• A simple, easy-to-use interior
• Generously equipped and comfortable
• Well suited to life in town or longer journeys

How is the quality and layout?

The cabin of the Hyundai Kona is well made and durable on the whole, if lacking some of the premium feel its best (often German) rivals manage. For instance, the central binnacle between the front two passengers is made of cheap plastic and wobbled on our test car.

There’s a pair of twin 12.0-inch digital displays dominating the dashboard, giving the impression of an ultra-wide screen. The central touchscreen is easy to use and responds quickly to your inputs.

It makes for a modern interior and it’s all very easy to use. We like how the air vents are neatly integrated just below the screens, making them almost invisible at first glance.

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Handily, there is a decent array of storage solutions peppered around the cabin, with door pockets, cubby holes and a pair of large cupholders just behind the gearlever on manual cars. Note that automatic transmissions (and the Kona Electric) have a rotary gear selector mounted on the right of the steering column. This works well, but our hands did brush up against the wiper stalk above during use.

Infotainment and tech

The Kona infotainment relies upon an inhouse Hyundai system that is easy to use and logical in its operation. We didn’t have to read the manual as it’s all pretty intuitive for the smartphone generation. We simply had to swipe through menus and icons to the desired service we needed.

Common controls remain operated by physical controls (heating, volume, tuning and track selection) but we had to delve into the touchscreen to use the on-board computer, sat-nav or stereo more fully. Apple CarPlay (below) and Android Auto are standard, but remember there is no wireless functionality yet – so we had to plug your smartphone in to pick our tunes or navigation from our Apple or Samsung device.

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All charging ports on the latest Hyundai Kona are the latest USB-C, so bear that in mind if you want to charge older devices.

Comfort

• Seats are comfortable front and back
• Room for four, five at a pinch
• Wide range of adjustment to get comfy

The seats in the Hyundai Kona are well suited to daily life. We have driven several models now, across a variety of different scenarios – from pootling around town to a long slog from the Midlands to the southernmost tip of Cornwall. It’s praise indeed when we say we found the chairs in the front of the Kona well judged and accommodating.

Lower-spec models have manual operation of the seats and there’s a useful lumbar adjustment that you can fine-tune to tailor the amount of back support on offer.

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