The infant car seat market is full of baby brands that offer features that continue to one-up each other. It’s hard to find a product that is truly unique these days. This is why the pressure is particularly high for brands known for their innovative designs, one of which is Clek.
After introducing Foonf and Fllo, Clek is under pressure to meet, if not exceed expectations. Luckily, their new car seat, Clek Liing, does not disappoint. It maintains a lot of what we like about Clek’s early car seats while introducing some interesting features. Let’s go ahead and take a look at what Clek Liing has to offer.
Clek Liing Features
- Weight without base: 9 lbs; weight with base: 26 lbs
- Dimensions: 27.7 x 16.9 x 26.8 inches
- Weight range: 4 to 35 pounds
- For babies weighing 11 pounds or less, head support and infant insert must be used.
- Height range: up to 32 inches long
- Do not use it when there’s less than 1-inch space above the child’s head. With the load leg up, you can extend its use until the child’s head reaches the top of the shell.
- 8-inch rigid lower LATCH anchor attachments
- Manual rethread harness
- 7-position adjustable recline for babies 4-35 pounds
- One shell for ventilation, another for side impact protection
- Infant insert for two stages of your baby
- Base has a system for belt tensioning
- Allows European belt path for baseless installation
- Load leg to stabilize seat further
- Extendable canopy with 100+ SPF window shade
- Shell with energy-absorbent EPP foam lining
- Fabric is free from brominated flame retardants
- 3 fabric choices (e.g. 100% Merino Wool, C-Zero+, and jersey knit)
- 9-year lifespan
- 1-year warranty
What Customers Love
- At 9 pounds, Clek Liing is a super lightweight choice.
- Rigid lower anchor attachments make installation easier.
- This infant car seat is narrow enough to accommodate 2 other seats (e.g. a convertible or a booster seat for older children) in the backseat if necessary.
- One of the few sold in American with European belt path routing for easy baseless installation.This means it can be installed just using seat belts.
- The seat has a belt-tensioning system that makes for breezy installation in the center of the vehicle seat, perfect for cars without LATCH anchors at the center.
- The metal load leg is an added protection as it reduces the force of a car crash by up to 40%. Not many seats have load legs and they significantly improve car seat safety.
- Fabric covers are free from harmful flammable chemicals.
- The fabric is easy to wipe and clean. There are at least 3 black monochromatic colors to choose from.
- The 7-position recline can be modified without removing the base.
- The extendable canopy has a mesh window that lets air in and SPF 100+ to protect your baby from harmful sun rays. It also makes it easy to check on your baby.
What Customers Can Live Without
- Many cars do not have LATCH anchors in the middle seat, and this car seat needs a standard 11-inch space between lower anchors. Nonetheless, it can be installed without the base using European belt path routing, but it’s worth considering if you want an infant car seat compatible with LATCH.
- This infant car seat uses a manual rethread harness, while other car seats have a no-rethread harness. You have to detach the harness and navigate the straps through 3 slots to adjust the height of the harness alongside your baby’s growth. Still, it’s easy to tighten and loosen up.
- The colors may not be as attractive if you are not into gray and black.
- One of the most important considerations is the price of this product as Liing is one of the priciest in the market with a price range of $399 to $479. Because of its premium quality and 9-year lifespan, however, it’s almost guaranteed to be passed on to your next baby (as long as it has never been in a crash, in which case it needs to be replaced immediately after the crash).
Compatibility with a Travel System
Clek is focused on making infant car seats for now, so they do not have car seat-stroller combinations yet. Instead, they have made their infant car seats compatible with strollers from different brands to help parents set up a custom travel system.
Some of the brands that go well with Clek Liing are Bugaboo, Silver Cross, Thule, Uppababy, Baby Jogger, Cybex, Nuna, Bumbleride, Maxi-Cosi, Stokke, and Baby Zen using their respective car seat adapters. Below is a list of strollers that are currently compatible with Liing:
- Baby Jogger City Mini and City Mini GT single (with adapter)
- Baby Jogger City Select and City Select LUX single or double (with adapter)
- Babyzen Yoyo+ (with adapter)
- Bugaboo Bee 5 (with adapter)
- Bugaboo Cameleon 3 and 3+ (with adapter)
- Bugaboo Donkey (with mono and twin adapter)
- Bugaboo Fox (with adapter)
- Bumbleride EraBumbleride Indie and Speed (with adapter)
- Bumbleride Indie Twin (with adapter)
- Joolz Geo and Hub (with adapter)
- Mamas & Papas Ocarro (with adapter)
- Stokke Scoot, Trailz, and Xplory (with adapter)
- Thule Sleek single and double (with adapter)
- Thule Urban Glide single and double (with adapter)
- UPPAbaby MINU (with adapter)
- UPPAbaby VISTA and CRUZ (with adapter)
Conclusion
The Clek Liing was up against high expectations and it met every one of them. At about $400, it might be on the pricey side of infant car seats, but it also has some of the best features that parents need in a car seat to ensure that it is safe, comfortable, and convenient for them and their babies. Some features such as the metal load leg, the 7-position adjustable recline, and European belt path routing are not seen in other infant car seats. This is why we think it is one of the best infant car seats available.
Those who are willing to spend the extra bucks will be rewarded with these neat features and the trusted quality of Clek car seats. They will be bringing home a sturdy product that is both functional and beautifully designed. All in all, fans of Clek, along with new customers, would be happy to know that Clek Liing is an awesome addition to the Clek collection. You can never go wrong with Clek!
Clek Liing
is available at a discount price on Amazon:
