Car touch panel operation takes four times longer than physical buttons

By Glenn Lindberg/Vi Bilägare

In recent years, not only smartphones but also many products such as refrigerators and fans are equipped with touch panels, and the opportunities to operate physical buttons are gradually decreasing. Similarly, the number of car models and models that use large touch panels is increasing in automobiles, and it is now possible to operate air conditioners, music playback, etc. with touch panels. However, a survey by automotive media Vi Bilägare revealed that ``touch panels take longer to operate than physical buttons.''

Physical buttons outperform touchscreens in new cars, test finds | Vi Bilägare
https://www.vibilagare.se/nyheter/physical-buttons-outperform-touchscreens-new-cars-test-finds

Many of the cars that have appeared in recent years are equipped with large touch panels, and many operations can be performed from the touch panel. For example, Tesla's ' Model 3 ' has a 15-inch touch panel that allows you to perform operations such as setting the temperature of the air conditioner and turning on the headlights. According to Vi Bilägare, many automobiles are equipped with touch panels because of the circumstances such as 'It looks smarter', 'Physical buttons are expensive to manage inventory', and 'With touch panels, new functions can be added and modified'. It is said that there is.

Vi Bilägare measured the time required to operate the radio and set the temperature of the air conditioner while driving 11 car models with subjects driving 11 car models to investigate the impact of touch panels on drivers. . As a result, the operation was completed in the shortest time with 'Volvo V70' which does not have a touch panel, the operation took less than 10 seconds, and the mileage to complete the operation was 306m.

By Glenn Lindberg/Vi Bilägare

On the other hand, the one that took the longest time to operate was the ' MG MARVEL R ' equipped with a large touch panel, which took 44.6 seconds to operate and traveled 1372m to complete the operation. It takes more than four times as long as the 'Volvo V70' without a touch panel.

By Glenn Lindberg/Vi Bilägare

Vi Bilägare emphasizes the superiority of physical buttons, saying, ``The operability of touch panels is far inferior to physical buttons.''