REASONS TO BUY
Simplistic design
Easy-to-clean seat and tray
Holds up to 50 pounds
REASONS TO AVOID
No recline option
Hard-to-adjust pneumatic lift
Big base
The Boon Flair high chair has been discontinued.
Boon Flair Review
Love the modern design elements, but some features fail to impress with their lack of functionality
Credit: BabyGearLab Staff
Our Verdict
The Boon Flair Pedestal high chair is a funky, fun way to feed your baby in style. It is a heavy chair but still rolls around the kitchen with ease and is designed to adjust to various heights using a pneumatic lift. As it claims to be, it is effortless to clean, and there are no crevices for food to get caught. However, we found that all the food that didn't land in the chair ended up falling on the large, round base, and you had to wipe it up anyways. It is made of solid materials and will keep baby comfortable sitting upright for meals. At 18 months old, our little tester could not reach the footrest but did enjoy being able to sit at counter-height with siblings who were on stools. Unlike the Peg Perego Siesta, this chair is unable to fold, meaning storage is not an option for this beauty, so be prepared to look at it until your little one reaches 4-years or 50 pounds. Read on to find out more about how this pricey pneumatic-lifting machine landed itself in our roundup of high chairs.
Our Analysis and Test Results
Boon Inc., located in Chandler, Arizona, is a baby design and manufacturing company led by Rebecca Finell and Ryan Fernandez. The company started in 2004 with a desire to improve the baby bathtub and is now committed to producing a wide range of affordable and innovative baby gear. You can purchase their products online or at select retailers worldwide.
Performance Comparison
The Boon Flair Pedestal high chair had lots of different, custom height settings, depending on where you like to feed baby.
Credit: Jessica Stevenson
Ease of Use
At first sight, this chair looks to be a futuristic, simplistic product that appears quite easy to use thanks to its lack of gizmos and gadgets; there aren't any excessive hidden buttons or levers to confuse first-time parents. Only one brightly colored foot button for the height adjustment and a single foot brake adorn the base. This chair accommodates children up to 4-years or 50 pounds. Although the pneumatic lift allows for the freedom of custom height adjustments, it does not have any recline or footrest adjustment options. Our baby tester, at 31" long, could not reach the footrest yet, and other online reviewers note that the footrest is “useless” as most children within the age/weight limit cannot reach it. The chair's pad is quite easy to clean but does not offer much in the way of comfort.
Ease of Cleaning
Although it is easy enough to wipe down, the Flair performed only slightly above average compared to other chairs we tested. First, we do not like having to clean the large, round base of this chair. This flat surface tends to catch drips, crumbs, and spills that the small tray might miss. Additionally, because the brake and pneumatic lift are both foot-operated, it tends to collect footprints and dirt from daily use. Our second gripe with the seat is the five-point harness. Luckily it is removable and easy enough to wash in the sink, but the buckle is like a food magnet and collects crumbs every single meal. We appreciate that the harness is easy to remove for cleaning, but it is not realistic to have to do this after every meal.
Quality
The shiny finishes and futuristic design of the Flair certainly help it live up to its name. However, while the chair has nice materials and finishes, the pneumatic lift was troublesome from the very beginning, putting a big damper on quality. Once you assemble the chair, it can be challenging to work the pneumatic lift, almost to the point where it seems impossible. After contacting customer service, the company willingly sent out a new chair. However, much to our disappointment, the new product had the same issue with the lift.
The 5-point restraint system and super sturdy crotch restraint built right into the Boon chair.
Credit: Jessica Stevenson
Upon talking to a very accommodating customer service agent, we were able to determine that the problem was due to the oil settling in the wrong place during storage and shipment, which is not that uncommon of a problem. Instead of shipping out a third chair, they tested a new cylinder at the company to make sure it worked and shipped us just that replacement part. After about 5 minutes, we were able to replace the piece, and the chair worked as promised. Two thumbs up for courteous and quick customer service, but a big thumbs down for even having to deal with this process in the first place, especially with a hungry toddler waiting in the wings!
The tray is another point of concern. Other users mention their concerns about the sturdiness of the tray, and we can understand why. There is no track for it to enter into, only two small cutouts on either side of the chair where the tray attaches. We feel that it would be easy for a fussy toddler to upset the tray on accident.
Ease of Set Up
Set up time is average when compared to the other chairs we tested. It takes about 8 minutes to put together, with the most cumbersome part of it all being the number of screws required and having to follow just average instructions. Replacing the cylinder that Boon shipped out to us took about an additional five minutes to install.
The underside of the Boon base.
Credit: Jessica Stevenson
Footprint and Portability
The Flair features six urethane casters (wheels) on its 543 square inch base, which is a size and feature none of our other chairs could match. There is a single foot brake that controls all six castors at once, although there is still some wiggle even when you set the brakes. We don't like that there is no way to tell if the brake is set once applied. The only way to know for sure is to test it out by trying to push the chair around. This chair is also one of the least portables in the review. At nearly 29 lbs, it is cumbersome, and not able to fold for storage, and so will be a semi-permanent fixture in your kitchen through the toddler years.
Manufacturer Video
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Juliet Spurrier, MD and Lindsay Selig
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