Graco NimbleLite Stroller Review

Graco NimbleLite

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How it Compares

The Graco NimbleLite is a low-cost, two-hand-fold stroller that doesn’t score the highest in any particular category, but provides a great deal of kid-friendly functionality for the price. It is related to the earlier Jetsetter stroller but is larger and has better car seat compatibility.

Related Reading: The Best Compact Strollers

Most Common Complaints

We’ve summarized common customer criticisms below and added our own affirmation or disagreement with the complaint from our testing and experience with the NimbleLite.

Criticism	Our Experience
Large when folded	True. It is 5 cubic feet when folded which is larger than almost all the strollers in its category.
Small storage basket	It is actually larger than many at .63 cubic feet and is rated for up to 10 lbs. However, it is true that it can be difficult to make use of that space, especially when the seat is reclined.
Seat is too upright	The seat angle is 70 degrees in upright mode and if that seems uncomfortable it can easily be reclined.
Does not stand when folded	False. It stands. Its a bit shakey but it stands.
Wheels are plastic	The wheel treads are EVA foam and the wheels themselves are hard plastic, which is not an uncommon design.
Two hands required to fold	True. Two buttons on the frame have to be pressed at the same time.
Low-quality seat and fabric. Seat not cushioned.	The seat back does feel like pasteboard and the seat padding is thin.
Wheels are wobbly	In our vibration and sound testing we find the wheels to vibrate slightly more than average.
Parts were missing (especially cotter pins)	Ours arrived with all its parts.
Rear wheels come off	Ours have not come off and seem sturdy after quite a bit of use.

Testing and Research

We researched stroller market data to find popular and well-reviewed strollers to purchase, test and compare. We bought and tested the top 20 that met those criteria and were also 20 lbs or less. Multiple parents and kids helped us push, fold, transport and put the strollers through their paces while we collected more than 100 data points about each one.

Weight and Folded Size

The NimbleLite is 14.8 lbs which is on the heavier side of the group and is also 5 cubic feet folded, which is among the largest folded size. It is definitely not a travel stroller but is still small enough to work for everyday use and an alternative to an umbrella stroller.

Steering and Maneuverability

The Graco NimbleLite is not made for rough terrain or uneven surfaces as its wheels easily get stuck in cracks.

It did steer relatively well in our obstacle course and on sidewalks and flat surfaces.

Because it is a bit heavy and the handle is more directly over the rear wheels, it took more force to raise the front wheels and jump over curbs than other strollers in the group.

The NimbleLite rolls straight and has less tendency to pull to the side than most strollers.

Overall Steering and Maneuverability Ratings:

The NimbleLite is 21 inches wide and navigates well through small doors and tight spaces.

Ease of Use for Parents

The Graco NimbleLite storage basket holds .63 cubic feet. It is not a particularly large storage basket because much of that space is up under the seat. It is rated for 10 lbs.

Storage Capacity:

A diaper bag can be forced in from the back when the seat is fully upright. When the seat is reclined it isn’t easy to access the basket.

There are no additional pockets or compartments, but there is a built-in tray with two cupholders attached under the handle!

The tray isn’t deep or wide enough to hold much except car keys. We tried to stand a phone in the tray while pushing the stroller but it falls out when we hit bumps.

A fabric flap covers a peekaboo window made of mesh so you can check in on your little one through the canopy.

The handle is not adjustable and is fixed at 38.5″. This will be a little short for taller parents but works for most people.

We like the feel of the handle padding and the handle and frame are attached in a way that the handle feels firm, not flimsy.

This stroller took 9 minutes to assemble. That’s not a long time but the process was more complicated than is typical, even requiring inserting cotter pins to hold the rear wheels on the axels. The user manual is pretty good but having multiple languages on the same pages is distracting.

The harness clip on the hip strap is inserted through the clip on the shoulder strap and then into the buckle. This isn’t unusual but the two don’t stay together well and it is a bit tedious to redo it when they come apart.

Adjusting the harness straps to tighten and loosen them is also a bit of a pain. As your toddler grows the harness straps will need to be threaded through a higher slot in the seat.

