The Moodd is Quinny's stylish, urban offering to the pushchair world, and with fresh new colours now available, we're taking a look at the subtle changes on the 2015 model.
Quick Summary: Updating their Moodd, Quinny have brought it up to date by making some subtle changes and, even things like smaller branding on the fabrics and frames and co-ordinating colours making for a sleeker look.
Whats good?
- Chunky rear tyres
- Excellent automatic open of the chassis
Whats not so good?
- Seat is quite flat
- Small hood and shopping basket
Introduction
When the Moodd was originally released back in 2012, it was seen as an upgrade to the ever-popular Buzz, with the obviously classic Quinny look. Now offering a lifetime guarantee on all Quinny products purchased new from January 2015, they are obviously very confident in their products. We’re taking a look in our Quinny Mood Review.
The Quinny Moodd is all packed in one big box and there is some assembly required before you can get rolling. Once everything is out of the box and unpacked, the first thing to do is attach the wheels to the chassis. The rear wheels simply click into place, and because of the tread, are labelled with directional arrows, so that you know which one goes on which side.
After the rear wheels are in place, you can unfold the chassis, by unclipping the buckle fastener and the automatic clip. You need to fit the front wheel, but before you do that, the basket needs attaching. It Velcros to the rear axle and then slots into the tubing at the front. By inserting the front wheels into the tubing afterwards, it keeps it firmly in place. After the front wheels are locked in, the majority of the work is done and it’s just a case of adding on the hood and T-bar. Not to deter from the aesthetics of the pushchair, there are black plastic pieces that fit into the gap where the hood and T-bar go, should you not want them on. This comes out easily, with the slider for the hood now exposed, the clips at the side slide on. There’s also a clip at the top to push in to the top of the seat.
The styling on the Quinny Moodd is quite different from other pushchairs out there. It has eye-catching, stylish looks that really stand out. With the elongated stem protruding from the centre of the chassis, the rear is curved upwards creating plenty of room for your legs. The glossy chassis is matched by the shiny plastics on the seat.
We love a good handlebar, as it’s important for the adult to be comfy with the push. Covered with soft foam it has a good adjustable scope for the majority of sizes. Something that is common with modern pushchairs is that the adjustment button is placed right in the centre, so if you are pushing one handed from the centre of the handlebar, it can make it slightly difficult to manoeuvre.
There’s two big chunky wheels on the rear, that have been updated on this model to foam filled comfort tyres. Still good at covering the rougher stuff without having to worry about punctures. The two smaller wheels on the front can be locked by pressing down the button at the front or left to swivel, and all of the wheels can be removed to make a more compact package.
The brake application on the Moodd couldn’t be much easier, the right pedal puts it on and is coloured red, the left pedal takes it off and is coloured grey. Definitely flip-flop friendly, though you do need to press quite firmly.
Serial shoppers won’t be overly impressed with the shopping basket on the Moodd. It’s quite small and shallow with a maximum capacity of 5kg. As it’s only accessible from the sides, because of the design of the frame, you won’t be able to just reach down from the steering position. There is a change to the 2015 Moodd with the basket now being colour coded to match the hue of your pushchair.
You can easily transform the Moodd into a travel system, as adapters are included that work with both the Foldable carrycot and Maxi-Cosi car seats. We love that these come with the pushchair and aren’t an additional purchase.
Seat
Different to other pushchair seats around, it is essentially a plastic frame with the padding of the seat around the front, sides and back.
The Moodd features a decent seat size at 49cm high, 23cm deep and 35cm wide. The fabric on the seat unit completely removes in one piece for easy cleaning and is connected by 4 poppers across the top, 2 in the middle and 6 on the bottom. Even the harness pads can be taken off in case of dribbles or ice cream stains. Because of the modern design of the pushchair, the shape of the seat does leave the child quite open and exposed.
There’s a 5-point harness on the Moodd with 3 height settings as your child grows. It’s simple to adjust the length with the plastic sliders, as well as to adjust the height setting by unhooking the harness and sliding it through the seat material. It then needs connecting to the right height on the seat. The shoulder pads are nicely cushioned and feature the moodd logo on the right side. They are poppered into place which is a nice touch to prevent them from slipping up or down. Another change to the 2015 Moodd is that the harness webbing is now colour coded to match the rest of the pushchair.
Importantly for younger babies, the seat can be parent facing as well as world facing, so you can get that essential face to face contact as you go about your day. There are two buttons to remove the seat that provide loud clicks as you press. It’s great that they don’t need to both be pressed at the same time, so you can do it one-handed. Take note though, it’s quite a heavy seat!
