If you’re looking for an affordable car seat, the Cosco Scenera Next convertible child seat is worth a closer look. This car seat is suitable for children weighing between five and forty pounds.
In this Cosco Scenera Next review, we’ll explain all the important features of the car seat Next to help you decide if this is the right car seat for you and your child.
Cosco Scenera Next Reviews—An Overview
Cosco got its start over 70 years ago in Columbus, Indiana, and specializes in creating “smarter products” for modern families. Their products include car seats, high chairs, swings, strollers, and walkers.
The Cosco Scenera Next is one of the company’s flagship products. This car seat comes with all of the safety components you’d expect to see in a car seat. The Cosco Scenera is suitable for use in a variety of vehicles, including airplanes.
One of the Scenera Next’s great features is its reversibility. Depending on your child’s size, you can use the child seat in either a rear-facing or forward-facing position. Installation of this seat in your car is a straightforward process.
The Cosco Scenera is built to last, making it a car seat worthy of consideration.
Cosco Scenera Next Features
The Cosco Scenera Next is a budget-friendly car seat with many notable features. Before we begin, we recommend taking a look at the Cosco Scenera Next’s specifications.
As we mentioned earlier, the Scenera Next is a reversible car seat. The rear-facing position is safe for children between 5 and 40 pounds and 19 – 40 inches tall. The forward-facing position is safe for children at least two years old, between 22 and 40 pounds, and 29 – 43 inches tall.
Above all, this car seat also takes safety seriously. When you install this seat and buckle your child in, you’ll know they’re highly protected.
Safety Features
The Cosco Scenera Next comes with all of the necessary safety features to protect your child. The seat comes equipped with an easily adjustable 5-point harness. The harness adjusts to five heights and has three buckle locations, ensuring the best fit as your child grows.
A 5-point harness provides the best protection for children because it restricts their movement, ensuring your child is in the proper position if there’s a crash. The Scenera Next also has side impact protection built into the headrest to protect your child during a side collision.
The car seat is FAA approved and meets or exceeds federal safety standards.
Ease of Installation
The Cosco Scenera Next is relatively easy to install, although rear-facing installation may be challenging until you get the hang of it. You have two options for installing the car seat: using the lower anchors or your vehicle’s seat belt.
Using the seat belt to install the car seat is generally easier than using the lower anchors. With the seat belt, you simply thread the seat belt through the car seat’s belt path, tighten the seat belt, and lock.
Design and Comfort
The Cosco Scenera Next is available in various styles and colors, so you’re sure to find one that suits your tastes. The car seat is attractive with a minimalist design. It’s a budget car seat, so you won’t see all the bells and whistles that come with more expensive car seats. However, this seat offers the best bang for the buck.
The car seat has a lightweight and compact design making it great for traveling. Here are the car seat’s dimensions:
- Height 24″
- Width: 17 1/4″
- Depth 11″
- Weight 6.5 lbs
Kids seem to find the Scenera Next comfortable. This car seat doesn’t have as much padding as higher-end car seats, but most kids don’t seem to mind.
Quality
The Cosco Scenera Next expires eight years after its manufacturing date. The car seat is made of a durable plastic that withstands day to day rigors quite well.
Clean up is easy with this car seat. The seat’s padding is easy to remove and clean, so you won’t have to worry when your child spills a drink or makes a mess. The padding is machine washable and dryer safe. The child seat also has a removable cup holder that is dishwasher safe.
The Scenera Next grows with your child. You can safely use this car seat until your child weighs 40 pounds or 43 inches tall. It is easy to rethread the car seat’s harness to adjust to your growing child, making this car seat a versatile option.
Cosco Scenera Next vs. Cosco Apt 50
The Cosco Scenera Next and the Cosco Apt 50 are both well-designed car seats. These car seats have a lot in common, but there are also some important differences. Which car seat is best for you will depend on your personal circumstances.
Similarities
The Cosco Scenera Next and the Cosco Apt 50 both come equipped with 5-point adjustable harnesses, making it easy to get your child in and out of the car. The harnesses on both car seats adjust to multiple heights and buckle locations, allowing the car seat to grow with your child.
Both The Scenera Next and the Apt 50 are 2-in-1 convertible car seats, meaning they can be used in either a forward-facing position on a rear-facing position depending on your child’s age, height, and weight.
They also have a similar safety profile, providing side-impact protection that meets or exceeds federal safety standards. They are both latch-equipped with machine-washable and dryer safe padding.
Differences
Although the Cosco Scenera Next and the Cosco Apt 50 have harnesses that adjust to multiple heights and buckle locations, the Cosco Apt 50 is adjustable to six height positions. In comparison, the Scenera only adjusts to five height positions.
The Cosco Apt 50 is suitable for children up to 50 pounds while the Cosco Scenera Next’s weight limit maxes out at 40 pounds. This increases the Cosco Apt 50’s longevity slightly over the Cosco Scenera Next.
Another difference is the Cosco Scenera Next comes with a removable single cup holder, while the Cosco Apt 50 comes with a dual cup holder integrated into the child seat. The Scenera is more compact than the Apt 50, meaning you can fit three child seats in a car’s back seat by removing the cup holders.
The price differences aren’t significant, although the Cosco Scenera Next is slightly less expensive than the Cosco Apt 50.
Pros and Cons of the Cosco Scenera Next
The Cosco Scenera convertible car seat is a great budget-friendly car seat. While there is a lot to like about this car seat, there are a few downsides. Here we give you a rundown of what makes this a great car seat and possible drawbacks.
- Very lightweight
- Great for traveling
- Harness adjusts to five height positions
- Easy to clean, machine washable, dryer safe
- Adjustable crotch strap
- Compact, three car seats fit in the backseat of a standard car
- Affordable
- Variety of colors and designs available
- Side impact protection
- Minimal padding
- Basic no-frills car seat
- Height and weight restrictions
- Hard to install in some vehicles
Frequently Asked Questions
Shopping for a new car seat can be overwhelming. In case we haven’t answered all of your questions, we’ve put together a list of the most frequently asked questions below.
Yes. The Cosco Scenera Next comes equipped with side impact protection and a 5-point adjustable harness. It meets or exceeds all federal safety standards.
Yes. It expires eight years after the manufacture date.
Car seats should be placed in the backseat of the car. This significantly reduces your child’s risk of injury in a collision.
A baby’s neck muscles aren’t fully developed. When a baby is seated in a rear-facing position, the force from an accident is evenly distributed across the baby’s back.
Yes. The Cosco Scenera is FAA approved and fits in an airplane seat even when the seat’s armrests are down.
Final Thoughts
Shopping for a car seat for your child is not an easy task. There are an array of car seats on the market, each with varying features. When shopping for a car seat, safety is always the most important factor. As our review has explained, this car seat checks all of the boxes when it comes to safety.
