Best Travel Stroller: Babyzen Yoyo vs Joolz Aer vs Butterfly

After owning and testing pretty much every single travel stroller available, the most common question I get from people is obviously: What’s the best travel stroller?

The top three travel strollers that are the trendiest are Babyzen Yoyo, Bugaboo Butterfly, and Joolz Aer. All three of them are luxury travel strollers and surely cost more than an average stroller.

I think that if someone will tell you that a particular model is the best travel stroller out there, it simply means that they most likely only used one or two of them. Simply because there’s no one-fits-all travel stroller and functions depend on your and your baby needs.

Babyzen Yoyo vs Bugaboo Butterfly vs Joolz Aer

These are the most similarities among the three of these best travel strollers. As you can easily see, all three of them are fairly similar when it comes to specs.

Now, ask yourself what are the most important features in a stroller that you and your child need.

For some people, the ability to fit the stroller in the overhead bin will be a priority, while for other the function of fully reclining the seat will matter more.

Fitting in Overhead Bin

When it comes to specs the most important thing is that Joolz Aer, while officially approved for usage in-cabin, it’s an inch bigger than Yoyo and Butterfly and might not always fit.

I’ve actually had one instance when my Joolz Aer didn’t fit in the overhead bin and had to be gate checked. I was also stopped by the Emirates crew at LAX, who asked me to remove my sleeping baby from my Joolz Aer as they decided to measure the folded stroller before letting me even take it to the gate. This situation doesn’t happen with Babyzen Yoyo, simply because everyone knows Yoyo.

Folding

All three strollers fold relatively easy. Joolz Aer and Bugaboo Butterfly can be folded one handed.

Babyzen Yoyo can technically be folded one handed during the second step only, while the first step requires two hands to press the buttons on the side of the canopy to fold that down, then a button on the bottom of the seat collapses. That said, you can still fold it one handed while holding the baby, as you don’t need to remove the baby for the first folding step.

You don’t need to put a baby somewhere when folding the stroller. If someone claims they do when folding the Yoyo, they don’t know how to use it properly. I explained the fold in a video here.

Some say the fold it’s the biggest con of Yoyo stroller, but I find this function to be the best Babyzen Yoyo hack. Especially in crowded places like restaurants or public trams, I could fold the top of the stroller only to save space. Lack of high chair? No problem, baby can sit by the table in their stroller with the top folded, so not blocking anyone’s space.

Unfolding

Now, the unfolding also matters and it’s often overlooked. I tested multiple strollers that folded amazingly but unfolded in a million steps and some even required kicking into place which wasn’t right.

The easiest unfolding is offered by Babyzen Yoyo which simply unfolds like a charm in a split second, without any extra kicking or banging. You can do it easily with one hand when holding a baby and bags.

Joolz Aer also unfolds easily, but sometimes you need to give it a little push. It’s still a true one hand unfold, just like Yoyo stroller.

Bugaboo Butterfly never really unfolded easily for me. It needed kicking and pushing into place.

Best Seat Comfort

It’s undeniable that Joolz Aer and Bugaboo Butterfly both have a fantastic canopy with a mesh panel, while Yoyo’s canopy is small and lacking.

Joolz and Butterfly also have undeniably higher seatback, but in terms of a child fitting into the stroller, a child can fit in all 3 for the same length of time as the space between the seat bottom and the canopy is the same.

All three strollers offered hardened seats making it equally comfortable for the child.

Recline is similar, however Joolz Aer has the most annoying recline function that forces unzipping the back panel and adjusting straps, then having to stuff them perfectly before zipping to put the seat back to upright position.

Maneuverability & Longevity

None of these travel strollers will conquer off-roading like any full-size stroller with giant wheels, but I had the opportunity to test both Joolz and Yoyo on gravel, small paths, and cobblestones and they handle it just fine.

Bugaboo Butterfly wheels behaved fine, but the frame was chirping paint making the stroller less attractively looking than the competitors.

When it comes to tipping, turning, and overall maneuverability it was a tough call, as all three strollers drive just fine. However, Babyzen Yoyo2 was the only stroller that allowed us to peacefully hang a diaper bag or purse from the handlebar as it was rounded.

There was no fear of the stroller tipping over, as normally you can even hang another Yoyo Connect stroller from the bar.

 Joolz Aer has a flat enough handlebar that it’s possible to hang a backpack from the back, but the stroller instantly tipped backward. The same issue I experienced with Butterfly.

Newborn Compatibility

All three of these best travel strollers offer a travel system, which means that a car seat can be clipped into the stroller using the adapters.

However, clipping a car seat onto a stroller is a very American thing as people go in and out of the car. Anywhere else in the world, infants under 6 months will be placed in a bassinet that allows them to lie flat – the best position for developing a spine.

Joolz Aer offers a bassinet as an accessory and as a result, it can be used as a full-time stroller from birth, as you can be assured that your precious newborn is safe.

Keep in mind that while the bassinet is foldable with the stroller, it will be too big to fit in the overhead bin of the airplane.

Note: If you purchase Joolz Aer in Europe, the stroller will offer full recline (it’s not allowed in the US due to regulations), making it newborn-compatible even without the bassinet.

Yoyo travel stroller offers two options for infants: bassinet and newborn insert. They’re very different options depending on your needs.

The newborn insert is a smaller option offering flat recline. It can be folded with the stroller and still be within overhead bin requirements.

The bassinet for Babyzen Yoyo stroller offers slightly more space and detaches from the stroller before the frame can fold.

Bugaboo Butterfly doesn’t offer any other lie-flat options for newborns, making it the worst contender in this category.

Sibling Compatibility

You might not be planning for another baby yet, but if you do all three strollers offer a buggy board (also known as ride-on board) for older siblings. All three models have a detachable seat on it.

The ride on board was our go-to items for traveling around Europe, so I tested it on all models and while similar, you had to go over the child to push a brake on the Butterfly, which made it the lowest rating board in my opinion.

What’s the Best Travel Stroller (In My Experience)

Babyzen Yoyo was one of only two models of lightweight strollers when my first child was born (along with GB Pockit which we tried and realized it’s way too basic to serve us on longer days out).

While not ideal, for me, the crucial part was the ability to take it on the plane, use it as a seat at restaurants, and fold it quickly regardless of whether a footmuff was attached. It’s safe to say that we got used to it and thought it was the best travel stroller for us.

When Joolz Aer came out and I got my hands on it, I began feeling that it’s superior to Yoyo due to its higher seatback, slicker look, and a bigger canopy. I used it for a few months and firmly believed that this is going to be my favorite travel stroller. Until it wasn’t…

I couldn’t deal with “is it going to be accepted on board or not?” various times due to the extra 1 inch size and having to introduce the gate agents to assure them that it will fit in bigger bins. It just felt like an extra hassle when we couldn’t just fold the top part of the seat to save space when a child fell asleep and we wanted to squeeze into a restaurant in Paris.

In the end, my older son was annoyed by the higher seatback and couldn’t just go in and out of the stroller, under the bumper bar, as easily as he was doing it on Babyzen as there was less space. I also missed the ability to just undo the velcro and throw seat covers in the wash.

When Bugaboo Butterfly came out I was excited to try it, but unfortunately, I didn’t find it very nice as my son’s dirty shoes kept getting into the basket, my younger’s son legs were getting stuck in the weirdly cut-out footrest, and the frame instantly scratches and the fabric peeled.

No matter how many best travel strollers we tried, we always returned to Babyzen Yoyo as despite its flaws was the most wholesome one on the market. That said to me, my favorite and best travel stroller is Babyzen Yoyo.