When it comes to buying a new car there’s always a lot to think about. Vehicle safety? Sure. Fuel efficiency? Now more than ever.
But in-car technology is arguably the most important, as it impacts your daily driving experience more than anything. Unfortunately, many manufacturers are still getting it wrong no matter how much money you part ways with for your brand-new car.
Side note – if you missed it, we actually bought a Boss Hunting Chery Omoda 5. Click here to read and watch the process, and also consider learning more about the Omoda 5’s design and value proposition in these articles.
We’ve driven plenty of cars during our time at Boss Hunting, and it’s laughable to think you can still spend upwards of $750,000 on a Bentley, but still have to fork out extra for wireless carplay. As far as bang for buck at the other end of the scale is considered, it’s hard for us not to shout from the rooftops about the tech offering in Chery’s new Omoda 5. Is it the most tech-loaded cross SUV in its class? Decide for yourself below.
At $29,990 before on-roads, a quick glance at the spec sheet for the baseline BX model proves the Omoda 5 ticks all the right boxes. A modest jump in price ($32,900) will unlock the Omoda 5 EX – and this is where the tech features really start to shine through for not a whole lot extra coin.
It kicks off with an automatic unlock of the car when you approach the driver’s door, followed by a keyless pushbutton start. The centre console features a pair of Alcantara padded charging pads – one for your phone and one for the vehicle’s key, with the former charging almost instantly when you put your phone down. Underneath you’ll find a pair of charging ports for both USB-A and USB-C cables, as well as a second USB-A port for the rear seats.
It’s hard to believe the features list keeps going at this price point, but it does. For the driver and passenger up front, the Chery Omoda 5 features twin 10.25-inch digital displays for the instrument cluster and the infotainment touchscreen that are both seamlessly integrated into the same panel, with the infotainment system connected to an eight-speaker sound system from Sony. The cabin’s wrap-around ambient lighting is reminiscent of something you might find in a Mercedes S-Class, and it even pulses to the music if you desire.
You’ll also be able to access the wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto via the touchscreen infotainment display, which connects to your phone without fail every time you get in the car, and is quite snappy and responsive on the touch. The layout of this system is quite intuitive and is also where you’ll find the two-zone climate control for the front and rear seats of the Chery Omoda 5, but if you’re driving and can’t look at the screen, there’s also a voice assistant that can help you with everything from music volume to raising or lowering the windows. Simply say the command “Hello Chery” – and you never have to take your eyes off the road to action all the essential car operations.
And while technically in the remit of “safety” – it takes an impressive amount of technology also deliver myriad driver-assist features to make the trip effortless and secure. For when you’re pulling a long haul up the Hume Highway, the driver attention monitor reminds you to keep your eyes on the road (via a small eye movement tracking camera mounted on the steering column), while the lane-keep assist can deliver small corrections to your steering to ensure you remaining centred in your lane on the road. A feature you’re likely to see on most cars these days, but one that remains invaluable while behind the wheel, is the blindspot checking assistant that comes standard with the Omoda 5.
There’s nothing worse than getting to the end of a long drive and the only park you can find is impossibly small, but the Chery Omoda 5 EX has added a high-resolution 360-degree camera and a number of parking sensors around the Omoda 5, as well as an electronic park brake, to make this task as straightforward as possible. Not only can you see all around the vehicle from the driver’s seat via these cameras, but you’re also able to select specific cameras to get the best possible birds-eye view of any potential obstacles as you’re maneuvering into a car park.
As far as safety goes, the Omoda 5 didn’t earn itself a five-star Euro NCAP rating by accident. You’re getting autonomous emergency braking, adaptive cruise control, traffic jam assist and even traffic sign recognition all included as standard. Obviously, on top of that, it also features front, front-side, front-centre and curtain airbags in the event there’s an accident.
Packed with tech from the front to the rear bumper, the team at Chery have clearly given a lot of thought to what the Omoda 5 needed to include, not only from how pleasant the experience of driving is but also importantly from a safety perspective, especially on longer drives. When you consider what they’ve managed to pack into the car and the price they’re able to deliver it to their dealer’s showrooms, the Chery Omoda 5 immediately goes from the longlist to the shortlist if you’re in the market for a new car.
This article is sponsored by Chery. Thank you for supporting the brands that support Boss Hunting.
