[TusharK]

Tata Motors has deleted the physical buttons and knobs on the centre console of the Nexon (XZ variant and above). These functions have now been integrated into the 7-inch touchscreen infotainment.



The physical buttons which were positioned just below the air-conditioning vents have now been replaced with 'Nexon' lettering. The 6 buttons included Home, Favourites, Pervious / Next, Smartphone and back. Along with these, the knobs for the volume and tuner have also been omitted. The volume knob could also be used for mute and power off functions. We have been told that Tata has informed dealers about this change.

With physical buttons, it is possible to access the functions without taking the eyes off the road. However, by eliminating these, the driver of the car would now have to glance towards the screen.

The updated Nexon was launched in January this year. The XZ, XZ+, XZ+ (S) and XZ+ (O) variants come equipped with a 7-inch touchscreen infotainment head-unit that has Android Auto and Apple CarPlay connectivity.

The crossover is powered by a 1.2-litre turbocharged petrol unit that produces 118 BHP and 170 Nm, and a 1.5-litre diesel that makes 108 BHP and 260 Nm. Transmission options include a 6-speed manual and 6-speed AMT.

Thanks to the Team-BHP fan (he prefers to remain anonymous) who sent this images in. Heartfelt gratitude for sharing it with other enthusiasts via this Team-BHP share page!

Link to Team-BHP News

[DicKy]

damn DAMN!!!!

I appreciated Tata giving knobs and buttons in both the basic infotainment systems and higher touchscreen ones all across their newer models.

Not just namesake one's, proper separate buttons and knobs that were within your arm's reach easily. And then they go and remove it. Especially looking at Tata's below average record of freezing screens. Poor decision.

When the screen would inevitably freeze once a week, one way was to push both the knobs simultaneously for it to reset. With those buttons gone...

[VKumar]

Damn, yet another car joins the party.

Physical buttons == ease of operation! IMO, removing the physical buttons shall fell in the category of ergonomic backward movement.

While one is alone in the car, physical buttons make the ICE operation for multiple controls a breeze. While with only touch controls and touch screen, there re both, wrong touches as well as distraction!

A nice set of buttons with a nice tactile feeling is indeed a need.

Additionally, s mentioned by @Dicky, when the ICE freezes, these buttons can be used for resetting too. And ICE do freeze quite a bit, especially in this floating iteration of the Tata ICE.

[ajaiD]

I have seen HU's for Harrier freeze, restart and sometimes just not respond correctly. This removal is quite ill advised and if they take this to the higher range there will be hell to pay.

I do hope they will revert back when the semiconductor industry rebounds.

[Carpainter]

So Tata moving to touchscreen only bandwagon without even having a glitch free OS. I find button less touch only dashboard as something that's come before its time. It would have been a good to have feature if and when the world will move on to complete autonomous driving

I'm waiting for accelerator and brake with capacitive touchscreen

[libranof1987]

Absolutely not a fan of touch buttons but looks like this is where the world is headed. Elsewhere, Tesla has moved the gear-shifter to the touchscreen display.

I'm not sure if the touchscreens have gotten so robust that they'll last at least half the life of the vehicle in terms of their operability. I'd hate to realize the button would only work periodically, and only when pressed with x amount of force at y deg. of angle.

Originally Posted by TusharK

With physical buttons, it is possible to access the functions without taking the eyes off the road. However, by eliminating these, the driver of the car would now have to glance towards the screen.

I hope/doubt this should be that big a deal considering the driver should have steering-mounted controls to operate the ICE.

[fhdowntheline]

Physical buttons are considerably safer than touch-screen based controls, no two ways about it. As a matter of fact, I think the Renault Duster's side mounted controls are ergonomically perfect for volume up/down, as they do not rotate with the steering wheel.

Fiddling with the touch screen for changing various options can be dangerous particularly while driving in traffic at high speed and at night.

[tushky]

Well, removing physical buttons shouldn't be much problem if you have steering mounted controls on your car. I use Tiago with non touchscreen ICE. I Hardly use buttons of ICE. I always change the modes and tracks, volume up-down through Steering mounted controls.

[whitewing]

Originally Posted by Carpainter

I'm waiting for accelerator and brake with capacitive touchscreen

And imagine the spurt of accidents, because the drivers forgot to wear conductive footwear

[Reinhard]

Whats even more disappointing than the button removal is how horribly misaligned the Nexon branding is in the 2nd image . Not sure if its just CG or actual photo.

I personally have an OCD about having physical buttons and cannot rely on pure touch-screen interface. That said - The only button that I have actually used in my car is the "Seek forward" button. That too - sometimes. Because most of the times - pretty much all of these functions are taken care of by the steering mounted control buttons + Android Auto (Hey Google!).
I do not use any phone control buttons and dialing pad etc while driving as a rule, so don't need those buttons per say.

[Kosfactor]

On the upside, you can replace the entire screen with an aftermarket unit (I'm sure the folks from far east will figure this out) and no dummy buttons to bother.

As far as steering controls are there all you need on the dash is a volume knob with push to mute and long press to power off.

Doing away with AC controls will be bad a few years down the line, ICE is manageable.

[JithinR]

This does not seem like a good idea. I had actually liked the fact that Nexon came with physical buttons and helped a friend find an Android based system that would work with the buttons with the help of members on the forum.

I can understand the argument that we have steering mounted audio controls but i think members are forgetting that sometimes the passenger want to adjust the media too.

[condor]

Physical buttons are very very practical. I mostly hardly every look at the HU when I want to do the basic changes - volume, pause, skip .. Just reach out and make the changes.

If physical buttons for at least the basic functions are done away with from the console, are the replacements available on the steering ? If yes, then pardonable to some extent. Else, a big NO.

[saikishor]

Looks like Tata has signed a JV with Ford for feature deletions. I fail to understand what Tata engineers had in their mind before executing such feature deletions. Trading off useful knobs for a very aftermarket-ish logo is plain senseless.

Originally Posted by Reinhard

Whats even more disappointing than the button removal is how horribly misaligned the Nexon branding is in the 2nd image . Not sure if its just CG or actual photo..

Tata seems to have partnered with Karolbagh dealers for that sad logo.

[TheHelix0202]

Originally Posted by tushky

Well, removing physical buttons shouldn't be much problem if you have steering mounted controls on your car. I use Tiago with non touchscreen ICE. I Hardly use buttons of ICE. I always change the modes and tracks, volume up-down through Steering mounted controls.

I'm sure there's people like me out there that hate anything cluttering up the steering wheel. Personally, I really dislike any buttons on it. The old Hyundai's were a nightmare in this regard, one would always accidentally end up hitting an audio button instead of the horn.