Well this is eye-catching eh? Harmony set out to redesign the concept of a booster seat, and visually speaking they sure nailed it.
Known for providing champagne features on a soda water budget Harmony Juvenile has delivered again with the brand new Big Boost Deluxe, a backless (…or dare we say, low back?) belt positioning booster that has ample padding, a detachable cupholder, and…wait for it…LOWER ANCHORS. All for the amazing price of $29. The seat is starting to appear in select Walmart stores, and should show up online soon. It is available now by contacting Harmony directly.
The Big Boost Deluxe is for children who are between 40-110lbs, 40-57″ tall, and who have the developmental maturity to sit properly in a booster seat at all times. For most kids that’s at least age 6. We prefer not to see kids start off their booster experience in a backless booster, but for those who have outgrown a high back or otherwise have excellent belt fit in a backless, this is an outstanding option to take them through to adult seat belt readiness around age 11ish.
It’s roomy internally without being wide externally, it’s cushy, it’s easy to buckle, works really well with buckles that are recessed and low, and did you catch that it’s latchable?
The seat belt fit of the Big Boost Deluxe will vary from child to child, and from vehicle to vehicle, as is the case with all booster seats. In general we found the lap belt fit to be good on most kids, tending toward low. If you have a vehicle where the seat belt geometry tends to position the lap belt overly high on the belly (not good) then this is a good go-to seat to try out. Below is a selection of kids who are 7-10 years old, and of varying builds.
The Big Boost Deluxe is easy to buckle, even with short or recessed seat belt buckles, because of the way the booster swoops away from the arm rest.
Seat pan depth was reported comfortable even by the older, taller testers, and most kids liked the back rest, offering slight lumbar support. It will absolutely feel different for kids used to sitting in conventional boosters so may take some getting used to.
Premium features include:
- A well padded seat cushion (removable and machine washable)
- Cup holder, that when not in use, stores cleverly on the underside of the booster seat so it doesn’t get lost.
- Lower anchors to prevent the seat from becoming a projectile when unoccupied. If you do not have lower anchors in the seating position you are using simply stow the hooks, and remember to have your child re-buckle the empty seat when they exit the vehicle.
The Big Boost Deluxe is medium width, fitting easily on the “40” side of a 60/40 split in two test vehicles (2012 Ford F-150, and 3rd row outboard Honda Odyssey). For size reference here it’s shown beside a pink Harmony Youth Booster, a tried and true favourite.
Boosters are deceptively simple, but do important work by properly positioning the seat belt on the strong bones of a child who is both 40+lbs, and ready to sit properly at all times. Harmony has crammed an impressive number of features into one tidy package, with an even more impressive price tag.
The seats shown in this review were provided to us for the purpose of review, but all opinions are our own. To celebrate this innovative new booster seat design at a spectacular price, Harmony is giving away one Big Boost Deluxe to one of you! To enter use the Rafflecopter widget below, and good luck! Contest is open until 11:59pm Pacific time on Wednesday, May 11th.
Please make sure to comment on the blog answering the question: Pick one word to sum up the Big Boost Deluxe – what comes to mind for you? Blog comments are moderated and will not appear immediately, so don’t fret if your comment doesn’t show right away, it will as soon as one of us pops in to approve them.