Alex...thorough and indept review. In just over 6 minutes, I am now familiar with navigating Volvo's infotainment ecosystem compared to 2 hrs with a Volvo salesperson. Thanks much.
Alex-great job as always with your reviews. Because of your work-my wife and I were able to make our purchasing decision that much more easier. We chose to purchase the new XC90 Inscription with the HUD, Wilkinson system and the vision package. We should have it by May-just in time for our first-born to enjoy. Thanks again for all you do!
+vanhakaveri It also makes the interior looks cheep in the Model S. It looks like one of these All in One Windows Touch PCs thats so laggy you just want to hit it in the face. this looks much better, but look how much fingerprints did it take just through the review. BMW, maybe Audi too, got it right IMO
This looks very difficult to use while driving. Some analog presets for climate or radio would be nice. I've read reviews that says this swipe tablet presentation is someone dangerous to try and navigate while driving.
On my Subaru, I can change the temperature with one action without even looking. It's a simple, physical knob that twists left and right. With Volvo here, you have to take your eyes off the road, and then take three actions to change the temperature: 1.) Press temp. 2.) Drag temp setting up or down 3.) Then press "Close." How is this an improvement? As far as I can tell, nothing beats three physical knobs for climate control. There are a lot of cars I would never buy because they've made the user interface more complex for no good reason. Volvo and Cadillac seem to be two of the worst offenders.
The touch screen seems to not respond correctly. Several times does it not register the touch event correctly. The user needs to press the screen repeatedly to activate a function. E.g. at 1:45 does it not respond to change to "rear climate" settings. The user need to touch the screen three times before it responds. That is not good.
Also the home button seems to have the same problem. Take a look at 3:31. The button need to be pressed repeatedly before the system responds. Is it the same with other buttons in the car? What about the horn and the wipers?
Are there audio presets or favorites? I mean can you switch between an FM station to an XM without going back a step to first switch to XM then search for the station? Seems like there should be a screen with all the presets in touch button form. Very un-Volvo like to have multiple steps to change the station while driving.
+DeanBrandon Ok, Volvo e-mailed me and said you can make a list of "favorites" which you can scroll between, but you cannot switch between an FM station and an XM station without going back a step to switch to XM, then find the station. --don't know if the favorites are easily scrollable or randomly accessible by touch.--still concerned asI am not adjusting the seating lumbar support during driving, but I am switching stations.
Alex, I love your videos. So thorough. I’m considering a ‘16 XC90 and a ‘17 V90xc - I’ve heard the ‘16XC90 infotainment is “laggy” and that the ‘17 V90xc is not. Can you provide any comments here based on your experience? (I’m coming from recent Lincoln’s where Sync4 has been impressive)
Awesome review Alex, so derailed and not a second wasted. This is really by far the best infotainment system, I would say on par with Tesla's. I can understand the finder print issue but we can always wipe it with a tissue, isn't that the same as smart phones? ;-)
Nice review! Can you give voice commands to activate interface changes? Eg. Set the temperature / change the radio station / Turn the high beams on? I’m guessing not
I don't know about turning on the high beams (which come on automatically) but you can adjust the temperature, radio, etc. with your voice in the XC90.
Another good review. It would have been good to pare a phone and go through some of those features, and also voice control of the GUI/telematics too. E.g. If you say "I'm hot" the Siri'esque voice politely replies "Cooling to 68 degrees". It impresses passengers! :-D
My father absolutely loves this car. However this infotainment will be an issue, as he is the ONLY PERSON in the entire family who still can't figure out how to fully operate his smartphone without guidance. I think this Sensus is a great infotainment system; the response time is something Cadillac CUE can probably take notes from. I personally prefer touchscreen units as the German fascination with dials is not the best system for inputting numbers/letters when it comes to addresses.
