FCA’s Uconnect 5 gets straight to the point
Updated infotainment system one of the industry’s most advanced and user friendly
Let’s be honest, Fiat Chrysler is not exactly known for subtlety or sophistication. Its bestselling vehicle is the most brutish of pickup trucks, and its flagship car is a sports-carcum-aging-sedan that’s YouTube fame is based on its ability to render any tire — even racing slicks — to molten goo in less than 60 seconds.
This is not a company with which we expect trail-blazing technology or intricate introspection. Yet FCA builds one of the most advanced, userfriendly and delicately crafted infotainment systems in the business. Indeed, were it not for Benz’s latest MBUX system and, if we are feeling generous, Audi’s MMI, that sentence would not need the “one of the most” qualifier.
Graphically, it may lack a bit of pizzazz, but technically FCA’s Uconnect is very tough to beat. And it just got better, with the company recently releasing its latest rendition — Uconnect 5.
What sets FCA systems apart — and Lord knows some other automakers ought to take heed — is the corporate theory that no function should require more than two submenus to access. Uconnect 5’s claim to fame may be that most actions require but a single screen tap to access.
No more getting lost in BMW’s Bluetooth hookups. No endless searching for Volvo’s navigation system inputs. No more wandering about in, well, everything that is Jaguar touch screens. “Get straight to the point” might be a good tag line for Uconnect 5.
That said, the new fifth-generation system seems more a compendium of the best features of the latest competitive systems gathered in one place than a true revolution.
Oh, there is some innovation — Uconnect works as well on both portrait and landscape screens and FCA will offer a mix of both across its product lines — but the ability to mix and match stations from various bands in your favourites is pretty common among the best of current systems.
Ditto for the upgrades to Alexa and the ability to wirelessly connect to both Android Auto and Apple CarPlay. It’s interesting to note CarPlay is a little more popular than Android Auto among FCA owners, almost half of owners still use the “native” system exclusively, and the most common usage is some mixing of both. So, for instance, a Jeep owner might use the embedded off-road maps functionality while using CarPlay for their music selection, and a Demon owner might use that car’s performance apps while opting for Google Maps. I suspect that realistic approach to actual user needs is a large part of why Uconnect is so easy to use. Other upgrades, say the boffins at FCA, are a smoother, more realistic voice-control system, Maps Over the Air updates from TomTom, and SiriusXM’s new 360L experience, which combines its traditional stations with a streaming service.
Again, none of those are unique, but it certainly is a complete list. There are also some appreciated little details now allowing that one-touch access I mentioned.
One can now, for instance, alter the temperature of the climate-control system or seat heaters without leaving the radio widget. And, having adopted the “tile” method of displaying its apps, you can control more functions simultaneously. Again, that’s nothing that some other systems don’t offer as individual features. What is unique is having so many of these useful upgrades in one system. Uconnect 5’s only weakness is it doesn’t offer that game-changing feature, the OMG widget that makes a man-machine a must-have rather than “Oh, nice.”
Nonetheless, I suspect that this fifth-generation system will maintain Uconnect’s reputation as the automotive world’s most user-friendly infotainment interface.
Other systems may offer more “Wow!” but Uconnect just gets straight to the point.