Britax B-Lively Stroller Review

Britax B-Lively

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How it Compares

The Britax B-Lively was right on the line of our weight criteria for umbrella and lightweight strollers at 20 lbs. We purchased it anyway because of the good reviews and popularity. Its total score ended up in the middle of the pack. We like the quality, folding and ease of use, but not the size, bulk or kid comfort and maneuverability is just average.

The B-Lively is also available as a double stroller or travel system with the Britax B-Safe Gen2 infant car seat.

Related Reading: The Best Lightweight Strollers Reviewed

Most Common Complaints

We read and summarized some of the most common customer complaints about the B-Lively in the table below. We also provided notes on our own experience with the stroller to help add some perspective because we have the benefit of directly comparing it to many other strollers hands-on.

Criticism	Our Experience
Poor maneuverability and difficulty steering, especially with a heavy child or infant car seat	Agreed. It performs well going straight but is more difficult to turn than many lightweight strollers
Weak suspension system	The rear suspension is tight and the front wheel springs are weaker
Inability to adjust the handlebar	Only one in the 20 strollers we tested (in the umbrella stroller category, acknowledging the B-Lively also competes with full-sized strollers) has an adjustable handlebar. It is 38.5″ which is too low for taller parents.
Difficult to adjust the seat recline and no upright seating position	It is easy to adjust the recline downward with one hand. It does take two hands to raise it. The seat reclines at a 55 degree angle when fully upright and which is not upright.
Stroller cannot stand upright when folded	We were able to stand it up on the handle and wheels, but it is not stable.
No cup holders or snack trays included	True. Annoying — especially the lack of cup holders.
Insufficient storage basket size, unable to hold larger items like diaper bags	Agree. The basket holds 0.75 cubic feet which is comparatively big, but the sides of the basket prevent you from getting large items into the basket.
Limited canopy coverage	Disagree. The canopy extends just past the knees providing more coverage than most strollers do.
Heavy and not as lightweight as advertised	At 20 pounds it is among the heaviest of the “lightweight” strollers we purchased. However, it is sized to hold 55-pound kids and many full-featured strollers are equal or heavier in weight.
Lack of a front chest buckle on the harness, affecting child safety	There is no safety risk in strollers that lack a chest buckle. Chest buckles are required in car seats because of speed and force that is not a factor for strollers.
Front wheel locks engaging unintentionally when folding and unfolding	Yes, this has happened to us.

Testing and Research

We started with researching the top 70 strollers and chose 20 to purchase, test and compare. We focused on the things that matter most to parents and kids: the comfort of the stroller, ease of use for parents, folding, steering and maneuverability, quality, and also weight and folded size. Several parents and kids helped us along the way so we have good real-world and objective test result comparisons.

Weight and Folded Size

The Britax B-Lively is 4.7 cubic feet when folded and its folded dimensions are 30″ x 24″ x 10″ so it is not compact. At 20 pounds it is also at the heavy end of what we consider the lightweight stroller category.

Steering and Maneuverability

I expected the B-Lively to be more responsive and nimble than it turned out to be. Sharp, frequent turns require effort. Here are scores for Steering:

We also expected the B-Lively to perform better than its peers on bumpy terrain because of its larger wheels. While it wasn’t the worst on rough terrain, it also wasn’t the best.

The Britax does very well staying straight. On a flat surface, it does not tend to veer off center. In the graph below larger numbers indicate a lower tendency to veer.

In our curb jumping test the B-Lively took 13 kg of force to lift the front wheel over a curb. Here’s how it compares:

Curb Jumping Force

Britax B-Lively	13 kg	13 kg
Zoe Tour+ Luxe (high)	16 kg	16 kg
Average	10 kg	10 kg
Dream On Me (low)	0 kg	0 kg

The wheel vibration of the B-Lively is average compared to other strollers in the group.

Overall Steering and Maneuverability Ratings:

The rear wheels are 24″ apart. This is wider than most strollers. Although it will go through all but the smallest doors, it is a tighter fit than for other strollers in the group.

Ease of Use for Parents

The B-Lively storage basket is 0.75 cubic feet which is among the largest of the strollers in this group. It can be accessed from the front and back.

Unfortunately, neither access point is big enough to force a diaper bag through.

Storage Capacity:

There is a little bit of additional storage in a zippered compartment below the handles. Small items like a package of wipes, a phone or keys fit well here.

There are two fabric pockets for cup holders. We could fit good-sized mugs in the pockets, but we could not stuff the zippered pocket AND fit drinks in the cup holders.

Many strollers we tested did not have either a small item pocket or parent cup holders.

There is a large, mesh peekaboo window in the oversized canopy. The cover over the window is fabric. It stays in place without snaps or velcro, and also stays open except in the wind.

Notice the handlebar in the picture above is dirty. When the stroller is folded the handle is often in contact with the ground and picks up dirt.

The handlebar is non-adjustable and 38.5″ high. This feels low to many taller parents.

