Casualplay Livi review

I love a new pushchair. There’s something about the whole unpacking, setting up and trying out of a new set of wheels that makes me go a bit weak at the knees. So you can imagine how excited I was when the brand new Casualplay Livi stroller arrived at my front door, and we couldn’t wait to give it a road test.

The Livi is not designed in the same way as most compact strollers. It’s not an umbrella fold, and is wider than most lightweight options. It has a deep seat, a good recline range and a large basket – things you don’t always associate with a lightweight pushchair. The hood is a decent size too, and has a structured frame that makes it easy to position at the correct angle. 

The only thing I am not so keen on is the leg support. Although this is adjustable, it doesn’t pull out as far as I would like it too for Max’s little legs. It means that his feet do dangle slightly, but this will only be a short term issue until his legs grow a bit more and are able to rest on the footplate. 

The handle isn’t adjustable, but to be honest I wouldn’t expect that from a stroller. It’s a sensible height, and comfortable for me, my husband and even Jacob to push without a problem. The wheels are standard ‘stroller’ wheels – fairly small, plastic and ideal for nipping around town, doing the school run and going to nursery and back. It doesn’t rattle too much, the wheels handle most pavements, kerbs and surfaces with ease – it’s never going to be an off road option, but again, you wouldn’t expect that. For everyday use, it ticks all the boxes for me.

The large basket was a pleasant surprise – I have often found that strollers have no storage space whatsoever, or have baskets that are hard to access. The Livi basket is big and deep – even with the raincover in there, there is more than enough space for a changing bag. lunchboxes or a bit of shopping. It is easy to access from the rear too, which is so important.

The brake is easy to operate – a simple red lever which you flick up to set off, and flick down to secure the pushchair in place. It’s pretty firm once applied, and you can be confident that there will be no movement.

 

One of the biggest selling points of the Casualplay Livi is the fold. As mentioned before, it’s not an umbrella fold, but is still super compact. Folding is a multi stage process – push the hood down over the seat, press the release button on the handlebar and fold the handlebar back towards you, which collapses the pushchair in the middle. Then push down, grab the release button under the seat and pull – this folds the whole thing in on top of itself, into a small, compact package. It sounds a bit complicated, but it’s really not – if you want to see the fold in action, then check out this video I made for you.

 

As you can see, it really is small – it takes up less than a quarter of our car boot, and is so lightweight that it is ideal for the days when you are in and out of the car. It would also make an ideal holiday pushchair too.

The Casualplay Livi comes with adaptors as standard – these can be used to attach the Sono and BabyO care seats or the new Livi Cot, making it suitable from birth. 

So are we loving the Livi? Overall, yes. The only real issue for me is the leg rest – yes I am being a bit picky, but it’s worth a mention. It would be much less of an issue for smaller or larger babies – Max is simply in that awkward in between stage at the moment. I love the fold, the deep seat, the lightweight frame and the big basket, and it is the ideal pushchair for running round town with.

The Livi will be available soon, from Amazon, Argos and selected retailers (check out the Casualplay websire for further information), and it’s definitely one to consider if you need a compact, lightweight and versatile set of wheels.