Our 2026 Subaru Outback's Tech Is a Massive Improvement, But There's Still Room for Refinement

This is leagues better than what's in our Subaru Forester, but it's not perfect

written by Jake Sundstrom
edited by Steven Ewing
6/10/2026
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What's new: The Subaru Outback got a full redesign for 2026, and we have a fully loaded Touring XT model in our One-Year Road Test fleet.
Why it matters: The tech inside this SUV is hugely improved — it's got a new multimedia system compared to what you get in other Subarus.
Edmunds says: The Outback's tech is certainly better than what's in every other Subaru, but there's still room for improvement.

The redesigned 2026 Subaru Outback's most obvious change is on the outside: Gone is its quirky, wagon-y shape and in its stead is … well, pretty much what you get from every other midsize SUV. But its biggest improvement is undoubtedly its technology.

We added a Subaru Outback to our One-Year Road Test fleet earlier this year. If you've been following along, you'll have noticed we also have a Subaru Forester Hybrid in our garage. And you'll have noticed we have not had anything nice to say about the Forester's technology.

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That is mercifully not the case with the Subaru Outback, which comes standard with a 12.1-inch touchscreen with a crisp display and high-resolution graphics. It also loads significantly faster than the screens on previous Subaru models and it's more responsive, too. It comes with wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, and it mostly displays those quite well.

"This tech is worlds better," wrote script writer Duncan Brady. "Mostly because it actually works. Relatively responsive, laid out intuitively — perfectly acceptable infotainment here. It's nothing crazy; I wouldn't call it segment-leading and doesn't have any features that really stand out. But Subaru took what was the best reason not to buy one of its cars and made it into a nonissue."

That was echoed by post-production producer David Lucio, who wrote: "The infotainment was excellent and so much better than what was previously in Subarus. It connected to my phone quickly and accurately every time, no issues with CarPlay, and I was able to navigate and listen to my music or podcasts with ease."

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So, I mentioned room for improvement. Sure, you can find SUVs with better touchscreens and more responsive infotainment systems. But that's not really an issue for the Outback. No, its issues lie with its advanced driver aids.

"This has to be the most sensitive driver alertness monitor ever," wrote Steven Ewing, director of editorial content. "Over the course of two hours — while I was wide awake, mind you — the Outback told me I should take a break because I might be drowsy. I was wearing sunglasses, so perhaps it couldn't read my eyes correctly? I've never had this problem in other cars."

I experienced the same thing in a few long drives with the Outback. Eye-monitoring systems are becoming more and more common, especially on vehicles with relatively advanced adaptive cruise control. These are rarely great, but I have encountered very few as frustrating as on the Outback. Speaking of adaptive cruise control …

"The adaptive cruise control was never as smooth or stopped as quickly as I wanted," wrote Lucio. "Especially if there was traffic stopped ahead that I could see but the car did not 'sense' yet, I always had to brake before it would, and I was scared to see how long it would go before braking, even on the max distance settings."

That was another of my complaints. The adaptive cruise control was just not very useful because it was herky-jerky at the best of times and a little too cavalier in how long it carried speed at other times. It was mediocre enough that I started longing for good old-fashioned dumb cruise control.

The other tech features worked fine, though I've heard some staffers struggled to get the wireless charging pad working effectively. Is the tech in the Outback now a strength? Eh, probably not. But it's no longer a weakness, and that marks a huge improvement over previous generations.

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by Jake Sundstrom

Jake Sundstrom has worked in the automotive industry since 2017. He has written hundreds of car-related articles. Jake is currently an Editor for CarMax and has also contributed to National Hot Rod Association publications. When he's not driving cars, he's eating takeout inside of them (probably burgers, burritos or pizza).

edited by Steven Ewing

Steven Ewing is Edmunds' director of editorial content. An automotive journalist for more than half of his life, Ewing's been on staff at Winding Road magazine, Autoblog, Motor1.com, CNET, and he was the U.S. correspondent for Top Gear magazine. He's also contributed to publications like Automobile magazine, Car and Driver, The Drive, Jalopnik, Porsche Panorama, and more. Ewing has worked in the automotive industry since 2003. From testing prototype cars in the Arctic Circle to spilling a beer on a Formula 1 driver at the 24 Hours of Le Mans (oops), he's always got an interesting story to tell.

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