Summer Infant 3Dlite Stroller Review

Summer Infant 3Dlite

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How it Compares

The Summer Infant 3Dlite Convenience stroller is a very popular, lightweight umbrella stroller. It performed well in maneuverability and average in most other categories. It received our Budget Choice recommendation because it is very functional for a low price.

It has a slightly lower quality but even lower priced sister, the 3D Mini and a slightly higher priced sibling with more features, the 3Dlite+. There is a 3Dlite Double Stroller available as well.

Related Reading: Best Umbrella Strollers Results

Most Common Criticisms

There is a great deal of praise for the 3D lite but also some complaints. We’ve listed the most common complaints in order of the most frequent at the top and shared whether our experience supports or conflicts with the criticism.

Criticism	Our Experience
Flimsy or easily damaged wheels	The wheels are lightweight plastic and the tread is a thin layer of EVA foam. We haven’t had any wheel problems but they don’t last forever.
Difficult or inconvenient folding mechanism	It isn’t complicated to fold, but it takes us 4 seconds on average to fold and 6 seconds to unfold, which is more than the fold/unfold times of most strollers in this group.
Poorly made or low-quality materials	Quite a few parts are weak or thin like the footrest, cup holder, and foam on the handles. The frame also lacks rigidity.
Canopy issues (lack of proper sun protection, no window, or poor connection to seat)	Agreed. The canopy is small, does not have a peekaboo window and the velcro holding it to the seat comes loose.
Cup holder problems (flimsy, falls off easily, poorly made)	The cup holder isn’t wide enough to get our coffee mug in it. It spins on its mount risking spills.
Tipping over easily (particularly when weight is on the back)	In our tip-over testing, it tipped backward with a bag on the handle and was more likely to tip over sideways than most other strollers in the group.
Issues with the footrest (warps easily, not durable)	Agreed. The footrest is made of thin rubber and bends with moderate pressure.
Unstable at brisk walking pace (wheels shake)	15 out of the 20 lightweight strollers we tested had LESS shaky wheels than the 3Dlite.
Scratches easily (particularly the black frame)	We haven’t had any scratching
Lacking in padding or seat comfort	The padding is thin. We gave it 5 out of 10 stars for seat comfort.
Seat area seems short or small	The total seat depth from back to the front edge is 10 inches, but it starts bending down at 7 inches which gives it less depth than most strollers. The width is adequate at 12.5 inches.
Limited recline positions	Agreed. It is fully upright, partially reclined, or fully reclined with no other intermediate positions.
Not suitable for taller parents	The handles are about 39 inches high depending on where you grip them, which isn’t high enough for taller parents

Testing and Research

We selected twenty umbrella strollers and strollers 20 pounds or less to buy and run through an extensive set of laboratory tests as well as real-world use by parents and little ones. We compared lightweight strollers based on parent priorities like ease-of-folding, maneuverability, usability, and quality. And we compared them from a child’s perspective looking at things like seat comfort, ride smoothness, and accessories.

Weight and Folded Size

The Summer Infant 3D lite Convenience Stroller is one of the lightest strollers we tested at 13 pounds. When you use a 13-pound stroller one day and an 18-pound stroller the next day, the difference is very noticeable.

It is 4.4 cubic feet folded and while it folds into a long umbrella-style shape, it can’t be considered a compact fold stroller and is not necessarily the best travel stroller because it doesn’t fit in an overhead bin.

Steering and Maneuverability

The 3Dlite was one of the most responsive and easiest-to-steer strollers of the group. It turns on a dime and performed well on our maneuverability obstacle course. Scores for Steering:

While it steers well on flat, smooth surfaces, its wheels got stuck in cracks in our rough-terrain testing. Very few umbrella strollers handled bumps and cracks well.

We tested the 3Dlite to see how straight it pushes. Unfortunately, it tends to veer off to one side sooner than the average stroller in the group. To rectify this situation it has front wheel locks which force the wheels to remain pointed straight ahead. Tendency to veer (higher numbers are better):

Because of its low weight and frame shape, the 3Dlite is great at jumping over curbs. It took less downward force in our tests to pick the front wheels up over a curb than most of the strollers in the group. Force to jump a curb:

Wheel Vibration Rating

Summer Infant 3Dlite	74	74
Babyzen YoYo² (high)	78	78
Average	72	72
Bugaboo Butterfly (low)	68	68

The light, plastic wheels of the 3Dlite vibrate more than the average of strollers in the test group.

Overall Steering and Maneuverability Ratings:

The Summer Infant 3Dlite is a highly maneuverable stroller.

It is only 18 inches across at the widest point of the wheels and goes through the smallest doors easily.

Ease of Use for Parents

The 3Dlite has a small basket at .47 cubic feet. While it is small and a bit difficult to access, we were able to fit a partially full backpack diaper bag in it. When the diaper bag is in the storage basket, the seat doesn’t recline.

Storage Capacity:

There is a fabric pocket on the back of the canopy under the handlebars for your phone and keys.

It is made for small items but you can stuff a big pack of wipes in it.

The canopy doesn’t have a peekaboo window.

The handles have an umbrella shape and you may or may not find them comfortable. The shape adds an inch or so for taller parents and lets shorter parents grip them at a lower point if necessary. The handles aren’t adjustable, which is typical for strollers in the lightweight category.

The frame feels a little weak and shaky because of the way it is designed to fold.

It has a nice user manual with large images on full-sized paper. It took us about 6 minutes to unbox and set up the stroller most of which was putting on the four sets of wheels and attaching the canopy.