Trades46 the response time is still slower than the dial. I personally like the audi ifotsinment because it was a touch pad to put in addresses much easier and has virtually no lag. the volvo is great but touch screen without ay buttons is a huge hamper. for example I want to be able to control volume without having to touch the screen or control the temperature
On pps. 165/166 (total 570), 'egress/ingress' under My Car. Tells how one to set--the bolsters are to deflate. Guess what, it's a LIE. The manual is printed for US english language, therefore, it should be available. Too, Navigation is not great; it's view is unacceptable. No details, general. Then if one sets a destination, it does not give the total trip miles on screen, only ETA time. Hate it!
1. can you watch videos? 2. add additional screens at the back for watching down loaded videos? 3.Use the internet? otherwise I pull that thing out and have an in built tablet with internet connection.
b4804514 MFT uses a different kind of touchscreen, the Volvo one is more scratch resistant, handles finger gestures, and is able to be used when wearing gloves, but I am a little surprised they didn't use an oleophobic coating on it.
Alex on Autos Thank you for the review - very nice, as usual. I've also noticed and was disappointed by how bad the screen looks with all those fingerprints. Skipping the oleophobic coating, lack of which you mentioned, I'm wondering whether the system has an ability to reverse the color theme or, better, customize the background color. If that's the case, then changing it to a light color would IMHO make all those fingerprints much less visible, which is important safety concern.
how does a decision like this screen get made that massive fingerprints over rides the use of gloves. Cars have heaters. who uses gloves when they drive after the car warms up? They goofed on this one and the car is 70K Makes me wonder what other engineering decisions were made that don't make practical sense
Aleksandr Blekh When it's 30 below zero celcius, you have gloves on for quite some time. In person it's not really a usability problem, just an aesthetic.
Alex on Autos Hmm... I'm not sure why you refer to the gloves use case - not everyone lives in a colder climate, as we both know ;-). And I insist that it is not just a usability, but the safety aspect of usability, problem. Consider the extra attention (hence, my reference to safety!) needed to determine what exactly is displayed on the screen. That extra attention gets "deducted" from your overall attention pool, isn't it?
Ich durfte den VOLVO XC90 vor einiger Zeit mal Probefahren. Ich finde das Infotainmentsystem jetzt nicht so super, da ist das von Audi, VW und Mercedes um einiges besser (Meiner Meinung nach) auch wenn ich ein Handy per Bluetooth Verbinden will, bis ich da den Knopf gefunden hab oder wenn ich zb, meine Musik als Quelle Bluetooth ausgeben will ging es auch eine ganze Weile was ich doch sehr schade finde, das kann man echt besser machen.
Alex...thorough and indept review. In just over 6 minutes, I am now familiar with navigating Volvo's infotainment ecosystem compared to 2 hrs with a Volvo salesperson. Thanks much.
The GPS picture at 0:40 is from Gothenburg (The hometown of Volvo) and more precisly at Redbergsplatsen heading north to Gamlestaden
Alex-great job as always with your reviews. Because of your work-my wife and I were able to make our purchasing decision that much more easier. We chose to purchase the new XC90 Inscription with the HUD, Wilkinson system and the vision package. We should have it by May-just in time for our first-born to enjoy. Thanks again for all you do!
The one aspect of the infotainment systems that I wish you would review more is how well the voice command portion works.
Volvo should bring back buttons for changing the ACC. Shouldn't have to fiddle with a touch screen to do something so basic.
That screen size is pretty perfect, the screen in the Model S is just overkill and makes no sense.
+vanhakaveri It also makes the interior looks cheep in the Model S. It looks like one of these All in One Windows Touch PCs thats so laggy you just want to hit it in the face. this looks much better, but look how much fingerprints did it take just through the review. BMW, maybe Audi too, got it right IMO
This looks very difficult to use while driving. Some analog presets for climate or radio would be nice. I've read reviews that says this swipe tablet presentation is someone dangerous to try and navigate while driving.
You can always have your autonomous braking on to help prevent you from rear ending someone
It seems like Volvo has listened to every motoring journalist in the world, when i'm seeing this!
8:28 - we haven't seen any new systems of any kind in the Infiniti QX70 for about a decade, buddy.
