00:00 We all know how important infotainment systems are,
00:02 and Ford's SYNC 3 infotainment system
00:05 is one of the best on the market.
00:07 Today I'm gonna walk you through a detailed review
00:09 of the infotainment system,
00:10 so if you are looking to buy a Ford,
00:12 you'll know exactly what to expect.
00:14 I don't know about you guys, but I'm a massive tech nerd.
00:17 I love high-tech stuff, and if I'm buying a car,
00:20 it needs to have a good infotainment system.
00:22 That's part of the reason I bought the Supra,
00:24 because it uses BMW's infotainment system and not Toyota's,
00:27 and why I bought the Tesla, because they are tech leaders.
00:30 I reckon Ford is very close to the top there.
00:33 They use a system called SYNC,
00:35 and we're currently at SYNC 3, which is the latest,
00:37 and it's just received a big software upgrade.
00:39 So I'm gonna walk you through the infotainment system,
00:42 how it works, and some of the benefits of it,
00:44 and this comes standard on the Fiesta ST
00:46 and a number of new Ford products as well.
00:48 This is the eight-inch screen.
00:49 It is super high resolution,
00:51 and the home screen looks like this.
00:52 You've got shortcut buttons down the bottom,
00:54 and then you have boxes to select things as you go.
00:57 The other cool thing is down here,
00:58 you also have shortcut buttons,
01:00 but they're to critical functions
01:02 that you'll often be fumbling for
01:03 and don't wanna spend time focusing on.
01:05 So for example, this button here opens up your sound settings
01:08 so if you need more bass out of that B&O sound system,
01:11 you can configure everything as you go,
01:13 and this is my other favorite button.
01:14 One push of that puts it into calm mode.
01:17 Calm mode is just a clock
01:19 and the date plus your mobile reception.
01:21 Another push of that will kill the screen altogether,
01:24 and that means it's handy if you're at the drive-in movies
01:26 or something like that.
01:27 A lot of manufacturers don't have screens
01:29 that work for drive-in movies.
01:30 They just keep coming back on, which is really frustrating.
01:33 And let me know in the comments below
01:35 whether a good infotainment system
01:37 is actually something that you desperately desire
01:39 in your next new car.
01:41 Let's go through the menus here.
01:42 So audio menu is where you're gonna find AM, FM,
01:46 and DAB plus digital radio.
01:48 You can save all your stations down here.
01:50 Then you can access the rest of the stations
01:52 on the DAB bands through the stations button,
01:54 but there's something I really don't like here.
01:56 They're broken up into ensembles.
01:58 Now that is basically layman's terms,
02:01 effectively for the different bands of DAB radio.
02:04 To get to other stations,
02:06 you need to flick through the ensembles to find them.
02:08 So that can be really distracting while you're driving,
02:11 and it's something that I think they really need to fix.
02:13 Just have them all on the one screen
02:15 or divide them up a little smarter.
02:16 I don't know, but aside from that,
02:18 everything else is very straightforward.
02:20 You set your favorites down at the bottom.
02:21 You can set a whole stack of them down there as well.
02:23 There's no real limit
02:24 to how much configuration you can do there.
02:26 If we jump over to phone,
02:27 this is also what I like with this system.
02:29 You can instantly access features like do not disturb.
02:31 So if I don't wanna be disturbed while I'm driving
02:34 or there's something sort of I need to concentrate on,
02:36 one push of that means no phone calls
02:38 or messages come through this screen.
02:40 I can also have text messages displayed on the screen,
02:42 and I have instant access to Siri, which is over Bluetooth.
02:45 So you don't even need to have the phone paired
02:47 with a cable through Apple CarPlay
02:49 or the Android Auto system
02:51 to get access to your phone's voice recognition.
02:53 It's also backed up by a voice recognition system
02:56 on the car itself.
02:57 So this is a really clever setup.
03:00 I love the way they've got that configured.
03:02 Navigation.
03:03 This is yet another example
03:04 of how a high-res screen displays maps effectively.
03:07 They're all super easy to read.
03:08 You've got traffic built into there as well.
03:10 Accessing addresses is very straightforward.
03:13 You can also change the way the screen is displayed
03:15 in terms of what's split,
03:16 whether you see the map or your navigation items, et cetera.
03:19 Another really handy feature,
03:21 if you're ever involved in an accident
03:22 or rather if you ever turn up to an accident
03:24 or need to direct emergency services anywhere,
03:27 you can instantly click "Where am I?"
03:28 And using GPS coordinates,
03:30 you can tell emergency services exactly where you are.
03:33 So this is a very handy feature,
03:35 and hopefully you never have to use it,
03:36 but you know that it is there.
03:38 You can search through points of interest,
03:39 favourites, set a home and a work address as well.
03:42 So it's a very clever system and very easy to use.
03:44 If you do need to type an address in manually,
03:46 it's simply a case of using the keyboard on the screen
03:50 or works very quickly as well.
03:51 Let's jump over to the next menu, which is mobile apps.
03:54 You can download apps onto your phone
03:56 that are sync compatible.
03:58 I kind of don't really bother with any of that stuff
04:00 because the system itself is great.
04:02 And then if you do need any extra functionality,
04:04 you simply pair your phone with Apple CarPlay
04:06 or Android Auto,
04:07 and that will simply give you
04:08 that extended functionality of your phone.
04:11 Over on the settings menu is where you're gonna find
04:12 the rest of the settings for the car.
04:14 These are all pretty straightforward.
04:15 The sound menu, which you access through a button as well,
04:17 settings for your digital radio navigation,
04:19 whether it uses toll roads or not,
04:21 and the mobile apps that you can download.
04:23 But there's something really clever here.
04:25 Two clever things, actually.
04:26 Emergency assistance.
04:27 If the car's ever involved in a serious accident,
04:29 it will automatically dial emergency services
04:32 so that they can send assistance if required.
04:34 So that's if the car rolls over, if airbags are deployed,
04:37 it will start dialing that virtually immediately
04:39 so that you will get help as quick as possible.
04:42 So that is a fantastic feature.
04:43 You've also got valet mode.
04:45 So if you ever drop your car off to the hotel,
04:47 and you need to leave it with the valet,
04:48 and you don't want them going through
04:49 your saucy text messages, or perhaps your contacts,
04:52 or your navigation addresses,
04:54 you simply set a valet mode,
04:55 and all they'll be able to do is just see a screen.
04:57 They won't really have any access
04:59 to all your personal details.
05:00 Wi-Fi.
05:01 That's another great function as well.
05:02 All the updates for the car are supplied over Wi-Fi.
05:05 So when you park it in the garage at home,
05:06 you can connect to your Wi-Fi network.
05:08 Whenever it's parked there, it'll look for updates
05:10 and make sure the system is always fully functioning.
05:12 Let me know in the comments below
05:14 whether you have any questions
05:15 about Ford's SYNC 3 infotainment system.
05:17 If you wanna read it in a bit more detail,
05:19 head to carexpert.com.au
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