• Impressive build quality
• Soft-touch materials
• Touchscreen standard

Quality and layout

The HS’s cabin is surprisingly well built considering it costs a lot less than its closest rivals. The dashboard is covered in soft-touch material, there aren’t many scratchy plastics in your line of sight and the switchgear all feels reasonably sturdy. The sports-style seats and intricate air vents feel like they’ve been taken out of something far more expensive, too.

You even get some gimmicky technology such as customisable ambient lighting, which helps keep the interior interesting. Our only complaint was that MG has elected to store all of the car’s functions (that’s navigation, heating controls and vehicle settings) in the infotainment system. Which, as we’ll soon explain, is an issue.

Infotainment and tech

Here’s where the HS starts to fall over. It turns out that the MG’s interior is a little superficial – while that digital dashboard and floating infotainment screen look smart, the hardware that props the systems up isn’t anywhere near as good as you’ll get in the best SUVs on the market.

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The screen in pre-2023 facelift HS models was especially glitchy, and though this new infotainment is an improvement, it lags behind most of its rivals. The look of the screen reminds us of a cheap tablet you’d buy from Amazon, though it has plenty of functions included. It’s not very responsive either, sometimes requiring several prods before the action is recognised.

Though there are useful physical shortcut buttons to the climate menu and drive assist menus, both are awkward to use while driving. The digital gauge cluster is also limited with its functions, and displays odd measurements such as an ammeter, which is of minimal use to anyone driving.

Comfort

• Seats uncomfortable if you’re tall…
• … but they have a lot of adjustment
• Heating elements are scorching

The MG HS’s seating position seems to be quite subjective – how comfortable you find it will depend entirely on what shape you are. Our shorter testers found the seats to be very comfortable, praising the level of adjustment, excellent lumbar support setting and powerful heating elements on offer.

However, you’ll struggle to get comfortable if you’re tall – the seat’s lowest position is set very high up. If you’re over six feet tall, you’ll lose a huge chunk of your forward visibility to the bulky sensor mounted behind the rear-view mirror, which is right in your line of sight. The steering wheel also doesn’t have enough adjustment, so you need to choose between either having over-extended arms or scrunched-up legs.

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And while those bucket-style sports seats might look great, they have a tendency to force taller drivers’ heads forward, which can give you a stiff neck on longer journeys. The setup also prevents you from checking your mirrors and your blind spots properly as, when you spin your head around, it’s restricted by the seat.