UK Version of Mazda "Infotainment" System

I have put these points in another thread, but thought may as well use the dedicated one to appeal to a wider audience. I've titled this as UK in case the US or Oz versions differ.

Having both endured and enjoyed TomTom NB1 on the previous model CX-5 from 2012 here's a few observations on the Mazda "Infotainment" system. I'm not sure if this one is the same as been fitted since TomTom was kicked into touch about 3 years ago - looks identical, but here goes.

Live traffic seems to be a gamble. I'm all set up with "wi-fi" and phone Bluetooth but to date any hold-ups I've encountered have not been announced at all. However at other times I'm advised of congestion on my route although neglects to tell me where, and each time - Nothing there! I'm supposed take out a subscription when my 60 days "free trial" comes to an end. I fail to see the point!

Announcement volume, can be turned down to zero, no voice mute seems available, but then every time an instruction needed to be passed on even though volume set to minimum the r/h speaker would still mute the radio/usb but of course no narrative. Love the diction from the announcer though, for example when setting volume she tells us something like "Your announcements will now be at this Vol-Yoooom!" Additionally if volume (Vol-Yoooom) set to minimum no announcements at all regards speed cameras or if exceeding the speed limit, and the r/h speaker still expects something to be said as it then shuts off the music in anticipation to deliver the announcement.

When playing tracks on USB no indication at all where in the list of tracks the one you are listening to actually lies within the album/file, consequently select an album and will repeat the whole album until you realise that you heard this track some time ago, doesn't even trip into the next album on file either. So a bit like a CD player really, and on a loop.

Another annoyance with the Infotainment system (you can see where my priorities lie on this car thus far) being the main thing as far as I can see where they have not improved upon with the new model, in fact to me a retrograde step!

You cannot turn the entertainment OFF, only MUTE.

So what you may think?

However - if playing a track on USB/CD it does just what it says & mute is what you get, meaning the track carries on silently in the background. If I'm in city traffic and want to concentrate, or if there is a conversation in the car then I'd turn off the sound system and resume later from same place so you would think - no we have moved on to whatever point you happen to have moved on to in the background when you de-select mute and resume sound.

I'll be interested to hear if the above is normal and how owners put up with it all?

Alex.

Hmm, my 2016.5 had this system and I must say that although I struggled entering destinations in the early days I did eventually get to like it. I think most computers will by default always restart reading a file from the beginning although I'm not clever enough in such things to say whether you can get around it.

This thing about turning the radio off keeps popping up on different forums and I think it's the way you think about the infotainment system. The home screen is really the first screen that pops up and that is the one with all the system options. The idea is that it sits there on the dash offering you the different options and that includes audio. If you go to the audio screen then the only real options you need there if you don't want to listen is to mute it or go to another screen or both. If you do both you've achieved what you want - you aren't listening and you can't see it. If you really turned it off as you are saying, wouldn't that turn everything else off too? And in any case, if you consider the older units with an off button, by turning it off, didn't you just open the supply to the sound and mute it? If you don't want to hear it on your current set up, the logic is to mute it and go to the home screen where all the other options remain. The idea behind that as you know is to not touch the screen while driving but learn to use the controls right by your hand without looking at them. Now if looking at the home screen is an irritation then getting rid of it is extremely quick with the command knob. Rotate it to settings and select. You'll find that one of the first options is roll down to screen off or screen off with clock. I sometimes do that at night if I get sick of noise. I think from memory it is two clicks and press followed by two clicks and press. Pressing any button on the command centre or the wheel will bring it back to the home screen. The audio will always continue in the background which is what most want while they fiddle in other screens but to silence it just press mute. When you think about it that way you see that there isn't really a need for an off button, if it's muted it's off as far as the whole system is concerned.

As for pausing stuff well you wouldn't normally expect to pause live radio so it's mute with the volume knob by the command knob or move your thumb to the mute button in on the steering wheel - that pauses the radio. For all other devices, they don't want you messing with the screen so all other inputs via the USB or CD have the first press of the command button to reveal the audio controls and one of them is always pause. So click about twice or three times and then press. If you make or receive a phone call then your input is automatically paused or the radio is automatically muted.

