Romer Juni Infant Car Seat: Hands-on Review

Romer hit a home run with their beautiful new Juni car seat!

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  By: Tali Ditye, Ph.D., Co-founder

  Updated: July 28, 2024

Mommyhood101 independently tests and curates baby gear to help you make informed decisions. If you buy products through links on our site, we may earn a commission.

One of the newest infant car seats to hit the market, the new Romer Juni is making a splash!

If you've never heard of Romer, it is a boutique brand of world-famous Britax Child Safety, and Britax knows a thing or two about car seats.

Let's see how their new Romer Juni performs!

Romer Juni Review & Analysis

Full disclosure, Romer donated the Juni for testing. Thanks, Romer!

To review the new Juni car seat, we put it through our full testing process. This includes unboxing, feature testing, specification tests and measurements, installation, and a baby test.

Could the Romer Juni get a spot on our list of the best infant car seats? Let's find out!

Overall Rating

Overall, we give the Romer Juni infant car seat a 4.8 out of 5, which puts it slightly ahead of the very similar Britax Cypress (see our review here).

Keep reading to see how we reached this conclusion!

Romer Juni Car Seat

Take-home Message

Most people don't want to read this entire article to see what we found. So here is the summary of what we loved, and what we didn't.

✔️  High quality fabrics.
✔️  Soft cushioning.
✔️  No FR chemicals.
✔️  SecureLoc tensioner.
✔️  Easy installation.
✔️  Rigid LATCH.
✔️  Baseless install.
✔️  One-hand handle adjustment.
✔️  Adjustable recline.
✔️  Large 50+ UPF canopy.
✔️  Anti-rebound bar.
✔️  Load leg.
✔️  Cellular crumple zone.
✔️  Infant positioning pillows.
✔️  Large peek-a-boo window.
✔️  Large privacy screen.
✔️  Side impact tested.
✔️  4 harness slots.
✔️  3 buckle slots.
✔️  Adjustable width.
✔️  Machine washable cover.
❌  Rethread harness.
❌  Expensive.
❌  Made in China.

Overall, the Romer Juni has a lot to love, especially for parents looking for the reputation and peace of mind offered by a Britax product.

Some thoughts on the minor drawbacks:

First, the Romer Juni doesn't have a no-rethread harness. Instead, it has four harness height slots. While we love a no-rethread harness, it also makes for a heavy car seat.

Second, the Romer Juni is a bit bulky and expensive, coming in at about $430. However, with the added safety of an anti-rebound bar and load leg, rigid LATCH, the huge canopy and beautiful privacy screen,  and the very high-quality materials, we think it's worth the splurge! 

Finally, like most of its competition, the Romer Juni is made in China.

About Romer and Britax

According to our research, Romer is a boutique luxury baby gear brand that is located in Fort Mill, South Carolina (USA), right next to the Britax headquarters.

You might not be surprised to learn that Romer is owned and operated by Britax Child Safety, Inc.

Relative to Britax, Romer products have added luxury, style, and quality materials. 

They are also more expensive.

Unboxing the Romer Juni

The car seat arrives in a large rectangular box that weighs about 25 pounds.

In the box, you will find the car seat, the Versa base, a load leg, an instruction manual, and a warranty registration card.

Like a luxury handbag, the car seat and base are hidden in a nice protective fabric bag.

The car seat is nicely packaged, including the fabric bag and some foam padding to protect the handlebar and prevent scratches on the base.

When pulling the Juni out of the bag we were first struck by its quality.

It not only looks beautiful, but the fabrics are soft, the padding is luxurious and comfortable, and all of the components (handlebar, canopy, buckles, fabrics, plastics, hardware) are high quality. 

Looking great, and we're off to a good start!

Features of the Romer Juni

The Romer Juni packs a ton of great features. These include versatility, safety, and convenience features that we love to see in a car seat.

Starting with comfort, the Juni includes two infant positioning pillows.

Here is a photo of them installed:

The owner's manual says the pillows are optional. However, if you choose to use them, they can be used for a child who weighs from 4-30 pounds.

It also includes soft comfort pads on the shoulder straps, and a plush belly pad cushion to keep chubby thighs comfortable.

The canopy is very large and includes an extension flap to make it about 4-5" longer.

It's also 50+ UPF against the sun. 

Another amazing feature is the privacy screen (called the SereneScreen) that unzips from the canopy and extends to cover the entire baby.

Just unzip the canopy and pull it out, stretching it over the entire seat, and attaching it to the front sides of the seat with magnets. It's a great idea for both privacy and protection from mild weather (light rain, sun).

All these features make for an extremely comfortable place for your baby!

There are also several safety features worth mentioning.

First, the Juni uses IsoEnergy technology to absorb impact during an accident (which appears to be a variation of the Britax SafeCell technology). 

Small crumple zones on the bottom of the car seat shell serve to absorb impact:

Second, the Juni has an integrated anti-rebound bar in the base.

It has a beautiful leatherette trim, but more importantly the bar helps reduce rotational (pitch) movement of the seat in the event of a crash:

Third, the Romer Juni includes a load leg for added safety.

A load leg on an infant car seat improves stability, reduces rotational movement, decreases impact forces on the child, and enhances overall safety during travel.

Here is what it looks like when installed in a vehicle (see the red arrow):

In the base, there is also a strong steel support bar extending from the base to the load leg, which also helps minimize movement in the event of an accident.

Because the Romer Juni car seat has both an anti-rebound bar and load leg, Romer says you can have the carry handle locked in any of its three positions while driving.

