Evenflo Symphony DLX Review

 Keira has been ready to go front facing in the car for awhile now but with Ava on the way it was a project that sat on the back-burner.  The opportunity to check out the Evenflo Symphony DLX couldn’t have come with better timing.  It was only after Ava arrived that I realized two rear facing seats would absolutely not work in my Mustang. It was time to move on up!  

The Symphony DLX is an all in one car seat which provides extended use from birth to booster mode from 5 lbs right up to 110 lbs.  We’ve been using it frequently over the past month and really couldn’t be happier with the ease of use.

I was a little concerned with how the setup would work since it makes use of LATCH system as well as seat belts.  Our infant car seats LATCH systems were so complicated I honestly never really looked too much into it and just resorted to the seat belt option.  Unfortunately both our cars only have the top LATCH anchors and do not have the lower LATCH anchors.  Fortunately setting it up to use the top LATCH anchor and the seat belt was fairly easy.  I was also extremely pleased with how well it fit in my Mustang.  Honestly it fits just as snugly in my car as it does in my husbands 4 door car. 

I did eventually get to test the LATCH system completely in my fathers car and I have to say that I am a little upset our cars do not have the lower anchors!  The Symphony DLX makes use of Evenflo’s auto-retracting SureLATCH connectors which makes installing the All-In-One Car Seat a breeze.  The SureLATCH connectors look almost like seat belt latches with a hook at the end.  You simply click the latch into the anchor and tug to tighten for a quick and perfect installation every single time.

Anyone who has had or has an infant or a toddler know how fast they grow and most likely understand the pain of having to adjust the shoulder straps on a car seat after every growth spurt.  You know.  You have to unhook all the straps, unthread and rethread and hook everything back up.  Not a fun project. 

Evenflo has completely solved this issue with their super smart Infinite Slide™ harness that easily slides up and down and locks into place to adjust for a really accurate fit every single time without having to re-thread a single thing.  The headrest itself is also easily adjustable.  These features make it super easy to use the seat with different children or even just one single quickly growing child.  This is definitely my favourite feature and it will most likely continue to be as my children grow.

Keira absolutely loves her new car seat, especially the fact that she now has her own cup holders.  It is all the little details included in this Car Seat that has me convinced it really was designed by parents with parents in mind.  The cup holders have an elastic side so it easily adjusts to hold most sippy cups and bottles.

She also loves how comfortable the padded seat is and that she ahs the ability to see everything going on around her. I love that she is safe and secure in the five-point harness, just as she was when rear facing.  Plus the seat features e3 Side Impact™ Protection which significantly reduces the forces in side impact crashes through advanced energy absorption and an expanded zone of protection.

The seat easily adjusts for a rear facing infant as well.  When going from rear facing to front facing and vice versa you do have to switch up the Sure LATCH connectors but it is easy enough to do.  Once that is done the seat easily reclines back to the appropriate position just by using the giant red “recline” button.  You can’t miss it.  There is also 3 different recline positions.  It look under 5 minutes to figure out how to adjust the seat for Ava and do it.  She looks so comfortable in the seat!  Just to note – Keira was 23 lbs at the time I wrote this review and Ava was just under 10 lbs.

Another little detail that I love is that the instructions for using the seat are briefly stated on a sticker on the actual seat.  Obviously you need to read the instruction book but for the little bits of information for using the seat you might want a refresher on, it is all right there.

I love that this seat can go from birth right up to the booster seat stage – and that I got the chance to actually test that this is true.  This is literally the only car seat you will ever need, and I honestly wish we had it from the start with Keira!

Check out the Evenflo website for more information about the Symphony DLX and other great products!

Elizabeth Lampman

Elizabeth Lampman is a coffee-fuelled Mom of 2 girls and lives in Hamilton, Ontario. She enjoys travelling, developing easy recipes, crafting, taking on diy projects, travelling and saving money!