Nav in my 2023 CX5 carbon edition is awful . worst i have ever seen.

 

Read the navigation manual and play some time with it while your car is parked.
The navigation isn't perfect (which one is?), but it is very extensive and it takes some time to learn how to use all the options to your advantage.

 

I am not very familiar with any Nav systems so I cannot say if it is a good system. I think the screen is small.
Do all Mazda systems need the SD card plug-in feature? Can Nav work if you do not have a card?
My wife has always used her iPhone for Nav in the cars and she is likely to want to stay with that.
Is there an advantage to the Mazda system in comparison to what the iPhone can do?

 

It's larger (10,25") than a smart phone.

You need the nav SD-card to use the built-in navigation.

She can always try something new

Instantly available.
Speed ​​signs detected and displayed on the dashboard and head-up display. Navigation instructions in the head-up display, although in the latest versions these are also available with your phone's navigation.

It is also a question of taste. Many people prefer the phone and others the built-in navigation.

 

They all have their quirks and Mazda's is no different.
Personally, I prefer maps and writing down my routes and turns.
It was always part of the fun of planning trips especially getting the font size for the paper I used in my clear motorcycle tank bag map pouch.
In my 56 years of driving, I've never been lost and not out it the woods in my 72 years either.
Though when I was 28, I did end up 4 houses away once on my first trip to my friend's fiancées' parent's house on Glen Cove, NY Long Island.
But it was 1am and I couldn't see the house numbers.
And I did have to reorient myself once on a wilderness fishing expedition though I blame that on the pissed off mother black bear and her cubs.
But I had a decent topo map and a great compass.
In either case there were no cell phones or GPS back then.
The only thing I use my GPS for is for restaurants and pubs...

 

Yes, those were the days!
A piece of paper taped to the dashboard with the main highway interchanges, cities and road numbers for a 900km (600mi) trip from the Netherlands to the German Alps...

 

Hmmm I never drive anywhere without a good old fashion MAP in the car. I even just got one to take with us when we go on vacation this year. I will be renting a car and want to have back up "no BATTERIES" or WIFI/internet needed if I get lost LOL

 

Don't feel bad. Daniel Boone once replied when asked if he had ever been lost in the wilderness, "No, but I've been a mite bewildered for a few days."

 

+1...road atlas in the trunk...just in case...cause eagle scouts are always prepared

 

I was often bewildered back in my younger days especially on fishing/hunting trips.
But it was from self-induced consumption of certain substances and liquids which were definitely not required for nutritional needs...