Being both a tech and automotive reviewer has led me to become a bit of an infotainment expert. Infotainment systems are now one of the center points in your car’s interior. From your car settings to in-car entertainment, almost everything inside is centered around the infotainment display. Over the past few months, I have reviewed a few cars: cheap cars, expensive cars, mid-range cars. The most popular being the mid-range segment in India. In the mid-range around ₹20 lakh segment, compact SUVs or the C-segment SUVs, as we call them, are the most popular currently and I have tested five of the latest generation cars recently. With that, I have also got the chance to use my tech experience to review the infotainment systems of each of them separately.
In this article, I will compare each of them based on the brightness, sharpness, responsiveness, UI, size, and audio quality. In the end, I will tell you what I think about each of them. What exactly did I like and dislike about each of them, and finally, which one of them do I think is the best. Here are the contenders:
- 2026 Skoda Kushaq
- 2026 Kia Seltos
- Maruti Suzuki Grand Vitara
- Hyundai Creta
- MG Aster
All of the current generation cars, with the Kushaq and the Kia Seltos being the latest upgrades. Let’s go!
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-Skoda Kushaq 2026 | Smartprix Rating – 4/5
The Skoda Kushaq was the latest car that I reviewed. The 2026 upgrade of the Skoda Kushaq has a new and upgraded 10.1-inch infotainment display, along with a 6-speaker in-house sound system. The infotainment system on the 2026 Skoda Kushaq is quite an improvement over the last generation. The screen is bigger, it’s sharper, it’s brighter, and I feel that the UI has improved significantly as compared to the previous generation.
The only thing that I didn’t like is the fact that the volume controls are on the display. For the passenger, when you are in the Android Auto or Apple CarPlay setting, the only way to do it is to swipe through the edge of the display, which not everybody is able to get in the first go and take some time to figure out.
The sound system is also very good. The 6-speaker Skoda Sound system is definitely an upgrade over the previous one. This time, we’re also getting a sub-woofer that adds a much-needed richness to the audio. Out of five, we will give this a solid four.
-Kia Seltos 2026 | Smartprix Rating – 4.5/5
The Kia Seltos 2026 infotainment system is probably the best one in this segment. Yes, this is the one I’ve mentioned in the headline (my favourite among these), but not only because it is the biggest display (12.3-inch) but also because it has the best user experience, and the display itself is the biggest, most slick, and probably the brightest. Not only that, all essential controls like the climate, volume, and others are physical buttons and dials below the infotainment. Yes, you can adjust things from the screen and most car settings are also still only accessible through the touchscreen, but every essential control is also given as analog.
The UI is good. Sure, it may not be as aesthetically pleasing as the Skoda one, but it works better. With the new Seltos we’re also getting wireless Android Auto and Apple CarPlay in the top-end variants. Importantly, in the last generation the higher-end variants didn’t have wireless Android Auto and Apple CarPlay. That has been fixed this time around.
Even the sound quality is probably the best-in-segment. With the new Kia Seltos, we get up to a 8-speaker Bose surround sound system which offers very good sound. The bass may be a bit on the higher side for the audiophiles, but for a regular car commuter, this is really good. The 2026 Kia Seltos gets the highest points – 4.5 out of 5.
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-Maruti Suzuki Grand Vitara | Smartprix Rating – 3/5
The Maruti Suzuki Grand Vitara’s infotainment display seemed to be the most outdated of all. This is the same infotainment system that has been on the Maruti Suzuki Grand Vitara since the car’s launch in 2022. However, despite the old age, the Grand Vitara’s infotainment display still holds up pretty well. A 9-inch infotainment system with wireless Android Auto and Apple CarPlay and a 4-speaker + 2-tweeters setup really doesn’t feel outdated once you start using it.
However, for the sake of the comparison, I’ll have to rate it against the newer options in the market. In terms of size and brightness, this rates below all the infotainment displays that we have reviewed so far. However, during my time with the Grand Vitara (around 10 days), it never felt too dim to be used in bright sunlight. It is also responsive enough – doesn’t feel too jittery and is smooth most of the time. The UI is functional. We also get touch-sensitive volume buttons, which takes away a few points on the UI side of things.
Overall, despite everything, we scored the Maruti Suzuki Grand Vitara’s infotainment system a 3 out of 5.
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-Hyundai Creta | Smartprix Rating – 4.5/5
The Hyundai Creta has a very similar display to the Kia Seltos. It has the same size 12.3-inch display, and even the UI is very similar, but the implementation varies slightly. Even the Creta gets really good points in terms of the UI and UX since here also we get analog dials for volume and climate control. It also has wireless Android Auto and Apple CarPlay, and the sound system is also pretty good. With the Hyundai Creta, we get a 8-speaker Bose surround sound system, which is also the same as the Kia Seltos. We give the Creta a 4 out of 5
-MG Astor – | Smartprix Rating – 3.5/5
Coming to the MG Aster, similar to the Maruti Suzuki Grand Vitara, one of the oldest running infotainment displays in the segment. The 12.1-inch display still holds through: it is bright, it is sharp, it is very responsive. The UI used by MG is also very good and looks and feels quite premium, although there are some low quality elements to it. Here also, basic climate and media controls have physical buttons also, so that gives it an advantage over the Skoda Kushaq or the Maruti Suzuki Grand Vitara. We give this also a 3.5 out of 5.
CONCLUSION
So according to our test, which takes into account the brightness, sharpness, responsiveness, screen size, and the UI, the Kia Seltos and the Hyundai Creta score the highest points, tied at 4.5 out of 5. Second came the updated Infotainment system of the Skoda Kushaq with 4 points out of a total of 5. Then we have the MG Astor with a 3.5 out of 5, and finally the Maruti Suzuki Grand Vitara coming fifth with 3 out of 5 points – pretty impressive for tech that’s more than 4 years old.
My favourite, however, is the 2026 Kia Seltos’ infotainment display. It is just the best out of all. Be it the user interface, how smooth and slick it is, or just the size orientation and placement of the display. It just works. To top it all off, Kia has also given us proper physical controls for all essential car functions along with a nice aluminium dial for the volume. Good stuff.
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