Infotainment Review: Holden Astra

Is having a button labelled “valet mode” in a somewhat every-man car from Holden more than just a posh button for new Astra owners to push? We road-tested the latest iteration of Holden’s MyLink infotainment system fitted in our test Astra RS-V 2017 to find out.

Raising the bar
Holden has successfully managed to build upon its last system, and this time around, as is being seen in many new cars, Apple with CarPlay and Google with Android Auto are part of the mix. However, again, as we are finding with many vehicles, there are better ways to utilise the functionality that CarPlay and Android Auto bring. MyLink manages to eclipse both systems with its own setup and unique features.

The most obvious example of this is the satellite navigation system. MyLink uses bright, but clear colours for guidance accompanied by clear voice instructions and large fonts for easy reading. This is a real step up from the previous version, which was essentially the most cluttered and confusing aspect of MyLink.

Touch screen technology
The touch screen has just the right responsiveness you want, not too slow, and for our tastes, not too touchy. That is a delicate art for those installing touch-screen based systems in cars; when driving, it can be quite difficult to be 100 per cent accurate with your screen poking. Having the system respond effectively, but also forgivingly, undoubtedly decreases driver frustration and offers an overall better user experience.

Only this RS-V model gets the 8” colour touch screen (and DAB digital radio for that matter) as standard. On the R and RS Astra expect a slightly smaller screen (7”) and no satellite navigation.

There is pinch and zoom for the map screen, however no rotation. If selected, the navigation will dynamically zoom the map display as required, honing in on a junction, or pulling back to give an expanded street layout view as it sees fit. It works well once you adjust your peripheral view to allow for the rather distracting zoom animation.

Voice control and Bluetooth
Voice control is well integrated with excellent recognition, logical progression of commands and nicely guided for those new to the feature. The options controlled by voice are rather limited in scope; however, the system includes a relatively rare voice activated keypad, useful for dialling known phone numbers.

On that, Bluetooth connectivity is quick and the microphone and speakers provide quality calls. One fancy feature found usually only on high-end systems is the SMS text-to-voice. Having incoming texts read out loud is both convenient and well instituted, and a feature that should be more common place in modern cars.

The not-so-great
There are some minor quirks to deal with; selecting “temp” gives some info about the air-conditioner, but no option to control it. This is mitigated by the fact that the manual controls are not far away at all.

The system offers Android Auto, including the Projection of Android apps onto the screen, this, however, as most things with the Android operating system, is rather hit-or-miss depending on your handset. We could not get the system to work with the phones we had available.

The HoldenEye system (similar to the Subaru EyeSight) provides lane-departure warning and a well calibrated head-up collision warning. It does not react too often to normal driving situations, but if need be the system will provide braking assist, or even going full-on application of the brakes to avoid a collision.

The alarms on the parking proximity sensors are just a little too loud, and annoying if stuck stationary in city traffic, detecting pedestrians ducking between cars. It can be switched off if needed, but it could be slightly smarter at times.

The final word
MyLink is a generational change, however, while CarPlay will feature in the advertisements for the Astra, the infotainment provided by the General’s programmers is largely superior, and should be lauded for the cues it takes from CarPlay and Android Auto in doing so.

Clarity, simplicity of use and a feature set that will provide for the modern car buyer is the best mix of bang-for-buck tech implementation you can ask for.