Joined the club - no smartphone

Well if your FM/AM is a little sketchy you can use the tablet for music, videos, and get a bluetooth OBD dongle to view specifics for your car with Dr. Prius or other apps that can fill in the blanks with info/visuals. Also you can use the tablet for recording specifics, mileage, EV Range, etc..

Oh and Welcome to the club!!!

iPad ? Pro

 

+1

Enjoy the car!

 

How does the ride of the one car compare with the ride of the other?

 

Welcome to PC, and congrats on your new PRIME.

As far as your question about not having a smartphone, to be honest, you are not missing much in terms of the PRIME functionalities. A smartphone and data connection are needed for the map app Scout GPS, Entune app suite, and Toyota+ Alexa to function. If you are really into a smartphone infotainment things, then having iPhone would let you connect CarPlay to the screen. But if you have never used those features before, chances are you are not missing anything. The problem is when you first try using those features, you may get hooked and it becomes something you have to have.

I am in a similar situation as you are. I live in an area with a very patchy cell signal, so although I do use a smartphone, I don't have a data plan. A smartphone without a data plan would serve no purpose for the above-listed infotainment features. For me, Bluetooth and USB music are all I need. If you really need a GPS, just buy stand-alone Garmin instead. Much cheaper than buying a smartphone and data plan.

 

I think Tesla takes the owners a lot further down that "you're screwed without a smartphone" path.

 

Connected car, that is. I guess that is another reason I would never want a Tesla.

 

Congrats on the new car! I have the 2017 Prime in red. I usually hate red cars but I really liked the color of this one.

 

All you need for entertainment is to buy a flash drive and load it up with tunes. I store the music files in folders and it works great. Just remember to format the drive in either NTFS or FAT32 as the flash drive reader in the Prime doesn't like EXFAT.

Posted via the PriusChat mobile app.

 

Yes, Saftey Connect works independently of your smartphone or entune. The car basically has a Verizon phone on board. You do have to activate the Saftey Connect account with Toyota, and it will make it easier with Toyota App on a smartphone, but it is not necessary. You can do the registration on the computer or by phone or directly using SOS system. Remember that the complimentary Safety Connect service is free only for the first 3 years, then it will cost $80/year (current rate, may change 3 years from now). Also, if you live in an area with a sparse cellular signal, telematics in the car may not work (it uses Verizon network). I actually have opted out of the Saftey Connect service on my recently purchased 2020 PRIME LE to turn off the Toyota tracking me. I did not have that service option on my 2017 PRIME Premium. It was only available in Advanced trim in pre 2019 PRIME.

 

In your trim LE, there is no in-dash navigation system with a built-in GPS. So, in order to use the GPS and map app, you have to have a smartphone with Scout GPS installed. I use to own 2017 PRIME Premium with navigation, it had the navigation system with GPS and predictive braking feature but had no telematics to transmit the data. So, whatever the car was tracking stayed in the car unless someone physically connects to my car to extract the data from the black box.

They can't offer Entune/apps/navigation for a monthly fee (or free) for those without a smartphone, simply because the apps are written for the Android OS or iOS. Developing apps specific to today's legacy feature phones would be a daunting task, and even if they could, the apps would be unusable without a data connection and much higher spec overhead than most of those feature phones offer. That being said, if you want a navigation system just buy Garmin and be done with it. Most of the unit comes with a lifetime map update and navigation system is far easier to use than any in-car system. The Entune on the other hand requires the connected smartphone with the app installed and data connection enabled. But believe me, you are not missing much if you don't have Entune on your car.