As a mum or dad, I’ve discovered most baby-centric expertise to be fairly clunky. From bulky baby monitors to unwieldy strollers, there simply is not as a lot innovation as I hoped for again once I was pregnant. Car seats fall into this class, too, with layers of cushions which are simply begging for juice stains and Cheerios to be misplaced in them, and ugly block colours that had been invented particularly to annoy me.

Car seats aren’t actually only for wanting nice, clearly. They’re for safely transporting your youngster within the automotive and retaining them secure within the case of an accident. But what I like in regards to the Cybex Sirona S is that it is not solely somewhat simpler on the eyes, nevertheless it has a number of forward-thinking options, together with a sensible, Bluetooth-powered buckle on it that makes certain your youngster is not left alone within the automotive.

Leaving your child in a automotive unattended may end up in a hot car death. When I advised one mum or dad about testing this sort of expertise, they scoffed and talked about how uncommon these cases are, and the way dad and mom ought to simply be extra cautious. While it is uncommon—Kids and Car Safety reported 36 deaths in the US last year—it simply might occur to any mum or dad, and will simply as simply be prevented with somewhat assist from expertise.

Power of Two

The most spectacular factor about this automotive seat is not the seat itself, however the highly effective little buckle on it. The SensorSafe buckle is light-weight and discreet, and also you’d solely comprehend it was a Bluetooth machine by the little light-up image on it. It can monitor when the buckle is open or closed, how far-off your cellphone is from the buckle itself, and the temperature in your automotive.

SensorSafe is a separate firm, and it companions with each Cybex and Evenflo to make automotive seats that use its buckle. Each firm then makes its personal app to pair with the machine. The Cybex app may be very clear and minimalist. After plugging during which automotive seat I’m utilizing and connecting it through Bluetooth to my cellphone, the app’s most important web page exhibits nothing however whether or not the automotive seat is on-line, the temperature within the automotive (which it might solely learn if on-line), and an inventory of my gadgets. You can add a number of Cybex gadgets into the identical app and see all of them there, or simply the one automotive seat like I had. You’ll even be prompted to ask members of the family as emergency contacts in case your youngster is left behind within the automotive.

The app additionally has a tab for manuals. It lists the automotive seats you are utilizing, per what you’ve got advised the app, on the prime, then manuals to some totally different generations of SensorSafe, plus manuals to different Cybex automotive seat fashions on the very backside in case you are feeling like searching. I examined the SensorSafe 3, which differs from previous fashions as a result of it would not want a receiver plugged into your automotive to connect with your cellphone. There is a model with a dongle, however I examined the clip-only model. If you might have a dongle mannequin, learn Adrienne So’s review of the Evenflo Gold, the place she talks about plugging the receiver into her automotive’s ODB-II port.

But even with no dongle to plug into your laptop, this automotive seat is a little bit of an set up challenge. You must face it backwards to disclose the belt path, which was straightforward sufficient, however my husband and I did not discover the locking system intuitive to open up on our personal with out watching a video (this one is great). It took a number of tries to open the locking system, however afterwards it was straightforward to lock the seat belt in place.