Just an update from my end from a "value" perspective. I've had this mod done like you can read about earlier in this thread. To summarize I must say that the Connect feature is quite useless after a few month usage. This is of course a very personal opinion based on my references and alternatives so might be quite the opposite for someone else and in other locations.
So, why do I think it is quite useless?
- The online traffic data is not up 2 date like I would have expected. Using services like Waze in parallell show the real time traffic situation and is very accurate with roadblocks, queues and so on and also warn me for police controls, traffic cameras and what not. The Audi connect is often lagging behind which makes it even worse relying on it's recommendations. It does not seem to be realtime updates. E.g. roadwork signs are showing up on roads where the actual roadwork was finished a week ago and where the actual roadworks are they are not showing up when the roadworks start, but a couple of days after (if at all).
- Google maps: A feature that is nice to try out for 5 minutes and think it's cool. After 5 minutes you will not want to use it at all and revert back to the ordinary maps.
- The MMI-maps/rendering are so slow from a processing perspective so it's not nice working with it - like you do with the ipad and even in newer versions of the MMI (the new Q7 and the next gen MMI is on a completely different level compared to the pre-historic cpu/gpu power in the current Q5.
- Even though i tried 4G connection, the bottle neck is not the data throughput, but the cpu according to above. On new MMI its a different story and there 4G makes perfectly sence. I understand why Audi does not offer 4G on the Q5 currently because it wouldn't be any difference from a speed perspective
- The other Audi connect features are also quite useless and its much better to do your searches in the phone. I don't see the usecase for retreiving weather info in the MMI? Who would ever use this (more than once to verify that it actually works, lol). The GUI that present search results when you e.g. look for a restaurant or something that you search for in "online destinations" just make me wanna throw the MMI out of the window
The future is bright though! With Carplay and the new MMI with MMI touch and speedier processor. When also having the possibility to integrate services like Waze and other online traffic services in the MMI it will be perfect. Great having all the info in the virtual cockpit and on the big screen in the car. I also like that Audi didn't go for the touch screen and continue to develop the joystick/touch panel. It's so much easier to use while driving. Very tricky to touch in the right place on a touch screen while driving and I like the feedback from buttons (even though they should be kept to a minimum).
So, to conclude.. the MMI in the current Q5 serves it purpose and it looks way better than the standard screen. Its good to have the map available at all times and to enter a destination address the ordinary way and the navi will do its job helping you navigating to your destination. But the Online implementation in the current version is just not anything I would recommend for anyone. Right now I'm having the MMI map as reference and "nice to look at" and use Waze on my iphone 6 for everything else and have it mounted on the airvents just underneath the MMI display which is quite neat.
