gb Pockit+ Stroller Review

gb Pockit+ All-Terrain

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How it Compares

The gb Pockit plus is designed to be a lightweight travel stroller. Its weight and folded size make it the most compact and portable stroller we tested. Unfortunately, it did not perform well in any other testing category except in maneuverability where it is average.

In the gb Pockit line of strollers:

• gb Pockit Air All-Terrain – lightest weight, 10.4 lbs, lockable front wheels
• gb Pockit+ All-Terrain – 12.3 lbs, lockable front wheels, infant car seat compatible
• gb Pockit+ All City – 13.2 lbs, infant car seat compatible, slightly bigger than the others

A Few Criticisms

The gb Pockit+ has decent customer reviews but we decided to read and summarize the negative reviews and test the complaints against our own experience with the stroller. The table below shows the most common criticisms and whether we agree or disagree.

Criticism	Our Experience
Flimsy	Agree. The handle and frame bend significantly and when we turn it with a child the whole thing twists to the point that sometimes wheels come off the ground.
Difficult to fold and unfold	It is a two-hand fold stroller. With almost every fold, the wheels get stuck and have to be adjusted to complete the multistep folding process. See more in the folding section of this article.
Uncomfortable shoulder straps	Agreed. The straps are adjustable without rethreading, but the design leaves them rigid at the shoulder.
Hard seat back and weak back support; uncomfortable	Agree. We gave it 6 out of 10 stars for seat comfort.
Baby can wiggle out of straps	We have not had this happen, but the shoulder and hip straps are one and the same with a clip that slides up and down. If the straps are tight I think it’s unlikely a little one could get out.
Fragile canopy	True. Thin fabric and thin wire and plastic form.
Bad on bumpy sidewalks	True. It was the worst-scoring stroller on rough terrain in the group.
Feet bump into wheels when pushing	Yes, that happens to us and is more frequent with taller parents.
Various parts break	Although it doesn’t feel durable, we haven’t had anything actually break.
Difficult to adjust shoulder straps	True.
Difficult to maneuver	Disagree. On flat surfaces, it maneuvers pretty well. You do have to accept the extreme flexing of the frame when you turn, but it turns responsively.
No carry strap or bag	It is not too difficult to carry because it is light but it would be nice if it came with a strap or bag.
The brake sometimes doesn’t work	It works for us but the pedal is small and hard to engage.
Sunshade is tiny	True, the canopy provides very little sun protection

Testing and Research

We purchased the top 20 compact strollers and tested them side by side in over 100 tests and measurements. We found out how they compare to each other in the same test under the same conditions in these categories:

• Quality
• Ease of Use (for parents)
• Weight and Folded Size
• Kid Comfort
• Folding (this is also ease-of-use but deserves its own score!)
• Steering and Maneuverability

We pushed them with our own grandkids and got the help of other parents to use them extensively with their own kids.

Weight and Folded Size

The gb Pockit+ All-Terrain stroller is 12.3 lbs. It is 1.01 cubic feet folded with folded dimensions of 13.4″ x 7.9″ x 16.5″ according to the manufacturer and validated by us.

Steering and Maneuverability

The Pockit+ steers and turns nimbly but the frame flexes. It makes it feel like you are going to break the stroller especially when making tight turns with a loaded stroller. Nevertheless, the Pockit+ had a decent score in Ease of Steering:

The Pockit+ is titled “all-terrain” but it isn’t made for anything except flat surfaces. The small wheels turn sideways and get stuck and the frame isn’t rigid enough to push over obstacles.

It had the worst score in the group for rough terrain rating:

Probably due to its weight, the Pockit+ required the least downward force to jump curbs. It is easy to push down on the handle and lift the front wheels up.

On the downside, the Pockit had the worst score of the group for wheel vibration. In our testing to see whether the stroller has a tendency to veer to one side, the Pockit ranked slightly below average.

It does have front wheel locks that can be engaged to help it stay straight on long walks (see image below):

All of these factors together resulted in a low Overall Steering and Maneuverability Rating:

Ease of Use

As you would expect, compact strollers tend to have limited storage space. The gb Pockit storage basket is .35 cubic feet, which is the size of two loaves of bread. And that is with the bread sticking up out of the basket. The basket is difficult to access. It is rated for 11 pounds but you won’t be able to fit 11 pounds worth in.

There is no other storage besides the basket. Sadly there are no parent cup holders or a parent console for storing small items.

The sunshade doesn’t have a peekaboo window but there is a gap in the shade and seat back that lets you see in a little bit. It lets light in too of course.

The foam padded handles are 38 inches high. This is low for taller parents. They are not adjustable. As mentioned, the handlebars feel shaky and tend to bend when you are making turns.

The stroller was fully assembled on arrival. It took about 5 minutes to unbox and learn how to unfold it without breaking something.

The buckle only requires two clips to be snapped in. It opens with a one-thumb push.

Harness adjustment requires sliding clips up and down on straps behind the shoulder harnesses. It is tricky to figure out and to do, but it is quicker than having to thread the straps through a different slot in the seat.

The brakes have a single pedal that operates both rear wheels. The pedal is on the right rear wheel and is small and sometimes hard to target with your foot.

