• Interior looks smart…
• But lacks real quality
• Baffling infotainment system

How is the quality and layout?

The Skywell BE11’s interior looks rather smart. There’s a band of light wood-effect trim running across the dashboard and doors and metallic rose gold highlights. The suede and leather upholstery with orange stitching stands out, as well. The dashboard is, of course, dominated by the infotainment system’s 12.8-inch touchscreen; there are buttons for the air conditioning and the rotary gear selector on the centre console. The standard-fit panoramic glass roof floods the interior with light.

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Trouble is, everything feels a bit thin and flimsy. The BE11 lacks the sense of solidity you get from the Skoda Enyaq, or even the Renault Scenic. The rear armrest sums it up – while it’s nicely finished, it can’t stand up to the pressure of a lightly resting elbow, never mind the weight of two drinks in the cup holders. It left us doubting the long-term durability of the car.

Infotainment and tech

Somewhat surprisingly, the production-spec Skywell BE11 has a smaller infotainment system display than the pre-production car we sampled earlier. That’s because it was realised that the bigger screen overlapped the stop/start button and got in the way of the indicators. At 12.8-inches across, the screen still has a lot of real estate, but it isn’t particularly well used.

The menu navigation is completely baffling. How you get to many functions is confusing and the symbols are often unintelligible. Once you’re in a menu, you can press a question mark for an explanation on what a particular button does; that would be useful at every level of the system. The touchscreen isn’t especially responsive, either.

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Honestly, this is one of the worst systems we’ve come across in recent years. It’s much easier to use the wireless Apple CarPlay or Android Auto connection for entertainment and navigation apps and cross your fingers you don’t need to delve into any of the vehicle settings.

The driver has a digital instrument display that provides all the information you really need in a clear layout; it can be toggled through various screens, including full-screen satnav. The stereo is provided by Metz – a German hifi specialist – and features eight speakers plus a sub-woofer. Our tester thought sound reproduction was pretty good but lacked the depth you get from a really good stereo. That might be solvable if you can face delving into the settings.

Comfort

• Very comfy seats
• Generally smooth ride
• Rather a lot of tyre noise

We have no complaints about the Skywell BE11’s seats. Granted, we need to spend longer in them to know for sure but, on first acquaintance, our tester thought they were very comfortable and supportive. Likewise for the back seats, which recline a few degrees if your passengers want to really lounge in the vast legroom.

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