Photo: Bogdan Popa/autoevolution/Mazda
If you've been part of the Mazda owners club, you probably know already that the knob has long been generating controversy that divided the carmaker's customer base into two very distinct categories.
On the one hand, long-time Mazda owners became addicted to the knob, especially after years of using it and developing the right skills to browse the infotainment seamlessly. On the other hand, new customers (typically younger buyers) criticized the rotary controller on every occasion, describing it as confusing, clumsy, slow, and distracting.
Mazda's knob has become a love-it-or-hate-it feature, eventually causing additional technical struggles due to poor implementation of specific software capabilities. Navigating Android Auto and CarPlay with a knob is a major pain in the neck if you're not used to it, and occasionally, bugs that broke down the controller made things even worse.
The Japanese carmaker decided to give in to knob haters, so the 2024 CX-5 comes with a change that is supposed to shoot two birds with one stone.
The 10.25-inch center display running Mazda Connect still comes with a knob, but as others have noticed too, Android Auto and CarPlay now support touch input. In other words, the knob is still there, but you won't have to use it if you rely on Android Auto and CarPlay for things like navigation, music listening, and handling phone calls.
Mazda seems to try to please everybody, and adding touch input is excellent news for the younger generation who believes cars must come with touchscreens. At some level, getting a massive 10-inch display in your vehicle doesn't make sense if you can't use it straightforwardly, and for new Mazda buyers, relying on the knob is a nightmare.
Giving in to customers and adding touchscreen support in Android Auto and CarPlay also helps the carmaker deal with the software glitches encountered by the two phone mirroring systems. Using Android Auto with the knob isn't by any means smooth, mainly due to Google's poor implementation of knob control. The extra buttons around the knob make it easier to access certain features, but otherwise, the Coolwalk interface has been primarily developed for touch input.
Eventually, forcing drivers to use the knob in Android Auto and CarPlay produced more distractions behind the wheel. Because the two systems were designed with touch in mind, drivers were often tempted to look at the screen when using the controller (in cars with touch support, this input method was blocked when the car started moving). The touch input feels more natural in both apps and thanks to Mazda's new approach, drivers can stick with whatever method they like more.
Mazda's doing the right thing here, but after trying out several 2023 models, I can only assure you that the knob is a great feature if you give it enough time. There's a learning curve, there's no doubt about it, but once you develop the right skills to use it, you won't even have to look at the screen for basic things.
Mazda's knob has become a love-it-or-hate-it feature, eventually causing additional technical struggles due to poor implementation of specific software capabilities. Navigating Android Auto and CarPlay with a knob is a major pain in the neck if you're not used to it, and occasionally, bugs that broke down the controller made things even worse.
The Japanese carmaker decided to give in to knob haters, so the 2024 CX-5 comes with a change that is supposed to shoot two birds with one stone.
The 10.25-inch center display running Mazda Connect still comes with a knob, but as others have noticed too, Android Auto and CarPlay now support touch input. In other words, the knob is still there, but you won't have to use it if you rely on Android Auto and CarPlay for things like navigation, music listening, and handling phone calls.
Mazda seems to try to please everybody, and adding touch input is excellent news for the younger generation who believes cars must come with touchscreens. At some level, getting a massive 10-inch display in your vehicle doesn't make sense if you can't use it straightforwardly, and for new Mazda buyers, relying on the knob is a nightmare.
Giving in to customers and adding touchscreen support in Android Auto and CarPlay also helps the carmaker deal with the software glitches encountered by the two phone mirroring systems. Using Android Auto with the knob isn't by any means smooth, mainly due to Google's poor implementation of knob control. The extra buttons around the knob make it easier to access certain features, but otherwise, the Coolwalk interface has been primarily developed for touch input.
Eventually, forcing drivers to use the knob in Android Auto and CarPlay produced more distractions behind the wheel. Because the two systems were designed with touch in mind, drivers were often tempted to look at the screen when using the controller (in cars with touch support, this input method was blocked when the car started moving). The touch input feels more natural in both apps and thanks to Mazda's new approach, drivers can stick with whatever method they like more.
Mazda's doing the right thing here, but after trying out several 2023 models, I can only assure you that the knob is a great feature if you give it enough time. There's a learning curve, there's no doubt about it, but once you develop the right skills to use it, you won't even have to look at the screen for basic things.
Google News