I am a fairly new 2022 NX 450h+ owner and I have recently discovered the Bluetooth phone connection is problematic. At least half the time it is so bad I can’t even tell what the caller is saying since it cuts in and out so bad, or it’s screeching. Other times it is mostly OK, but not as good as our ES or former RX. On those rare occasions, perhaps about 1/3 of calls, it sounds fine. I haven’t yet figured out if there is a pattern with respect to which end places the call. Bottom line is I often have to grab the phone and move the call back to the phone, which is way too distracting in a moving vehicle.

Am I the only one with these problems? I ran a couple of search variations here in the 2nd gen subforum and didn’t find anything to suggest this is a common problem. Thoughts?

 

Your 2022 NX can provide wireless Apple Car Play or Android Auto which uses WiFi rather than Bluetooth.
Much better network for phone and text and required for using the phone's Navigation App(s).
Open Settings and tap the ACP/AA toggle. WiFi and Bluetooth are mutually exclusive, using one turns off the other.
Another tip, how often do you cycle the phone Off, stone cold, dead, dark, Off? Once a week ought to do it.

 

Thanks. Good ideas, although neither my wife or I are fans of Apple CarPlay. Is it possible to use WiFi without ACP? As for the phone, I am retired IT so yes I know the phone needs to be shut off and restarted periodically. I did also see recommendations to unpair and repair the phone but I haven't had an opportunity to give that a try just yet.

 

The WiFi system can be used to create a Hotspot in the car for a fee after the 90 day trial but that is to connect devices to the internet.
The WiFi connection to your phones is free but is controlled by either ACP or AA. Why, may we ask, are you reticent to use ACP?

 

Not here -- it has always worked perfectly for me in the few months I've had this car, but mine is a 2025 model so there may have been improvements in the Bluetooth system.

Have you tried deleting the connection in your phone's Settings and then re-pairing it?

 

That is a good question and I'm not entirely sure I can give you a good answer. We have tried it but just don't see that it adds anything (perhaps this is THE thing). We like using Sirius radio and favor the native Lexus nav for our limited nav needs - and the ACP map is quite a bit smaller. We tried CarPlay again for a few days since this car now makes it wireless, and ultimately went back to the native Lexus apps. So no, we aren't dead set against ACP, we just didn't find it added anything meaningful based on our needs/expectations. I'm certainly willing to listen if anyone wishes to convince me of its value. I should also explain that we don't live on our phone like some folks so perhaps we don't see the benefit to being tied to the car. I guess I need to explore it again and try making phone calls while using it.

 

I'm trying to think of what the native Lexus functionality does better than ACP or AA, and frankly (at least for nav and apps), I can't think of a single thing. Perhaps the ability to talk with a real person to get navigation help for destinations, but I've not actually tried that myself. I've generally found the Lexus nav to be ok sometimes, but weird. It'll take me thru an alley way meandering thru dumpsters instead of the main street if it'll save me 5 seconds of travel time. I once tried to use it to navigate to home without taking the highway (looking for a scenic route). Big mistake. Instead of adding about 30 minutes just taking nearby country roads instead, it routed me hours out of my way trying to find a (non highway) major road instead of the country roads. I was about halfway along before I clued in this nav system has no idea where its going and switched back to Google Maps. It was since that point I've never used it again. And I also laugh whenever I happen to just have left the Lexus map on the screen. There is one place where it pops a warning "entering school zone", but there is no school there. But every other school zone I really go thru, no warning. LOL. But I guess what drives most people away from the Lexus navigation is the cost, once your free subscription is up and provided people already have a phone with data, its not cheap for something that brings really no extra (or perhaps less) value.

You should be able to make the ACP map go full screen just by tapping it, at least that's the way it works in AA. I do agree that switching between ACP/AA and the Lexus radio controls isn't very handy, but I blame the Lexus interface more than I do ACP/AA. At least recent software releases has made it much easier to drop out of the ACP or AA interface back to Lexus Interface. I hear Google is working towards an AA release that will allow control of the radio functions of the native interface via the AA interface as well. That would be so cool, and hopefully Apple follows. However, I'm not sure when this does happen, if that will require a Lexus firmware update to allow it to work.

But in the end, if you're happy with the Lexus interface, that's all the really matters.

 

The only thing the Lexus nav does better than CarPlay is the hud street names never get cut off. :lol:

 

That issue was fixed by Apple in the last IOS release.

 

While I was at the service i inquired about software updates as my wife new Samsung phone doesn't always synch automatically unlike her previous Samsung.

 

I spent some time on a 90 minute drive this afternoon using ACP. I even tried a relatively successful phone call - which was much better than Bluetooth calls, but still with some weird squelching behavior at initial moment of speech from the other end. Still not as good as Bluetooth in the ES, but much better than it has been in this vehicle using Bluetooth. I will continue to explore but I still like the native nav screen better - and it shows congestion whereas Apple Maps doesn’t seem to. I guess I should have spent more time exploring ACP before discounting it. If it solves my phone issues perhaps it is worth it, plus I see it is very easy to switch back to the native Lexus apps as desired. Using ACP doesn’t appear to take anything away from those native apps, so I’m not sure why I was so reluctant to use it more.

 

oh I know, I’m just saying it will never happen to the Lexus nav 😂

 

Thank you for giving ACP a try. An important difference is how you use the steering wheel "talk" button. A short stab of the button talks to the car.
This can be used for commands such as: "Tune 93.1 FM' or "Change the temperature to 69 degrees". A long press is how you now address your phone.
Before you were enabling ACP/AA you would press short so the car would instruct the phone. Now you address the phone for Maps and Phone and Music directly.

Couple of useful tips when talking to devices, Cars, Phones, Alexa Dot home speakers... They don't talk as fast as we do, always wait for an acknowledgement.
Second, always begin your command with a Verb. Just blurting out "Home" will confuse them, Call Home? Go Home?
"Dial 630-123-4567", "Call Mary Smith home", "Text John Jones mobile", "Go Home", "Find nearest Wendy's", "I need directions to the Glendale Costco"

Apple Maps and Google Maps can show traffic conditions as do Waze and the native Lexus Navigation. Tap the icon in the upper right corner of Apple Maps
and select Driving rather than Explore. If you leave Maps open on your phone it will populate conditions. Tends to use more phone battery BTW.
Happy Motoring!