When it comes to lightweight travel strollers, they don’t get much more uppa-end than the UPPAbaby MINU. The V3 didn’t change that formula, but it did make it better. Here’s our full UPPAbaby MINU V3 review — what changed, how it performed, and who it’s actually for.
New harness. Built-in infant insert that works from day one. Tweaked frame. Same all-wheel suspension that makes rough sidewalks feel like something they aren’t. Same leather-wrapped handlebar that makes you feel like you’re pushing something from a design showroom rather than a device that regularly gets covered in Cheerio dust and mystery substances.
The MINU V3 is our premium pick in the best travel stroller category — and we tested ten of them. If you’re deciding between the MINU V3 and something else, start with our full best travel strollers comparison. This review goes deeper on what the MINU V3 actually is, what changed in V3, and who it makes sense for.
We tested 10 travel strollers head-to-head across 6 airports and 7 months of real use. The UPPAbaby MINU V3 is our premium pick.
The UPPAbaby MINU V3 ($499.99, 16.7 lbs) earns its price tag in the details: all-wheel independent rear suspension, a 20-lb basket (best in our test), and materials that feel genuinely premium — vegan leather handlebar, plush fabric, solid frame. The V3 update added a redesigned harness buckle, a built-in padded infant insert for newborn use from day one, and tweaked frame geometry. Weight limit is 50 lbs; it’s IATA carry-on compatible. It’s not the lightest option — the Joolz Aer 2 at 14.3 lbs wins on portability — but for long days on the ground, cobblestone streets, or anywhere the terrain gets rough, nothing in this test comes close to the MINU V3’s ride quality. 2025 Everyday Health / What to Expect Mom Must-Have Award winner.
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I tested this stroller with my toddler Hank across 6 airports, car trips, zoo trips, and more over 7 months.
Here’s what’s in this review:
- 📋 Specs at a glance
- 🆕 What’s new in the V3
- 🛞 Ride quality & build
- 💺 Comfort & usability
- 🎒 Fold & portability
- ⚠️ Drawbacks
- ⚖️ How it compares to the Colugo Compact+
- 🛒 Accessories
- ✅ Verdict
- ❓ FAQs
The MINU V3 is one of our top picks in the best travel strollers of 2026 — see how it stacks up against everything else we tested.
Specs at a glance
| Spec | Details |
|---|---|
| Price | $499.99 |
| Weight | 16.7 lbs |
| Age range | From birth |
| Weight limit | 50 lbs |
| Height limit | 40″ |
| Basket capacity | 20 lbs |
| Fold | One-handed |
| Fold score (our test) | 8/10 |
| Ride quality score | 9/10 |
| Storage score | 9/10 |
| Car seat compatible | Yes (adapters sold separately) |
| IATA carry-on compatible | Yes |
| Warranty | 3 years |
| Colorways | 6 colors available, see uppababy.com |
What’s new in the MINU V3
The V2 was a good stroller. The V3 fixed three things:
New harness buckle. The old five-point system was the kind of buckle that required both hands and a level of patience you don’t have at the gate. The V3 buckle clicks shut cleanly. One motion.
Padded integrated infant insert. Newborn mode is now built in — no separate accessory needed. The padded insert keeps smaller babies snug in the seat from day one. (Car seat adapter compatibility is still available if you prefer that route; more on that in the accessories section.)
Frame geometry update. Recline further. Your toddler’s nap schedule you’re interrupting will thank you.
Ride quality and build
All-wheel suspension with independent rear suspension. On smooth pavement you don’t notice it — pavement is pavement. But hit a cracked sidewalk, a cobblestone block, a gravel path, or the general chaos of a city street that hasn’t been repaved since the Clinton administration, and the difference is real. The shocks absorb bumps cleanly and quietly. It glides.
When I was out with Hank at the park, pushing him across grass and gravel and whatever that path situation was, the MINU just handled it. Smooth. Nothing to fight.
Pick it up and it feels solid — not heavy for the sake of it, but overbuilt in the way that makes you feel confident checking it at the gate. The frame is tight. Nothing rattles. Cheaper strollers feel like they’re doing you a favor by staying together; this one just feels like a piece of equipment.
