Best: Overall

Rating: 10/10

• Tandem seat configuration: Side by side
• Single-mode: No
• Suitable from birth: Yes
• Weight in tandem mode: 12.8kg
• Width: 72cm

We loved this versatile little number. The huge three wheels have excellent suspension, meaning it took on rough country paths, cobbled pavements and big pavement curbs without a fuss. The adjustable handlebar is coated in a grippy material and includes a strap so the pram doesn’t run away from you when you’re on the downhill. The seat units lie flat (and are therefore suitable from birth), and the back zips down to leave only mesh, letting air circulate and keeping our mini testers sweat-free during naps.

The fold on the pram is an easy two-handed job, but it’s simple enough. And then it’s not too cumbersome once folded, meaning it’d fit in most average-sized car boots. The drawbacks are the fiddly straps, and the lack of a shopping basket. There is storage in mesh drawstring holdalls on the back of the seats, but it’s not enough when you have at least two kids.

The hoods are great though – nice and big, and have inbuilt pockets for stowing away snacks, keys, phones; all the important stuff. And pushing it is a dream – you’d struggle to find a better all-terrain double than this at the price.

Best: Lightweight double

Rating: 8/10

• Tandem seat configuration: Side by side
• Single-mode: No
• Suitable from birth: Yes
• Weight in tandem mode: 11.8kg
• Width: 76cm

Lightweight and reasonably nippy, this pram is great for taking on city streets. Indeed, it’s one of the lightest doubles we tried. The small wheels make for easy manoeuvring but aren’t so good on bumpier terrains. The seat pads are reversible, in a deep pink and royal blue, meaning you can pick a colour for each seat.

While both children have their own seats, they’re also able to see and interact with one another. They have individual UPF 50+ sun canopies and recline flat separately if nap times don’t align. The recline mechanism is easy to use one-handed and isn’t as jerky as some we’ve tried. There are reclining calf supports too.

The basket underneath is huge and has a very handy open back that is perfect for chucking stuff into while you juggle two kids. The foot brake is substantial and doesn’t get jammed despite being put through its paces. And the one-hand fold is really simple – it doesn’t take much effort at all, so you don’t feel like you’ve completed an assault course after loading it into the car. We also liked the one rain cover that goes over both seats, so when British weather hits the kids are cocooned together – lucky things.

Best: Single to double transformation

Rating: 8/10

• Tandem seat configuration: Side by side
• Single-mode: Yes
• Suitable from birth: Yes
• Weight in tandem mode: 15kg
• Width: 91cm

Robust and roomy, the Bugaboo donkey will carry your child from birth to toddlerhood and beyond. The expandable chassis offers huge flexibility for growing families. Compress it down to one seat and a side-car-style shopping basket, or with a few simple adjustments it can slide out to a side-by-side two-seater. You can also have one bassinet and one seat unit side by side if you have different-aged children. The large back wheels and decent suspension offer a smooth ride, while the large basket underneath is great for when you’re out shopping.

Both bassinet and bucket-style seat options are comfortable and snug and can make use of the extendable UPF sun canopies. One minor detail we found annoying was that the rain covers are separate for each seat and quite fiddly to get on and off properly.

You can fold the donkey with seat units and bassinets attached, but it’s a huge footprint – you’d need a very roomy boot. We found it fitted through most shop doors in duo mode, but this wasn’t the case with an average-sized front door.

Best: Premium double

Rating: 9/10

• Tandem seat configuration: Inline
• Single-mode: Yes
• Suitable from birth: Yes
• Weight in tandem mode: 22.1kg
• Width: 60cm

The Joolz Geo2 is a pram designed to grow with an expanding family. It’s a premium single pram with plush fabrics and a smooth glide. We loved the huge shopping basket underneath. The easy-to-use fold doesn’t involve taking the seat unit off – although it remains pretty large once folded.

It can be expanded into double mode, although the extra seat – which stacks beneath the main seat – removes our beloved huge shopping basket. While you may have reservations about in-line seats, there’s enough room for them not to be nose-to-back-of-seat, and plenty of legroom to stretch out. You can also use it with two bassinets at once, but in duo mode there’s not a ton of striding space for the parent behind. And it is one of the heaviest double prams we tried. But we really liked the fact you can fold the Geo2 with both seat units attached, and the footprint, when folded in double mode, is good compared to many others.

Best: Practical double

Rating: 9/10

• Tandem seat configuration: Side by side
• Single-mode: No
• Suitable from birth: Yes
• Weight in tandem mode: 17.5kg
• Width: 77.5cm

Its side-by-side configuration is seriously smart, the fabrics are luxe, the five-point harness quick and easy to use and the seats well padded. The three-section sun canopy provided a really good amount of cover in all weathers, and our mini testers were able to snooze nicely because the seat reclines to almost flat. On that note, the recline function is a drawstring one, which isn’t the smoothest, so light sleepers (and their parents) beware.

