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First published: July 2026 · Last reviewed: September 2026 · Next scheduled review: March 2027 · Specs verified against stokke.com August 2026
Our verdict in one sentence
The most distinctive pushchair on this site — a higher seat than almost any other pushchair available, particularly well suited to tall parents and C-section recovery. At 11.3kg and a significant price, it earns its 7.5 only for the buyer it was designed for. If that buyer is you, nothing else comes close.
Quick answer: Buy it if you’re tall, recovering from a C-section, or specifically want the highest seat position available in a pushchair — the elevated seat delivers genuine, practical benefits for the right buyer. Think carefully if weight is a constraint, your car boot is small, or you’re not in that profile. The Stokke YOYO³ is the better starting point for most parents considering Stokke.
At a glance
Compare the Xplory X
Stokke Xplory X — higher seat position than almost any other pushchair
Stokke Xplory X
7.5/10 · 11.3kg · From birth · Not cabin-compatible
- Higher seat position than almost any other pushchair — outstanding eye contact and bonding
- Particularly well suited to tall parents and C-section recovery
- Premium Stokke build quality throughout
Let’s start with the reality check. The Stokke Xplory X is 11.3kg, costs more than most pushchairs on this site, and is designed for a specific buyer profile that doesn’t include the majority of parents. If you’re not tall, not recovering from a C-section, and don’t have a particular reason to want the highest seat position available in a pushchair, this review may well send you somewhere else — and that’s not a criticism of the Xplory X. It’s the honest service. For the buyer it was built for, the Xplory X does things no other pushchair currently does as well.
Why trust this review?
Tested by: Mark — hands-on in-store assessment. Janette adds a female perspective on every hands-on review, including a specific observation on the elevated centre of gravity with a child aboard.
Evidence basis: In-store handling and steering. Assessment of seat height, fold, build quality and the highchair marketing claim. Janette’s observation on top-heavy feel and handlebar tipping risk with child in seat. Specs verified against stokke.com August 2026.
Conflict of interest: This review contains affiliate links. This does not affect the verdict.
✅ Best for
- Tall parents — upright pushing posture, no stooping. Purpose-built for parents who struggle with standard handle heights
- C-section recovery — elevated seat means no bending to lift your baby in and out in the early weeks
- Eye contact and bonding — the elevated seat puts your child at a height where connection during a walk is natural
- Urban use — steers well on smooth pavements and city surfaces
🚫 Not ideal for
- Parents who need lightweight — 11.3kg is the starting point, and you will notice every kilogram
- Compact or travel use — not cabin-compatible, not designed for small car boots
- Rough terrain — built for urban surfaces, not gravel paths or countryside
- Budget-conscious buyers — expensive for a specialist pushchair that suits a narrow profile
✅ What I liked
- Premium Stokke build quality throughout
- Elevated seat — higher than almost any other pushchair; outstanding for eye contact and bonding
- Steers better than the weight suggests — smooth and confident
- Upright pushing posture eliminates the stoop for tall parents
- Elevated seat aids C-section recovery — less bending to lift baby in and out
- Suitable from birth in lie-flat position — no separate newborn pack needed
- Distinctive, recognisable design
⚠️ What to watch
- 11.3kg — you will notice every kilogram when lifting it into a car
- Expensive — and suited to a narrow buyer profile
- Not compact — not for small car boots or travel
- Urban surfaces only — not for gravel, rough paths or off-road
- The highchair claim is overrated — a real highchair is a better tool
- Not widely stocked — check availability before deciding
MyPushchair scorecard
| Build quality | 9/10 (premium Stokke materials — consistent with the brand standard) |
| Eye contact / parent-child connection | 8/10 (elevated seat genuinely delivers for the right parent) |
| Manoeuvrability | 8/10 (steers well for its size and weight — as it should at this price) |
| Value | 6/10 (expensive for a specialist pushchair suited to a narrow buyer profile) |
| Weight / practicality | 5/10 (11.3kg — not a pushchair you lift without thinking twice) |
| Fold & boot-friendliness | 4/10 (bulky when folded — not designed for small car boots or frequent lifting in and out) |
| Overall | 7.5/10 |
Overall score: 7.5/10. The Xplory X scores 7.5 rather than higher because it is expensive, heavy, and suited to a narrow buyer profile — and these are real limitations for anyone outside that profile. For a tall parent who has stooped over every pushchair they’ve tried, or a parent managing C-section recovery, the score could reasonably be higher. For everyone else, it may be lower. Judge it by whether you are the buyer it was designed for.
A good choice if:
- You’re tall and standard pushchair handles leave you stooping — this was built for you
- You’re recovering from a C-section and need to avoid bending in the early weeks
- Eye contact and connection during walks genuinely matters to you — the elevated seat delivers it
- Budget allows and you want premium Stokke build quality in a full-size urban pushchair
Think carefully if:
- You need something lightweight — 11.3kg is a serious daily commitment
- You have a small car boot — this is not a compact pushchair
- Your daily environment includes rough terrain, gravel or countryside paths
- The highchair claim is on your shortlist of reasons to buy — read the section below first
The elevated seat — what it actually delivers
The Xplory X’s defining feature is its elevated seat position — higher than almost any other pushchair on the market. In the shop, this is immediately striking. Your child sits at a height where eye contact is natural and constant throughout a walk. For parents who want to feel connected to their baby rather than pushing a seat they can barely see into, this matters genuinely. Stokke markets this as unbeatable parent-child bonding, and on the eye contact element, they’re not wrong.
