On the Dot

I’ve been taking a hiatus from blogging for a bit this summer, enjoying time with my family and working on some other projects. But I am taking a hiatus from my hiatus to bring you my review of the newest stroller entry from phil&teds, the Dot Buggy.

First, let me give you some background. We’ve been selling phil&teds at Magic Beans since 2004, when I used to call Jenna in New Zealand at 10pm EST to place my orders. They’ve grown up quite a bit since then, and they also acquired Mountain Buggy along the way. Now, Mountain Buggy has always been one of my all-time favorite stroller brands, and phil&teds scooped them up right after Mountain Buggy gave my sister the very first Swift stroller in the United States to test-drive with my nephew, who was about 7 months old at the time.

All of this is relevant, I promise.

The Swift was a scaled-down version of the popular Mountain Buggy Urban Single. The narrower frame and smaller wheels combined to make a stroller that felt much more compact and manageable. My sister loved it, we all loved it, and the Swift eventually supplanted the Urban Single and became our best-selling Mountain Buggy stroller.

Four years later, phil&teds is taking the lessons learned from the Swift and applying it to their own stroller design. The new Dot stroller is a direct descendant of the E3, that stroller I was ordering back in 2004. But, like the Swift, it’s been scaled down. The actual dimensions of the seat are the same as the larger models (nice!), but 10″ wheels replace the standard 12″ wheels, and from that alone, the Dot stroller does feel quite a bit smaller (15% smaller, to be exact), and the footprint is almost 1.2 inches narrower.

Other than the wheel size, the Dot functions like any good phil&teds stroller should. It can convert from a single stroller to a double stroller with an optional Doubles Kit accessory, sold separately. The Doubles Kit can attach on the front of the stroller for infant/toddler mode, or on the rear of the stroller, for toddler/toddler mode. You can also put a car seat on the stroller frame, and use the Doubles Kit in the rear position. The Doubles Kit for the Dot has a slick one-handed recline adjustment (for use in the rear position only) and a small sun canopy. The stroller features a simple one-handed fold (though it can not be folded with the Doubles Kit attached).

Another improvement to the Dot over previous models is the seat design, which now incorporates some additional support, contouring and ventilation. The seat fabric can now be removed very quickly and easily via a series of zippers. This makes it easier to clean, and also gives the stroller a much sleeker look when using it with the Snug carrycot accessory or the car seat adapters.

phil&teds has a tendency to take a good idea and expand on it over and over again. Often I think they offer too many models and don’t necessarily differentiate enough between them, but the Dot stands out as a fresh, new twist on their favorite theme.

Want to know even more? Read Jamie Grayson’s review, complete with a video. Or if you’re already convinced, come on over and buy a phil&teds Dot stroller at Magic Beans.

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