pushed in the pram for longer distances. This can take some kids up to three or four, but if your child is tall, you might be lucky to use this until they’re two. It’s a big investment for only a couple of years, as you’ll need to purchase something else for the next few transitional years.

There are no instructional videos on the Bugaboo website, only a digital version of the same AWFUL manual you get in the box. You need to go to independent reviewers on Youtube for videos on how to assemble, fold and stow (which you WILL need).

Taking into account assembly from new, and level of difficulty in changing between child seat and bassinet, overall this pram seems quite a complicated set up for something that only achieves fairly standard functionality. The advertising would have you believe it’ll split the atom and then make you dinner, but it doesn’t actually do anything particularly special. The upholstery is still the generic kind of material you’d expect. There’s no extra level of comfort that would justify the luxury price tag.

As mentioned above, there’s a good range of OEM accessories to add to your Fox2 and personalise it. Although personally, I’m less interested in “customising” my pram (especially when it’s all at additional expense!) and more interested in things that just work really well. I also really resent having to buy more things for an already expensive purchase, just so I have functional things, like sun shades, that work properly.

Compatibility with third party capsules is a great feature, as there are some babies that just don’t like bassinets and want to be up front and centre seeing the world from really early on (or they’re asleep!).

This pram would benefit from two main changes: Make it a three-wheeler, and create a single assembly piece that is the bassinet and the child seat in one.

And you know what? If there was one pram in the market that catered to taller people really well (remembering dads are parents and use prams too!), I think it would be a big seller. I know from my discussions in tall groups online where we share info on great tall-friendly products around the world, the issue of prams and car seats comes up regularly. Most tall people will gladly pay more for well made, good quality equipment that suits their height.

Overall, I’m still choosing to use my 15 year old Mountain Buggy for exercise walks, rather than this. The Fox2 lives in my car for strolling around shopping centres or the odd shorter walk.

A really nice top end pram – Having had a good mid-range pram from née and also a second hand high end pram I was really excited to receive the Bugaboo for review. First thing was to assemble, I must say there are a lot of parts and it did take some time. The instructions could be a little clearer but it wasn’t too hard to work out. All the parts feel really well made and… Read more ·  1

strong and both the bassinet and chair look very comfortable. I didn’t have need for the bassinet so went straight to chair set-up. First thing I noticed was how smooth it rolls, it really glides effortlessly. My other prams are an ultra-light and a double pram. This one felt quite large compared with my ultra-light with a larger foot print like the double pram but with less weight. At first this felt a little unwieldy but it did offer superior stability and tackled all terrain much better. The best thing for me was the large adjustment of the handle height. I’m over 6ft and my wife is 5ft. We have never found a pram that could be adjusted to suit us both. This pram easily covers us and would suit even shorter/taller folk. The suspension works well and our big boy looks comfortable in the seat. The seat can face both ways and has all angles of recline, you need to be a little careful as you can recline too far. Folding of the pram is not difficult but does take some practice. It takes up a larger footprint in the boot and like my other two prams is better to take the seat off first in smaller cars. This is really easy to do especially compared to our double which had to be dismantled into more than 2 parts. It’s like our ultra light in this regard and folds a bit flatter but because of the wider wheelbase takes up more boot space. Overall I really like this pram, it sure feels premium in every way. It feels super strong and has exceptional stability. The brake lock is also one of the best I’ve used. Oh and I really love how the shoulder straps sit up, they make securing your child just that little bit easier as you don’t have to fish around behind their backs trying to find the straps. If you’re after a premium pram with stability and comfort as the main priorities and have the room in your boot then I would thoroughly recommend this pram.

City or Country, this pram is equipped for any terrain – My first impression once assembled was this is a stunning pram to look at. A really ‘pretty’ pram. However, are the looks as good as the function? The Bugaboo Fox 2 Complete, grey melange with aluminium frame, comes with grey melange hood, seat and bassinet fabrics. Standard with black grips and white wheel rims. I was pretty excited to review… Read more ·  1

this pram as previously I have had the original Bugaboo Fox.

The changes are subtle but do make a difference, the biggest noticeable change is having a much needed peekaboo window in the hood canopy. This has made a HUGE difference for me. My toddler is now happy to world face and chat to me through the window, which is mesh. The canopy is enormous. Practically covers the whole seat when fully open...fantastic!

The basket is much stiffer than previously and stays open. I love the volume you can load in this basket. Having 3 children, the size and ease of access is extremely handy on day trips, just as much as shopping trips. The seat height has much to do with the easy access to the basket but in return, it’s a perfect height at cafes. I don’t like to use high chairs when we are out, I find they are usually grubby and wheeling this pram right up to the table was priceless. My daughter sat at a perfect height to enjoy her meal.