It pushes well, and fits through most shop doors, but not the internal doors in our house. It is also easy to fold – simply pull the handle in the seat and down it goes. However, once folded it’s not freestanding, and the handlebar is not adjustable. But we can forgive that because there are two really good-sized baskets underneath the seat unit, making it practical for larger families.

Best: For flexible configurations

Rating: 9/10

• Tandem seat configuration: Inline
• Single-mode: Yes
• Suitable from birth: Yes
• Weight in tandem mode: 17kg
• Width: 60cm

With luxury fabrics, leatherette trim and plush seats, this pram looks very smart indeed. And being smart, it has a huge range of in-line configurations in duo mode. Although initially this was a bit mind-blowing, we found that once we got our heads around the different attachments it was easy to use and super flexible.

Seat elevator adaptors lift the top seat, giving more space to the passenger below. Even when we had a bassinet on top, the mini tester had more than enough space below, although they are quite low down and tricky to see. When pushing the pram in duo mode we felt a touch like a bus driver, but it is a light push, which is crucial for pushing two toddlers up an epic hill.

To fold the pram you have to remove all the seat units/bassinets before folding the chassis. This isn’t great in a rush. But it does have all the high-end finishes of a luxury pram – large UPF canopies, large shopping basket, natural fibres, a really good glide and a robust foot brake. It also has a magnetic-clasp harness with very well-padded straps.

Extra bassinet (£295, Silvercrossbaby.com)

Extra seat unit: (£275, Silvercrossbaby.com)

Best: All-terrain double

Rating: 8/10

• Tandem seat configuration: Side by side
• Single-mode: No
• Suitable from birth: Yes
• Weight in tandem mode: 16kg
• Width: 76cm

We were really impressed with this side-by-side number. It’s big but robust, with a sturdy chassis and large tyres. The air-filled wheels make it a smooth ride across all terrains, while the front wheels are lockable if you’re really off-roading it. And it feels a lot higher than some other side-by-sides we tried, which is great for tall parents, but might not be so ideal for more petite pilots. A foot brake goes right across the back wheels and is flip-flop friendly.

There’s a decent basket underneath the seats and a zip pocket in the back of the seats. All the fabrics are durable, and 100 per cent recycled too – which gets a big eco-friendly tick from us. The canopies are some of the most generous we tried, and they also flick out at the bottom, perfect for nap times. However, this is not a pram with a compact fold, and we found this function a bit of a workout. But if you’re not going to be folding it too regularly, it’s a fantastic pram for all terrains.

Best: For high-end features

Rating: 8/10

• Tandem seat configuration: Inline
• Single-mode: Yes
• Suitable from birth: Yes (with bassinet)
• Weight in tandem mode: 18.3kg
• Width: 62cm

This in-line double pram is built to grow with your family. It’s a smart and robust single pram to which you can easily add an additional bassinet, car seat or seat unit for an extra passenger. The huge under-seat basket converts to the second seat, which does leave you short on basket space.

The seat unit and bassinet are both deluxe, the fabrics are thick and luxurious, and the mechanisms are great. Peel off the upper pads of the all-season seat unit to reveal a breathable mesh fabric beneath for warmer months. The seat unit reclines smoothly, but as a bucket-style seat it’s not suitable for newborns, for whom you’ll need the bassinets. The swivel front wheels make manoeuvring easy, while the large back wheels give a smooth ride. Our gripe is the fold is a bit of a faff – you have to remove the bassinets or seat units before folding the chassis.

There are also nice touches in the canopy, with a flick-out eyeshade and a piece of fabric that folds out and clips onto the seat unit to provide an enclosed, quiet space within the seat for naps. Certainly, this is a very well-made pram with loads of premium touches.

Single pram: (£600, Johnlewis.com)

Sibling seat unit: (£220, Johnlewis.com)

Best: Smaller in-line double

Rating: 8/10

• Tandem seat configuration: Inline
• Single-mode: Yes
• Suitable from birth: Yes (with bassinet)
• Weight in tandem mode: 16.4kg
• Width: 64cm

We really liked how easily it is to adapt this pram from bassinets for newborn to seat units for toddlers. Simply clip together the bassinets underneath to turn them into a seat unit. It’s also simple to add an additional bassinet or seat unit with some easy-to-slide-on adaptors. There’s an easy recline in the seat, but we found the fold function and lockable wheels slightly plastic-y and tricky to coax into working. These will ease up over time, but we prefer things to not have a “knack” to them any more than necessary.

Big ticks go to the included footmuffs and cup holder – we like not having to fork out for these necessary extras. We also liked the five-point harness as it was relatively easy to strap a toddler in quickly, even when they were protesting. And the extra-large shopping basket still had a good capacity even when the extra seat unit was on. The space for the lower passenger was much more generous than some of the others we tried.

Best: For easy folding

Rating: 9/10

• Tandem seat configuration: Side by side
• Single-mode: No
• Suitable from birth: Yes
• Weight in tandem mode: 16kg
• Width: 77.5cm

This was one of the best side-by-side doubles we tested. Four-wheel suspension makes for a smooth glide, while lockable front wheels handle sharp corners easily, and negotiating bumpy surfaces isn’t too much hassle either. We really liked the hand-operated brake – you don’t see many on double prams. And the huge three-panel canopies (with UPF) include two peek-a-boo windows, which close with magnets and made checking up on our snoozing passengers easy.

