Honda Jazz review

There’s little style or vibrancy to the Jazz’s cabin, which is pretty plain compared with bolder and more colourful supermini interiors. 

Dark, soft-touch materials, coupled with the glossy white trim around the gear selector and on the steering wheel, make the Jazz feel pretty subdued inside. That said, build quality is high and there’s a solidity to its various fixtures and fittings. Plus soft-touch materials are used for key touch points such as the steering wheel and door handles. 

Physical dials for the air-con are within easy reach of the driver. Honda probably could have integrated them into the touchscreen if it wanted but we’re glad it didn’t.

Richard Lane

Deputy road test editor

All of your primary points of contact – be they the drive selector, the controls for the air-con system or even the buttons on the 9.0in dashboard-mounted infotainment screen – are within close reach and they all convey a satisfying sense of robustness to the touch.

Where the Jazz really comes into its own is with the flexibility of its interior. With the second-row Magic seats in place, rear passengers will find they’re treated to generous leg room. Head room is less impressive, but adults won't complain much if journeys are short.

There’s a 304-litre boot, which is decent but not quite class-leading. But as far as storage goes, that’s just the beginning of the story. What makes the Honda’s cabin really shine is its versatility. 

The rear seats can be folded completely flat to open up 844 litres of storage space to the window line, or 1205 litres to the roof. 

You can also fold the rear seat cushions upwards independently from one another, which allows you to make use of the Jazz’s flat rear cabin floor. This effectively turns the second row into another boot of sorts, and is handy for transporting taller, bulky items, such as pot plants or kids' bicycles.

For those reasons and others, the Jazz stands head and shoulders above its supermini rivals as the most practical car in its class. 

Infotainment and sat-nav

Our Jazz test car came fitted with a 9.0in touchscreen that runs a similar operating system to that found in the high-tech Honda E electric car. 

Admittedly, that sat-nav set-up is relatively basic, but with wireless Apple CarPlay connectivity and Android Auto as standard across all variants, it’s unlikely that many owners will rely on the navigation system.

It’s logically configured, if a bit slow to respond to inputs. You get two handy shortcut buttons, and a couple of USB ports, although it goes without any USB-C connections.