Extra points for every stroller that has a parent cup holder! Unfortunately, we have to subtract those points because the cup holder isn’t wide enough to hold a normal-sized thermos.

The cup holder is made of thin material and tips over easily because it is made to swivel.

We love the buckle operation on the 3Dlite. The hip and shoulder straps connect to the buckle with a single clip so that you only need to perform two snaps to buckle your baby into the stroller.

The buckle button is firm enough to be safe but not so firm as to be difficult to unsnap.

The harness is a 5-point configuration because it has both hip and shoulder straps. The shoulder and crotch straps are padded.

We found the straps to be a bit cumbersome to tighten and loosen. However, the shoulder height adjustment is pretty simple.

There are separate brake pedals on each rear wheel. The pedals require some force to engage and don’t press down and lock consistently.

They are also stubborn about disengaging and scraping the tops of our bare and sandalled feet when we attempted to release the brakes.

The seat recline mechanism takes two hands but it works well. You push the two red buttons on the sides of the basket and you can feel it drop back into the recline positions one at a time.

There are only three positions of the seat, fully upright, fully reclined, and one in-between.

Raising the seat back up is as simple as lifting the seat back with one hand. You can feel it snap into each higher position as you push it up.

Overall Ease-of-Use scores for the 3Dlite:

This stroller is not infant car seat compatible. The manufacturer’s minimum recommended age is 6 months.

The Summer Infant 3Dlite is available in Black, Eucalyptus, and Teal.

Folding and Transport

Our “How to fold the Summer Infant 3Dlite” video:

The 3Dlite folds in about 4 seconds. There are three steps involved: raising the lever in the back center to release a catch, pushing down the latch on the back right, then pushing the handles forward to the ground. The first two steps you can do with your hand or foot, and pushing the stroller down happens naturally.

Unfolding takes 6 seconds on average. The latch that keeps the stroller together when folded has to be pulled back. Then while it is pulled back you have to open up the frame enough that the latch doesn’t re-latch. After that, the stroller can be raised up, and pushing down the lever in the center back holds it open.

Even though there are multiple steps, it can all be done with one hand and one foot while holding a baby. This stroller isn’t the fastest or easiest to fold/unfold but it is reliable and not a burden after you get the hang of it.

The latch does a good job of keeping it folded so you don’t have to worry about it flopping open when you are carrying it.

It is easy to pull when folded as it rolls on the rear wheels. It can also be carried over the shoulder with a carry strap attached to the frame. The shoulder strap is adjustable but we found it too short to be comfortable

The stroller does stand when folded but it is very precarious.

It is pretty big folded. The shape isn’t bad because you can put it in a corner standing up, but it is not nearly as compact as other strollers like the Joolz Aer, Babyzen YoYo2, or gb Pockit+.

Fold Time:

Kid Comfort

n the Kid Comfort category, we tested the smoothness of the ride by measuring bumpiness and vibration with an accelerometer. The 3Dlite is slightly above average in Ride Smoothness:

The seat reclines back to 25 degrees which is of course, not flat like a bassinet, but has a greater recline than the average lightweight stroller.

There is no adjustable foot or leg rest which would make napping even more comfortable.

When the seat is fully upright it still has an angle of 55 degrees. Parents complain that this is too far back and makes it harder for kids to sit up straight, look out, and engage the world.

The seat did not score well in comfortability. The padding is thin. There is no kid snack tray or cup holders.

The shoulder and crotch strap harnesses are padded.

The stroller is rated for children up to 50 pounds or 43 inches. The seat is 18 inches and could stand to be higher. It will handle bigger kids but is more comfortable for children who aren’t near the weight and height limits.

The canopy doesn’t provide much sun protection. It doesn’t reach out over the knees.

Quality and Safety

The Summer Infant 3Dlite is louder on average than other umbrella strollers. You may or may not notice the noise but some strollers are quieter than others. Average decibel levels:

As a safety concern, we compared sideways tip-over units. In our test the 3Dlite tips to the side easier than the average stroller in the group.

Manufacturers like Britax advise not to hang bags or other heavy items on the handlebars of strollers. We tested hanging a 12-pound bag on the handles and the 3Dlite did tip over backward. About 75% of the strollers in this group tipped over with the 12-pound bag.

We used a pencil, which is about the diameter of little fingers, to test for pinch-points on the stroller. We found a few places where child and adult fingers can get caught. Summer Infant (and other manufacturers) recommend keeping children away from strollers during the folding and unfolding process.

The 3Dlite is a low-cost stroller and the parts and materials are not the quality you find on luxury baby gear. The wheels, footrest, and parent cup holder are examples of lightweight parts that feel flimsy. But despite the flimsy feel we haven’t experienced any breakage and limited wear and tear.

Summer Infant 3Dlite vs 3Dlite+

The 3Dlite+ is an upgraded model of the popular 3Dlite.

See our full review of the Summer Infant 3Dlite+.

Both strollers scored very well in maneuverability and the 3Dlite+ did slightly better over rough terrain.

In the Kid Comfort category, the 3Dlite+ has a more comfortable seat and the canopy pulls down further resulting in better sun coverage.

The fold and unfold times and difficulty of these strollers are very similar.

The 3Dlite+ has a peekaboo window in the canopy that the 3Dlite is missing. We rated the handle stability, user manual and recline mechanism higher for the 3Dlite+.

The 3Dlite is 1 pound lighter than the 3Dlite+ and takes up slightly less space folded.

Quality wise, the plus version has nicer seat and canopy fabric. It was also a bit quieter in our noise testing.