Today I drove the BMW iX M60 from BMW North America’s Press Car headquarters back home about 100 miles away. Several times during that trip, I cursed BMW’s penny-pinching execs for deciding to cram climate control into a touchscreen. ), and the touchscreen climate control is insane. And that’s me being kind and PG. Ultimately, my frustration was validated, as a report from Sweden proved that buttons are better than touchscreens. This time, it’s science.
Yalopnik We covered this Swedish magazine’s button and touchscreen experiment, and it’s beautifully simple. Some with touch screens, some with buttons, some with a mix of both. Each subject was given sufficient time to acclimate to the controls of each vehicle prior to testing. The cars ranged from new with touchscreens like a BMW iX and a Tesla Model 3 to older ones with only buttons like a 17-year-old Volvo.
The test asked each subject to perform certain functions and see how long it took them to perform them, while measuring how much distance they traveled in the meantime. was traveling at 68 mph, so the distances measure equally.
With its myriad of physical buttons and dials, the Volvo proved to be by far the fastest of all cars in testing. At 306 meters he completed all four tests in just over ten seconds. This was far superior to any other car with a touch screen. In contrast, it took him just over 30 seconds and over 900 meters for the driver to complete the same four tasks in his BMW iX. Buttons are better than touchscreens, and science proves it.
We didn’t include them in our testing before anyone mentioned voice control. In the same amount of time the car listens to and processes the user’s requests and performs the requested tasks, he can also use the button three times.
Admittedly, for the iX, there’s a lot you can do with physical buttons. However, climate control is touchscreen only and can be infuriating to use, especially on bumpy roads and dense highway traffic.BMW and Other Automakers Say Touchscreens Are Better Than Buttons You can always point to actual evidence to the contrary.
[Source: Vibilagare via Jalopnik]