Hyundai Bayon review - Interior, design and technology

Hyundai already offers a small SUV - the Kona - so the Bayon had to offer something completely different, and it does this with its smart, but slightly quirky styling. This means it rivals the more style-focused models in the small SUV class, such as the SEAT Ateca and Peugeot 2008. You can decide if you love or hate the look, but it certainly stands out.

The Bayon’s interior doesn’t follow the same path, as it’s much more plain and doesn't have the flair of the 2008, which is much more pleasant to sit in. It shares much of its interior with the i20 supermini, with plenty of hard black plastic trim in places you see often, so it can’t match the Peugeot or even a VW T-Cross for quality.

You do get a nice leather steering wheel in the Bayon, plus an excellent infotainment system in all versions. There’s a big glovebox and big door bins for practicality, too.

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Sat-nav, stereo and infotainment

All versions of the Bayon are really well-equipped when it comes to in-car tech. Even the basic SE Connect version gets an eight-inch screen on the dash with Bluetooth, DAB and full smartphone connectivity with Android Auto and Apple CarPlay. The menu layouts are logical with decent graphics which are easy to comprehend on the move, and while big, touch-sensitive shortcut keys below the screen are handy, they’d be even better as physical buttons.

Every model also has a 10.15-inch “Digital Supervision Cluster” - Hyundai’s name for its digital dial display. There are USB and even aux-in connections for the media system, too.

Move up to Premium models for an upgraded 10.25-inch screen in place of the eight-inch unit, which also comes with sat-nav with traffic information and other online services. It also adds a wireless smartphone charger. The top-spec Ultimate version comes with all of these plus an upgraded Bose stereo.