The baby stroller market is saturated with numerous products from a bunch of different manufacturers. Some of them are reliable and cost-effective, whereas others deliver no more than a tempting price tag. With that said, going for a product from a well-established brand is a surefire way to ensure quality and reliability.
Why Trust Us?
Because my full-time job is being mom to 2 precious daughters, and I know a thing or two about strollers. Besides personal experience, I get feedback from other moms who use these strollers every day and put all that research into our unbiased stroller buying guides
- Kyli
Stokke and Bugaboo are two of the most prominent brands when it comes to children’s furniture and accessories. Their catalogs of baby strollers and pushchairs are quite impressive, and they pride themselves on customer satisfaction.
Many parents find themselves having to choose between a Stokke or a Bugaboo product when in the market for a baby stroller, which is a very hard decision to make considering both brands offer excellent products. If you’re in the same boat, stick around for our Stokke Xplory vs. Bugaboo Cameleon 3 comparison to find out which brand comes out on top.
Table of Contents
Brand Overview
Stokke
Stokke is a Norwegian children’s accessory and furniture brand, selling high chairs, strollers, carriers, cribs, and more. The brand delivers ethically-made products that are completely free of harmful substances. All Stokke products are backed by the JMPA (Juvenile Products Manufacturers Association) certificate, ensuring maximum safety.
The way Stokke engineers go about designing products is pretty admirable. Before they even begin the process of manufacturing a new stroller, high chair, or so forth, they gather insights about families and their children to understand the challenges they’re facing. Then, they design products that intend to address and resolve these challenges.
Children aren’t the only ones at the forefront of Stokke’s design process; the parents are, too. Stokke does an excellent job of offering well-designed products with great structural integrity and plenty of ergonomic features to make life easier for the parents.
Granted, Stokke’s products aren’t the most wallet-friendly options available on the market, but these are products that are built to last and serve several children — some even withstand generational use! It’s also worth noting that all of their products are sustainable in terms of design and materials.
Bugaboo
Bugaboo is a Dutch brand of parental products that specializes in producing quality pushchairs and strollers for infants and toddlers. The brand was established in 1999 and has managed to remain at the forefront of stroller innovation since then.
Bugaboo products have two main selling points, the first being long-lasting functionality. These are products that are as durable as they come. They’re also extremely protective, so you don’t have to worry about your baby in the event of a bump in the road or things of that nature. Now, they’re not the most affordable option on the market, but they last for many, many years.
The second strong selling point of Bugaboo products is their aesthetic appeal. Bugaboo excels when it comes to making visually appealing pushchairs and strollers; we can’t think of another brand that can top Bugaboo in that department.
Bugaboo is so much of a well-respected brand that, in 2012, it was listed as one of the partners of the (RED) campaign, alongside notable brands such as Apple Inc, Penfolds, and Belvedere. All things considered, Bugaboo is a force to be reckoned with in the strollers, making it a direct competitor to Stokke. The question remains: which brand reigns supreme?
Let’s find out.
Product Overview
Comparing Stokke and Bugaboo isn’t the easiest task in the world considering their extensive catalogs of excellent products which is why we decided to conduct the following comparison between both brand’s best-selling products: the Stokke Xplory and the Bugaboo Cameleon 3.
Stokke Xplory
- Weight: 26.5 pounds
- Carrying Capacity: 45 pounds
- Frame Material: Aluminum
- Storage: Medium
- Cost: Expensive
Bugaboo Cameleon 3
- Weight: 21 pounds
- Carrying Capacity: 37.5 pounds
- Frame Material: Aluminum
- Storage: Large
- Cost: Less Expensive
Stokke Xplory
Design
Stokke’s Xplory is one of the top-rated strollers on the market when it comes to design ingenuity. Nothing about this stroller feels cheap whatsoever. The Xplory is one of the best-looking baby strollers you can get. It implements excellent fabrics and high-quality details that grant it a ton of aesthetic appeal.
This pram’s claim to fame is its adjustable height. As your baby sits in the Xplory, raise him or her higher to develop eye contact and deepen levels of connection. Combined with a good car seat (like the Stokke PIPA by Nuna), the Xplory makes a perfect travel system, so you and your child will be riding in style whether you’re on a stroll or in the car.
The Stokke Xplory is also equipped with a large canopy with a mesh ventilation window and a height-adjustable handlebar to guarantee comfort for parents of all sizes.
Seat
As we mentioned above, you can adjust the seat’s height to give your baby a great vantage point for clear sight and ideal parent-baby bonding.
The Stokke stroller’s bucket seat boasts 3 recline positions when in parent-facing mode and 2 when your baby is forward-facing, so no matter which direction your baby sits, he or she will always be in the perfect position to relax.
You can even recline the baby’s seat with one hand; all it takes is a simple pull of a lever. It’s so easy, it sounds too good to be true!
Wheels
Each wheel of this Norwegian-designed pram is puncture-free, meaning you and baby can navigate a variety of terrains, from rough gravel to a smooth sidewalk, without worrying about a blowout.
The Xplory also offers a two-wheel drive, which makes the stroller easy to maneuver when rolling over stones or pebbles.
Things We Like:
- Ease of Use: You don’t need to be a mechanically-inclined individual to figure out your way around the Stokke Xplory. It’s extremely easy to use and comes with a well-detailed user manual that points out exactly how you can use the stroller.