There are many additional features that we loved, including:

• One-handed adjustable carry handle with three positions.
• A huge peek-a-boo window.
• Removable and machine washable cover.

The first half of this video shows the top 10 features we love about the Romer Juni:

There's a lot to love with the Juni!

Romer Juni Specifications

Before we move on, we also want to point out some basic specifications.

We busted out our ruler and scale, and here's what we found.

The car seat itself (without the base) weighs exactly 11 pounds when the infant pillows are installed.

The base itself (named the Versa base) weighs about 13.4 pounds (without the load leg attached):

Together, the car seat and base weigh nearly 25 pounds.

The Juni expires 6 years after its manufacture date, and has a one-year warranty.

A great sticker to find if you're a jet-setting family, the Juni is also FAA-approved for use in aircraft:

Here are the full specifications, according to our measurements:

• Weight range: 4-30 pounds.
• Height limit: under 32" tall.
• Seat weight with cover and infant pillows: 11 pounds (Romer says 9.3 pounds).
• Base weight with anti-rebound bar, without load leg: 13.4 pounds.
• Seat width: 17" (Romer says 16.9").
• Seat height: 24" (with handlebar upright).
• Seating area depth: 11" (Romer says 12").
• Seating area width: 9" (Romer says 9.5").
• Seating area height: 20.5" (Romer says 21").
• Shoulder width: 10"
• Head width: 8"
• Harness slot heights: 5.5", 7.5", 9.5", 11.5"
• Lower buckle depths: 2.25", 4", 5.5"

We noticed some minor discrepancies between the claimed weight and dimensions from Romer, versus what we measured.

It could be the case that Romer weighs and measures the seat with the cover and infant pillows removed, which would make it lighter weight and larger dimensions. In reality, you would be using the seat with these installed, so we think our measurements might be more accurate for daily use.

Installing the Romer Juni

One of the most critical safety features of any car seat is the ease of installation.

Five primary features make the Juni a breeze to install properly:

1. The amazing SecureLoc (like ClickTight) system.
2. The rigid and quick-release LATCH attachments.
3. The four-position recline.
4. The recline level indicators.
5. The intuitive diagrams.
6. European belt routing path.

A properly installed car seat is a safe car seat.

For versatility, there are six installation methods:

1. Using the vehicle's seat belt (lap and shoulder) and the SecureLoc system.
2. Using the vehicle's seat belt (lap belt only) and the SecureLoc system.
3. Using the vehicle's anchors and the rigid LATCH lower connectors.
4. Using the vehicle's seat belt (lap and shoulder), no base, and the European belt path.
5. Using the vehicle's seat belt (lap belt only), no base, and the baseless belt guides.
6. Using the vehicle's seat belt (lap and shoulder), no base, and the baseless belt guides.

All six methods are a breeze, and we loved how the lower connectors get easily stored away in the base when they're not being used.

Here is the base in our vehicle, before we secured it with LATCH (and then with seat belts). This installation is in an Acura MDX.

The second half of the below is a video shows two types of installation - first with the rigid LATCH system, and second with the vehicle's lap and shoulder belt.

Here is our little test baby, sitting in the installed car seat.

Snug as a bug in a rug!

Another view:

Romer Juni vs Britax Cypress

You may have noticed, especially if you've seen our Britax Cypress review, that the Juni is very similar to the Cypress.

Here are the primary differences we spotted between the two car seats:

1. The Juni uses Romer's exclusive Seawool fabric, which is a sustainable material made partly from recycled oyster shells. It's softer than the fabric used on the Cypress.
2. The Juni includes both an anti-rebound bar and a load leg for premium safety, whereas the Cypress does not have a load leg.
3. The Juni has three crotch buckle depths for superior versatility, whereas the Cypress only has two.
4. The Juni uses rigid LATCH connectors for easier installation, whereas the Cypress uses harness-based connectors.
5. The Juni has a SereneScreen privacy shield, the Cypress does not.
6. The Juni has magnetic harness storage to help keep the harness out of the way when your child is not in the seat, the Cypress does not.
7. The Juni comes in a fabric bag, whereas the Cypress comes in a plastic bag.
8. The Cypress has multiple infant positioning pillows, whereas the Cypress only has two.

Overall, the Juni has several more comfort, convenience, safety, and luxury features in comparison to the Britax Cypress.

Some Minor Cons

We only encountered a few minor cons.

First, we do prefer a no-rethread harness, but we'll give Romer a pass on this one. No-rethread harnesses do make the seat heavier, and we generally prefer lighter infant car seats.

Second, the car seat is a bit bulky and expensive. Some of the bulk and weight is due to the increased safety features, which we think is a worthy trade-off. For cost, it's one of the most expensive seats we've tested. Given the premium materials and luxury, we think it's worth the splurge!

Finally, the Juni car seat is made in China, for better or worse. For better, it has a lower price point than if it were made in Europe, USA, or Canada. For worse, sometimes quality control can be questionable. We do trust, however, that Romer monitors quality control very closely with their manufacturers.

Conclusions

In conclusion, the Romer Juni car seat excels with its high-quality materials, advanced safety features, and luxurious design.

We think the Juni is a very compelling new contender among the most premium infant car seats on the market, justifying its relatively high price

Its combination of comfort, ease of installation, and superior safety features such as the load leg and anti-rebound bar, make it an excellent choice for discerning parents seeking the absolute best for their infants.

Reaffirming Britax's reputation for producing reliable and secure child safety products, we are very excited to see what else Romer will offer!

Prices and Where to Buy

Coming in at about $430, you can purchase the new Romer Juni car seat at select retailers.

Click the below image to check the current prices.