On my Subaru, I can change the temperature with one action without even looking. It's a simple, physical knob that twists left and right. With Volvo here, you have to take your eyes off the road, and then take three actions to change the temperature: 1.) Press temp. 2.) Drag temp setting up or down 3.) Then press "Close." How is this an improvement? As far as I can tell, nothing beats three physical knobs for climate control. There are a lot of cars I would never buy because they've made the user interface more complex for no good reason. Volvo and Cadillac seem to be two of the worst offenders.
You can also use your voice to adjust the temperature, among many other settings, in the Volvo XC90.
Alex as always great work
What about android auto and apple car play?
Volvo give you a sim?
Excellent Review! Well-explained and covering all I was looking for in reviewing Volvo's new touchscreen system.
The touch screen seems to not respond correctly. Several times does it not register the touch event correctly. The user needs to press the screen repeatedly to activate a function. E.g. at 1:45 does it not respond to change to "rear climate" settings. The user need to touch the screen three times before it responds. That is not good.
Also the home button seems to have the same problem. Take a look at 3:31. The button need to be pressed repeatedly before the system responds. Is it the same with other buttons in the car? What about the horn and the wipers?
The same problem here ua-cam.com/video/60DWspczbw8/v-deo.htmlm16s
Are there audio presets or favorites? I mean can you switch between an FM station to an XM without going back a step to first switch to XM then search for the station? Seems like there should be a screen with all the presets in touch button form. Very un-Volvo like to have multiple steps to change the station while driving.
+DeanBrandon Ok, Volvo e-mailed me and said you can make a list of "favorites" which you can scroll between, but you cannot switch between an FM station and an XM station without going back a step to switch to XM, then find the station. --don't know if the favorites are easily scrollable or randomly accessible by touch.--still concerned asI am not adjusting the seating lumbar support during driving, but I am switching stations.
Alex, I love your videos. So thorough. I’m considering a ‘16 XC90 and a ‘17 V90xc - I’ve heard the ‘16XC90 infotainment is “laggy” and that the ‘17 V90xc is not. Can you provide any comments here based on your experience? (I’m coming from recent Lincoln’s where Sync4 has been impressive)
Awesome review Alex, so derailed and not a second wasted. This is really by far the best infotainment system, I would say on par with Tesla's. I can understand the finder print issue but we can always wipe it with a tissue, isn't that the same as smart phones? ;-)
the screen operating system is awesome, but the material of the screen shows your fingerprints every time you touch which i didnt like !!
Can it play music from USB stick??? I couldn't see the option...
Nice review! Can you give voice commands to activate interface changes? Eg. Set the temperature / change the radio station / Turn the high beams on? I’m guessing not
I don't know about turning on the high beams (which come on automatically) but you can adjust the temperature, radio, etc. with your voice in the XC90.
I find my screenbrightness too low, is there any way that I can increase the brightness of the screen in the v90?
Another good review. It would have been good to pare a phone and go through some of those features, and also voice control of the GUI/telematics too. E.g. If you say "I'm hot" the Siri'esque voice politely replies "Cooling to 68 degrees". It impresses passengers! :-D
Anyone know if 3D buildings are displayed in the Navigation screens?
there are some kinds of screen protector to reduce the fingerprint
+jsj3727 The car comes with a cleaning cloth and pouch to keep it in. T's simply, but very effective in use.
Awesome
ps- clean the screen before you film your stuff...hard to read. I guess it does show how realistic it will look.
And when you were busy with those screen menus you drove into a tree.
Has anyone had their sensus sCreen go black or stuck in the loading screen?
My father absolutely loves this car. However this infotainment will be an issue, as he is the ONLY PERSON in the entire family who still can't figure out how to fully operate his smartphone without guidance.
I think this Sensus is a great infotainment system; the response time is something Cadillac CUE can probably take notes from. I personally prefer touchscreen units as the German fascination with dials is not the best system for inputting numbers/letters when it comes to addresses.
