This is a never-ending debate, isn’t it? Digital displays are among the hottest and trendiest features in a car right now. There was a time when ‘kitna deti hai’ used to be the deciding factor for car buyers in India. But is it slowly turning into ‘kitna bada screen hai’? Heck, even the Alto K10 launched today gets a 7″ touchscreen.
Brands like MG have double the size of 14″ on the upcoming new gen Hector. If you think that’s the top, you’re wrong. Mercedes-Benz EQS has a 56″ system, some Cadillacs get a 38″ OLED system and Lucid Air has a 34″ system. The China-spec Ford Explorer gets a 27″ one-piece unit that almost spans the width of the SUV.
Touch screens versus buttons and knobs
A scientific test with a small sample size of 12 was conducted by the Swedish magazine VI Bilagare to see what is what. They took 12 cars with 12 drivers who are very familiar with their cars and gave each of them a list of infotainment-related tasks to perform. Everyone would drive their cars on an abandoned airstrip at a constant speed of 110 km/h.
Whoever takes the shortest time while covering the shortest distance wins. Cars ranged from production years 2005 to 2022 and received associated infotainment technology. Because modern digital screens with all their thoughtful UI designs and massive screen real estate should be easy to squeeze lemon, right? In reality, it was stressful depressey lemon bitterness for digital infotainment screens. The one with buttons was a 17 year old Volvo V70 and it performed the best while the MG Marvel R with a giant 19.4″ touchscreen did the worst.
The 12 cars in this test are BMW iX, Dacia Sandero, Hyundai Ioniq 5, Mercedes-Benz GLB Class, MG Marvel R, Nissan Qashqai, Seat Leon, Subaru Outback, Tesla Model 3, VW ID.3, Volvo C40 and finally, 2005 Volvo V70 Ironically, the MG Marvel R, which did worst on this list, also has the biggest digital instrument displays of the bunch. It took 45 seconds to complete all tasks while a Volvo V70 without a screen took only 10 seconds. Take that, screens!
Advantages disadvantages
I’m not a boomer, okay? I have an open mind to embrace modernity. But digital infotainment screens are evolutionary, but backwards. The above tests were carried out on an empty runway with roads 10 times wider than normal and also with zero traffic. Try doing the same set of tasks at 110km/h on Indian roads filled with some of the most random idiots and some of the most ridiculous road conditions. It is next to impossible.
With buttons and dials, we can intuitively grasp them because of their physical tactility. Coupled with sensory memory and muscle memory, anyone can use any infotainment feature without even taking their eyes off the road in no time. You could argue that voice commands exist, but they’re mostly gimmicks these days.
Buttons have no flaws? They do. Buttons are mechanical and can fail. Button surfaces are either made of plastic that can melt or rubber that gets gooey and sticky in no time, while metallic ones are slippery. Ask Jaguar owners in India about the button situation. Also, buttons are fixed and are designed to perform only one task. They can’t show navigation and you can’t beat an OTA update for changes to physical buttons, right?
Bringing back buttons, knobs and dials is essential for at least essential controls like AC and music. It will not stop terrorism, world hunger or establish world peace. But it will reduce traffic accidents that happen when a driver looks down to use a touch screen. HUD is a decent compromise though. Because they offer most of the features of digital infotainment screens and fall into the driver’s peripheral vision at all times.
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