For tall parents specifically, the elevated seat and upright pushing posture remove something most pushchairs force on you: the stoop. Standard pushchair handles often sit too low for taller parents, leading to a hunched pushing posture that accumulates into a bad back over months of daily use. The Xplory X is designed with taller parents clearly in mind. If you’re tall and you’ve been stooping over every pushchair you’ve tried, handle it in a shop and notice the difference.
For parents recovering from a C-section, the elevated seat means less bending in those early weeks when bending is exactly what you’re trying to avoid. This is a practical, genuine benefit — not a marketing phrase.
⚠️ Janette’s note — tested with a child aboard
We didn’t have a child with us during our store visit — but when Janette considered what the elevated seat feels like with a child actually in it, the picture changed. The high centre of gravity creates a noticeably top-heavy feel that an empty frame doesn’t hint at. It’s been safety tested, of course — but it’s not a comfortable sensation for a parent. The practical consequence: bags on the handlebar, which most parents reach for instinctively, carry a real tipping risk at this centre of gravity. If you routinely hang a changing bag on the handlebar, this is worth factoring in before you buy.
💡 Real-world detail
What surprised me most in the shop: how well it steers for 11.3kg. A pushchair this heavy and this tall could easily feel unwieldy — it doesn’t. It moves with the kind of smooth confidence that reflects genuine engineering investment. If you’re going to build a heavy specialist pushchair, it should at least handle well. This one does.
The highchair claim — a highchair is a highchair
Stokke markets the Xplory X’s elevated seat as suitable for use as a highchair at cafés and restaurants. I’m not convinced. A highchair is a highchair. Children sit in highchairs and eat messy food — and highchairs are designed to be cleaned quickly and easily after exactly that. Doing the same thing in a pushchair — even a well-made, elevated one — is the harder version of the job. A café highchair is purpose-built for the purpose. The Xplory X isn’t, and the cleaning comparison doesn’t favour the pushchair.
Some parents will disagree, and if the convenience of not transferring your child appeals to you, that’s a legitimate personal preference. But I’d encourage you to treat the highchair claim as a bonus rather than a selling point — and not to let it influence your buying decision one way or the other.
The weight — you’ll notice every kilogram
At 11.3kg the Xplory X is a substantial pushchair. You stop noticing weight in a showroom — you notice it when you’re lifting it into a car boot, carrying it up steps, or managing it solo on a difficult surface. This isn’t a pushchair you’ll throw into a small hatchback without thinking. It’s a city pushchair that rewards parents who walk rather than drive frequently, have a suitable car, and don’t need to lift it constantly.
The steering, to its credit, is better than the weight implies. It moves with a smooth confidence that reflects the engineering investment — as it should at this price. But the weight is real, and if lifting is any kind of constraint in your daily routine, it’s worth factoring in honestly before you commit.
🚫 Skip the Xplory X if…
- You’re not tall and don’t have C-section recovery needs — the core reason to buy disappears
- Weight is any kind of constraint — 11.3kg is the starting point
- You need compact or travel-friendly — look at the Stokke YOYO³ instead
- The highchair feature is on your shortlist of reasons to buy — a real highchair is a better tool
The price — horses for courses
The Xplory X is expensive. Whether that price is justified depends entirely on whether you’re the buyer it was designed for. For a tall parent who has been uncomfortable pushing every standard pushchair they’ve tried, or for a parent recovering from a C-section who needs to avoid bending — yes, the Xplory X earns its price. The build quality is genuinely premium, the steering is good, and the elevated seat delivers on its core promise.
For a parent who isn’t in that specific profile, the price is harder to justify. There are excellent pushchairs at considerably lower prices that will serve most parents better. The Stokke YOYO³ costs considerably less and is the pushchair I’d recommend to most parents considering Stokke. Horses for courses — the Xplory X is for a specific course.
If you’re wrestling with why Stokke commands this kind of premium in the first place, our full breakdown of why Stokke is so expensive → covers it in detail.
💬 If this were my money…
I’m not the buyer it was designed for — but if I were tall and had been stooping over every pushchair I’d tried, I’d seriously consider the Xplory X. The posture difference alone could be worth the price over months of daily use. If I were recovering from a C-section, same answer. If neither applied to me, I’d look at the Stokke YOYO³ instead and keep the change. The Xplory X is a specialist tool. For the parent it was designed for, it does things no other pushchair does as well. Buy it if what it does is what you need.
