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Nuna Pipa Lite Review

Nuna Pipa Lite LX
0
Overall Score
Ease of Install - Latch
Ease of Install - Belt
Ease of Use
Comfort & Quality
Weight & Size

Bottom Line

Having one of the most robust and lightweight design, the Nuna Pipa Lite is a charming infant car seat with quick and fool-proof installation procedures. With extended padding and remarkable side-impact protection capabilities, it’s one of the safest and comfortable car seats for your little passenger.

What We Like

  • Amazingly lightweight
  • Removable headrest
  • Sleek and sturdy design
  • Organic cotton infant insert
  • Can be used with various stroller systems

What We Don't Like

  • Very pricey
  • No rebound bar
  • Cannot be installed without a base

It’s always been a challenge when you are finding the perfect car seat for your newborn. From comfort to car seat safety, there are different aspects to be considered as they vary seat by seat. Some of them have been designed to host your newborn for a long term, and some of them with extra features and specifications to provide extra comfort to your little one.

Knowing which car seat specifications best suit your requirements makes the selection process as easy as pie. Since digging into the world of car seats search has always been a hectic thing, our product experts have done the hard part for you.

We have comprehensively tested, analyzed, and measured every aspect of a renowned car seat best-known for its best infant insert capabilities in this Nuna Pipa Lite review. Let’s head out to some surprising insights.

Overview of the Nuna Pipa Lite

The Nuna Pipa Lite is one of the most convenient infant car seats on the market. It’s the newer version of the Nuna Pipa car seat, which parents loved for a long time. Although the Nuna Pipa weights 8 lbs, which is more than the Lite’s 5.3 lbs, its price is quite affordable than the Lite version.

In general, there are five different versions under the banner of Nuna Pipa. Each of them has been mentioned below.

  • Nuna Pipa: With the price of around $300, Dream Drape, Pipa base, and the ability to be installed with or without the base.
  • Pipa RX: It comes with a price of around $350, Dream Drape, RELX base, and also with the ability to be installed with or without the base.
  • Pipa Lite: With the price range of $330 to $380, the Pipa Lite has a Pipa base, no Dream Drape, and the ability to be installed with the base only.
  • Pipa Lite R: With the price tag of around $400, it comes with the RELX base and without a Dream Drop feature. It cannot be installed without a base.
  • Pipa Lite LX: It also comes with a price tag of around $400. The good news is that it comes with the Dream Drop capability. Though the installation can only be done with the base, it is a good car seat.

Dream Drape is a distinctive feature of Nuna that proves to be helpful when it comes to protection from the sunlight. It is a piece of stretchy fabric that is attached to the seat with the help of magnets. The rights reserved by the Nuna brand.

The Nuna Pipa, Nuna Pipa Lite, and the Nuna Lite LX have one flip foot recline option, one LATCH position, twelve load leg positions, and no anti-rebound panel. The weight of the base of these car seats is around 14 pounds.

The Nuna Pipa Lite is best known for its ultra-lightweight carrier, side-impact protection, rigid connectors for simple setup, cushiony padding, and certified organic cotton infant insert. It is one of the best car seats if you are looking for a quality-rich car seat with a reliable infant insert.

Things to Consider Before Buying a Nuna Pipa Lite

The Nuna Pipa Lite is an excellent car seat to host your infants as it comes with an organic and sleek cushiony infant insert. It is designed to host your newborns and infants with extra comfort and safety.

Do you use the stroller almost regularly? Luckily, the original Pipa Lite is compatible with nearly all the strollers available on the market. You can easily carry your little one throughout the day.

Thanks to its compliance with the Federal Aviation Authority (FAA), you can use it during aircraft travel. Moreover, some of the height and weight considerations are as follows.

  • Height Limit: Up to 32 inches
  • Weight Limit: 4 – 32 pounds
  • Weight of the carrier: 5.3 pounds
  • Shoulder height range (harness): 6 to 10 inches

Installation can also be done quickly. If you are a newbie in the world of car seats, it’s just a no problem for you. Thanks to its rigid UAS connectors for quick and easy installation.

Are you living in a super hot climate? The Nuna Pipa Lite comes with a removable UPF 50+ canopy with flip out eyeshade that works well to protect your child against the harsh sunlight. However, it doesn’t provide the feature of Dream Drape. If you are looking for the Dream Drape specifically, you should go for another model like Nuna Pipa or Pipa Lite LX.

Key Features

Installation and Setup Process: Undemanding

With many car seats, it’s much difficult to install them even you might have thought to get an engineering degree before installing them. But not for this one as the Nuna Pipa Lite comes with incredibly easy to install procedures. The positioning of the car seat is also quite simple.