It's just my take on it and like I said it felt a bit clunky at first but once used to it, it made perfect sense and if you consciously learn the commands they are very fast without even looking at them. I love it. Well, really like it!

Anchorman, thanks for your response, you make some valid points and of course it isn't the end of the world.

Anchorman said:

Hmm, my 2016.5 had this system and I must say that although I struggled entering destinations in the early days I did eventually get to like it.

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GPS Sat-Nav wise is very good, accepts voice prompts very well; several ways of entering destinations whether by address line one, town/street post code or point of interest. The screen is clear and laid out quite well - the old Tomtom one was clunky in comparison. It is dead simple to work out and you can access what you want from various options. However "live traffic" simply isn't what it says on the tin!

Anchorman said:

This thing about turning the radio off keeps popping up on different forums and I think it's the way you think about the infotainment system.

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Turning off the radio or in this case radio on mute isn't an issue, as you say you wouldn't expect to pause live radio; an item that is in play-mode is a different matter.

Anchorman said:

The home screen is really the first screen that pops up and that is the one with all the system options. The idea is that it sits there on the dash offering you the different options and that includes audio. If you go to the audio screen then the only real options you need there if you don't want to listen is to mute it or go to another screen or both. If you do both you've achieved what you want - you aren't listening and you can't see it. If you really turned it off as you are saying, wouldn't that turn everything else off too?

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By turning off audio should not disable everything, the last one didn't, what it would do is turn off the mode you are listening to and that's all. Turning off rather than mute will isolate the power supply to the entertainment package only and a simple on/off facility for music player would solve that - it isn't rocket science.

Anchorman said:

And in any case, if you consider the older units with an off button, by turning it off, didn't you just open the supply to the sound and mute it? If you don't want to hear it on your current set up, the logic is to mute it and go to the home screen where all the other options remain.

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Yes but as I say, the USB or CD stays running in the background, by hitting mute you turn the speakers down to zero, if you were playing a CD at home and for example your phone rings you would want to stop part way through and no doubt hit stop, or take the disk out and turn it off, you wouldn't put it on pause for a long period nor would you just zero the volume. You could say; "well take the disc out then" but some of my discs have over 200 tracks and when I put the disc back I'd never know where it left off last time. As an experiment last night I had a CD running and pressed mute - the countdown bar carried on tracking through proving the disc is still in full play mode; so I hit pause on the player screen, that kept the CD in the current position play-wise but listening very carefully the disc was still running in the background, so similar to what I said earlier playing a CD at home if you wanted to take a break you wouldn't pause the disc for a long period.

Anchorman said:

The idea behind that as you know is to not touch the screen while driving but learn to use the controls right by your hand without looking at them.

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Agreed and it is user friendly & dead easy, I had the commander knob on the old one and used it in preference. No mucky fingerprints on the screen either. Furthermore the voice commands are a lot better than the old one.

Anchorman said:

The audio will always continue in the background which is what most want while they fiddle in other screens but to silence it just press mute. When you think about it that way you see that there isn't really a need for an off button, if it's muted it's off as far as the whole system is concerned.

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Sadly not the case, mute is to deaden the speakers not to isolate or stop the play mode.

Anchorman said:

It's just my take on it and like I said it felt a bit clunky at first but once used to it, it made perfect sense and if you consciously learn the commands they are very fast without even looking at them. I love it. Well, really like it!

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To be fair it doesn't take a lot to learn the functions and can always revert to voice commands, and a lot of it is far superior to the old TomTom. I have found one way out of it; if for example I'm playing a USB (Over 200 albums on one of them) all I need do is say "Play DAB Radio" which then sets to radio mode which I then mute, if I go back to USB or CD will pick up where I left off. Might be an unconventional way round it and perhaps not ideal but it works. I guess I'm out of my comfort zone but I think these things could have been dealt with in the R&D stages.