What is it?
The Cybex Anoris T i-Size is the most advanced car seat from Cybex. It's also the first car seat on the market with an integrated full body airbag and is designed to offer 50% more protection than standard forward-facing car seats. In a crash, the airbag inflates within milliseconds, protecting the child’s head, neck and body before the force of collision reaches them.
It's suitable for children from around 15 months to approximately 6 years old (or 76cm to 115cm to be precise) so it's important to check your child's height to make sure they fit safely.
It also features the impact shield, in place of a five point harness. This can be can be adjusted to give growing children plenty of movement while also offering protection. Being an i-Size seat, it is Isofix only and also has three recline features as well as what Cybex calls its Advanced Linear Side-impact Protection which reduces the force of a side-impact
The one thing it isn't is cheap. The Cybex Anoris T i-Size costs around £600 making this one of the most expensive car seats on the market. So is it worth the money? Read our Cybex Anoris T i-Size review to find out.
What's it like?
We've come to expect high quality levels from Cybex and the Anoris T i-Size is no exception. First impressions are excellent and from the finish of the fabric to the buttons and buckles, it feels like a premium car seat. Of course, given the price, we'd expect nothing less.
One thing to note is that the Cybex Anoris T i-Size is a front facing only car seat, unusual when rear facing is generally acknowledge as being safer. In fact many safety experts recommend rear facing until children are four years old.
Cybex counters this by pointing out that forward-facing travel makes eye contact easy while communication is unobstructed at an age when interaction is key. Studies in Germany have also shown that most parents opt for forward facing before their children are four years of age.
Fitting the Cybex Anoris T i-Size is very simple. It has the usual Isofix connectors, which move independently of each other, so it's very easy to slot them in. Then simply push the seat back and it locks in place, plus there are green indicators as a double check.
It's not a lightweight seat, tipping the scales at 12kg and its bulky size makes it tricky to remove, so it's not a seat we'd recommend if you're going to switch between cars regularly.
Of course what makes the Cybex Anoris T i-Size stand out is the fact it has an airbag integrated into the impact shield - that bit that sits across your child's chest. The airbag forms a C shape around the impact shield and is designed to hold the child in place while stopping forward motion and reducing abdominal pressure. According to a 2021 test by ADAC (the German equivalent of the AA), this gives it 50% higher safety levels compared to a forward-facing harness child seat.
The impact shield is the Cybex alternative to a five-point harness. It's certainly easier having just one buckle to fit rather than searching for straps and clasps, especially if you've got a child who has decided to do their best 'plank' impression to avoid being strapped in.
One small issue we found is that as the impact shield is hinged on one side, it's not that easy if you're using the seat on the passenger side (as we are). It means leaning across to do the seatbelt buckle up plus it can get in the way when trying to close the door. Not that handy if you've got your hands full and try the hip door-close method.
We're testing the Cybex Anoris T i-Size in both our Skoda Karoq and MINI Clubman with 15 month old Reuben helping us. He is usefully above the 76cm minimum threshold, but does still seem quite small for a seat like this and he doesn't always look that comfortable with his arms on top of the impact shield. But as we soon discovered, he was obviously comfortable enough to fall asleep in it. Which in our experience is always a good sign with a car seat...
One of the features we found really helpful was what Cybex calls the Onboard Safety Assistant. This is a little display on top of the supporting leg that shows you - through coloured lights - whether the load leg, Isofix mounts and impact shield are all correctly fitted. All green lights means you're good to go.
The Anoris T i-Size also has three recline positions along with a lovely smooth recline mechanism, so there's no worry of waking up a sleeping child as you try to move the seat. It doesn't have the biggest amount of recline, the picture below shows it at it's maximum, but it still helped Reuben to fall asleep without his head dropping forward. We expect this wouldn't be the case with older children though. One thing it doesn't have though is a reclining head rest like the Cybex Solution Z-Fix.
Should I buy one?
If you want the safest car seat on the market, then the Cybex Anoris T i-Size is the seat for you. No other car seat on the market features an integrated airbag making this truly innovative.
Yes it's very expensive but innovation and technology often come at a premium. It will at least last your little one until they're not so little (around six years old) and while there are cheaper seats on the market, none can match the Cybex Anoris T i-Size for features.
We love the high quality construction, soft yet durable fabric and the smooth recline function. It's everything we've come to expect from Cybex combined with cutting edge technology and the end result is the ultimate in car seat safety.
