Infant Car Seat review: Hauck PROsafe 35Web: PROsafe35.com Infant Car Seat review: Hauck PROsafe 35

Price: $205

Limits: 4-35 lbs.

NHTSA ease of use rating: Not yet.

Pros: Summer/winter infant insert, premium LATCH, easy to install, EPP foam lining for crash protection.

Cons: Doesn’t have no-rethread harness for $200? Little stroller compatibility. Level indicator on base could be improved.

Comments: German baby gear maker Hauck has made several unsuccessful attempts to crack the US market with their strollers over the years. One reason for the lack of success: compatible car seats, or the lack thereof. It’s the classic chicken and egg paradox: it’s hard to sell strollers without a compatible infant car seat. And it’s hard to sell an infant seat if there are few strollers it will fit in.

So, Hauck is giving the stroller market another try—and this time, they’ve debuted an infant car seat along the way. The Hauck PROsafe 35 is available as a stand-alone seat or as part of a travel system with a Hauck stroller. The seat is also marketed under Hauck’s sister brand (iCoo) as the iCoo iGuard 35—same seat, different name.

The PROsafe 35 hits all the right notes for a $200 infant car seat: a deep, adjustable base with level indicator and tall shell that we measured at a bit over 19″—that will hold bigger infants than competitor’s seats. There is an included infant insert for babies as small as four pounds.

As you’d expect at this price point, you get premium LATCH connectors and belt lock-offs for ease of installation. The seat is lined with EPP foam for crash protection.

So what’s unique on this seat? The infant insert is reversible, with a summer and winter side for additional comfort.

What’s not to like? Well, for $200, we thought Hauck could have included a no-rethread harness. No dice. Also missing: FAA approval to use this seat on a plane with base. Yes, you can use the PROsafe 35 on a plane WITHOUT the base, but that’s an odd omission. We weighed the PROsafe 35’s carrier at 10.4 lbs., which is on the hefty side.

We’ve had little parent feedback on this seat, given how new it is to market. Yet we do see a few scattered reports that it is easy to install, even though the base may require a pool noodle or rolled up towels to install at the correct angle in some vehicles. More recline positions on the base would be helpful, as well as a better thought out level indicator (the PROsafe 35’s indicator just has 2 marks—one for forward and one for rear installs.)

The biggest issue for the Hauck PROsafe 35 is the lack of stroller compatibility. Hauck and iCoo strollers often appear briefly on the US market . . . and then usually disappear. As of this writing, we can’t find any Hauck or iCoo strollers on the market that hold this infant car seat. And we can’t find any other stroller brands that have adapters that fit the Hauck PROsafe 35.

So a mixed review for the PROsafe 35—the seat is a good first effort for the Hauck brand in the US. Like any version 1.0 seat, however, there are some rough spots that could be polished. The lack of stroller compatibility is the biggest hurdle here, as is the lack of no rethread harness.

Rating: B- Infant Car Seat review: Hauck PROsafe 35