And then there’s the handlebar. Vegan leather wrap. It feels expensive. It looks expensive. Pushing the MINU V3 through a crowded airport, you feel like you’re one of those cool parents that has their sh*t together. That might sound frivolous until you’ve spent three hours in an airport with a tired toddler and you’ll take every small win you can get.
Comfort and usability
The seat is deeper than most in this category. Hank is in the 90th percentile for height and he sits comfortably. If you’ve got a tall three-year-old who ends up looking squeezed in travel strollers, that’s your answer.
The recline is the best in our test. One-pull strap: pull it, the seat goes back. No zippers to unzip, no secondary clips to release. If your kid falls asleep and you’re trying to lay them back without waking them up, the MINU V3 is the stroller that actually lets you do that.
The basket holds 20 lbs — the highest score we gave in our test. Full diaper bag, extra jacket, snacks, water bottles. It all fits, and it’s accessible from the back. You’re not digging under the seat or unlatching anything.
Canopy: zip-out, extendable, UPF 50+, peek-a-boo window. It does the job.
Fold and portability
The MINU V3 folds one-handed and stands upright when folded. That second part matters more than it sounds — at the jet bridge, a stroller that stands on its own is one less thing to manage while you’re handing over boarding passes and keeping a toddler from running toward the plane door.
It’s IATA compatible, so it fits international airline overhead bins — domestic too. Gate-checking is free on most airlines: fold at the jet bridge, hand it off, it’s back at the jet bridge when you land.
It’s not the fastest fold in this test. The Joolz Aer 2 gets a 10/10 — it collapses in under two seconds, one-handed, every time, and it’s the stroller I grab when the trip is mostly airport. The MINU earns an 8/10. Smooth and reliable, just not magic.
At 16.7 lbs, it’s heavier than the Joolz (14.3 lbs) and a lot heavier than the MamaZing Ultra Air X (9.9 lbs). You feel those extra pounds hauling through a long terminal. That’s the trade-off: the MINU is built for the ground game, not the gate sprint.
Drawbacks
Not everything is perfect:
It’s heavy for a travel stroller. 16.7 lbs. The Joolz Aer 2 is 14.3 lbs. That gap shows up every time you’re carrying it through security with a kid on your hip.
The travel bag costs extra — and it’s awkward. $99.99, sold separately. It doesn’t fit in the stroller’s basket when folded, which means if you want to gate-check with the bag, you’re carrying an additional bag through the terminal. UPPAbaby clearly designed this stroller with the expectation that you’d check it, not carry it on. If most of your travel is gate-check anyway, this is fine. If you were planning to carry on, plan around it.
No cupholder in the box. $39.99 add-on on a $499 stroller. It stings a little.
Forward-facing only, single-occupancy. Relevant for some situations, not most.
UPPAbaby MINU V3 vs Colugo Compact+
We did a full head-to-head between the Colugo Compact+ and the MINU V3 over on YouTube. The short version: the Colugo Compact+ ($299) gets you about 85% of the MINU V3 experience at 60% of the price. That last 15% is the suspension, the bigger basket, the deeper seat, the leather handlebar, and the overall feel of pushing something premium.
Where the Colugo wins: it actually folds faster. The one-handed auto-fold on the Compact+ is quicker than the MINU’s, and the Colugo comes with a carry bag, rain cover, and cup holder included — all of which cost extra on the MINU.
Where the MINU wins and it’s not particularly close: ride quality. The MINU has all-wheel suspension. The Colugo doesn’t. On rough terrain — park paths, cobblestones, gravel, anything outside smooth pavement — you feel that difference. The MINU also wins on basket capacity (20 lbs vs. 10 lbs) and seat depth, which matters if you have a taller toddler.
The question is whether that gap is worth $200. If you travel frequently and spend long days on the ground: yes. If you need occasional coverage and want to keep it under $300: the Colugo Compact+ is a strong pick.
Accessories
The MINU V3 has a full accessory lineup:
- Car seat adapters: $39.99 (Mesa and Aria) or $69.99 (Maxi-Cosi, Nuna, Cybex, and Clek)
- Travel bag: $99.99
- Cup holder: $39.99
- Snack tray (V3-specific): $59.99
- PiggyBack board: $99.99 — for families with a second kid who needs a ride
- Carry-All parent organizer: $49.99
The car seat adapters are the key add-on if you’re using this from birth with an infant seat. The built-in padded insert handles smaller newborns; the adapter handles the first several months when your baby is still in a bucket seat. Adapter compatibility varies by car seat brand, so check UPPAbaby’s compatibility chart against your specific seat before purchasing.