The brakes are a good-news, bad-news story. I like that I can both engage and disengage the brake by pushing with the bottom of my foot instead of having to lift it up with my toes. But I don’t like having two separate brake pedals, one on each wheel that need to be pushed for both stopping and starting.

The seat can be reclined with one hand but it takes two hands to make it go back up.

One nice feature of the Nimblelite is that Graco infant car seats can connect directly to the stroller frame without the need for a separate car seat adapter.

These plastic mounts fit into the car seat latches on Graco Click Connect infant car seats creating an easy transition from stroller to the car seat base in a vehicle. The NimbleLite is also sold as atravel system with the Sungride 35 Lite Car Seat included.

The Graco NimbleLite colors include Studio and Frisco.

Folding and Transport

Our “How to fold the Graco NimbleLite” video:

Unfortunately, the NimbleLite is a two-hand fold stroller because you have to push two buttons on the frame at the same time. That makes it difficult to fold with a child in tow. As I demonstrate in the video above it can easily be opened with one hand.

It actually folds and unfolds faster than many one-hand strollers. The average fold time is 3 seconds and unfold is 2 seconds.

Fold Time:

The NimbleLite does stand when folded but easily falls over.

Another drawback is that it doesn’t stay locked, folded consistently. We found that sometimes the frame twists when the stroller is being carried and the whole thing starts to unfold.

Kid Comfort

The NimbleLite seat is wide and sized for children up to 50 lbs or 45″ tall. However the seat back is only 17″ which means taller children may feel their heads rub against the canopy.

The stroller seat structure feels like it is made from a flat plastic board. It is hard. The cushion is thin. It sits upright at a 70-degree angle but can be reclined backward.

There is padding only on the shoulder straps of the harness.

The belly bar is built into the frame and holds a kids’ cup holder that is deep enough to keep drinks from tipping over. Only 3 of the 20 strollers in this group have a kid cup holder.

The sunshade has much better sun protection than most strollers, extending over the legs and almost over the front wheels. The large canopy also extends downward when the seat is reclined.

The seat reclines back to 34 degrees which is better than no recline at all but nowhere near flat. The front flap lifts up to provide a slim access point to the basket below, but it doesn’t stay up as a leg rest.

The NimbleLite had a higher level of vibration and bumpiness in our ride smoothness testing. Higher numbers in the table below indicate a greater amount of motion in the seat.

Quality and Safety

We hung a 12 lb bag on the handle of the NimbleLite while the stroller was empty, and it tipped over backward. We also tested the potential to tip over sideways and the stroller was less likely to tip sideways than many of its peers.

We also looked for pinch-points where fingers and limbs might be caught in moving parts like canopy and frame hinges. While every stroller poses some pinching hazard, we found only a few pinch points on the NimbleLite. It is recommended to keep children away from the stroller when it is being folded and unfolded.

The NimbleLite is on the noisier end of the spectrum in our average decibel level testing:

The frame of the stroller is sturdy and feels solid even when we are pushing bigger kids.

The wheels are plastic and EVA foam and have held up well for us.

Graco NimbleLite vs Chicco Liteway

The Graco NimbleLite’s and Chicco Liteway have several things in common:

• Price: Just over $100
• Weight: Graco 14.8 lbs vs Chicco 17.2 lbs
• Folded size: Graco 5 cubic ft vs Chicco 4.8 cubic feet
• Ride smoothness: not particularly good

The NimbleLite has the advantage in storage basket size at .63 cubic ft vs the Liteway’s .39 cubic ft.

The Chicco is a true one-hand fold stroller and the Graco is not, although the time to fold and unfold each stroller is not too different.

The Chicco seats are more comfortable but the Graco includes a belly bar and kid cup holder that is missing with the Chicco.

See our full review of the Chicco Liteway stroller.

The quality of the two strollers is comparable.

The Graco’s advantages include 2 parent cup holders, a bigger canopy, and the ability to use it as a travel system with car seats mounted.

The Chicco’s advantages include better buckle operation, easier recline, and an extendable leg rest.