Honda Amaze Review: Better Than The Maruti Suzuki Dzire, Despite Its Quirks

The Honda Amaze is a compact sedan that stays under 4 metres in length, and in India, it is mostly sold under the 10 lakh price point. That is a segment where value for money matters a lot. Buyers want a sedan that is easy to live with, easy on the pocket, and loaded with enough features to feel like a proper purchase.

I drove the new Amaze for more than two weeks in and around Delhi-NCR for about 1,000 kilometers over the time. That was enough time to get a clear idea of what the car does well, and where it falls short.

Honda Amaze Review – Design and Styling

The design is the first thing that tells you this is a new Amaze. Honda has used ideas from its own cars here. The front is taken from the Honda Elevate, and the rear is inspired by the Honda City. Both have been packed together in a nice and clean body.

Let me start with the good part. The new Amaze looks better than the previous generation, most definitely. There is no argument about that. The car looks new, it looks neat, and the overall shape is clean. Borrowing from the Elevate and the City also gives the Amaze a family look, so it does not look like an outsider next to Honda’s other cars.

But there is a catch. When I look at the car as a whole, it looks like a make-shift arrangement. The front is from one car, the rear is inspired by another, and you can sense that the Amaze was meant to be a parts-bin car, at least in terms of the exterior styling. Each part is good-looking on its own. Put together, they do not blend into one clear idea.

That is the tricky thing about this design. It is nice and clean, but it does not feel fully original. Anyone who knows Honda’s line-up will spot the Elevate in the front and the City at the back straight away.

I want to be clear that I am not calling the design bad. It is not. The Amaze is easy on the eyes, and it is a clear step up from the previous generation. But I would have liked it to look like one complete design, and not like two designs joined together. In short: it looks better than before, it comes in a nice and clean body, but it looks like a make-shift arrangement. That is how I see the design of the new Amaze.

Honda Amaze Review: Features and Tech

Interiors on the Honda Amaze are much improved. Not only do they do their job, they may be the reason most people will go for the Amaze. The real story inside the Amaze is its feature list, and it is a long one.

Here is what you get:

• Level 1 ADAS
• An 8-inch infotainment display with wireless Android Auto and Apple CarPlay
• Wireless charging
• A semi-digital instrument cluster
• A lane view camera on the left ORVM

There is a lot here, and it is spread across comfort, safety and entertainment. On the entertainment side, the 8-inch display with wireless Android Auto and Apple CarPlay may be small, but it is responsive, bright, and the UI is so much better in the new version. On the safety side, the lane view camera on the left ORVM helps you see the left side of the car, and level 1 ADAS adds a layer of driver assistance. You can turn it off from the instrument cluster. For a sub-4 metre sedan that is mostly sold under the 10 lakh price point, this is a lot of equipment.

Honda Amaze Review: Interiors and Comfort

Comfort is where the Amaze loses some points. When it comes to the larger cabin comfort, I found the Amaze slightly lacking as compared to the Swift Dzire. I say slightly, and I mean slightly. But the gaps are real, and I will go through them one by one.

First, the front seats. They lack thigh support. This is one of those things that you notice only when it is missing. There is also no arm rest in the front, which seems like a small miss but makes quite an impact on the comfort in the front seats.

Third, the rear seats. They have enough space for normal-sized people, and I would not call the back seat tight for most passengers. But anyone above 6 feet may feel cramped. Here is how I see all of this – the cabin is still comfortable for most people, and I do not want to make it sound worse than it is. But next to the Swift Dzire, the Amaze is a step behind in cabin comfort. If comfort inside the cabin is your first priority, the Dzire is the car to compare it with.

Honda Amaze Review: Performance and Drivetrain

The Amaze is powered by a 1.2-litre, 4-cylinder i-VTEC engine, and this is one of the car’s biggest strengths. The one word I would use for this engine is refined. It is very refined. A refined engine stays smooth across rev range and does the job without making a fuss. That is exactly what you want in a car that will be driven around the city every day.

Refinement is not just a number on a spec sheet. This is not a powerful car by any standard. The Amaze barely makes 89 bhop of power and 110Nm of torque. However, the way it revs and how comfortable it is at any revving range, is just beautiful and super comfortable at all times. The engine also has a fun side. At higher revs, it can be fun to drive, but only in the city. On highways, the Amaze will leave you asking for more.