One thing UPPAbaby doesn’t sell: a bag for you. The basket handles the stroller-side storage well, but you’ll still want something on your body for boarding passes, snacks, and the seventeen other things a toddler needs at any given moment. We built the Fathercraft Sling for exactly this — quick-release buckle, separate parent pocket, removable changing pad, compact enough to actually wear through an airport. When the basket is doing the heavy lifting, you want something light and fast on you.
Verdict
The UPPAbaby MINU V3 is the travel stroller for parents who want the best ride and don’t care about being the lightest thing at the gate.
The suspension, the storage, the materials, the seat — nothing feels like an afterthought. It’s the one I reach for when we’re spending a full day somewhere, not just moving through an airport. The zoo. A city. Anywhere with actual terrain and a full schedule.
If most of your travel is planes and jet bridges and you want the fastest fold: Joolz Aer 2. If you want the best ride for everything that happens after you land: MINU V3.
Also available at Pottery Barn Kids and authorized UPPAbaby retailers.
UPPAbaby MINU V3 FAQs
Is the UPPAbaby MINU V3 worth it?
If you travel frequently and spend long days walking, yes. The ride quality, storage, and build justify $499 for parents who’ll use it regularly. If you need occasional coverage and weight or price matter more, the Colugo Compact+ at $299 and the MamaZing Ultra Air X at $200 are both solid. We compared all of them in our best travel strollers guide.
What’s new in the MINU V3 vs V2?
Three main changes: an updated harness buckle that’s significantly easier to operate one-handed, a built-in padded infant insert that makes the stroller usable from birth without a separate car seat, and tweaked frame geometry. [MARK: add one sentence on the frame change if you recall specifics]
Does the UPPAbaby MINU V3 fit in the overhead bin?
Yes. The MINU V3 is IATA compatible, meaning it meets international airline carry-on dimensions. It also fits in standard domestic overhead bins. Most airlines allow gate-checking at no charge — you fold at the jet bridge, they take it, it’s back at the jet bridge when you land.
What is the UPPAbaby MINU V3 weight limit?
50 lbs, with a height limit of 40 inches. Those are the official UPPAbaby specs for the V3.
Can you use the UPPAbaby MINU V3 from birth?
Yes, two ways. The V3 comes with a padded integrated insert that holds newborns snug in the seat. You can also use car seat adapters (sold separately — $39.99 for Mesa/Aria, $69.99 for Maxi-Cosi, Nuna, Cybex, and Clek) to mount an infant seat directly. Check UPPAbaby’s compatibility chart against your specific seat brand before purchasing.
Does the UPPAbaby MINU V3 fully recline?
It doesn’t go fully flat, but the recline is deep and the mechanism is the best in this category: one-pull strap, no zippers, no clips. Pull it, seat reclines. If your kid falls asleep and you need to lay them back without waking them, the MINU V3 is the stroller that makes that realistic.
What colors does the UPPAbaby MINU V3 come in?
Six colors: Evelyn, Ada, Jake, Greyson, Savannah, and Dillan. Check. Yes, I know those are not real color names. I hope they’re like the founders’ kids’ names or something like that. Otherwise… lame. uppababy.com for current availability — colorways can vary by retailer.
What’s next?
If you’re still comparing options, our best travel strollers of 2026 guide covers every stroller we tested head-to-head — including the full MINU V3 vs. Joolz Aer 2 breakdown that comes up in almost every buying decision at this price point. If you landed on this page from there, welcome back. If you haven’t read it yet, it’s worth fifteen minutes before you buy anything.
If you’re still sorting out the rest of your travel kit, the Fathercraft Sling is the bag I bring when the stroller handles the heavy stuff and I need everything else on me — compact, quick-access, changing pad included.
And if you’re in the expecting-dad phase and trying to get your head around more than just the gear — the transition, the first weeks, what actually matters — Father’s Ed is our video course built specifically for that. Short lessons, research-backed, no fluff. I also cover the gear side of fatherhood on YouTube if you prefer watching to reading.
