Consumer Reports recently rated factory radios by a new standard—the degree of “no phone contact needed” while making calls, texting and navigating.
Consumer Reports found that owners of Ford Sync 3 were much more likely to use the radio for tasks versus their phone. But owners of a HondaLink system, for example, often used their phone for tasks versus the radio.
“Drivers want an infotainment system that is quick, responsive, and easy to understand. But if the system doesn’t work well, drivers will often turn to the device they know best: their phone. That choice can be more distracting—and dangerous,” said Jake Fisher, senior director of auto testing at CR.
So Consumer Reports created a “hands off” score based on more than 60,000 responses gathered from vehicle owners.
Drivers with CarPlay or Android Auto radios were more likely to use the radio than the phone. General Motors, Jaguar, Alfa Romeo in addition to Honda received the lowest scores for radio use vs phone use.
Here are some of the results showing the percentages of car owners that prefer to use their radio rather than phone for calls, navigation and texting. For the full chart click here.
