Graco Affix Highback Booster Seat with Latch System, Atomic

First off, the main reason I am writing this review is to defend the latch system. Prior to purchasing this seat I read several reviews dinging the latch system for only tightening fully on one side, leaving the other with a little slack. Since this was really the only negative I read i decided to purchase and see for myself. Just as I suspected there are 2 overlapping pulls on the front of the base. If you pull them individually they each tighten a latch. One tightens the left and one tightens the right. So...the seat is tightly tethered on both sides. I am assuming most people that are complaining are pulling the straps simultaneously since they are on top of each other. This is the best system. Other system Ive had to tight the latches from the back and then when wanting to unlatch loosening them from the back to get enough slack was a pain. All of this is simply done from the front system and a push of a button loosens them. Im not one to read instructions...I get anxious and just start putting things together. It was easy to assemble and figuring out the latch system on the fly was easy too. But one thing, if your like me and dont pull out the instructions right away, a small tip...the cup holder needs to be attached and it is stored under the base of the seat. I looked in the box for a bit and thought something was left out. But I found it. I purchased 2 other seats this week prior to settling on this one. I bought a Harmony and 2 days later returned it because the cup holders are right under the armrest. Made it impossible for my son to fit his taller sippy cups. A starbucks Grande water cup wouldnt fit either. I couldnt have that so I exchanged it for an evenflo Big Kid Advanced booster in Luca. that seat smelled like cat urine. We put it in the car and the next day the entire car smelled. Gone!! So third times a charm for sure. Super happy with this seat. Looks great, its comfortable, there is a cup holder for taller drinks, a storage cubby,doesnt smell and best of all..... an easy to use, secure latch system.

I was in market for a new car seat due to my daughters increasing age and her old car seat being cumbersome. I had always thought that the high back booster seats started at 4 years and 40 lbs. I was pleased to see this one starting at 3 years and 30 lbs. I read the reviews and did my research. The main negative points seemed to stem from only 1 latch and having a wiggle space of 5 inches without the seat belt attached. From that point of view I could understand that the car seat would be over priced for a latch system that does not seem to do its job. Despite this I decided to take a risk and buy the car seat (mostly because I was so tired of lugging the car seat we currently had lol). The product arrived promptly. It did not come in any extra packaging save its original box. Box was in relatively good condition. The product instructions were easy to understand and easy to set up. Size was just right for its intended purpose fitting well in a mid size sedan as not being too big or too small. The fabric was soft to the touch and my daughter quickly proclaimed it to be comfortable. The side impact safety indicators were a definite plus but did not overly wrap around my daughter. My daughter especially liked the cup holder and "secret" drawer she found on the car seat. I obviously did not have the heart to tell her it was designed that way. ^_^ As far as the latch system, I noticed right away there were 2 latches on the back. it has a push button release on the front to give the latches slack to easily attach the latches to the car. The pull strap on the front quickly and easily pulls the car seat snug to the seat. I did not find any appreciable give to the car seat on a wiggle test. The use of the belt buckle has its ups and downs. My daughter found it quite exciting to use the seat belt like mommy and daddy. However with the sides and the armrests designed the way they are it is next to impossible for her to buckle her self at the moment. I realize its not a big problem, but it is worth mentioning. All in all I found this seat to be easy to set up and install. My daughter is enjoying "growing up into a new seat" and the car seat looks a bit more stylish as car seats go. Other than my daughter being able to buckle herself in, the only negative thing I found was the back is unstable without a support surface. This is to say if you sat the seat on the ground with nothing behind it, and your child sat down AND leaned back into the chair, the chair easily gives way to reclining to a flat position. I realize this not its intended purpose. I realize that it is designed that way for ease to recline the chair and remove the high back when needing to. I even realize that in its intended purpose as a car seat, the seat gives it the support and there is no danger of the back reclining back. I only mention this because I was eager for my daughter to try the chair after setting it up and quickly had to catch the back of the seat before she fell back. I admit to being at fault, but I still deem it as a negative in my view lol.

Having been in an accident before (where the infant car seat saved our son’s life), safety was paramount so lots of research went into this and even after making my choice, I was still a bit nervous but after several months of use, DS and I are both happy with this seat! We transitioned from the Graco Extend2Fit so this was quite the leap but we decided that our son (48 inches, 50 lbs) was ready for a harness free, high back booster. What I wanted was a quality seat with latch system (✔️) and what he wanted was a “red and black booster” (✔️) so in the end, we both got what we wanted! The cup holder (located underneath the seat) was easy to find and install. Once in, it’s not going anywhere! The snack tray is nice if needed and slides in easily if not. The seat itself is pretty sturdy without adding a lot of bulk or weight. It is much easier to carry around than our previous seat! The basic latch system (same as previous) makes it slightly harder to switch between vehicles than other boosters but is worth it in my opinion! I like to know that it’s anchored in with or without our son sitting in it (others just flop around in the car and I’d worry about what might happen if we were ever hit again). I also like that the seat belt stays threaded through the shoulder guide when not in use which was an issue with others we looked at. The seat belt lays across his lap perfectly and the back can keep growing with him as he gets taller until I feel comfortable going backless or he’s ready to go without a booster. I was a little worried about the integrity of the back when first installed as the higher it slides up, the less sturdy it felt… However, once he was properly seated, I felt better and we’ve not had any issues since it was installed. Again, safety comes first in my book but for the price, I’d say we got a pretty great seat overall and our son asked that I “give it 5 stars please” for comfort and color. If you’re ready to transition to a harness free booster, I feel good about recommending this seat! We’ve stuck with Graco since our son was born and have never regretted that decision!

