The Best Umbrella Stroller of 2025

The lightweight yet sturdy Summer 3Dlite Convenience Stroller offers the best combination of features and affordability that we’ve seen in an umbrella stroller. It folds easily, it collapses to the smallest package of the strollers we tested, and, at only 13 pounds, it’s comfortable to carry by its shoulder strap. Its recline function is the simplest of those on the strollers we tested, and the shoulder and waist straps of the harness stay clicked together, so buckling in a wiggling toddler is easier and quicker than in comparably priced strollers.

The 3Dlite has been our top umbrella stroller pick for over six years, and it has also been a favorite of Wirecutter editors as an “extra stroller for Grandma’s house.”

It offers a convenient fold. The 3Dlite is the only stroller we tested that allows folding with either hands or feet, a convenience that makes it easier to fold in a variety of situations. To fold it, you either pull up (by hand) or push up (by foot) a handle on the back of the stroller and then push down on a lever on the right side. Once you push the handles forward, the entire thing collapses on itself. In our tests, folding or unfolding the stroller took just five seconds. Katie Quinn, Wirecutter’s audience development manager for social video, has used the 3Dlite as her 2-year-old’s primary stroller for more than a year, and she loves it for getting up and down the narrow staircase in her apartment building with a toddler and dog in tow.

The harness and buckle are relatively simple to use. Because the shoulder straps clip to the waist straps, you have to connect only three pieces, rather than five, to buckle a child in. As a child grows, you need to unclasp the shoulder straps to adjust the height, which you can do by feeding the straps through horizontal bands sewn into the seat back. Though you can’t accomplish this task with the child in the stroller, it is the easiest height adjustment of any umbrella stroller we tested.

The seat is easy to recline and incline. To recline the seat, first you use both hands to push down two levers on the bottom of the frame by the storage basket, after which you can adjust the seat to any of four reclined options. To incline, simply push the seat back up, and it clicks into place.

It has easy-to-engage brake pedals. The 3Dlite has two brake pedals, one for each rear wheel; be sure to push both to fully lock the stroller. In my testing, I found them easy to use — push down to lock, push up to unlock — and reliable, though they were slightly difficult to use with bare feet or open-toed shoes since unlocking requires you to use the top of your foot. But this is the type of braking system that all umbrella strollers except the most expensive models have.

It provides ample storage. The underseat basket, which holds up to 10 pounds — the same as Uppababy’s G-Luxe, which is twice the price of the 3Dlite — is easy to access from the back and side, and it can hold all the necessities for a day out. The stroller also has a seat-back pocket, secured with Velcro, that is convenient for small items such as a phone or a wallet.

The stroller comes with a cup holder that is useful for a bottle of water or sippy cup but swings too much to entrust with a hot cup of coffee.

Though the manual recommends against hanging a bag off the back, the separate handlebars make it tempting. We found that a 16-pound sandbag could balance on one handle when a 20-pound sandbag was in the toddler seat, and that a 4.5-pound purse could hang off one handle when the seat was empty.

Summer covers its strollers with a 90-day limited warranty. The company advises spot-cleaning the fabric; the storage basket is removable for deep cleaning if necessary. In our cleaning tests, both jam and milk came out of the fabric when I used only baby wipes. Our long-term tester said that despite regular use and several long trips, the stroller “has hardly shown any signs of wear and tear” and that it’s been easy to clean.

Flaws but not dealbreakers

The handles are a bit uncomfortable. Unlike with the other umbrella strollers we tested, the handles on the 3Dlite are pointed forward rather than angled in, which can wear on your wrists after you’ve pushed for a long period.

The canopy is not the best. The canopy is smaller than that on the Uppababy G-Luxe, lacks a peekaboo window, must be locked open with a lever, and is not UPF-rated. This was our long-term tester’s biggest issue with the stroller. “When it’s a really bright and sunny day, the canopy portion of the stroller is pretty measly and hardly does anything!”

It can’t stand on its own. The 3Dlite doesn’t stay upright on its own when folded. While many umbrella strollers can’t stand independently, it’s helpful that some, such as the Uppababy G-Luxe, can.

The recline is not toddler-proof. Because the seat on the 3Dlite needs only to be pushed up to incline, nap-resistant toddlers can simply grab the sides of the stroller frame and pull themselves into a seated position. This is the case with all of the umbrella strollers that we tested, however.

The leg rest is fixed. The 3Dlite also lacks an adjustable leg rest, although in my testing, I found that the adjustable leg rests on other umbrella strollers were too small to make much of a difference in comfort and too fiddly to bother using most of the time.

Specs

Weight: 13 pounds
Frame dimensions: 18 by 34 inches (WL)
Folded size: 18 by 40 by 12 inches (WLH)
Child weight, height limit: 50 pounds, 43 inches
Storage basket weight limit: 10 pounds
Wheel diameter: 6 inches
Included accessories: cup holder