Infotainment in the Defender: clogging instead of splashing

The new Land Rover Defender also brings the house’s new infotainment platform. It is called Pivi Pro and not only consists of improved hardware and software, but also allows a connection with numerous online services. This is no longer clogging, but clogging: Standard equipment includes a Sim card built into the vehicle with a data package that contains a whopping 20 gigabytes per month. Applications include music streaming, synchronization with Google or Outlook calendars and the connection of your own apps to the car. Furthermore, as usual, there is an electronic location and notification in case of theft. These packages are called Secure Tracker and Se·cure Tracker Pro.

Michael Spehr (misp.), Technology & Engine, Economy Follow I follow

You can use the smartphone app to control the central locking or the air conditioning of the Defender, record trips and send destinations to the navigation system. Whoever enters the new Defender will probably first admire the tidy cockpit with its clean lines. Above the selector lever of the automatic transmission and the controls for the air conditioning is a touch-sensitive screen, which has a diagonal of 10 inches in the standard equipment, but at a surcharge of 140 euros with 11.4 inches offers more overview.

While the infotainment of the house used to be characterized by many small elements, Land Rover has decided to modernize, which minimizes driver distraction. Now exactly three tiles are displayed on the display and can be selected via a quick menu on the left: navigation, entertainment, telephony. In this way, basic functions are quickly accessible. With a few simple steps you can expand the tiles by your own, it may be up to nine. Each tile shows three Submenus. The telephone department, for example, for the quick dial of the answering machine. If you only stay on the top level, you will be minimally distracted.

The new infotainment platform of the house is called Pivi Pro. : Image: Manufacturer

However, if you want to go into the depth of the details, you choose a menu for entering a second operating world, which contains all the fullness of functionality. This is best done in a stationary vehicle. Here you can, once again with a tap on slightly smaller buttons, for example, display the cameras of the vehicle, retrieve driving data or set up driving programs for water crossings and other details in off-road use.

Overall, the new Pivi Pro with its reduced menus and the view of the essentials is a successful revision. Many small details can only be discovered after prolonged testing: the system can mute the voice announcements of the navigation on request when the vehicle is travelling in a familiar environment. For the morning drive to the office just the right setting, because you do not need any commands, but want to avoid traffic jams and other traffic disruptions. As in its predecessor, the Navi often identifies routes driven, even if they were not explicitly entered as a Navi destination. The announcements are clear and precise, there is nothing to find fault.

Overall, the new Pivi Pro with its reduced menus and the view of the essentials is a successful revision. : Image: Manufacturer

Speech recognition remains in need of improvement. It often does not recognize many things, and the fact that you have to audition for the long command “Enter address as destination” is not up to date. It doesn’t help that you can activate the assistant not only with the steering wheel button, but also with “Hey Land Rover”.

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