Through smooth instructions and illustrations-enriched car seat manuals and the indicators on the rigid connectors, setting it up has become much easier. The indicators on the rigid connectors turn green when you position the car seat correctly. It is an assurance that the selected position is recommended, so you don’t need to worry about it anymore.

One of the most impressive things about Nuna Pipa Lite is that it takes only about five minutes to be fully installed in your vehicle. Please keep in mind that without a base, Pipa Lite cannot be installed. It may cause problems for you if you are traveling or catching a cab as the base is quite bulky and weighs 14 pounds.

But due to the super easy installation, the base factor somehow gets unimportant to many parents. You can also get a new base if you often switch between cars, but it proves to be a costly solution.

There are two different ways to install the car seat. These are mentioned as follows.

  • Using the UAS / LATCH system
  • With the lap and shoulder belt

Installing the Pipa Nuna Car Seat with the rigid UAS connectors comes with a lot of additional benefits. As there is no belt to struggle with and the original Pipa Lite comes with a cool indication feature that lets you know that the car seat is in the appropriate position by turning green.

After the base’s secure placement, you will need to click the carrier in the right place and keep the correct angle in mind. Make sure to keep the blue line on the carrier is in level to the ground, if not, you will have to release the UAS connectors and place a tightly rolled tower according to guidelines provided in the user manual. Finally, reclip and pivot the UAS connectors to the anchors.

Note: It might take some time to be installed in a correct angle in some car seats. But, we have not heard of any difficulty faced by parents or our product experts during the installation and setup.

You will need to route the vehicle’s belt through the base if you are securing the base with the belt. Press the base into the vehicle’s seat after making sure that it lies flat across the opened belt lock-off.

Belt path helps a lot when it comes to seat belt installation of Pipa Lite. It aids the vehicle’s belt in routing through the proper placements while holding up the belt and not letting it to create any mess.

Age Range: Birth through Infanthood

The Nuna Pipa Lite seat is designed so that your newborns can get ultimate comfort out of it. With the help of soft and certified cotton memory foam, it becomes much easier to place your kid without any worries.

Are you going to buy a car seat for your newborn? The Nuna car seat Pipa Lite is here for you. From birth until your child weighs 32 pounds (on average, two years of age), it proves to be the best choice.

Because of its well-padded design, it feels more than suitable for a newborn. As your child gets older and bigger, you can remove the padding according to your little one’s needs.

Design: Flat and Polished

When it comes to high-quality materials, the Nuna Pipa Lite stands out from the crowd as it’s enriched with a high-quality and sturdy frame and fabric. It consists of the aerospace aluminum and the Aeroflex memory foam. These materials make the seat lightweight, absorbent, and diffuser of impact in case of a crash.

Are you a fan of detailed cozy fabric? Luckily, it comes with Nuna’s micro-knit fabric head and body insert. A certified organic cotton version is also available that is extra cozy and comfortable.

As the name suggests, the Pipa Lite is one of the lightest models of infant car seats available on the market. Our product experts, as well as the parents, have loved the fantastic weight properties of it. Weighing just 5.3 lbs saves you from a lot of aches and pains.

If you have a small vehicle, it’s not going to disturb you because it’s about 17.5 inches wide, which means you can carry and use it into your small-sized car. Although the carrier weight is quite low, the base might cause some problems for you as its weight falls around the number of 14 pounds.

The Luxe leatherette carry handle is also one of the leading design charms of the Pipa Lite. Through the handle, you can carry your baby throughout all of your memorable journeys. The original Pipa comes with amazing infant inserts. The design of the seat is also easy to use in the mode of the rear. Facing the car seat in an appropriate direction is also essential to have a smooth ride.

In general, the original Pipa Lite infant car seat’s design is one of the sleekest, quality-enriched, and comfortable ones. From bottom to top, almost every aspect has been taken under consideration by its manufacturer.

Cleaning: Easily Done

Do you want to keep yourself away from the hassle of car seat cleaning regularly? Fortunately, the Pipa Lite has a very remarkable fabric. Having an easy to clean seat is a bonus as messes happen often. You can easily clean the carrier shell using a soft cloth, mild detergent, and water.

Messes on the handle and the harness can also be wiped out easily through the cloth. However, the buckle can only be rinsed with water. Luckily, the seat pad is machine-washable. The infant inserts can also be machine washed—Lets head over to the steps involved in the cleaning of Pipa Lite.

  • Remove the seat pads from the seat as well as the infant insert.
  • Wash them separately in the machine
  • Use cold water on the delicate cycles.
  • Let them drip dry

Removing the seat is pretty simple and straightforward. However, when trying to put the seat cover back on, you might face some difficulties because there are lots of snaps and angles to remember.

Safety: Dominant

Safety is one of Nuna Pipa Lite’s main charms as it comes with various features backed by safety experts. It might seem like a dull frame as it is a lightweight one, but it’s not. The structure of Pipa Lite is super sturdy and powerful to protect your kid from even minor injuries in case of a crash.

