Volume Knob - Thank You Ford

[coolshades]

No voice commands. I don’t talk to inanimate objects. Love the volume knob. With all the touch screeny stuff in our lives a little retro is awesome

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[Mirak]

Hello does anyone use voice command you never get smudgy fingerprints anywhere if you do. I do nearly everything I can using my voice once you’ve trained yourself and the system to do it it’s fantastic. Just my two cents

Do you really use voice commands to turn the volume up and down? Like, please describe the exact sequence and how this is faster or easier than just spinning the knob.

 

[robbinbadams]

Completely agree. When I see what friends and family who own Tesla's have to go through to change their wipers or change volume or other functions, it makes me happy that Ford included what they did.

I understand that adding these buttons and options add weight and cost to the vehicle, but there must be some sort of balance.

Funny guy

 

[Regularmache]

Honestly the volume knob was what made me fall in love with the Mach E. The way the implemented an analog knob in such a futuristic way showed me that they really put thought into this car.

I agreebamd it shows in the build quality and materials used throughout. I feel like they were on such awe of the knob that while they were sitting, standing or whatever position they were in, just said, "Mic Drop" and a couple of other physical buttons got overlooked. The 12" screen in my F150 Platinum has redundant physical buttons that are very useful! Quick, accurate and at the ready. Still give Mach E huge praise though.

 

[ChasingCoral]

I agreebamd it shows in the build quality and materials used throughout. I feel like they were on such awe of the knob that while they were sitting, standing or whatever position they were in, just said, "Mic Drop" and a couple of other physical buttons got overlooked. The 12" screen in my F150 Platinum has redundant physical buttons that are very useful! Quick, accurate and at the ready. Still give Mach E huge praise though.

When some of us start getting our Lightings we’ll see how Ford did on keeping enough buttons.

 

[Regularmache]

Yeah CC, I think the better set up in the Lightning is going to be 12" screen with controls underneath
The 15.5" in loses many handy physical buttons.

 

[hbund216]

When we got into the Mach-e the volume button was the main disappointment (and still is). There is a control on the steering wheel that does the same job. The main reason people will use it is because they are used to a rotary button. The steering wheel button is quicker to get to, and allows one to keep their hands on the wheel. And it make what would have been a slick screen look dated. I would rather that money have gone into improving the software or slight improvements in other areas.

 

[Logal727]

Honestly the volume knob was what made me fall in love with the Mach E. The way the implemented an analog knob in such a futuristic way showed me that they really put thought into this car.

They really learned a lot from past blunders from other companies. Before the 2017 redesign the Honda Odyssey got rid of the volume knob and just had it on the infotainment screen. I don’t know if you’ve ever had to deal with a horde of pissed off soccer moms, but let’s just say Honda did and brought back the volume knob in 2017. Ford noticed!

 

[Logal727]

Hello does anyone use voice command you never get smudgy fingerprints anywhere if you do. I do nearly everything I can using my voice once you’ve trained yourself and the system to do it it’s fantastic. Just my two cents

I honestly always forget the commands I can tell OK FORD. It’s a pretty long list I know. I just wish turn on recirc AC was one of them.

 

[GoGoGadgetMachE]

When we got into the Mach-e the volume button was the main disappointment (and still is). There is a control on the steering wheel that does the same job. The main reason people will use it is because they are used to a rotary button. The steering wheel button is quicker to get to, and allows one to keep their hands on the wheel. And it make what would have been a slick screen look dated. I would rather that money have gone into improving the software or slight improvements in other areas.

the main reason I use it is because it's way, way, way faster than the steering wheel control for quick, large adjustments... Others have said this as well, in this very thread.

One real life example - the other day was the first really nice Spring day by me, over 60 deg. F. I had the front windows down, with music blasting. I saw a "quiet zone" sign ahead of me, and being able to very quickly turn down the music without turning it off was ?... and then being able to quickly turn it back up after leaving the "quiet zone" was also ?.

I use the wheel control for small adjustments, like up one or down one... but a real knob for volume kicks ass. And the fact that the Calm screen shortcut was added shows that it didn't ship with a fixed function forever...

 

[Regularmache]

It's amazing how many reviewers we're just smitten with that knob. It was Ford's equivalent to Jaguars rising gear selector for some.

 

[SnBGC]

the main reason I use it is because it's way, way, way faster than the steering wheel control for quick, large adjustments... Others have said this as well, in this very thread.

One real life example - the other day was the first really nice Spring day by me, over 60 deg. F. I had the front windows down, with music blasting. I saw a "quiet zone" sign ahead of me, and being able to very quickly turn down the music without turning it off was ?... and then being able to quickly turn it back up after leaving the "quiet zone" was also ?.

I use the wheel control for small adjustments, like up one or down one... but a real knob for volume kicks ass. And the fact that the Calm screen shortcut was added shows that it didn't ship with a fixed function forever...

Agree 100%.
Plus, who wants their passengers to have to adjust the volume with the steering wheel controls?
(Hint: Nobody wants anyone else's hands on the wheel except their own.)

 

[Johnny B]

I like the knob. Rotating a knob is more ergonomic than multiple clicks on a switch or messing with a touchscreen.

Although the knob's main function is sound volume, it's also used to set the display to calm mode and set the level of the voice assistant.

Since we're talking software defined functionality, there's no reason that the knob cannot or will not be used to control other features in the future.

 

[Polar]

I drove a coworker to lunch today and they spent two minutes playing with the damn volume knob - it was pretty funny ?

Now of course half my notifications and alerts are at different volumes but I’ll figure that out in time. I do wish there is a way to set the notification volumes separately from having to time it when they’re active to change the volume.

 

[mmejersey]

Kia EV6 has the mode switching for the knobs. It can be switched back and forth to control either HVAC or Volume/Tunes. I love it, but I am yet to see a reviewer who likes it

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