Beco Gemini Review

Beco was started in 2005 by Gabby Caperon. Gabby built a base of admirers thanks to her carrier designs that modern parents feel are functional and stylish. Beco makes four different kinds of soft structured carriers.

Performance Comparison

Baby's Comfort

The Beco isn't the most comfortable option for a baby. Earning one of the lowest scores for baby comfort in the group. Child seat adjustment happens by changing the parent straps so it is limited in how much adjustment you can do to increase comfort or change positions. This change also impacts the headrest position making it hard to fit larger children in the seat. Our older test passengers verbally said being in the Gemini hurt, which is easy to believe given how tight it feels in the carrier.

The seat width is adjustable based on the carry position and somewhat on your baby's size. Adjustments need to happen before you put your baby in the carry, so if you get it wrong, you'll likely need to start over.

Parent's Comfort

The Beco is comfortable enough compared to the competition. Its parent comfort score is just above the average with nicely padded shoulder straps and waistbelt. However, the shoulder strap padding stops short of being useful for larger wears (most dads) so you still end up with a simple strap supporting baby's weight in some positions. Some testers also felt it has a more restrictive feel than other soft structured carriers, and the feeling increased as the size of the passengers did.

Ease of Use

The Beco is harder to use than the similar competition. The Beco is relatively intuitive, but you will probably need the manual for the seat width adjustment. The manual is okay but has a lot of pictures that interestingly take away from understanding how to use it. Putting it on is okay, but there are easier soft structured carriers to put on, adjust and put a baby into like the BabyBjorn One. However, in fairness, the sling carriers are by far simpler and, therefore, much easier to use than the soft structure style.

The Beco has a waistband pocket with Velcro closure (above left). It isn't a very big pocket, but it will hold some smartphones and possibly your keys. The buckles have a safety feature mechanism (above right) that will take some getting used to and may require two hands until you do. They aren't necessarily hard to use, but there is a learning curve.

Ease of Cleaning

The Beco isn't the easiest to keep clean. Four is the lowest score in the group. While the Gemini is machine washable, you can only use cold water, and you'll need to hang it to dry. This drying method could take more time than you have before your next adventure, leaving you without a carrier. Worse than the hang drying, however, is the poor spot cleaning capabilities. If you need to do a quick cleanup on the go, it can be harder to get the material clean, and the spot will take longer to dry.

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