Safety 1st onBoard 35 Air 360 Infant Car Seat Reviews (2023)
Table of Contents
Safety 1st onBoard 35 Air 360 Infant Car Seat
Still in the budget-friendly class of infant seats with extra safety features and not compromising on child’s comfort from pioneer leading car seat company, Safety 1st, is the Safety 1st onBoard 35 Air 360 infant car seat.
In this article, I have taken the time to research and assess the Safety 1st air 360 car seat based on what the features carry and what parents have to say, including real-life involvement in car crashes.
Basis Of This Safety 1st onBoard 35 Air 360 Review and Why You Can Trust the Assessment
As a new parent or an expectant mother, one of the first assignments you will be on is finding an infant seat that meets standards and, more importantly, understanding the features it carries. But that can be overwhelming, reading reviews from website to website.
Extra hours have been put into extensive research, reading features of this infant seat and parents’ feedback to write a review on this Air 360 infant seat more like I was buying one for myself and beyond what the manufacturer says.
Safety First onBoard 35 Air 360 Review
Here is a quick summary of my assessment – the pros and cons of the infant seat.
You will find detailed insights as you read further.
Pros and Cons
Unbiased Review of the Safety First Air 360 Car Seat
This Safety 1st Air 360 Infant Seat deserves a 9.0 rating based on my assessment. Coming at a great deal in terms of price and with several safety tests carried out, and with extra packed features with great ease-of-use features included, many parents are confident and happy with their purchase several months down the line.
The infant seat is super comfortable, well-padded, and easy to clean and maintain. There may be some challenges with the length of the straps, which can be adjusted; other challenges seem very minimal or absent. It’s a great deal that meets your need.
- Easy to install
- Tested for all types of crash – rear, front, side, and rollover impact tests
- Study, Super comfortable and well-padded – soft and comfy padding, head support, enough leg room for baby
- Removable newborn inserts (head and body inserts) to support the baby's size (tiny baby)
- Budget-friendly, packed with great features
- Compatible with strollers with QuickClick®
- Machine washable
- Durability - excellent for long-term use (expiration – 10 years)
- Certified for Aircraft use
- Big/heavy for an infant seat
- The front location of the label is not so fanciful
- Canopy/Sun visor may not stay up (there’s a fix to this)
- Straps may be uneven (there’s a fix to this)
Table 1: Safety 1st onBoard Air 360 Specifications
| FEATURE | DESCRIPTION |
|---|---|
Product Dimension | 28D X 24.75H X 17W (inches) (big) |
Product Weight | 18.48 lbs. (heavy) |
Recommended Weight Range | 4 – 35 lbs. (extendable usage) |
Recommended Height Limit | 32 inches |
Rear-facing Weight Limits | min. 4 lbs.; max. 35 lbs. (enough room for growth) |
Rear-facing Height Limit | max. 32 in. |
Life span (expiration) | 8 years from the date of manufacture (label on the side of the seat) |
Table 2: Safety 1st onBoard Air 360 Car Seat Features
| FEATURE | DESCRIPTION |
|---|---|
Safety Features |
|
Installation |
|
Ease of use |
|
Longevity and Suitability |
|
Comfortability for a Child |
|
Who is it best for? | All growing families, new parents and expectant moms looking for extra safety features and comfort at a beatable and affordable price to competition. |
Key Decision-making Factors for the onBoard 35 Air 360 Infant Seat
It isn’t enough to read reviews of a car seat; even if you may have an idea of what you need, you may not have a grounded view of what those things to look out for should be.
While some parents often decide on a car seat based on budget (for the long-term), the best in that regard will be a convertible car seat (rear-facing and forward-facing) or an all-in-one car seat (includes the booster seat mode). This saves you more money in the longer term, coupled with a more extended expiry date.
You may learn more and how to choose a convertible car seat here.
Nonetheless, key making decision factors to consider in an infant seat include;
- Installation features: depending on how often you intend to carry your baby in their seat and the type of car you have or if you’ll be commuting in a taxi often, you need to be aware of the installation features and how easy it is to install. The LATCH and seat belt are the 2 methods to install a car seat, with the former often more difficult at times. Some manufacturers or models come with additional easier features
- Compatibility with a vehicle: you need to consider this when your vehicle is a small car or has just the front seat in the case of a single cab truck. And how much space it takes in the back seat and how much leg room is left in the front passenger seat. And if it can be used without the base when switching between cars or using in a taxi.
- Size: as an infant seat, you’ll often want to carry your baby in it, to the hospital, on a stroll, in the park, etc. A lightweight car seat will be ideal to consider.
- Ease of usage: a car seat should be easy to use on a daily basis. Many manufacturers include features that enhance usage. Sometimes these features could have their shortcomings which you may not discover until you start using the seat.
- Comfort and growing room space: the American Academy of Pediatrics recommend a child ride rear-facing till at least 2 years of age. A car seat should accommodate a child long enough and afford enough growing space and not compromise on comfort, on the other hand.
- Weight and height limits: many states’ car seat laws base their laws on weight and height limits and require parents to follow the manufacturers’ instructions on these limits before transitioning to the next seat. Many car seats offer more value in terms of extended usage for higher limits.
- Safety features: All car seats are made to meet federal safety standards. Many manufacturers go overboard to exceed and include more safety features. You need to know what additional features a seat may have and how much it improves your baby’s safety.
- Other factors: other personal preferences can fall under color preference, luxury design, and more. These are personal and would depend on an individual basis and will come at a premium.
