The Atto 2’s interior has the big picture covered. There’s a good-sized split-level boot, whose capacity is rated 50 litres greater in the case of the upper-tier Comfort model than in the lower-tier Boost, for reasons that BYD has yet to explain; but which is an ample size either way.
The second-row seats have enough leg- and headroom for grown adults to travel, and plenty of useful storage around them. And up front, there’s a matching roomy feel, and mostly good comfort and adjustability from the driver’s seat; all except for the non-adjustable integrated-style head restraint, which tended to poke this tester annoyingly in the nape of the neck.
Material quality is mixed. There’s plenty of synthetic ‘leather’ trim around the place, and the majority of the car’s fixtures and fittings feel solid and secure. But there are also some dull, hard plastic mouldings and unconvincing material imitations in conspicuous places to mar the overall impression a little; and none of the more eccentric inclusions (guitar-string storage straps, anyone?) of the bigger Atto 3 to lift a pretty drab and unremarkable ambience.
Multimedia system
All Atto 2s get an 8.8in digital instrument screen, which is accompanied by an infotainment touchscreen of 12.8in that can be rotated from portrait to landscape depending on your preference.
Elsewhere inside, every model supports over-the-air updates, and is equipped with wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, voice command, seats upholstered in faux leather, heated seats, a crystal-effect gear selector and a panoramic glass roof.
The large instrument display and infotainment display both have good clarity, but the latter takes some getting used to.
The rotating touchscreen is responsive and suffered no glitches during our time with it. The Android-based software pleases the eye with soft, light-coloured graphics; but the menu structures are a bit haphazard and the individual icons around the periphery of the screen are too small and fiddly to hit at arms length. They also look very similar to each other, making it more challenging to use while driving.
Thankfully, BYD has resisted the temptation to put every secondary control on the touchscreen. There are a number of physical buttons on either side of the gear selector, including for the air-con, audio volume, for motor regen control, and the windscreen demister.
A quick-access menu for control of ADAS functions is accessible with a downwards swipe from the top of the screen, and can be configured to give reasonably easy access to deactivative things like driver monitoring (very insistent and irksome if left on), lane keeping assistance and speeding alerts. But BYD isn’t quite on the same level as rival brands with this yet, and doesn’t offer a ‘custom’ ADAS mode that allows you to configure the car’s mandatory active safety nannies with one button press.
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