Phil & Ted's Strollers: The e3 (or Sport) vs the Vibe

I've shared about my love for my Phil & Ted e3 stroller in the past. I LOVE that thing. I had come across them online when I was pregnant with my first baby, but the price felt like a punch in the gut and I knew that it was out of reach! Shortly before my 2nd was born, though, I was advised to try Craigslist all over the country (instead of just locally) in hopes of finding a used one. To my amazement, I found a woman selling a used e3 stroller in Iowa who was willing to ship to me on the opposite side of the United States! And the kicker is that it only cost $35 extra to do so! I sold my other strollers and combined that money with what I'd saved up and was able to get my Phil & Ted's...finally!!

Despite my love for my particular stroller, the features of another one of P&T's strollers, the Vibe, greatly appealed to me. I thought the ability to fold the stroller withOUT removing the second seat would win me over. So when Costco.com had an awesome Phil & Ted's sale, I had the opportunity (at my own expense, of course) to try out the Vibe. I fully intended to sell my e3 (to cover the Vibe cost), and had even listed it on Craigslist as soon as the new stroller arrived. But much to my surprise, I did NOT like the Vibe! I was able to take it out of the box, put it together, use it around the house for a bit, compare it to the e3, and get a general idea of it's features before I carefully packaged it back up and returned it to Costco. Here's why...

In the photos, the black stroller is the Vibe, and the red stroller is my e3. (For reference, the e3, which is no longer available from P&T's, was similar to the Sport, and now that the Sport is unavailable as well, I believe it seems to be somewhere between their Classic and the Explorer)

The first things I noticed...I really liked that you could adjust the height of the front bar on the Vibe. (It's on the higher setting in the picture) I also liked that the footrest wasn't flat (or canvas) over the front wheel like with my e3, because my my daughters always push their feet down and it rubs on the tire. I also liked that the pad was reversible (it's something like neoprene on the other side...but the Graffiti print was even uglier in person! It looked like abstract are on the website, but it was more like "gangsta" art in person) The seats also looked SO much more comfortable than that of my e3. I also preferred the buckle system on the Vibe. However, I didn't like the straps as much as those on my e3, which are lower and more adjustable.

The second seat on the Vibe was 2 inches shorter than the second seat on my e3. That meant that it would have had a shorter "lifetime" of use per child. When my 3 year old sat in it (she's always been tiny), the bar at the top of the Vibe seat came to the middle of the back of her head, whereas her head just barely tops the top bar of the e3 seat. However, I really appreciated the recline and extra padding of the Vibe seat, and preferred the slide & click mechanism to that of the button one on my e3. It made adding the front bar and the 2nd seat a breeze, and totally doable one-handed. (which is a plus for a mom!)

The Vibe was about 2" wider than my e3. I wasn't sure if that was really a big deal or not, but I do know some people complain about how narrow the e3/Sport/Classic seat is with larger children. The Vibe frame wass aluminum, which had a nicer look that the steel of the e3, and contained a lot of plastic parts. I was not really a fan of the hand brake in comparison to the foot brake on the e3.



The Vibe's sunshade was MUCH nicer than the e3's. It was bigger and also not attached to the frame (a feature on my stroller that I have never loved), so it's more adjustable that way. I also greatly appreciated that with the Vibe, the sunshade was high enough to use with the second seat in the upper position.



It seemed like it was MUCH easier to access the newborn position with the Vibe. Even in the picture, doesn't it just look a lot wider? That is one of the reasons I disliked using that position with my e3...I felt like I couldn't get my baby in/out of it without a struggle!

Folded, the Vibe was definitely bulkier, but I really liked that it locked closed and that it folded more "neatly" than the e3 (with my stroller it seems like there are parts and pieces sticking out).

Here they were in the trunk of our smaller car (a Toyota Yaris sedan...yeah, told ya it's a SMALL car! We actually don't own it anymore). The e3 fit sideways but not front to back, and didn't take up so much space height wise. The Vibe fit front to back and sideways, but it was a lot taller. The e3 was definitely the better option there as far as size went!

The non-photographable things I realized were that the Vibe didn't push anywhere near as smoothly as my e3. I wasn't sure if that had to do with it being a new stroller or what, but it did not feel right. It was also a bit heavier (probably all that extra bulk). The front wheel didn't swivel as easily as that of the e3 either, which was a big negative factor in my opinion. My husband was actually really frustrated with that aspect. He was certain that it was either really cheap or missing a part and said it was likely to break since it's plastic. Yeah- there was a LOT of plastic on the Vibe (I'm not sure if there is any plastic on my e3!) and it really "cheapened" the quality of the stroller, in my opinion!

Overall, while the idea of the Vibe was really nice, I didn't feel like the ability to fold the stroller with the second seat on was worth all of the other seemingly "downgrades" from my e3, particularly in quality. Both are very nice strollers, but I didn't think the Vibe was worth the extra cost! Here's to continuing to love our e3!!