The Bugaboo Bee plus is the new and improved version of the, now discontinued, Bugaboo Bee. We play ‘spot-the-difference' and study the functionality of the baby fashion statement of the noughties.
Quick Summary: The plus points about the Bugaboo Bee plus are many; it's extendable chair is genius and the smooth, one handed steering makes pushing a pleasure, it has a huge basket that would accommodate a large change bag and everything about it oozes quality.
Whats good?
- Extends to accommodate growing child
- Wonderful one-handed push
Whats not so good?
- Expensive with few accessories included
Table of contents
Bugaboo have been around for a lot longer than you would imagine. Max Berenburg, the Dutch designer, made his first prototype in 1994! Pushchair manufacturers rejected his designs as too radical, so he teamed up with Eduard Zanen and went into the manufacturing business.
The brand has exploded onto the market over the past 8 years. In fact, when the Frog made it’s debut screen appearance in the hit US series ‘Sex in the City’, the brand went global overnight. The Bugaboo Bee was born in 2007 as the ultimate urban buggy.
The Bugaboo Bee Plus is available in pink, black, blue, dark khaki, yellow and red (special editions are released occasionally).
What’s the difference between the Bugaboo Bee and the Bee Plus….well, in essence, the chair grows, the seat is wider and more exposed and the hood has been reduced in size.
Billed as ‘from birth’, this funky, light, versatile pushchair could be the solution to children+urban living. It offers a smooth uncomplicated ride and makes reassuring noises in every operation, giving you the impression it’s heavy when in actual fact it’s super light and beautifully engineered.
As with the Stokke, all the important function clips or buttons are moulded in white plastic to make them easily recognisable as ‘the bits that do stuff’ making it easy to find your way around.
The well-built chassis is sturdy and obviously simple. Starting at the handle, the micro-foam cushion is split to accommodate a safety strap – can’t help thinking this is ‘health and safety’ overkill but potentially useful if you live in a particularly hilly area, peace of mind that your stroller is not going to take off without you.
The handle is fantastically extendable from 90 cm to 107 cm; release the side clips and click it out to your preferred height, then lock it off again with the clips.
The fold is controlled by the sliders on each side of the handle; press the release button on the left and pull the sliders up. The handle drops in front of you while the front axle contracts towards you. Once folded it isn’t ultra-compact and it doesn’t stand independently but it does fold with the chair attached.
The foot brake is located in the middle of the back axle, it’s easy to apply and gives a firm stop to the pushchair, the only problem is – it is also white! Not the best colour for muddy or even slightly dirty shoes.
All four 6-inch wheels have foam-filled tyres. The front wheels can be locked off using the white collars above the suspension springs but it is a fiddly procedure, however, it makes the folded pushchair easier to drag, like a suitcase, if you persevere.
We love the enormous basket that is slung from the front to the back axle and is accessed from the front. The seat can be lifted, like a hinged lid, to aid in unloading shopping when you get back to the car.
Unfolding is a simple pull on the handle while pushing on the foot brake. The Bugaboo Bee+ jumps out in front of you and when you see green on the marking on the handles, you are ready to go. Take a look at their demo video to explain the ups and downs…
Seat
We love the adaptability of this seat, the back can be extended from 43 cm to 53 cm in height and the seat extends from 25 cm for smaller bottoms to 35 cm for the larger child. The great thing about this growability is that as your child grows, there is no need to re-thread those fiddly straps to a higher position, simply raise the seat and the straps and canopy rise with it.
The seat can be attached in a forward or rearward-facing position via an effortless manoeuvre that is made ultra-easy due to the fact that the seat unit is so light. The handle at the top of the chair controls the three-step recline but also releases the chair from the chassis; pull the handle up halfway and push fully forward, keep pushing and the chair will unclip, it can then be lifted and rotated.
Unfortunately, the seat does not recline to fully flat so the pushchair without the cocoon would be exposed and unsuitable (without a cocoon to test this issue we can’t say). However, as a pushchair from three months, it is ideal, zippy, in-town mobility.
The hood has been reduced in size on the Bugaboo Bee Plus but is still large enough to be an effective sun shade, it also has a great contemporary shape when fully extended. Our only criticism with the hood is that it is ‘wappy’, meaning it’s sort of floppy and doesn’t quite tie in with the quality of the rest of the pushchair.
The rain cover is equally as baffling, it doesn’t have the best fit. By the time you finally get around to using it – in a sudden downpour – you will have forgotten how to fit it and you’ll spend the next 20 minutes trying to figure out where the straps attach to the frame before giving up and letting it balance in place until the shower passes.
Conclusion
The plus points about the Bugaboo Bee Plus are many; its extendable chair is genius and the smooth, one-handed steering makes pushing a pleasure, it has a huge basket that would accommodate a large change bag and everything about it oozes quality. It doesn’t have the smallest fold but it does collapse with the chair unit in place making it relatively compact.
Its negatives are primarily price. For a retail price of nearly £500 (once you’ve bought the car seat adapters!) you don’t even get a changing bag! Yes, the quality and functionality are great but when you consider that you can buy a Quinny Buzz 4 with a footmuff for £459 it seems to be priced to punish the fashion-conscious.