How it compares
| If you need… | Consider… |
|---|---|
| Lightweight and cabin-compatible | Stokke YOYO³ — 6.2kg, the pushchair I’d recommend to most parents considering Stokke |
| Premium full-size with all-terrain capability | Bugaboo Fox 5 — the all-terrain benchmark at a comparable price point. Full comparison → |
| Best full-size city pushchair at this price | Mamas & Papas Ocarro 2 — 9/10, the best all-round city pushchair on this site |
| Single that converts to a double for a second child | iCandy Peach 8 — single-to-double, from birth, 8.5/10 |
| Compact fold, lightweight and fast | Bugaboo Butterfly 2 — one-second one-handed fold, 6.6kg |
Key specifications
| Weight | 11.3kg |
| Suitable from | Birth (lie-flat position) to approximately 3.5 years / 15kg |
| Seat height | Elevated — highest available seat position in the Stokke pushchair range |
| Handle height | Adjustable — suited to taller parents |
| Fold | Foldable — not compact; not designed for small car boots or travel |
| Terrain | Urban surfaces — smooth pavements, city streets; not for rough terrain or gravel |
| Cabin-compatible | No |
| Car seat compatible | Yes — with compatible Stokke car seats via adaptors |
| Price | Check current price below — verify against stokke.com |
Also worth reading
- Stokke Xplory X vs YOYO³ — full comparison
- Stokke Xplory X vs Bugaboo Fox 5 — full comparison
- Why is Stokke so expensive? — the full breakdown
- Stokke YOYO³ Review — the pushchair I’d recommend to most parents considering Stokke
- Stokke hub — all Stokke models reviewed
- Mamas & Papas Ocarro 2 Review — the best full-size city pushchair on this site at 9/10
- Bugaboo Fox 5 Review — premium full-size alternative with all-terrain capability
- iCandy Peach 8 Review — premium single-to-double, suitable from birth
- Best Pushchairs for Newborns — the Xplory X is suitable from birth; see how it compares
- Best Pushchairs for Disabled Parents — includes C-section recovery and mobility considerations
- Choosing a Pushchair — Where to Start
- Black Friday Pushchair Deals 2026 — Stokke typically features in November deals; we track prices as they go live
Verdict
The Stokke Xplory X is a genuinely excellent pushchair for a specific buyer — and one you should probably look past if you’re not that buyer. The elevated seat delivers on its core promise: the best eye contact and parent-child connection available in a pushchair, combined with an upright pushing posture that tall parents and those recovering from a C-section will genuinely value. These are real, practical benefits for the parent who needs them.
The honest caveats are equally clear: it’s heavy at 11.3kg, expensive, not compact, and the highchair marketing is overrated. A highchair is a highchair — purpose-built, easier to clean, better suited to the job. The Xplory X is not a replacement.
Bottom line: if you’re tall, recovering from a C-section, or want the best eye contact available in a pushchair and budget isn’t the issue — try the Xplory X in a shop. It may be exactly what you need. If none of those apply, the Stokke YOYO³ is the better starting point — and the pushchair I’d recommend to most parents considering Stokke.
Frequently asked questions
Is the Stokke Xplory X good for tall parents?
Yes — this is its strongest use case. The elevated seat, upright pushing posture and adjustable handle height are specifically designed to eliminate the stoop that standard pushchairs force on taller parents. If you’re tall and have been uncomfortable pushing every pushchair you’ve tried, the Xplory X is worth trying in a shop before you decide.
Is the Stokke Xplory X good for C-section recovery?
Yes — the elevated seat means you don’t need to bend to lift your baby in and out, which matters significantly in the early weeks after a C-section. It’s one of the few pushchairs genuinely designed with this in mind, and the benefit is practical, not marketing.
Can the Stokke Xplory X be used as a highchair?
Stokke markets this as a feature — the elevated seat can be positioned at café table height. In practice, a highchair is a highchair: purpose-built, easy to clean after messy eating, and better suited to the job. The Xplory X’s elevated seat is a genuine benefit for bonding and for C-section recovery — I wouldn’t buy it for the highchair functionality, and I wouldn’t let it sway your decision either way.
How heavy is the Stokke Xplory X?
11.3kg — significantly heavier than the Stokke YOYO³ at 6.2kg. You stop noticing weight in a showroom and start noticing it when you’re lifting it into a car boot every day. Factor this into your routine honestly before committing.
Stokke Xplory X vs Stokke YOYO³ — which should I choose?
They serve completely different purposes. The YOYO³ is 6.2kg, cabin-compatible, and the pushchair I’d recommend to most parents — urban, public transport, flying, Disneyland Paris. The Xplory X is for tall parents and C-section recovery specifically. If you’re not in the Xplory X’s buyer profile, the YOYO³ is the better starting point every time.
📋 See all our Stokke reviews: Stokke Pushchairs — Hub & Reviews →
About the reviewer
Mark founded MyPushchair.co.uk in 2006 after struggling to find honest, straightforward pushchair advice as a new dad. With more than 30 years in the family travel and leisure industry — and after returning to relaunch the UK’s original independent pushchair review site — he continues to test products with one aim: helping parents buy the right pushchair the first time. Janette contributes a female perspective to every hands-on assessment.
Mark Hartshorne · Founder, MyPushchair.co.uk · Read the full story →
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Considering the Xplory X and want a second opinion on whether it fits your situation? Get in touch — happy to help.