I recently purchased a 2018 Honda Accord Touring Edition Hybrid and have run into multiple design limitations that are all very disappointing. These have all been verified directly with Honda Corporate Tech Support across multiple calls. Curious if others have observed these limitations.
1) HandsFreeLink has a hard limit of 2000 contacts – and you cannot select which of your contacts it chooses to sync. Many sales or business development people (those who also tend to drive and make calls the most) have more contacts than this. This is a “showstopper” limitation as it means handsfree dialing and texting is not possible using HFL. The only other option to enable handsfree dialing and texting is to bypass Honda’s technology entirely requires and use an “old school” USB cable in combination with Android Auto or Apple’s similar product. Very disappointing limitation on behalf of Honda…and creates showstopper issue for handsfree use which is a significant consumer safety issue created by lack of solid Honda engineering design.
2) Navigation audio volume cannot be turned entirely off. The volume cannot be set to zero from within the navigation settings or volume control – you can only turn it down to “1”. The only way to set to zero “0” is to locate “System Sounds” in the main “Settings” menu. However, even when the navigation audio is set to zero using this method, the navigation audio still mutes the stereo or music volume when the navigation “thinks” it’s talking. And then if you go to adjust your music volume, it can easily turn the navigation audio/volume back on inadvertently – absolutely maddening. So you once again have to get out of navigation and into the master “settings” menu and drill down three times to set the navigation audio back to zero. Absolutely absurd design – not sure how this one passed any form of consumer testing…
3) I also cannot use a Bluetooth earbud like I could in my 2014 Accord without disabling HandsFreeLink (HFL) and all the remote capabilities possible with HFL. You now have to use the car’s speakerphone which is not desirable for business calls or when taking calls with others in the car for privacy or to gain the higher quality using a BT earbud. And Android Auto also overrides use of a Bluetooth earbud and defaults to the car speakerphone making it extremely difficult to use a BT earbud in this car. Very disappointing as this is fundamental to people who make many business calls from the car.
1) HandsFreeLink has a hard limit of 2000 contacts – and you cannot select which of your contacts it chooses to sync. Many sales or business development people (those who also tend to drive and make calls the most) have more contacts than this. This is a “showstopper” limitation as it means handsfree dialing and texting is not possible using HFL. The only other option to enable handsfree dialing and texting is to bypass Honda’s technology entirely requires and use an “old school” USB cable in combination with Android Auto or Apple’s similar product. Very disappointing limitation on behalf of Honda…and creates showstopper issue for handsfree use which is a significant consumer safety issue created by lack of solid Honda engineering design.
2) Navigation audio volume cannot be turned entirely off. The volume cannot be set to zero from within the navigation settings or volume control – you can only turn it down to “1”. The only way to set to zero “0” is to locate “System Sounds” in the main “Settings” menu. However, even when the navigation audio is set to zero using this method, the navigation audio still mutes the stereo or music volume when the navigation “thinks” it’s talking. And then if you go to adjust your music volume, it can easily turn the navigation audio/volume back on inadvertently – absolutely maddening. So you once again have to get out of navigation and into the master “settings” menu and drill down three times to set the navigation audio back to zero. Absolutely absurd design – not sure how this one passed any form of consumer testing…
3) I also cannot use a Bluetooth earbud like I could in my 2014 Accord without disabling HandsFreeLink (HFL) and all the remote capabilities possible with HFL. You now have to use the car’s speakerphone which is not desirable for business calls or when taking calls with others in the car for privacy or to gain the higher quality using a BT earbud. And Android Auto also overrides use of a Bluetooth earbud and defaults to the car speakerphone making it extremely difficult to use a BT earbud in this car. Very disappointing as this is fundamental to people who make many business calls from the car.