Diono Radian 5 Car Seat Review

Diono Radian 5 Review: Choosing the best car seat for your child is not straightforward. In fact, it’s one of the most difficult things we have had to do because it is not only choosing one that you like but also one that is safe enough so it will protect someone that you care about the most: your children. You should research properly and choose the best in the market if possible.

My girls are now 6 and 2½ years. Bella has a new car seat for her age which is group 3 and she will be able to use it until she is 12 years old or until she is 135 cm tall which is the maximum required by law to be in a car seat. So we are happy with her car seat. However, Sienna has now outgrown the car seat she has used since birth, it was time for us to start researching a new cool and safe car seat for her.

Diono Radian 5 Review

We previously used a MaxiCosi car seat for Sienna but we weren’t that happy as she was getting her arms out of the straps quite often and we were getting worried. So for us, this was something we wanted to address when choosing a new car seat for her. We have heard and read so many great things about Diono Radian 5 so we were really excited to be asked to review one. Given Sienna had outgrown her existing car seat, this couldn’t have come at a better moment for us.

Diono has recently launched the ultimate Group 0-2 car seat for children, all the way from newborn to seven years old (up to 25kg). How awesome is that? This is something that drew my attention as I thought it was great to only have to worry about a car seat just once for a child instead of having to change it a few times as they grow, until reaching 7 years old. It also means you can choose the right moment to turn the car seat around for your child to sit forward facing.

It has been proven that it is safer for children to travel rear facing, so this car seat can be installed in this way too. The car seat also allows your child to be forward facing in a 5 point harness for longer. This is something that I thought was really good. It also comes with an exclusive fold mechanism which makes it easier to transport. Although bear in mind that it is not light at all. This is because it has a unique steel frame that will make the seat super strong and durable so obviously, it can’t be light.

Installing the car seat requires the seat belt of the car. Diono say this is because Isofix isn’t strong enough. Seat belts will hold more than twice the weight of the Isofix points so it is the only option with a higher harness weight capacity seat.

It is very easy to secure your child in the car seat using the 5 point harness. Just click the straps into the buckle. You then pull the strap at the bottom of the seat to tighten the harness around the shoulders. To undo, you lift a little trigger by the strap.

It also comes with a 10 year warranty which is very handy and proves that they are very confident about their product. This says a lot about this car seat.

CONTENTS

Inside the box you will find:

• Instruction manual
• Car seat
• 2 sets of harness pads (one for young/light children and one with SuperGrip for when they reached 15kg),
• Safe stop attachment
• Tether connector strap
• Rearward-facing bolster
• Head cushion
• Infant pad
• Cup holder
• Rear facing bolster
• Detachable base

ASSEMBLY

You need to assemble the car seat before you install it in the car. We did this in the house first. Sienna weighs 14 kg so she is not too far off to the limit of 15 kg where she will need to use the other accessories. We have set up the car seat in a forward facing position which is suitable for 9 kg to 25 kg which is the longer 5 point harness use.

The first thing was to unfold the base of the car seat and adjust the 5 point harness to the right height. To do that we had to undo the straps from the yoke and pull the shoulder harness through and then re-slot it in the appropriate hole and re-connect to the yoke. We placed Sienna in it to adjust it correctly for her. Placing the harness buckle in the 3 front most hole of the 3 holes in the seat was was perfect for her. He also set the head rest at the right height.

This is what we needed to do at this stage. Then we were ready to install the car seat in the car, placing it firmly on the seat.

INSTALLATION

We made a video of how we installed this car seat in the forward facing position. See below:

We followed all the instructions from the manual. It was all pretty straight forward. although we must admit that it was a little bit confusing regarding the red locking clips (they attach on the door side on both parts of the belt). We actually didn’t get them in our box and I only realised about them when I was researching more to do my review.

We didn’t realise we were missing them because the manual explains about them on a separate page. We have now requested replacement locking clips so we can add them to the car seat. Obviously not everyone will write a review like me so wouldn’t necessarily realise. I would recommend Diono amend the manual to make this clearer.

Sienna excited to get in her new car seat! Happy times!

Another thing that I would like to mention is the harness. As I mentioned before we had problems with Sienna taking her arms out of the harness of her existing car seat. This is something that I was hoping to improve with this car seat. At the beginning, this didn’t work. Sienna refused to stay inside the harness. I tried to tighten them as much as we could but I found this to not work completely. I thought it should be tighter but didn’t know how to do it. I pulled the strap that is located at the bottom of the seat as much as I could but it wasn’t tightening it as much.

I was worried because I didn’t want to have Sienna getting out of the car seat when were on a long journey. I contacted Diono and raised this issue. They actually suggested rechecking the harness was in the correct position. I checked this again and it was all good. We tried again to explain her about the importance of wearing her seatbelt and now she is actually behaving well. She has not tried to escape anymore which is a relief!

INTERESTING FEATURES

The Diono Radian 5 comes with additional safety elements including Safe Stop and Supergrip harness pads. When the seat is used in the forward facing position and when your child weighs 15 kg, it is very important to put on the Safe Stop. There is a video from Diono that explains this very well along with how to install it.

The Supergrip is a fantastic addition to the car seat. Once your child reaches 15 kg, it is very important to change to harness pads. These pads are energy absorbent and significantly reduce the impact of crash forces on the child.

Another interesting feature is that this car seat is very comfortable. It includes a thick memory foam on the seat base, a comfy headrest and ample padding, plus a plush newborn insert to keep babies secure and content.

It also comes with an extra deep cup holder. You can put up to 4 cup holders which are very useful for drinks, snacks or even little toys.

It is very narrow so you have more space in the back of the car. This is very handy when you need to fit there a 3rd person at the back.

PRICE

The Diono Radian 5 has a retail price of £295 but it is currently on sale for £225 so it offers superb value as you will only have to buy a car seat once from birth until your child reaches 7 years old or up to 25 kg.  You can buy the Diono Radian 5 from the Diono website or from various retailers.

FINAL THOUGHTS

Overall, we really like the Diono Radian 5. It has lots of features. The idea of having to buy one car seat from birth up to 7 years (or up to 25kg) is a good selling point. Also, the price is reasonable for what you are getting. I love the extra comfort and having the option of adding extra cup holders. It is great that it is foldable too and has a strong metal base. I would just recommend making the manual a little more clear and to perhaps check the tightening of the harness issue a little more.

What do you think of the Diono Radian 5? Have you heard of it? Do you have your child’s car seat in a rear facing or forward facing position? Do you like the features of this car seat?

*Disclaimer: We received a DIONO Radian 5 to test for the purpose of this review. All opinions and thoughts are my own. This post contains affiliates links. 

Thanks for stopping by,

Love you all ❤️

Franca  💋