The recline is drawstring, which is a drawback, but the seats do recline flat, and a zip-down mesh back gives plenty of air circulation. The seats are nicely padded, and a big shout-out to the easy-to-close harness. An almost alarmingly simple fold – pull the centre of the seats and it closes – made our lives easier. It’s not the smallest footprint when folded, and it’s not the narrowest side-by-side we tested, but we loved so many aspects of this pram.

Best: All-in-one bundle

Rating: 8/10

• Tandem seat configuration: Inline
• Single-mode: Yes
• Suitable from birth: Yes
• Weight in tandem mode: 21kg
• Width: 62.5cm

We were charmed by this cute and clever double pram. It has a range of sweet fabrics to go for – we went for an Orla Kiely-esque fika forest but there’s also cute rabbit, fox or bird print to choose from. Unlike almost every other pram we tried, the Wow came with everything you’d need for an infant and an older child included in the box – seat unit, bassinet, rain covers, two hoods – even two cute pram teddies.

A huge under-seat shopping basket gets a nice big tick from us, as does the one-hand recline. Adapting the pram between one and two passengers is easy. Both the seat and bassinet are plush, and the seat unit has an easy-to-use harness. There’s even an integrated buggy board here – but it might be a struggle to use it when in duo mode as there’s not much room. You can’t really fold this pram with both seat and bassinet attached, but the chassis folds easily once they’re off. One thing to note is it’s quite a big footprint – it fits into a Fiat 500 boot – but you’d struggle to fit anything else in there with it.

Best: For design

Rating: 8/10

• Tandem seat configuration: Inline
• Single-mode: Yes
• Suitable from birth: Yes
• Weight in tandem mode: 16.2kg
• Width: 65cm

This is a fantastic pram for a single passenger – two huge shopping baskets, great fold, easy to push. And it cleverly converts into an in-line double, too. Remove one of the baskets (you still have a very sizable basket underneath) and add a second seat unit or bassinet, or a Cybex infant car seat.

There are more than 20 seat combinations, so you’re sure to find one that suits you and your little passengers. The seat units have to be sat back to back, which means both our testers got a view, but they couldn’t interact with one another. You can fold it with one seat unit attached, but not two – we found this a touch disappointing, but nothing we couldn’t overlook. When folded it can be freestanding, and it fitted in our compact boot and under the stairs.

Single pram: (£629.95, Johnlewis.com)

Extra seat unit: (£269.95, Johnlewis.com)

Best: Value for money

Rating: 8/10

• Tandem seat configuration: side by side
• Single-mode: No
• Suitable from birth: Yes
• Weight in tandem mode: 13.5kg
• Width: 74.5cm

Talk about amazing value! This side-by-side pram has all the spoils of a much more pricey pram at a fraction of the cost. We loved the big foam-filled tyres, which took on bumps in the road with ease, and the lockable front wheels negotiated tight corners beautifully. Our mini testers seemed very comfy in the quilted seats. And although the clasp on the harness isn’t plush, it is quick to do up – so our planking toddlers were thwarted. There’s an average under-seat basket, which is slightly tricky to just lob stuff into. There are a few different finishes you can go for. We plumped for black with tan leatherette details, and it looked really smart.

The seats fully recline on a drawstring mechanism, and there’s a zip-down back panel to make nap times a breeze – literally. The fold is a bit creaky, but it does fold easily. Something to note is that the folded footprint isn’t tiny – it wouldn’t fit in a compact car boot. However, it is a good bit narrower than many of the other side-by-sides we tried, making it much easier to get through doors.

Best: For city living

Rating: 8/10

• Tandem seat configuration: inline
• Single-mode: Yes
• Suitable from birth: Yes (with bassinet)
• Weight in tandem mode: 16.1kg
• Width: 74.5cm

Designed for active parents, the sleek is super lightweight and simple to use. Loads of the features have been clearly well-thought-out for real-world living. The one-hand recline on the seat units are smooth and didn’t wake our napping mini tester. The UPF50+ sun canopy has a soft-close peek-a-boo window and ventilation sections to keep air moving and prevent overheating. Certainly, our passenger looked comfortable in the padded seat. And there is decent suspension on this nippy little number. We also loved the under-seat shopping basket that had a cover – this prevented all our shopping from getting wet in the very British weather we tested it in.

With the addition of four adaptors, this single-seater can be converted into an in-line pram. We liked that you could have the seats world- or parent-facing, or one facing each way. There was plenty of space in duo mode, but you would need both seats facing the same way to recline them properly. You can fold this pram with one seat unit attached – but it must be in world-facing mode, which is a touch frustrating when using it in duo. Once it is folded, it can be freestanding – even when the seat unit is attached – which is handy for storage.

Single pram: (£799.99, Thule.com)

Sibling seat unit: (£269.99, Thule.com)