Geely Starray review

If you thought the exterior was nondescript… you ain’t seen nothing yet. Fake leather upholstery? Check. Gigantic central touchscreen? Check. Complete absence of any proper physical switchgear? Check.

Nothing out of the ordinary here then. But if you’re coming into this after 10 years in an older family crossover then the minimalism might leave you suitably impressed.

In the black leather of our test car the Starray actually felt fairly business-like, though upper specs do get the choice of 256 ambient lighting colours to add a bit of pizzaz. Which you’ll change once and never again.

Are the screens any good to use?

Directly ahead of you sits a 10.2-inch driver display, which displays your speed, trip info… and that’s about it. But it’s all the better for it, noticeably clearer than BYD's effort, which tries to cram in too much info and leaves it a confusing mess. Upper specs also get a 13.8in head-up display.

Sitting pride of place in the centre of the dashboard is the 15.4in touchscreen. While it looks the part, it makes a mountain out of a molehill for even the simplest operations, such as adjusting the climate controls and turning off any ADAS. You do get a clickwheel on that centre console, but as far as we could work out it was limited to adjusting the volume and a bit of a waste.

Of course, Geely will tell you that you should be using its AI-driven intelligent voice assistant, which has more than 200 inbuilt commands allowing you to adjust the climate control, navigation and infotainment, plus open and close the panoramic sunroof. All well and good if you don’t feel like a doofus talking to your car, but for the rest of us...

The biggest own goal, though, is perhaps when using Google Maps/Waze etc via Apple CarPlay/Android Auto – every time you indicate the screen cuts away to the cameras, leaving you helpless. Just what you need at a crucial junction exit, and you’re left prodding furiously at the screen to get the map back. Who thought that was a good idea?

Not ideal. How spacious is it?

Very, whether you’re sat up front or in the back. Even six-footers should be comfortable in the rear middle seat, courtesy of a completely flat floor, below which sits the battery pack. That also allows for a generous 528-litre boot, or 2,065-litres with the back seats folded. Room for the dog and the kitchen sink.

We’re told there are also “more than” 30 different places (so 31 then?) to stow snacks, sunglasses, phones, tablets, bags and... you get the gist. Heck, there’s enough cubbies to lose your belongings in the split-level centre console alone. You’ll also find USB-A and USB-C ports both front and rear. Handy.