Table 3: Comparing the Factors above with What the Safety 1st Air 360 Car Seat Offers
| Key Decision-making Factors | onBoard Air 360 Features | Verdict |
|---|---|---|
Safety features |
| Excellent |
Installation Features |
| Excellent |
Compatibility With Vehicle |
| Excellent |
Size |
| Fair (not lightweight for an infant seat) |
Ease of Usage |
| Excellent |
Comfort And Growing Room Space |
| Excellent |
Weight And Height Requirement |
| Excellent |
Longevity and Suitability |
| Excellent |
Compatible Strollers with the onBoard Air 360 Infant Seat
The onBoard Air 360 infant seat is compatible with any Safety 1st, Cosco, or Eddie Bauer strollers that have the QuickClick feature.
Here is a list of compatible strollers for the:
- Step and Go
- Smooth Ride
- Simple Fold
- Simple Fold LX
- Lift & Stroll
- Lift & Stroll Plus
- Amble Quad
- Schwinn Interval Jogger
- RIVA Ultra Lightweight (not the 6-in-1)
- Baby Trend Snap & Go (universal stroller)
- Contours options elite (with universal adapter)
Detailed Insight Based on the Features – PROS and CONS
Assessing a product from just reading the features is not enough guidance to buy that product. The irony, nevertheless, is that there is the first set of people that must purchase a product to give their feedback to help new buyers know more. And it takes a while and several usages over time to provide an honest assessment.
The insights here are made from feedbacks across boards, majorly parents and CPSTs, and cover ease of installation, ease of usage, safety outcome, and many more.
PROS
Installation
I did not find a real-life report of involvement in a car crash with the Safety 1st Air 360 infant seat. However, the several safety crash tests carried out on the infant seat can be trusted.Â
Parents who have used other models of Safety 1st seats and were involved in an accident reported their children were saved and without an itch or scratch. Please give it to Safety 1st company.
Comfort
After safety, the next priority a parent needs is comfort for their child. Oh yes! This seat offers much and beyond.
Many parents attest to this, which can be attributed to the soft foams and padding and the additional newborn inserts that accommodate every size of a newborn and can be removed as the infant grows. Safe to say, it is excellent for preemies and generally comfortable for babies.
The seat also has head support for a baby’s head. Great, right?
Easy to Use – Seat base, Buckle lock, Straps
The buckles and straps are easy to tighten and loosen quite well. This is very important as this is what holds a baby firmly back in the infant seat.
Another feature the seat boasts of is having a 5-point base that fits right in a car. Parents attest to this. The adjustable heights allow the base to fit correctly according to your car.
The straps are also easily adjustable, even though some parents complain of uneven straps, which can be resolved by removing the seat padding to adjust the straps further.
Easy to Clean
Nothing beats the ease of maintenance to keep that seat as new as out of the box. Please give it to the Air 360 infant seat, including the canopy; it beats your expectations when it comes to easy cleaning.
As a matter of fact, the seat cover is machine washable and drier safe. You can learn more about how to clean a car seat if this will be your first.
Handle Grip
Safety 1st claim to have a curve handle with a comfortable grip which makes carrying easy. Parents confirm this, saying the handle is wide and easy to carry. The handle is also easy to adjust over the canopy.
Don’t forget, the seat weighs 18.48 lbs., that’s on the bulky side when a baby is in it.
CONS
Where does this product lack?
The Safety First Air 360 car seat do have some cons; there are some fix for some of them.
Uneven Straps
Some parents complain about the straps not being even; however, there is a way around this.
Possible fix: you can adjust the length of the straps by removing the padding. This way, you can make the necessary adjustment.
Canopy
Some parents complain that the canopy does not stay up easily, while some don’t find this issue. This comes as a minor issue, though.
Possible fix: the front canopy panel is usually folded at the under, which makes it not stay up. To fix, you need to unfold the front part from the under and pop it forward.
Heavy
This is quite unusual for an infant seat, particularly Safety 1st infant seats. The onBoard 35 LT is a superlight infant offering much of the same features as the Air 360, albeit with some differences.
Compatibility
Due to its relatively big size for an infant seat, it may not fit in every type of car. Some parents have complaints about this. You may need to measure your car seat and compare it with the dimensions of this infant seat to see if it will be compatible.
A little distraction – the label
I call this a ‘little distraction,’ and not really a CON. The car seat label is right on the front of the seat, close to the baby’s face. Well, it’s to get your attention to see important instructions easily and quickly. But some parents point this out if it could be located somewhere else. This can be overlooked nevertheless.
Safety 1st Air 360 Infant Car Seat Installation
The Safety 1st Air 360 is easy to install. This is unusual for Safety 1st car seats that are usually difficult to install.
This infant seat can be installed using the LATCH system or the safety belts, and with or without the base (some parents prefer this).
You can learn how to install Safety 1st car seats here and how to install a car seat without base here.
Safety 1st onBoard Air 360 Car Seat Manual
You can find the onBoard 35 Air 360 car seat manual here. Remember, you should always refer to the manual attached to your car seat for any guidance on Safety 1st car seat expiration, registration, and installation.
Final Wrap-Up – Should You Still Consider This Safety 1st Infant Car Seat?
While reviewing this product, it was challenging to find a serious flaw as with other products I had reviewed so far.
Save to say the seat is a great deal that meets the words of mouth of the manufacturers and that parents attest to.
If I am to get this car seat, I will go for it without a second thought.