- Adjustability: The Xplory features a unique seat design that enables to adjust the seat’s height so that the baby is at an eye level with everyone who pushes the stroller, which is pretty convenient for taller parents.
- Visually Appealing: The Stokke Xplory is among the best-looking baby strollers on the market today. It incorporates excellent materials and high-quality details to ensure great aesthetic appeal.
- Storage Space: The Stokke Xplory features a convenient storage compartment at the front where you can keep things such as your smartphone, keys, or some snacks.
- Large Umbrella: This superb stroller is equipped with a large umbrella that’ll help keep your baby safe from rainfall and scorching sunlight.
- Excellent Padding: The Xplory is padded in such a way that it ensures notable comfort and security for your baby.
- Durable Construction: This stroller features aluminum construction, so it’ll surely stand the test of time. It’s also worth pointing out that the stroller is pretty narrow without being too restricting for the baby, making it easier for you to stroll through crowded areas.
- Second Seat Option: The Stokke Xplory grants you the ability to add a second seat. It’s a very convenient feature for parents who have two babies.
Room for Improvement:
- Cumbersome Folding: The Stokke Xplory utilizes a three-piece folding design, and so it’s not very easy to fold it. Additionally, keep in mind that this unit takes up considerable storage space.
- Heavy Construction: This baby stroller weighs around 26.5 pounds, which can make it hard for you to load it into the trunk of your car or store it somewhere.
- Designed for Smooth Surfaces: The Stokke Xplory isn’t an all-terrain stroller at all. It’s designed solely for strolling on smoother surfaces. It’s very hard to maneuver on rugged terrain. It’s also worth noting that it doesn’t feature a reversing handle.
Bugaboo Cameleon 3
Design
The Cameleon 3 is robust enough to handle off-road terrain, but it’s also nifty enough to be used as a city stroller. The stroller is a well-rounded unit that’s designed to accommodate babies from birth until the age of 3. There’s a reversible seat and handlebar, and the car seat compatibility and bassinet option will come in real handy.
The stylish pram boasts a five-point safety harness, a bumper bar for your child to hold onto, and a large UPF 50+ canopy to protect your little one from wind, rain, and bright sunlight.
Despite adopting a small and lightweight frame, the Cameleon 3 manages to maintain a great deal of sturdiness and structural integrity, so you don’t have to worry about it not lasting long.
Much like the Stokke Xplory, the Bugaboo Cameleon 3 keeps parents’ comfort in mind as well, and the Dutch brand made sure to include a height-adjustable handlebar to please everyone. And of course, to appeal to your own personal style, the Bugaboo Cameleon is available in eight different colors; there’s a hue that’s right for everyone.
Seat
Once he or she is safely strapped into the Bugaboo Cameleon 3, your child can recline in three different positions — fully horizontal, upright, and half upright — whether lying down for a nap or taking in the scenery on your daily stroll, you’ll know your child is comfy. Unfortunately, reclining the Cameleon’s seat cannot be done with one hand, however, it’s still simple to do.
The seat’s 100 percent polyester fabric is made for easy clean-up, as it’s machine-washable.
Wheels
Perhaps the most important aspect of a stroller is its wheels — after all, you wouldn’t get very far without them!
Each wheel on the Bugaboo Cameleon 3 is foam-filled and rubber, guaranteeing a smooth ride for your little tyke and eliminating the potential for a flat tire.
The Bugaboo Cameleon has small swivel wheels in the front for easy movability, and the two-wheel position is helpful when navigating over uneven surfaces like sand or snow. Nevertheless, we wouldn’t recommend using this stroller on a challenging surface, as it flaunts light maneuverability and it’s not really an off-road-specific stroller.
Things We Like:
- Fashionable Design: Like we already established, Bugaboo products are some of the best-looking options on the market, and the Cameleon 3 is no different. It’s available in a wide range of colors and is compatible with various accessories and canopies.
- Lightweight Construction: The Bugaboo Cameleon 3 weighs around 21 pounds, so it’s considerably lighter than the Stokke Xplory and a lot easier to move around.
- Reliable Suspension: The Cameleon 3’s suspension system is vastly superior to that of the Xplory, which makes it the better stroller for navigating off-road terrain.
- Easy to Fold: The Cameleon 3 is easier to fold than the Xplory since it employs a two-piece folding design. Correspondingly, it’s easier to store and more compact.
- Reverse Handle: Unlike the Stokke Xplory, the Bugaboo Cameleon 3 is equipped with a reverse handle that enables you to stroll your baby around in any direction.
- Versatile Design: This stroller flaunts a versatile design that can be split into a bassinet and pushchair. This comes in handy when trying to load it in the trunk of your car.
Room for Improvement:
- Folding Takes Time: Even though the Cameleon 3 is a lot easier to fold than the Xplory, it still takes some time because you need to take out the seat to fold it.
- Not As Durable: Compared to the Xplory, the Cameleon 3 is less durable, so be sure to handle it lightly.
- Not Adjustable: The Cameleon 3 isn’t adjustable like the Xplory, so there’s a limit to the size and age of the babies it can accommodate.
Final Thoughts
Picking between the Stokke Xplory and Bugaboo Cameleon 3 isn’t necessarily an easy choice since both products capitalize on each other’s weaknesses. It all boils down to your priorities.
If you champion adjustability and durability, the Stokke Xplory is the better option. If you want a stroller that’s lightweight, easier to store and fold, and is easy to maneuver, the Cameleon 3 is the way to go.