The stability leg (load leg) also plays a vital role in the safety of the seat as it makes it more stable than the traditional car seats. It might seem like a flaw in the design, but it’s a worthy feature when it comes to your little one’s protection. The stability leg or load leg offers impact protection as well as the seat’s stability.

The five-point harness is another notable feature of Pipa Lite as it keeps your little passenger extra safe. You can simply tighten the harness for a proper fit by just single pulling the tether at the front side of the seat. Harness adjustment button can be pressed to loosen up the straps and keeping them away from your baby.

Though the harness doesn’t require to be rethreaded to adjust the height, it’s a pretty easy and takes just a couple of minutes. The base of the car seat is also durable and sturdy.

The side-impact protection also complies with various quality standards. From fabric to foam, each element is flame resistant and contains no fire retardant chemicals. Since the removable headrest consists of the organic cotton foam, it helps your child keeping a proper head position for a better, safer ride.

Energy-absorbing EPP foam is used through the entire car seat from front to back. It dramatically reduces the impact produced in case of a crash. Since the Pipa Lite cannot be configured without the base, it becomes more secure with the base.

Overall, it’s a great car seat in terms of safety and reliability. It has enhanced features and designed to fit your child while providing the ultimate protection perfectly.

Price: On the Higher-End

Do you have a limited budget for the car seat? The Pipa Lite comes with a price range of $330 to $380, which is somewhat higher than the regular infant seats available on the market. Having an extended budget will do the job if you are polishing up your decision to buy it.

From the super sturdy structure to soft and cozy infant insert capabilities, the Pipa Lite is one of the best infant car seats around. However, the price is quite higher. You should assess your needs before buying it. Some of its features are worth paying like the low carrier weight, load leg, handy base, and ability to be carried with you.

Specs

  • Product Name: Pipa Lite
  • Product Brand: Nuna
  • UPC: 8717903889176
  • Dimensions: h 22.5 x w 17.5 x l 27.3 in
  • Colors: Aspen, Caviar, Granite
  • Expiration Date: 7 Years of Expiration from the purchase date
  • Warranty: 1 Year Warranty

Competition: Outstanding for Quality

We have seen in the review that the Nuna Pipa Lite has some fantastic capabilities, but there could be slightly different requirements of yourself or your little passenger. A lot of factors make the seat most appropriate for you, from price to comfort and safety features. Let’s have more insights about some strong competitors of the original Pipa Lite.

Nuna Pipa Lite LX:

It’s also a good seat under the product line of Nuna. The Lite LX weighs a bit more than the Lite model. Its carrier weight is 5.7 lbs, but the most significant advantage of using the Lite LX is that it comes with the Dream Drape feature. As mentioned above in the review, it is a feature that protects your child from harsh sunlight and other tight environments.

The price of Lite LX is also a bit higher than the Lite model. Its price lies between the range of $350 to $400. Other good things about the LX are its robust original PIPA base, and more color options. Moreover, child restraint can only be used in the rear-facing position in both the seats.

So, if you live in an environment where the sun is quite energetic, going with the LX model is better than the Lite one. But, there are other good options as well.

Peg Perego Viaggio 4-35:

The Peg Perego Viaggio 4-35 is also an excellent competitor to the Pipa Lite. It is an Italian brand and comes with various colors as never before. It has anti-rebound bars, Right-Tight seat belt lock-off, six harness positions, and no-rethread harness. It comes with a price tag of around $300, which seems a bit affordable than the Nuna.

Although it weighs 9.5 pounds, which is heavier than the Pipa, the quality of the seat is a great one. It shows good crash test results and has more a bit more power when it comes to the seat’s safety. However, it is not compatible with various conventional stroller systems that can be a problem for you.

Chicco Fit2:

The installation has got a lot easier with the Chicco Fit2 as it comes with a super easy LATCH installation capability. It is a rear-facing infant and toddler seat with a strong base. There is an anti-rebound bar on the base of Chicco Fit2. Its price is around $280, which is less than the Pipa Lite.

It comes with a bubble level indicator, cozy newborn insert, 2-stage adjustable base, one-hand handle adjustment, adjustable recline foot, and the handle’s ability to be locked into multiple positions. Though it is not a lightweight solution and it’s not compatible with various stroller systems, you can go for it if you have a limited budget.

The Verdict

A worthy car seat with decent features!

From the installation procedures to the seat’s comfortability, all of them have been declared excellent by our product experts as well as the parents. It’s no surprise that car seats with this quality and safety are expensive, but in the long run, these car seats prove worthy as your child grows. If you are looking for an infant seat with the ability to be carried out while providing relaxation to your little one, the Nuna Pipa Lite is made for you.

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