To be fair, I really like the styling and overall improvements over my 2010 IV model and I was looking forward to a 2016 Prius as my next car (and third Prius). However, It looks like Toyota missed the boat in one (for me, at least) crucial part of the driving experience--- the infotainment system. Sticking with legacy systems like Entune that offer no real improvements over my old DVD-based navigation system seems surprisingly shortsighted. I was expecting support for Android Auto--- for common activities like quick navigation or quick phone calls, it's hard to beat saying "Okay Google, navigate to Aunt Helen's house" or "Okay Google, call Mom." To do the equivalent in the old system requires a lengthy and flaky question and answer chain. Additionally, it's nice to have maps and travel conditions available in near real-time, my contact list changes immediately available, my music updated and readily playable (including with voice commands), etc. I'd hate to have to consider getting something like a Chevy Volt as my next car, because... yuck, but this seems like it should have been a no-brainer. Systems like Entune are obsolete by the time they hit the street.
I agree with you - no support for Apple Play either... Though I must say I am not really interested in any inbuilt infotainment system as long as my iPod/iPhone library can be played on the car speakers, and no interest in a quickly obsolete navigation system. You pay them 1-2k€ and after 1-2 years they are already old and do not use the latest in navigation technology. Any top of the line portable navigation device (e.g. TomTom) or any phone app, costs a fraction, can be used in other cars, and they are most of all upgradeable with the latest technology. TomTom offers excellent traffic services based on mobile phone and navis location, updated every 2 mins, that only some cars offer in-built (e.g. Renault). Their software gets updated every 3-4 months with bug fixes and new features. If the device gets obsolete for any reasons, I need to pay 2-300€ at most to get a new one which is faster and more intelligent. I pay 2000€ for an in-built system, that can never be really updated, software, and especially hardware. Who wants that? the automotive industry is too slow for these things. And too expensive.
I agree it is a huge oversight. It's not like they had to develop an entire head unit based on Android Auto or Apple Car play. They just needed to make it compatible. Instead, they continue to bundle their outdated navigation systems with other options, When I ask google for directions, it gets it right 99.9% of the time... the voice recognition on these new systems is completely pathetic and frustrating. The press materials I've seen of the Navigation system look nearly identical to the system in my 2010 Prius. Even the New Mitsubishi Mirage is going to support Android Auto and Apple Car Play.
you win some, you lose some. maybe toyota will read this thread and recall all the gen IV's for a tech improvement.
That's a little "picky". Just get a vent mount and use your smartphone to get all you asked for. Yup, the car will only be connected via audio. Nope, you won't have to use the garbage GPS Toyota insists on using. You WILL still be getting the best mileage available and you WILL have the latest tech in that regard that won't fail for another 10 years or so. You WILL NOT have to put up with junk other manufacturers think they can hoodwink you with ("honest, it gets just as good mileage as a Prius").
Picky to you, but a stumbling block to me. Clipping my phone to my air vents shouldn't be a "thing" in 2016 in any car at this price point, much less a car that is otherwise a technological marvel. It's like including a tape deck in my old 2005 Prius... retro is well and good, but not so desirable in a car whose name means 'moving forward'.
to go before. i want to say that is the translation. moving forward is the corporate tagline. be it the poor Entune or fuel cells, Toyota is NOT moving forward.
I suppose I'm REALLY behind the times. But I'm really OLD...maybe Ancient School, my primary concern with my automobile is how it supports my transportation needs. Infotainment and Navigation technology is just a peripheral concern or bonus to me. However, I was raised in a family with a fabled Grandfather who famously bought every vehicle as stripped down as possible, not necessarily for financial reasons but because "all them fancy gadgets, are just something to break". Guess some of that is in my genetics. I don't need my vehicle to rival my living room in so much as "entertainment" options. But for those more "with it" I suppose these information/entertainment system choices are important. I just come from a position where I'm amazed at what my "spartan" Prius Two can do. Hundreds of songs on USB, Blue Tooth synch with a cell phone, and if I plug in my Garmin, I get a beautiful Australian voice, telling me how to get to places. It's hard for me to imagine anyone being "Hugely Disappointed" but? I suppose it's valid. The last vehicle my grandfather bought before passed away was a 1967 Mustang, that had a "gasp" AM radio. The entire family took it as a sign that he knew he didn't have too long because he got all fancy with that "extra".
Actually, the would have had to develop the entire new head unity to support Android Auto and Apple Car as you have to have specific software for it. As a software developer I can say that to make such a drastic change you are looking at a complete redesign or a patch job. Such redesign would probably have made the unit more expensive without providing many benefits. It would be nice to do a market analysis (and they probably did) to see how many users want to pay extra money for support of those two technologies, and how many people actually use it. It is puzzling tho that they didn't make a universal unit for all of their vehicles with those feature, that would surely bring the cost down.
