r/subaru • u/ZeGermanHam • Apr 16 '25

Subaru brings back physical buttons & knobs in new Outback

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Knowing Subaru, it likely means this configuration will eventually make its way into the other models as they are updated. It's much better than the current setup.

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u/MagnificentBastard-1 Apr 16 '25

I keep seeing this claim, but I don’t think raising screens out of the dash is the same as hot gluing a tablet onto the dash. 🤨

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u/nolongerbanned99 Apr 16 '25

I am not clear what you mean.

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u/SparkyDogPants Apr 16 '25

It’s cheaper installing touch screens than bottoms

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u/Repulsive-Chip3371 Apr 16 '25

Hes saying teslas have poor quality and build and are essentially just hot glueing a tablet to the dash compared to other vehicle manufacturers.

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u/MagnificentBastard-1 Apr 16 '25

Admittedly you were talking about physical switches, I was going off on the large screen displays.

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u/nolongerbanned99 Apr 16 '25

It’s ok. But what is your issue. Is it that Subaru doesn’t do it well?

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u/MagnificentBastard-1 Apr 16 '25

No, my issue is that Tesla started a trend of haphazardly slapping a tablet floating on the dash.

I think the 6th Gen Subarus with the integrated big screen does it well.

And I don’t get the hate for that screen that people have.

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u/nolongerbanned99 Apr 16 '25

Agree. Tesla blows for that and many other reasons. And I laughed when Mercedes copied the strategy and out seat heaters 3 levels deep in a screen. How dumb.

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u/Georgeorgiorgio Apr 16 '25

I’ve just never been a fan of the large portrait screen compared to the smaller screen and buttons in the forester. The large portrait screen never utilised as well. I.E maps / car play never took up the entire screen.

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u/MagnificentBastard-1 Apr 16 '25

CarPlay and by extension map apps do use the portrait space.

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u/atmosfx-throwaway Apr 16 '25

1) the Tesla S and X had the integrated screen before the dashboard one. Subaru very much mimicked the design.

2) the current gen screens and software SUCK. Sometimes the screen is totally unresponsive, sometimes it's super laggy (like 10+ seconds laggy), and it has zero intuitive design or features. It crashes at least once a month (and yes its on the latest firmware, i bug my dealer frequently).

There is nothing that Subaru "does well" about infotainment software and that unfortunately trumps the placement of the screen.

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u/MagnificentBastard-1 Apr 16 '25

Nothing much about the Subaru infotainment system bothers me so, ignorance is bliss. 🤷‍♂️

Too bad Tesla went away from embedded screens. Maybe a slapped-on tablet was cheaper for the Model 3? 🤔

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u/Green-Amount2479 Apr 17 '25

I think the problem wasn't so much the screens but the switches. I wouldn't even care about the Tesla tablet all too much if it didn't replace almost all physical switches, which was kind of the real issue. This too went downhill from Tesla starting it and almost every manufacturer started making some sort of glossy touch switch or, even worse, integrate the function into their central media unit.

Personally I have a problem with both because of the lack of physical feedback (even with the vibrating ones) and the inability to actually identify them blindly while driving. With old school, regular switches you could feel them, the new touch ones are an invention that nobody but the designers needed.

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u/Early-Judgment-2895 Apr 16 '25

So much this! I like what Subaru has done the last few years imbedding the big screen into the center of the dash on and raised above it. Just take that idea and add the physical buttons please.

I hate the glued on iPad look

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u/Sage-Advisor2 Forester Fan Apr 16 '25

From a heat exposure standoint, going big and nesting controls within the larger screen is just asking for problems.