Lexus human interface issues and climate control discussion
 

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It wasn't that long ago where Lexus made technology that was relatively easy to use. But for the last 5 years, they can't seem to get away from the stupid laptop style track-pad?

The trackpad and confusing menu system is doing opposite of their 'philosophy' highlighted above.

Hope you have the flamesuit on, its about to get hot up in here

really? there are defenders of this crap?

bmw and merc and audi have already brought back the touch screen, and they still have remote touch for redundancy for those luddites who refuse to use touch.

If your car has 1 or more huge screens then touch may not be ideal (looking over to find the right spot to touch on a large area is pretty distracting). My car doesn't have touch screens and I don't really miss it or there finger prints!. I like voice commands a lot, it has loads of buttons, a 'regular' round controller. Of course mb and nmw now offer hand gesture recognition which is pretty cool too.

wow that's terrible! love the heat/cool controls on my g90's seats because it's simply one rocker button for each seat and 3 red and 3 blue lights on each to show the level of heat/cool. (button in between shown below is heated steering wheel). the button below that (angles up) is the rear power sunshade.

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I've have used the Lexus RTI in both its configurations (physical controller i.e. '10 HS, '14+'17 RX and touchpad i.e. RC F, NX). Also have had past models with touchscreens (i.e. 05, 07 RX, 08 IS). Throw in the current Stinger with a touchscreen and I have had many cars with both types to formulate my preference.

I prefer ALL day long, ANY day, the Lexus RTI, but has to be the touchpad, specifically with minimal force feedback selected. Main reasons:

- Prefer the better line of sight provided by the recessed screen.
- No finger prints.
- Prefer the ergonomic comfort of controlling the cursor while my arm is already rested on the center arm rest vs reaching over/bending forward with a touchscreen.
- And yes, I have no issues with the precision/control/selection using the RTI though it takes time to "master it" compared to the direct selection of a touchscreen.

The problem with the media/reviewers is they do not use the RTI long enough to get used to it so the majority of them trash it. Of course some Lexus owners don't like it either. To each their own.

Our '19 BMW has both the controller and touchscreen and I find myself, just out of habit, using the controller more often. I'm getting more used to the touchscreen option and agree that it's quick and convenient. Having both options for now is a plus imo.

I've had 3 Lexus products with RTI, 3 Lexus products with touchscreen navigation and 1 with no screen. I truly don't understand what people's major malfunction is with the RTI. Now, I don't have a car with the new interface, but my Jeep didn't have physical buttons for the heated seats and heated wheel, nor does my Pacifica or any other Mopar uConnect vehicle. Is it annoying? A little. Is it a big deal? No.

For me, the RTI systems are the same as the touchscreen systems, you just make selections with a mouse or trackpad. Do I wish my computer was touchscreen? No.

The bottom line today is you just can't sit in an advanced vehicle and know how everything works. You need to take a little time to learn the interface. I don't find that any different from anybody else's systems. When I sit in a Mercedes or a BMW or an Audi which I do fairly often as I test drive a lot of cars, I don't immediately know how to do much.

I just helped my friend buy a 2016 ES350 with RTI, and he is a total technophobe. He literally cant even get on a web browser and find a website, the people at our office had to set websites up as icons on his computer desktop. He's totally overwhelmed by the tech in the ES, which doesn't have much tech, but the RTI is not an issue for him, even a little bit.

I really don't get it. On top of that, once you do the voice training Lexus' voice recognition is pretty good. In the new LS its dynamic and attached to the cloud. You can just hit the button and say "put the heated seats on high" and it will. There are no specific commands, its like talking to Alexa. Oh, and 2019 Lexuses have Alexa! You can just tell Alexa to do that too, or set a destination, etc.

they have laser sensors for every occupant and automatically determine what kind of heating/cooling you need. Otherwise, sure, even Corolla has buttons for heated seats.

it is mostly because journalists spend few hrs with the car and dont care to learn how it works, or people who come from different interface spend 20m in Lexus test drive and it is annoying... and also because by default, it is set to most sensitive setting so if you are unused to it, it is hard to hit things.

Same for voice control, if you are there for 10 minute test drive, you will not bother to use voice training... now with Alexa, there is really no excuse as it is most used system in the world.

It's just not that big of a deal to me. My Highlander and my GS have the same system, but the Highlander is a touchscreen while the GS is remote touch. My wife and I both prefer the remote touch. I like how the wrist-wrest helps me to steady my hand, how my hand can naturally rest there - versus reaching/stretching to the touchscreen, and I like how the GS screen is higher up and recessed under a hood, which wouldn't work with a touchscreen.

I am not a fan of touchscreens overall, but it wouldn't stop me from buying one.

For some reason its cool for journalists to rag on Lexus, while the same learning curve exists for everybody else's systems too. I drove a new Audi A8 a couple weeks ago and if you asked me to turn on the heated seats, I would have had no clue. Its not different for them, but they praise Audi's MMI and condemn Lexus' enform, Is the MMI better? Yes, but the Enform is not "terrible".