I can absolutely understand that some people want a more stripped-down experience, and good for them... but I don't, and I doubt I'm alone in wanting some niceties. Going from my Gen 2 to my current Gen 3 the thing I liked most was getting a moon roof back in my car! I really missed that in my pre-Prius Toyota cars (Camry, Avalon, Lexus SC400). Usage patterns differ for people as well, of courses. I drive around a lot during the day as part of my job and it's nice to hop in, press Start, and have Google Play Music start streaming over Bluetooth whatever I'm listening to for whatever short jaunt I'm taking. That's fine and works well for me now. When I want to take a longer road trip or change music or whatever, I don't want to refer to my phone directly to mess with it nor do I want to jump through some clunky interface (hello, Entune) to get a job done that should be as easy as pressing a button on the steering wheel and saying, "Play Grimes, Art Angels." As I said, it all comes down to flexibility in servicing differing usage patterns--- and other car manufacturers seem to have done a much better job in this particular area. YMMV.
That's fine. Don't mean to attack your original post. I realize I'm probably as I admitted, behind the times here. It's just that even with a "Stripped Down" entry level 2013 Prius Two, I don't consider it without a LOT of "niceties". The industry, the technology, and the consumer expectations are certainly NOT going to move backwards with me, just because I'm happy. It just illuminates how far we have come, when people are now "Hugely Disappointed" in specific infotainment interfaces to the point of making it an entire vehicle purchase deal breaker. But if you're spending the money? You have a choice or freedom to get what you want and expect. I don't utilize the entertainment/information aspect much beyond my downloaded USB songs, and a Garmin I plug in when I need it. So I fully admit I'm probably NOT the person to evaluate the plus's or minus's of Toyota's decision to remain with "Entune". It's my Grandfather in me, that doesn't grasp the huge disappointment in not being able to say "Google Call Mom" and make a phone call. I'm happy and amazed I can make a phone call from my vehicle....period. You know it wasn't that long ago those things were all wired into your homes? If you wanted to make a phone call while driving you use to have to pull over and find a pay phone. So pushing a few buttons isn't a big deal to me. I tend to think were getting soft. Them fancy things are just something waitin to break. But people do love them fancy things.
For a car touted as Toyota's technological flagship, the included tech is quite a joke - either things at are already obsolete or things that other econo cars had 3 or 4 years ago - with no improvement. Toyota's target demographic for this car must be people in their 50s and 60s. Someone who's mind crystalized in the 1990s and would be dazzled by a miniscule LCD screen on the dash. The younger generations are not going to touch this car. Tech is too important to them. The new prius has nothing new in it
This has been an interesting discussion. It would have been great if Toyota had improved the experience with the infotainment system. It is a disappointment and it is something they should be able to improve in the next several years. Having read so much on Prius Chat and having experienced other companies built in nav systems I can't justify the cost of any of the built in nav systems. Car companies that provide a seamless interface with the users cell phones for Nav and entertainment, without overcharging the customer, will be rewarded by the marketplace. If a $70 dollar Apple TV or Roku can put sound and video from a phone on my TV you would think the screen in my car could do the same thing at a similar cost.
You have to take into account that you are still paying extra for all the hybrid technology inside. VW Golf TDI Automatic (comparable price to Prius) can have nicer head unit for same price because it doesn't have: - battery - inverter - 2 electric motors in a transaxle (it does have fairly complicated gearbox) - such high R&D costs Yeah, as a member of younger generation I was expecting it to support virtual reality at minimum.
I didn't say anything about the cost. Non sequitur? I thought the inclusion of a tape deck in my Gen 2 was pretty funny at the time until I saw the unexpectedly (to me) high number of older people driving Priuses. A little over a decade later, grandma can still have her cd player in the Gen 4 and everyone is happy... except those who wanted VR. Darn whippersnappers :-P
As grandfather myself who kept a 1984 BMW going as my main vehicle until a few months ago, l can relate to the concept of fancy feature failure. I took to calling each one a "guib". Great until it breaks. But extras are very tempting and isn't playing with toys what makes life worth living.
The same thing happened in 2009. "What do you mean there's a 5" monochromatic MID?!? That's a HUGE downgrade from the high resolution 7" LCD in the 2009 Prius!" And even the 7" LCD screen for those cars with navigation were a step down in resolution compared to the 2006-2009 models with navigation. You gain some, you lose some.
