We've tested out this compact and complete 4-in-1 travel solution - read on to see what we thought.
Quick Summary: The phil&teds mod is a cleverly designed, sleek looking, clever performer. It's designed with city cruising in mind (and does this just perfectly!) but can handle a variety of terrains and situations well.
Whats good?
- Easy foot operated
- all in one fold
- Extra large hood
- Handbrake
- Easy one handed drive
- 2-in-1 carrycot and seat unit
Whats not so good?
- No raincover included
The mod is a brand new 4-in-1 travel solution from phil&teds. We might be used to seeing their all-terrain tandem pushchairs, but the mod is perfectly designed for urban living and everyday life on the streets. Packed with fun features and with striking good looks, we are excited to find out how the mod handles and what perks it brings to life on the move with a little one.
The phil&teds mod is available in four different colours – Abstract, Noir, Zest and Capri.
Chassis
The mod has a wow factor about it as soon as you open the box. The compact chassis is neatly packed with minimal assembly required, we know parents will love the mod from the word go! Its fresh and funky appearance is perfect for style savvy city goers.
The matt black chassis is tough but sleek. Selling itself as a super slim Jim, its frame is slimline at 57cm, which is perfect if you plan on using your pushchair on public transport, busy public areas, shops or pavements.
The handlebar is a continuous bar, covered in comfortable foam. It has three height adjustments altered using the circular buttons on either side. The handle fits neatly into your palm making steering with one hand nice and easy.
The rear wheels are chunky and hand wearing but still slimline and the front wheels are sleek made from aerotech rubber. The wheels certainly look very smart and still carry that signature phil&teds white strip around the wall of the tyres – a feature which we really love.
Each wheel has individual suspension which gives the mod (and its little passenger!) a really smooth ride. Even though it is designed for the city, we tested the mod on days out and encountered various terrains such as grass, sand and astro-turf: all of which the mod performed brilliantly on. There is the option to lock the front wheels into place if you plan to go over bumpy ground, but we never felt the mod struggled, so didn’t need to use this feature.
A convenient brake is a must for city living and it can’t get much more convenient than the mod’s handbrake. The red lever on the right hand side of the handlebar is simply flicked forward to put it on, and back again to release the brake. Whilst testing the mod we were really taken by the ease of use of this handbrake system, it really made light work of the stopping and starting in busy areas and days out.
The mod’s basket is brilliantly deep and has capacity to hold a handy 10kg. We packed it full of parenting essentials and spares for every eventuality and never struggled to find space for all of the luggage we hauled around with us on days out and shopping trips.
The chassis of the mod can also be used as a travel system if you purchase the car seat adapters, which are an additional £39. This is a great option to have if you are taking a quick 2 minute trip in and out of the car and want to use your child’s car seat on the pushchair.
Seat
The seat unit on the mod is certainly a very clever one. With the ability to hold 20kg in weight (your average 4 year old) it’s great to have the option to use on shopping trips for your older kids to rest their weary legs.
The seat fabrics are hardwearing and come complete with a gorgeously soft, almost memory foam in feel, seat liner.
If you choose to use the mod from birth, the convertible seat unit can be used as a carrycot by unclipping the buckles on the undersides of the seat and pushing the strengthening flaps into place. The carrycot is nice and roomy and has a great length to it. We love how the carrycot can also be tilted slightly in the case of a colicy baby. Included in the box is also a lovely coordinating apron to keep baby snug inside the cosy little world of their carrycot. This then doubles up as a lightweight footmuff for when using the mod in its seat mode.
You can also remove the carrycot off the frame and take inside your house with you if baby has fallen asleep whilst out on your travels and you don’t want to wake them.
When babe has outgrown the carrycot, it handily converts into a parent or world facing seat unit by drawing together the clips on the underside of the seat unit. The seat back length is 50cm high, which was adequate for our two year old seat tester.
The seat has a five point harness with a large central round buckle. Each strap clips individually into the round clasp. Upon first glance, we thought this may be a lengthy process but after using the seat with a wriggly toddler, we soon discovered that this harness was by far the easiest one that we have used. The shoulder straps are covered in soft black pads and we loved how these weren’t too chunky, so didn’t restrict baby in any way. The shoulder and waist straps are adjusted using a sliding grip clasp, which is great to make sure you get the perfect fit on any child.
The bumper bar on the mod is also unique. It pivots up and down to get baby in and out easily, rather than opening side to side. We wondered how this would work out, especially when getting taller children in and out of the seat but our minds were soon put at rest when we saw the bumper bar in action. It folds upwards right to the top if the pushchair hood and doesn’t intrude on babies headspace at all. In fact, this design was great for those times when we didn’t need to use the bumper bar at all as it could just be tucked away and we didn’t need to worry about taking it off completely and losing it.
The hood on the mod is also great. It has a solid metal rim to keep it perfectly in place and there is a central extendable panel, that when unzipped, gives the most amazing coverage. It reaches right down to the bumper bar to totally shade baby come wind, rain or shine. If you plan on using the mod in the summer sunshine, then you will be pleased to know that the hood has a UPF rating of 50+ to offer maximum protection to your little passenger.
To recline the seat you use the clever lever on the back of the seat, just behind the hood. There is a handy window in the fabric so you can access the lever easily without rummaging through layers of fabric. Just push the lever downwards and the seat will recline to your chosen recline position.
When baby is ready to be a bit more independent and face the world rather than you, you can turn the seat unit around and use all of the same functions as the parent facing seat. The push buttons to remove the seat are very small but are clearly pointed out in the instruction manual and also in the online instructional video for the mod. Once you know where they are, they are easy enough to use.
Drivability
There’s very little to say regarding the drivability of this pushchair, other than: Excellent! For a four wheeled city stroller it drives remarkably smoothly. The excellent design of the individual suspension on each wheel combined with the hard wearing but sleek wheels means for excellent handling over all manner of terrains, not just city streets. We encountered lots of different grounds on our travels and there was never a situation where the mod seemed to struggle and it gave baby a smooth and excellent ride all the while.
Even though the mod looks sleek, it still feels extremely sturdy and the cleverly thought out weight distribution means that popping up and down kerbs and steps was easy, even when laden with a toddler and a full basket.
We happily pushed and steered the mod with just one hand, which was great when we had another child’s hand to hold or were multi-tasking.
Fold
The fold on the mod is unique as not only does it fold all in one with the seat unit attached in both parent and world facing modes, but it also folds via a foot pedal rather than using a hand operated mechanism. Something we first saw with the newest version of the phil&teds smart.
Firstly, fold the seat unit in half using the large round buttons on the inside of the seat unit: there’s no need to remove it from the frame.
At the back of the shopping basket you will see a foot pedal. Push this to the left and down. The handlebar drops downwards and the pushchair folds in half. It clips together with an auto-lock lever to make it easy to carry. You can even leave the mod standing in hallways and in tight spaces as it free stands when folded.
To unfold, just release the auto lock and click the pushchair back up into place. Then press the two round buttons in to fold the seat unit back down.
You can complete the fold in the same way with the seat unit in parent or world facing modes.
Conclusion
The phil&teds mod is a cleverly designed, sleek looking, clever performer.
It’s designed with city cruising in mind (and does this just perfectly!) but can handle a variety of terrains and situations well.
The mod offers parents everything they need from birth without the need to store and buy an additional carrycot. The clever carrycot converts to a seat unit quickly and easily when needed as well as being able to be used as a travel system.
We loved the funky features of the mod including the bold and quirky fabrics, foot operated fold, hand brake and the multi-function seat unit.
As a parent the mod is a pleasure to use day in – day out and it’s super cosy and comfortable for baby too.
