Two General Motors vehicles have made the Wards Auto Best User Experience List: the 2019 Chevrolet Equinox and 2018 Cadillac CT6. Both cars impressed judges with easy-to-use infotainment systems, abundant features and simple voice controls.
The publication looks at a host of areas to determine its Best User Experience (UX) list. Those include interacting with the car via voice control, driver assistance systems, phone pairing, infotainment and navigation system use. The specific Chevrolet Equinox awarded the honor is a 2019 Equinox AWD Premier model, so we’re talking the most expensive of compact Chevy crossovers at just a tick under $40,000.
Included with the test vehicle was a Bose audio system, ventilated front seats, wireless phone charging, and more. Judges liked the easy control to flip through the central cluster of menus in the driver information system, 4G LTE Wi-Fi through OnStar, and the Equinox’s totally reconfigurable display. Oh, and real knobs and buttons to control the dual-zone climate system. Everything better work well if a customer is paying $40,000 for an Equinox.
Moving along to the Cadillac, judges brought a 2018 Cadillac CT6 Premium Luxury model to evaluate. Foremost, a 10-inch infotainment screen houses all of the car’s audio, navigation, and apps in one place. Further, climate settings can be controlled via the touchscreen, or with hard buttons below—a welcome addition from the first Cadillac cars that shipped with the brand’s CUE system. A 12-inch reconfigurable display gives drivers a host of information as well.
Judges liked the shortcut built into the Cadillac CT6’s touchscreen that allows users to jump into audio, phone, navigation, climate control or apps on any screen, and the panel found pairing devices was simple and quick. The fact the CT6 has made the list at all is a reminder we should begin to leave Cadillac’s dark past and CUE far, far behind and embrace the future infotainment solution.
Comments
Goodbye, Mr. Rosenstein…
I believe the Equinox is such a great design that Chevy should offer an ‘Avenir’ version of it, but with a Chevy name for luxury. I don’t care if it directly competes with GMC and Buick cousins.
I never understood why people hated the CUE system! If you took the time to read the owners manual (I know what a concept) and learn how the system works then navigating the CUE is no big deal!
People just love to find something to complain about
Agree Brian–I believe its a generational thing The 30’s-40’s crowd that uses smartphones & Ipads likely embraced Cadillac CUE, the 50’s-70’s likely found it more difficult to adapt yet plow through it, the 70’s plus crowd possibly more challenged with CUE (not all mind you) just those without smartphones, without Ipads, or those with base type emergency mobile phones. Rented a Cadillac with CUE in Florida for a week–it was awesome