We look at one of the most useless in car technology features provided today.
After getting in and out of so many new vehicles month after month, this is one feature that never works as well as the navigation app on our smartphone.
Yes, there is no in-car navigation system to date that we have had the pleasure of using that works faster and easier than Waze or google maps on our smartphone which can also do so much more at a lower asking price over the ‘added price’ of the in car navigation system.
Then there will be car manufacturers that claim their Apple CarPlay and Android Auto ready in car systems will make navigation functions easy. Yes, Android Auto is designed to make using things like Google Maps, Waze, and Google’s Voice Assistant technology, easier and safer when you are driving.
Like Apple CarPlay, you can do things like navigate, play music, listen to audiobooks, respond to and send voice-to-text messages and emails and make calls. Yes, all these functions entertain the younger generation of drivers and here is where they get distracted and sometimes get into fender benders.
Android Auto was launched in 2015 and this system uses Google’s suite of technology. This includes Google Maps which includes the navigation application we all use, Waze.
We have used this quite easily. However, it seems to always work better on our smartphone and the navigation directions also seem to have a quicker response time.
Next comes the ongoing issue we have been having with the many new voice activated systems that come as standard with luxury as well as basic new cars today. Yes, even the sub RM60,000 compact car has voice navigation today and it is really no worse than the system in a RM300,000 luxury SUV.
Maybe it is our voice or Asian accent. But it makes mistakes and we need to repeat our direction more than twice. Easier to just type in the address on our smartphone navigation and let it run trouble free.
Plus, when you happen to be on the hands-free phone call and when in conversation you happen to mention the brand of the car you are driving like ‘Proton’, the in car voice recognition system will come alive and say ‘Can I help you’ and you need to shout out ‘cancel’ to stop it and this confuses the person you talking to on your hands free phone. Too much drama!
A survey done a few years ago in North America showed that about a 60-40 percent result with car owners and their in car navigation against their smartphone. So it is clear that some prefer their smartphone for navigation and the most of the rest are happy with the system in their new car.
It also showed that Porsche, Kia, Hyundai, Genesis and BMW had the best systems on offer from the showroom.
So, for us when buying a new car (when we decide one day) we would like to have the option for NOT paying for in car navigation as we plan to continue using our smartphone and we also do not want the voice activation system in our cabin. It just seems to be too much trouble. Can we opt not to have it included in our new car and save some money?