The brake pedal is not comfortable to release with bare or sandalled feet.

The gb Pockit comes with car seat adapters that are compatible with Cybex infant car seats.

The seat back reclines with one hand by unzipping the zipper immediately under the handlebar, pushing the button on the recline clip, then pulling down and letting the strap out. To incline the seat you have to use two hands. Hang onto the recline strap with one hand while pushing the recline clip upward with the other hand.

The gb Pockit+ comes in Velvet Black and Night Blue.

• Stroller Bag
• Rain Cover
• Footmuff

Folding and Transport

In this “How to fold the gb Pockit+” video, I demonstrated the easy fold method that results in a slightly larger fold size. Folding to the smallest size requires extra steps involving raising the rear wheels and aligning the wheels before squeezing the whole thing together.

The Pockit+ requires two hands and some patience to fold. The larger size fold takes us an average of 6 seconds and the smaller more compact fold takes an additional 6. That is if everything goes smoothly.

Folded Dimensions:

• Small: 13.4″ x 7.9″ x 16.5″
• Large: 13.4″ x 7.9″ x 21″

Unfolding takes about 4 seconds. The stroller doesn’t always pop open as shown in many videos. It sometimes requires pushing it with your knee or having a really aggressive throwing motion to get it open.

The good news is that it folds down to a tiny 1.0 cubic feet and fits in the overhead bins of most airlines.

Here is a picture of the Pockit+ folded in a faster, but larger way. It is likely that many airlines would accept this larger folded size in overhead bins as well.

If you are not trying to put the Pockit+ in an airplane, train or bus overhead compartment, the simplified fold is the way to go. Even in its “larger” folded size, it is still the same size as the smallest folding competitors.

As you can see, it stands when folded but will easily fall over if bumped. It stays together well when latched properly.

The Fold Ratings indicate the difficulty of folding and unfolding, not the folded size:

Kid Comfort

We measured vibration and ride bumpiness over a mostly flat route using an accelerometer. Thegb Pockit+ performed well coming in 5th of 20 strollers.

Although the Pockit+ claims to accommodate children up to 55 lbs or 41 inches in height, larger children are uncomfortable in this stroller in our experience. This is not the best stroller to buy thinking you can use it with older children.

The seat is only 8 inches deep and the seat back is 18 inches high. It is wide enough at 11 inches across. The hip harness straps are attached almost under the child’s bottom instead of behind their lower back where most strollers’ hip straps are located.

The seat back feels like it is made of hard pasteboard and the padding in the fabric over the hard material is thin. The padding ends slightly before the edge of the seat where the gb logo is located. You want padding over the hard edge where the knees bend.

The buckle has padding behind it which is helpful to protect babies when it gets hot in the sun.

When fully upright the seat is inclined at 70 degrees which is a nice angle for seeing out. It reclines back to 31 degrees which isn’t bad, but is not far enough for the best napping.

The canopy provides less sun coverage than all but one other stroller in our test group. The material is UPF50+ but there is not much material.

There are no kid cup holders, snack tray, bumper bar or extendable leg rest.

Quality and Safety

Injury from tip-overs is a concern for all strollers and particularly lightweight, compact strollers. We measured tip-over potential from the back and side.

The gb Pockit+ tipped over backward with a 12 pound bag hanging from the handlebar. In our sideways tip-over testing the Pockit+ was not the worst of the group but has more tip-over potential than the average stroller in the group. The table below shows tip-over units. Higher numbers indicate less tip-over potential.

Another stroller safety concern is getting fingers or limbs pinched in the folding process, wheels, and in canopy hinges. There have been a number of stroller recalls due to amputation risk.

We did pinch testing to locate potential pinch points. We found several opportunities for pinching, and regularly pinched ourselves while folding the stroller. Never let children come close when you are folding or unfolding a stroller.

The Pockit+ did well in our noise testing. It is relatively quiet with an average decibel level of 47 over the course of our measurement.

We received all the parts on arrival and everything was in working order.

The fabric, parts, and materials don’t strike us as either luxurious or robust. That said, we haven’t had anything break. Many customers did experience broken parts in the first year of use.

The stroller doesn’t feel like it provides the level of quality we expected based on the price we paid.

gb Pockit+ vs Babyzen YoYo²

The gb Pockit+ and Babyzen YoYo² are two good options for travel strollers because they each fold to a size that is acceptable as a carry-on by most airlines. The YoYo² folded dimensions are 20.5″ x 17.3″ x 7.1″ vs the Pockit+ folded dimensions of 16.5″ x 13.4″ x 7.9″.

The YoYo² is 1.3 pounds heavier than the Pockit+. See our full review of the Babyzen YoYo².

But the YoYo² scored better in almost every category. Its seats are more comfortable. Its storage basket is small but bigger than the Pockit’s. It has a small item pocket and a peekaboo window. The frame and handles are sturdier.

Importantly, the YoYo² performed better in steering and maneuverability.

Neither of these strollers is easy to fold, although the Babyzen is certainly easier.

The YoYo² is not our favorite stroller but we clearly like it better than the gb Pockit+.