Unusually, the bumper bar on the Quinny Moodd is actually a T-bar. It slots into the seat unit and provides good security, especially if you have a child trying to escape as you do up their harness, as it sits between their legs. The button to remove it is placed under the seat and can be a bit stiff to press. There’s also a piece of elastic attached to the seat which allows you to drop it down rather than fully remove.
With 3 recline positions world and parent facing, the Moodd seat offers a fully lay flat base, extending from the middle of the seat.
The hood on the Moodd is a stretchy and bouncy material that seems like it would spring back into shape, even when packed in the boot with your changing bag sat on top! It doesn’t offer that much coverage though, and as it is only connected at one central point to the seat, there is a gap around the edges that could let drafts in. Being UPF 50+, your child will be protected from harmful sun rays.
The adjustable foot rest sticks out from the curved seat, so can look slightly out of place at the highest point. For smaller babies, there’s no calf rest to support their little legs until they can reach the foot plate. As it’s plastic, is should clean up easily after muddy shoes.
Included exclusively with the Quinny Moodd is the Baby Cocoon, allowing you to use the seat unit in the lay flat position from birth. Great if you don’t want to use a carrycot. Made from a beautiful soft material, it offers much needed support to a newborn. It features a headrest and body support to keep them in a good position, but this can all be removed by a zip as they grow and no longer need it. The front of the cocoon zips completely off for warmer weathers and has 2 buttons at the top to keep it folded down from the child’s face.
The raincover on the Moodd fits nicely in place, with blackened parts on the hood and feet which helps work out which way to put it on. It’s generous enough to allow for small legs and should do a good job of keeping the rain out.
Carrycot
We love how clever Quinny’s Foldable Carrycot is. It collapses down to only 14.5cm high by simply pressing the button on the base and sliding it to the opposite end. To put it back up, just grab the handle and pull to the other side. Being so compact makes it easy to transport when your baby is tiny, or store away when you no longer need to use it.
Baby is kept very comfy with a double mattress. Not only is there an included removable mattress, but the bottom of the liner is also padded. Both the mattress and liner are colour coded with a slightly lighter shade than the pushchair, so it looks great. A padded apron zips over the top to protect them from the elements.
The internal liner is very soft, though you can still feel the side supports at the top and bottom through it. All of the fabrics can be removed for hand washing. The inside of the carrycot measures 74cm long and 29cm wide, so it should last until the child is around 6 months old.
With a carry handle on the hood and weighing only 4.4kg, it’s easy to attach to the chassis of the Moodd and transport. There’s a button to the side of carrycot so that you can release it again – these can be pressed one after the other, so you can do it one handed. The hood sits upright, offering shelter from the wind and sun and locks into place with a button to the side. There’s also an additional pull out sun visor. The angle of the carrycot as it sits on the chassis can be adjusted with the help of a screwdriver where the adaptors connect. This is a fab feature for colicky babies, or just babies that hate laying completely flat.
It comes with its own raincover and mosquito net that keep baby dry and protected. Made for the carrycot, it’s a great fit and features a zip for instant access.
Drivability & Fold
With the added suspension and comfort foam tyres, the Moodd has a smooth push that can tackle different terrains and absorb the bumps you may find. It has enough adjustability to cater for either short or tall parents and is easy enough to get up kerbs thanks to the weight distribution.
The unfold on the Moodd is one of it’s best unique features, but we’ll start with the fold. It’s really simple to do – after removing the seat, just move the grey tab to the side and pull the triggers on the handle back. The lock is released so you can just push it down. The side catch will automatically go on as you get to the bottom. For extra security, it’s a double lock – there’s also a buckle on the chassis to clip to the handle of pushchair, so it’s going nowhere! For this to reach, the handlebar does need to be in it’s lowest setting.
Now for the showstopper… The unfold. Thanks to the gas spring on the chassis, the unfold can be done one-handed. Release the buckle lock and catch at the side and the chassis automatically opens and rises up. Magical! It’s not uncommon to already have your child in arms when getting your pushchair out of the boot, so it’s great to be able to unfold the Moodd with just one hand.
Conclusion
Updating their Moodd, Quinny have brought it up to date by making some subtle changes and, even things like smaller branding on the fabrics and frames and co-ordinating colours making for a sleeker look. The new colours are sophisticated and suitable for a baby of either sex.
It’s very simple to use, with the automatic unfold making life so easy. There’s no fuss to the engineering and it’s comfortable for both the child and parent.
There are a couple of areas where the exposed seat and small basket that isn’t overly accessible, but for such a good-looking pushchair, they are things you can overlook.