Trades46 the response time is still slower than the dial. I personally like the audi ifotsinment because it was a touch pad to put in addresses much easier and has virtually no lag. the volvo is great but touch screen without ay buttons is a huge hamper. for example I want to be able to control volume without having to touch the screen or control the temperature
Jongwon Park, The biggest physical controller in the car is the volume knob. Dead center.
- JPL - you get what I mean
I just had one of these vehicles as a rental when I was on vacation. By far the worst infotainment system I’ve ever used in a car.
When it will be lada?
What are the screens sizes for both center and the one on the drivers side?
Tech Defender 9.3 / 12.3
Alex on Autos so 9.3 for the center and 12.3 for the screen on the drivers side?
Tech Defender Correct
No doubt Volvo has taken inspiration from Tesla's infotainment/management system.
Or a smartphone. We live in that age.
Thx
On pps. 165/166 (total 570), 'egress/ingress' under My Car. Tells how one to set--the bolsters are to deflate. Guess what, it's a LIE. The manual is printed for US english language, therefore, it should be available.
Too, Navigation is not great; it's view is unacceptable. No details, general. Then if one sets a destination, it does not give the total trip miles on screen, only ETA time.
Hate it!
1. can you watch videos? 2. add additional screens at the back for watching down loaded videos? 3.Use the internet? otherwise I pull that thing out and have an in built tablet with internet connection.
those navigation maps are fugly ..... they should've just gone the android way hehhehe googlemaps waze is just unbeatable
Alex All the finger smudges on the screen yikes My Ford touch does not do that
b4804514 MFT uses a different kind of touchscreen, the Volvo one is more scratch resistant, handles finger gestures, and is able to be used when wearing gloves, but I am a little surprised they didn't use an oleophobic coating on it.
Alex on Autos Thank you for the review - very nice, as usual. I've also noticed and was disappointed by how bad the screen looks with all those fingerprints. Skipping the oleophobic coating, lack of which you mentioned, I'm wondering whether the system has an ability to reverse the color theme or, better, customize the background color. If that's the case, then changing it to a light color would IMHO make all those fingerprints much less visible, which is important safety concern.
how does a decision like this screen get made that massive fingerprints over rides the use of gloves. Cars have heaters. who uses gloves when they drive after the car warms up? They goofed on this one and the car is 70K Makes me wonder what other engineering decisions were made that don't make practical sense
Aleksandr Blekh When it's 30 below zero celcius, you have gloves on for quite some time. In person it's not really a usability problem, just an aesthetic.
Alex on Autos Hmm... I'm not sure why you refer to the gloves use case - not everyone lives in a colder climate, as we both know ;-). And I insist that it is not just a usability, but the safety aspect of usability, problem. Consider the extra attention (hence, my reference to safety!) needed to determine what exactly is displayed on the screen. That extra attention gets "deducted" from your overall attention pool, isn't it?
I thought it would have Apple CarPlay ?
TechExplorer It has.
TechExplorer It will have it after a software update we are told but I was not able to test or verify that so I didn't mention it.
Alex on Autos Both systems have been delayed. See @20150426
Lucien E Not sure what happened with the link. Automotive News wrote article on this (Where the heck is Apple CarPlay).
TechExplorer CarPlay is expected via free (wireless) software update in Oct-Nov. Android Auto sometimes later, likely Q1 2016.
Holy cow he needs to try this screen for a couple weeks. Then I am sure he will jump.
Ich durfte den VOLVO XC90 vor einiger Zeit mal Probefahren.
Ich finde das Infotainmentsystem jetzt nicht so super, da ist das von Audi, VW
und Mercedes um einiges besser (Meiner Meinung nach) auch wenn ich ein Handy
per Bluetooth Verbinden will, bis ich da den Knopf gefunden hab oder wenn ich
zb, meine Musik als Quelle Bluetooth ausgeben will ging es auch eine ganze Weile
was ich doch sehr schade finde, das kann man echt besser machen.
The worst information system. Lazy design. How can you touch those screen to change temperature when you drive for example.
SLOOOW DOWN !!!!!!! WAY WAY TO FAST !!!!!!
You can change the speed setting on UA-cam, just click setting then change the speed.