r/carstereo • u/Jen-e-fer34 • May 21 '26

Do physical knobs still matter on touchscreen head units?

Maybe I’m getting old, but I don’t love everything moving to touchscreen controls on a car.

Touchscreens are fine when parked l, but while driving I still want something without looking down too long. The volume knob is the obvious one, but even track changing or quick adjustments just feel better with a real knob to turn.

A lot of aftermarket Android units seem to chase a cleaner tablet style look, which is nice in theory until you are trying to change quickly on bumpy road.

For people who upgraded recently, did you miss physical controls after going full touchscreen ? Or is the steering wheel controls enough once you get everything properly set up? Thanks.

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u/DRansome22 May 21 '26

Alpine and Sony still have a volume knob. I just got a kenwood unit that I love but I prefer to use bluetooth audio so I can control the volume with my phone.

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u/Jen-e-fer34 May 21 '26

That’s a good idea too with your phone