Car Seats

Best Car Seats

Overall Score

Safety 1st Chart Air 65

Convertible Car Seats

One of multiple convertible seats offered by Safety 1st, a brand of Dorel Juvenile Group

CR's Expert Take

How did it perform in our expert lab testing?

Overall Score

The Overall Score for this model is derived from our expert lab test results.

Current Range of Tested Convertible Car Seats

What goes into the Overall Score?

EXPERT LAB TESTS

Ease of use

4 / 5

Rear LATCH

3 / 5

Rear belt

1 / 5

Forward LATCH

5 / 5

Forward belt

4 / 5

Crash protection

BEST

Pros

Crash Protection

Cons

Width of seat makes tightening belts difficult
Rear-facing fit to vehicle using seat belts
Must use rolled towel for recline adjustment
Belt locking clip need for secure rear-facing installation in many positions

CR's Take

A reasonably priced seat that's straightforward to use forward-facing but can be difficult to install rear-facing. Along with using a rolled towel to properly recline the seat, many times we also needed a belt locking clip to achieve a secure installation. We could usually install this seat but it took methods most parents wouldn't know to try. This seat shares the same basic design with the Safety 1st Guide 65 but has added side wings that make the seat wider and more difficult to use.

Detailed Test Results

Consumer Reports’ car seat crash test, developed in 2014, provides comparative performance information on which car seats could provide an additional margin of safety. All child seats sold in the United States are required to meet government safety standards, and Consumer Reports’ tests are not designed to test compliance with those standards. Rather, we evaluate the seats’ performance under conditions designed by our experts to simulate certain crash scenarios, and rate them on a scale ranging from “basic” to “best.” The test conditions have been carefully designed to simulate the interior environment and forces encountered during a crash in contemporary vehicles. For more information on our crash test protocol, please click here.

About

The Safety 1st Chart Air 65 is part of the Car Seats test program at Consumer Reports. In our lab tests, Convertible Car Seat models like the Chart Air 65 are rated on multiple criteria, such as those listed below.

Ease of use: Our judgment of how easy each seat is to use including the clarity of labels and instructions, adjustments of clips and buckles, the transition of the seat from rear facing to forward facing and installation features such as LATCH connections and top tethers.

Rear LATCH: Rear-facing installation using the LATCH system. A rating of how compatible, easy and secure a child car seat can be correctly installed in certain test vehicles. This rating is based on a rear-facing installation using the LATCH system.

Rear belt: Rear-facing installation using vehicle seat belts. A rating of how compatible, easy and secure a child car seat can be correctly installed in certain test vehicles. This rating is based on a rear-facing installation using the vehicle belts.

Features & Specs

Features

LATCH connectors

Hook

Harness adjustment

Threaded Slots

Recline level indicator type

Line

Recline level indicator position

Both Sides

Multiple recline positions

Spanish language instructions

None

Specs

Rear facing weight range (lbs.)

5-40

Forward facing weight range (lbs.)

22-65

Height range (in.)

19-52

Seat weight (lbs.)

Base width (in.)

Overall width (in.)

Shell height (in.)

Overall height (in.)

Price & Shop

Safety 1st Chart Air 65

Price

Description

CR's Expert Take

Overall Score

What goes into the Overall Score?

EXPERT LAB TESTS

CR's Take

Detailed Test Results

About

Features & Specs

Features & Specs

Features

Specs

Price & Shop

Price & Shop

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