Mazda insists the CX-5's large touchscreen is preferable to physical buttons.
The company's reasoning is that a button-heavy dashboard requires drivers to take their eyes off the road more often.
Mounted at eye level, the screen is designed to minimize distraction.
Mazda has been defending its decision to supersize the CX-5’s infotainment system ever since the crossover switched generations nearly a year ago. People didn’t necessarily have a problem with the touchscreen’s generous 15.6-inch diagonal, but rather with how the dashboard is almost entirely devoid of physical buttons. Although many have accused the Japanese company of resorting to cost-cutting, we’ve been told other factors were at play.
Matthew Valbuena, Mazda’s project manager of in-vehicle technologies and human-machine interfaces, told Motor1 back in February that the firm is “focused on minimizing driver distraction.” In July 2025, Tamara Mlynarczyk, manager of public affairs for Mazda North American Operations, said in a statement that the new user interface was “based on customer feedback.”