The car is mostly about being comfortable and easy to drive around in the cityˀ, and the refinement supports that. The refinement is there all the time, and the fun is there when you want it. To find that fun side, however, you need to take the engine to higher revs. And that is where the gearbox comes into the picture, which I will get to in a moment.

The engine is paired with a CVT transmission, and this is where my enthusiasm drops a little. If you have driven a CVT car before, you already know about the rubber-band effect. When you press the accelerator, the engine revs go up first, and the car’s speed follows a little later, almost as if the two are connected with a rubber band. In the Amaze, this makes things a bit delayed. There is a small gap between what you ask the car to do and what the car actually does.

I want to be fair here. The engine is refined, and it can be fun at higher revs, but the rubber-band effect of the CVT takes away some of that response. A good engine deserves a gearbox that keeps up with it, and here the CVT does not fully do that. With this 1.2-litre i-VTEC, I would pick a manual transmission.

Now, something I really like about the CVT is the fact that the Amaze comes with paddle shifters. In a car of this size and price, paddle shifters feel like a bonus. They let you take a little more control of the gearbox, and they go well with an engine that is fun at higher revs.

Even the steering wheel feels heavier than usual. It is one of the few issues I have with the Amaze. In a compact sedan that will be used in the city, you want the car to feel easy to handle, and a heavy steering wheel works against that. Whether you are taking a turn, squeezing into a tight spot or parking, the weight of the steering is something you feel in your hands. It is not a deal-breaker, but feels more like a hydraulic steering despite being an electric steering wheel. 

Ride quality is pretty good. The Amaze is a comfortable car to drive in the city. I drove the Amaze in and around Delhi-NCR for more than two weeks, and the ride comfort is as good as you’d expect from a car in this segment. The Amaze takes on potholes and bumps quite well, but it scrapes too easily. This is because the suspension tuning is much on the softer side, not because the ground clearance is not sufficient. The ground clearance on the Amaze is 172mm.

Put the ride quality together with the refined engine and the good fuel efficiency, and you get the core of what makes the Amaze work as a city car.

Fuel efficiency is also good. Over about 1,000 km of driving, the Amaze gave me about 12.3 kmpl. This is a figure from my own driving in and around Delhi-NCR, not from a brochure, and will vary from person-to-person. Fuel efficiency matters in this segment. A car that is easy on fuel is a car that is easy on your monthly budget. What I like is that the good fuel efficiency comes along with a refined engine. You do not have to choose between a smooth engine and a thrifty one. The Amaze gives you both.

One more thing: 12.3 kmpl is what I got, and your number can change with how and where you drive. But as a real-world figure, I would call it good, and it adds to the Amaze’s case as a bang-for-the-buck car.

Review Verdict: Should You Buy the 2026 Honda Amaze?

Smartprix Rating: ⭐7/10

• Design and Build: ⭐7/10
• Features and Tech: ⭐8.5/10
• Driving Pleasure: ⭐6.5/10
• Performance: ⭐7/10
• Comfort and Space: ⭐7.5/10

So, is the Honda Amaze worth buying? In my view, it is a bang for the buck.

At its core, the Amaze is a very basic car. But what Honda has put around that basic car is far from basic. You get a super refined engine. You get best-in-class features. You get a ride that is pretty good and decent fuel efficiency. You get a cabin that is rather comfortable for most people. That is a strong set of positives, and it is why the Amaze deserves a serious look in this segment.

At the same time, the Amaze is not a perfect car. The steering wheel felt heavier than usual. The front seats lack thigh support. The CVT’s rubber-band effect makes things a bit delayed. None of these is a deal-breaker on its own. Together, though, they take some shine off an otherwise strong package. I give the Honda Amaze a 3.5 out of 5.

Who should buy the Amaze? If you want a refined engine, a long feature list and a comfortable ride for the city, the Amaze makes a strong case. If you and your passengers are bigger than what is considered normal-sized, there are more spacious cabins in this segment. And if you like the idea of paddle shifters, you get them here too.

First reviewed in October 2026.