The handle and stroller frame of this feel very sturdy and do not flex even with a bigger child in the seat.

It took only 6 minutes to get the B-Lively unboxed and assembled. The user manual has simple text next to clear diagrams.

The harness buckle is stiff requiring a hard press to get it to open. It also took some force to push the clips into the buckle.

The shoulder strap clip and the hip strap clip fit together and stay together which makes them easier to buckle but it is also a little difficult to pull them apart if you need to.

Adjusting the harness straps to change their length is a bit tedious. And adjusting the height of the shoulder straps requires rethreading them through slots in the seat back.

Reclining the seat is an easy pull downward with one hand. Raising the seat requires pulling the two straps apart with two hands.

The B-Lively has a single-pedal brake that locks both back wheels. We found it very easy to engage and disengage. It was comfortable even with bare feet.

Overall the B-Lively scored well in Ease-of-Use:

Car seat adapters compatible with all Britax and Bob Gear infant car seats are included with the stroller. They are easy to install and can remain attached when the stroller is folded.

The B-Lively has these color options:

• Raven (black)
• Cool Flow Teal
• Dove (gray)

These accessories are available:

• Rain cover
• Child tray
• Cup holder
• Organizer
• Travel bag

Folding and Transport

Our “How to fold the Britax B-Lively” video:

The Britax B-Lively is a true, one-hand-fold stroller. It folds in one motion by pulling up on the strap in the seat. Unfolding requires opening the latch that keeps the stroller folded, then pulling the frame apart and open. Both folding and unfolding take about 3 seconds each.

While the fold process is simpler than that of many strollers, this stroller is heavier and bulkier than many when folded.

While the B-Lively can stand when folded, it rests on the handlebar and collects dirt.

When folded it can be carried by the strap used to fold the stroller in the seat, by the frame, or by the handle.

The folded dimensions of 30″ x 24″ x 10″ prevent it from being a carry-on and fitting in an aircraft overhead compartment.

Fold Time:

Kid Comfort

The B-Lively has a generous seat height, width and depth that is designed for children up to 55 lbs or 44″ in height. Some strollers have a high maximum weight but are really too small for children of that weight. Not so with the B-Lively.

There are no cup holders or a snack tray.

Unfortunately, the most upright position of the seat back isn’t very upright. It is angled at 55 degrees, which is comfortable for little ones but they aren’t sitting up and looking out. It’s more like sitting in a recliner.

The seat reclines back to 24 degrees, which makes for a pretty nice napping angle.

The front of the seat pops up for access to the storage basket but it would be nice if it would stay up as a leg rest.

The canopy provides great sun protection, extending out past the knees. Stroller sunshades never fully cover the legs, but this one does a good job with the rest of the body. The fabric is rated at UPF50+ which is typical.

One nice feature is the mesh material on the back of the canopy that allows for airflow when the canopy is fully extended and the seat is reclined.

We tested the smoothness of ride of the strollers to measure vibration and bumpiness. The B-Lively has a relatively smooth ride (small numbers are smoother):

Quality and Safety

It isn’t recommended to hang bags on the handles of strollers, but we tested the backward tip-over potential by hanging a 12-pound bag on the handlebar and the B-Lively did NOT tip over even when it was unoccupied.

We also tested sideways tip-over force and found that the B-Lively was less likely to tip over to the side than other strollers in the group.

Some injuries are caused by fingers or limbs getting caught in hinges or wheels. We tested for pinch points on the B-Lively and found fewer than on most other strollers in the group.

We found the Britax B-Lively to be a high-quality stroller. The moving parts including the folding mechanism, canopy, wheels and brakes all performed reliably.

The parts and materials also seem to be robust and have not developed problems with use of the stroller. There are very few (if any?) buttons, zippers or snaps that can fail over time. There is a little bit of velcro.

This Britax stroller has spring, all-wheel suspension, with a firmer feel in the rear suspension than the front.

We tested the noise level of the B-Lively, pushing it over a consistent course and comparing average decibel levels to other strollers. It is one of the quietest strollers which is a great benefit for babies who may be napping and parents who aren’t interested in annoying stroller racket.

Aaverage decibel levels:

Britax B-Lively vs Baby Jogger City Mini GT2

These two strollers compare favorably; they have similar strengths and weaknesses. The key difference is that the City Mini GT2 is about twice the price of the B-Lively. The Baby Jogger has a few advantages, but are they worth the price?

In our tests, the City Mini GT2 was more maneuverable than the B-Lively. It steered more responsively, performed better on rough terrain, and took less force to jump curbs.

The GT2’s handlebar is adjustable in height, its storage is slightly more accessible, its buckle is slightly easier to operate, and it has a leg rest.

See our full review of the Baby Jogger City Mini GT2.

The B-Lively has less tendency to veer, a slightly smaller folded size, parent cup holders, and slightly better brake operation.

Both strollers are easy to fold, have quality parts and materials, and weigh 20 pounds. The rubber wheels on the GT2 will hold up better than the Britax wheels.