Yes I have a older Mazda, but I never use the touch screen, everything I need to do, I do via the buttons & dial on the centre console.

 

I'm not sure what you think it would display? So.uh yes: one of the primary purposes of the HUD (in any car) is to show speed, which it does in big bold letters.

 

Yes. I confirm that it has digital speed that is easy to read. We have a 2021 CX-5 Signature.

 

Old thread, but I'm adding my $0.02: I completely disagree. With the dial, I feel I constantly have to look at the screen to see where the "cursor" is and make sure I'm where I want to be. I find it easier in my wife's car to look at the screen, see what I need to press, look back at the road and press it while my eyes are on the road. My brain works well enough that I usually "remember" where I looked and touch the right place on the screen.

 

The older Mazda system was extremely intuitive. I knew how many clicks for almost everything I wanted to do. I would only glance at the screen once or twice a cycle.

The new Mazda system demands constant attention to make any adjustment. With XM, you have to scroll down 200 lines to move from station 199 to 200 if it is not in a preset. Worse yet, to find the nearest Gass station, you may have to pull over to get the ability to scroll down. Give me a touch screen and I can poke at it when I can to get where I need to be.
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I would actually prefer a touchscreen and the strange thing is the manual does show a type A screen that is touch (it is the one that is a bit more square) and a type B (the one that is elongated) . I could not see a way to order one verses the other. It seems to me that they just wanted to put in a lower priced unit.

The other thing is that there is nothing intuitive about the electronic controls. Ex. When you turn off water you turn it to the right, you turn it on to the left . Doesn't seem obvious that the volume control would work the same way. It is backswords. I would think that Mazda would bring in a number of people that are not familiar with their product to determine if the controls are intuitive to use.

 

Hey Siri [address] Hey Siri GO.

 

In essence, we use our lcd screens as a proxy to transmit important media and information from our smartphones towards ease of visibility. These applications on our smartphones are built for touch screen UI use and this extends to the way a user experiences the content when navigating. This being said, it was not created to navigate with a rotary dial... go ahead and try using it on Android Audio. It's ridiculous and utter non-sense. I can attest to it for the purposes of using apps designed for touch use. Using a rotary for native nav in the Mazda infotainment system suffices due to the Ui simplicity and use case.

The fact that Mazda even waited until 2019 to introduce smart app technology in part of resting on their laurels, engineering pride and ultimatly their hubris certainly lead up to their subsequent and inevitable failure in the percpective of a lot global consumers. How could this not become a major contribution as to why they opted-in for the use of touch screens in the 2024 models. Another point of contention and failure is their wireless charging in the top trim models... they simply don't charge efficiently...why? For the price point of their vehicles it becomes baffling to contemplate the reason why this would even be an issue, especially compared to companies such as Hyundai whom have had touch screens since 2015 and wireless in 2017, albiet it in higher trim models and also introducing its full potential in later modern 2024 models as well. The point still stands. Mazda has failed on a several technological levels and focusing too much on transmissions, powertrains, and design aspects all the while negating the important merging of current technologies that consumers are attached to using daily.

Smartphones are apart of our daily life and going without makes little sence in our technologically dependent world. Going without our smart tech and reverting back to archaic flip phones is culturally laughable and makes little sense in our future driven society. I view Mazda's issues as a smarphone vs flip phone situation. They have to catch up and simply understand the global market needs and wants more intuitively rather than rest on the opinions of "the engineers know best" propelling attitudes. News flash... Your engineers and CEO does not know best...the consumer knows best cause it our money we're giving you. And yes, consumers can simply stop complaining and not buy Mazda products, but we do enjoy aspects of the brand and as a consumer, we are attempting to help your falling sales volumes in global markets, especially in the US where they are almost diminishing. Canada seems to have a more loyalistic following of buyers and I'm sure their are specific reasons for this. Sadly, I just don't see a future beyond 2030 for the brand. This also applies for most legacy brands such as Toyota whom created the CX-50, perplexingly relying on the Toyota's hybrid CVT architecture after putting so much effort into refining their own classic tried-and-true 6-speed transmissions that are proven to be superior and reliable over cheap Continuous Variable Transmissions tech that is prone to overheating, slipping, droning issue etc. Mazda claims reasons of Toyota's efficiency but the CX-5 is not. In fact, it's built in the US and not even in Japan like the CX-5. These are red-flags to most consumers and Mazda fans I've personally spoken too and it does boad well in regards the companies future...if at all applicable.

I think Mazda can still fill the gap unti 2030 while we all wait for the holy grail of Solistate or Sodium battery tech to be introduced to mass auto market but it's not certain where Mazda's brand ends up by this time. They would likely become cannibalized by Toyota as a niche brand under their wings since Toyota already has investment stakes into the company and building for them already. I just hope they would not suffer the same fate as SCION did. The question is can even Toyota survive the battery technology arms race against Chinese brand already 20 year ahead essentially. If they can't compete, than Mazda will surely die with them unfortunatley. Not a great outcome but simply reality. We can discuss taxes and tarriffs against Chinese brand infiltrating North American markets and how it will remain a deterent but they may only work for so long until SHTF for legacy auto. It's just a matter of time cause it's already happening but I'd like to still see Mazda as a company offering in 2030 onwards competing on a proper technological level against BYD, NIO etc. wishful thinking purhapes but it would be nice and I'm sure all Mazda fans would preferrably not see the company go the way of Kodak did very unexpectedly like a deer in headlights.