I love this car seat!! It was so easy to assemble, took me 5 minutes. The quality is great and has nice padding. Very easy to adjust the height. Also very easy to clean. The anchors to the vehicle gave me a peace of mind switching from a 5 point harness to a high back booster seat. Very easy to put in your vehicle. Can’t recommend this car seat enough!!!

We were saving for another Diono car seat for my 3 year old when I realized that our 5 year old could move into a high back booster if he wanted to, and hand his Radian R120 down to his sister. We looked together at the seats Consumer Reports and the Car Seat Lady had rated highly, and he chose this one (mainly because it's red and has a cup holder). I needed a relatively narrow one that attached to the seat as I didn't want the booster turning into a projectile while it was unoccupied. It's narrow enough to fit alongside a Diono Radian R120 and a Britax B Safe 3 abreast in the back of our Ford Escape, and attaches easily to the seat. It would get 5 stars if it weren't for the apparently common problem of the left side strap that tightens the booster to the passenger seat being basically unusable. Fortunately the booster is still tightly tethered on the right, and attached with slack on the left. In the event of an accident, the seat belt is supposed to keep the kiddo in place so I'm confident he won't be swung to the side. It's light, comfy, has a neat little slide-out compartment for snacks or treasures, and seems tall enough to comfortably fit my 95th percentile-for-height boy for quite awhile in the high back configuration. He loves it, and I'm more comfortable than I thought I'd be taking him out of a 5 point harness.

Perfect for my granddaughter

Read all the reviews on this before we purchased and have to say, it's hard to understand how the same booster seat can get such a wide variety of reviews. Some people said it was great, others say it's terrible (for various reasons), but we ordered for our 65 pound 7.5-year old daughter who had just out-grown her first car seat, and after a week of use, have to say, we (and she) are pleased with the decision. She likes it. Loves having a cup holder... loves being able to buckle and un-buckle herself (feels like a big girl now) and we love that it was one of the few booster seats that had a latch system instead of just a booster that sits on the seat and flops around. This seat, once locked into place with the latch system, feels just a secure as the car seat we used for 7 years before this one. Several reviews mentioned the head rest falling down... so far, we have seen no such issues. When asked which car seat she likes best, our daughter says she prefers the new seat compared to the old one... probably because it still sits like a car seat, but uses the car's seat belt (which she can lock and unlock herself) verses the old car seat, which she never could un-buckle herself. This seat should last us until she no longer needs a car seat / booster seat, as it does convert to just a seat only (no back) seat as she gets bigger. Would recommend you try this seat if you're like we were and are reading every review of every car seat or booster seat before you make a decision as to which one to buy. We would buy this one again. In fact, considering a 2nd one to put in our 2nd vehicle so there's no moving it from one car to the other... though it is much easier to move from car to car than our original car seat.

I just received this and have not put it in the car yet- I will add more later. tt seems like a nice booster seat and I like the latch system to hold it in the seat, that it can go to just the bottom seat later, and most importantly, it has good safetly ratings both highback and backless. I don't understand the lower stars from people on here because they couldn't find the cup holder. All you have to do is look on the bottom and you will see it and just take it off and insert it in the slot on the side- the manual says not to take it off once it's in place. There are some negative reviews that the back falls apart when transporting to other vehicles. I don't see how this is happening unless it isn't locked into place good to start with. It does take 10-15 minutes to line it up right to the bottom piece and lock it in and then raise the back upright- look at the manual to help you. It can recline some when you are carrying it but holding the back and the bottom should alleviate that. The snack tray is handy and is a little tight when shutting and opening back up but not too bad. The cup holder worked great for the large soft drink cup we tried. I'm used to our Britax Marathon for over 5 years now which is heavy, big, and nicely padded. So that being said, the padding on this seat seems ok/adequate but definitely could be more, especially in the bottom seat piece. I will comment later about comfort level when used in the car. This seat is definitely lighter. The latch straps look short but they fit with my car's latch system fine and after adjusting the straps on the front the seat is pretty snug. I think the complaints on here of the latch straps being too loose may be due to how latch systems vary from car to car. An updated review to come soon.