The Bugaboo Fox 2 complete is a one stop shop as the much need bassinet for newborns is included. I did find it a bit annoying that the bassinet fabric was already attached to the frame. Not needing a bassinet as I have a toddler, I had to fumble through the thick instruction Manuel to work out how to remove the fabric, so I could attach the seat fabric, that was a little time consuming. I was also a little disappointed that right out of the box wrapped in a sealed plastic bag the basket had a white mark on it (see photo) my heart sank a little as I love keeping an unmarked pram fabric. At least it was on the underside I guess.

The fabric is lovely to touch and wipes clean easily which is a bonus. I love that the straps sit open, so you don’t have to go fishing under your child to find them to strap them in. Pushing this pram is a breeze even with my toddler, I don’t need two hands, hey, I don’t even need one hand at times, a finger push glides it through the shopping centre!

My two gripes with this pram though is the size when folded and no adjustable calf support. I cannot for the life of me lift this pram as a ‘one piece’ fold and yet its advertised as such. It’s incredibly bulky which makes lifting all in one into a SUV near impossible without either damaging your car boot lip or the pram - neither I am willing to do, so I stick with the two piece fold. I know the seat has rubber stops on it to place on the ground but I won’t do that, alas always balancing the seat on my groceries whilst I fold up the base to place in the car first. This is a fiddle and the other day I got caught in a storm. Yeah, I was none to pleased about the time it took me to collapse the pram to get it in the car!

I have also walked the hilly uneven streets of my neighbourhood and the suspension works brilliantly. The pram felt very sure footed where the footpath is uneven. We have a lot of tree roots which undulate the footpaths. My toddler is very quick to complain if it’s too bumpy but no complaints from her, in fact she loves riding in this pram and has asked several times if I can use this pram instead of my 3 wheel jogger for school drop off/pick up. At 3 years, she still fits under the head cap protection although I predict in maybe 4-6 months I will most likely need to remove it for more head room.

This is a brilliant all round pram. It really does push well on all surfaces, the suspension works very well on my hilly streets peppered with tree roots, it has good sun protection and enormous basket. If the fold could be improved and an adjustable calf support added, I dare say it would be pretty close to that long chased for ‘perfect’ pram but overall it rates high with me. I don’t think anyone would be disappointed having this pram. It’s quite the eye turner with everyday practicality.

If it’s good enough for Beyoncé – If I lived in the inner city I could picture myself strolling down the cafe lined streets with this pram, grabbing a latte and continuing on to the farmers markets. It is so compact I can see it slipping comfortably into those cafes with excellent manoeuvrability, down the narrow aisles of trendy inner city grocers with its slimline wheels, I… Read more ·  1

could throw my shopping in the most easiest access basket I’ve ever seen, up inner city apartments lifts where baby can chat to everyone because the seat is so high, to a home where it can sit neatly in its corner until it’s next outing. We had a different pram when this was our lifestyle, and if I could go back in time and tell myself to buy this pram, I would. Our pram was wide and I got caught everywhere and was constantly apologising for how much space we occupied in cafes.

It is exactly what you want when you’re super pregnant and looking for a one stop shop pram - everything you need (bassinet and seat) and simple to assemble, all packaged delicately to preserve mint condition and slides together with a satisfying click. Nice and easy for whoever you are watching assemble it for you.

The full recline is great for sleep and the sun shade covers baby up well. The massive sunshade window cover slides (rather than velcro or magnets) easily and silently - a fave feature of mine... but the view is hindered by the material guard at the top. Must admit I’m surprised that for a premium product I’d have to unstitch parts of the seam to remove this, which actually doesn’t seem all that far above my boys head at 2.5yo.

I’m also not crazy about the fold - If we walked everywhere I’d have no need to fold it, which I’ve had to do multiple times daily now we live in the burbs. The fold feels clunky at first, probably because it folds differently to every other pram I’ve ever owned and almost seems counterintuitive, but with time and practice has become smoother. The footrest doesn’t move, so I feel like it offers less versatility in this regard than other prams, and keeps it from folding down as compact as I’d like. Seems such a shame, I think to myself as I wedge groceries in around it in the boot of my SUV.

All things considered I’m still a fan of this pram and would have loved this as a first pram for an inner city lifestyle. Chances are my boys will refuse to sit in anymore before they outgrow it. With the resale value so high, when they eventually do, at least I know I’ll be able to sell to cover the next thing!