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Preview Polestar 2's new Android infotainment system with an interactive site

Its Android-based system is a breath of fresh air, and very different from Volvo's Sensus.

Andrew Krok Reviews Editor / Cars
Cars are Andrew's jam, as is strawberry. After spending years as a regular ol' car fanatic, he started working his way through the echelons of the automotive industry, starting out as social-media director of a small European-focused garage outside of Chicago. From there, he moved to the editorial side, penning several written features in Total 911 Magazine before becoming a full-time auto writer, first for a local Chicago outlet and then for CNET Cars.
Andrew Krok
2 min read
Polestar

We haven't even seen most of the outside of Polestar's second car, the Polestar 2, but the automaker has already offered a sneak peek at what to expect from its infotainment system.

Polestar, which spun off from Geely-owned to become its own dedicated brand, launched an interactive site to preview its infotainment system. The site is only available through phones and tablets , so if you're trying to launch it from your laptop (like I did), you're out of luck.

Once you hop in there, though, you're greeted with a home page broken into quadrants that preview its Google Maps integration, a calendar, telephony and music. Tapping a quadrant expands it to fill the screen, but there are quick-access buttons to pause and skip music without having to dive deeper than the home screen, which is nice. There are also four quick-access tabs up top that access the car's cameras, the full suite of available apps, vehicle settings and a user login.

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No matter the page, the layout is straightforward and easy to decipher from a glance. 

Polestar

Below that are the seat and climate controls, similar to Volvo's Sensus Connect system. Dragging upward expands the climate controls. Dragging downward from the home screen shows relevant notifications and access to the car's Wi-Fi and Bluetooth settings.

Since some features are tough to showcase, Polestar replaced a couple of them with Easter eggs. Instead of adjusting the fan speed, you can craft a beat, adding or removing sound by tapping each fan speed setting. If you click through to the car's camera, you get a brief top-down view of the Polestar 2 before playing a Polestar-themed variant of Space Invaders.

I am already a big fan of this system, even though I only used it on my phone. It offers a much more sensible layout than Sensus Connect, which assaults the user with a sea of seemingly random buttons with a left or right swipe from the home screen. Having Android underpinnings also allows a deeper connection to Google's services, for those of us already deep into that life. We can't wait to check it out in the car itself.

The Polestar 2 is going to be mighty impressive with or without the fancy new telematics. This all-electric four-door is estimated to pack 400 horsepower with a range in the neighborhood of 300 miles. In terms of style, looking to Volvo's 40.2 concept from 2016 is a pretty good place to start. We're told it will debut in "the coming weeks," which could point to a 2019 Geneva Motor Show debut in March, if Polestar doesn't host its own private event before that.

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