The main selling point of the Kia Sonet has always been the sheer number of cutting-edge features it has on offer at a relatively affordable price point. This held true back when Kia first launched the Sonet back in 2020 and with the latest 2024 model, Kia has thrown everything and the kitchen sink at it.
Here is a brief rundown of all the features that we found were exceptional and really caught our eye. Be warned though, this is not an exhaustive list of all the features on the car but just the ones that we thought you needed to know about.
Kia Connect – The Kia Connect app on your phone is basically the universal remote for your Sonet. It is your one-stop shop for everything Sonet. Right from your smartphone you can get all the essential stats of the Sonet, like vehicle diagnostics, maintenance alerts, tyre pressure, fuel level information etc. It also remotely gives you all sorts of access to the car like engine start-stop, AC control, air filter control, seat ventilation control, and monitoring the general vicinity via the 360-degree cameras. You can also put the car into valet mode to lock out the screen of your car so your privacy is not compromised. Overall, this is a feature that just takes the game to the next level, giving you so much access to your vehicle even when you are nowhere around it.
Ventilated front seats – Now, this is a feature one would think is a gimmick to sell cars – and we thought the same – but oh boy, did we change our minds after experiencing it on the Sonet. Both front seats on the 2024 Sonet X-line are ventilated and the speed and power of both can be controlled independently via buttons under the main display. There are three different speed settings you can choose from. Now on to what it feels like when you are in the hot seat. Or in this case, a nice, fresh and ventilated seat. If you have remotely activated the ventilated seats you immediately feel it doing what it’s supposed to do. If however, you get into an already hot car as most people would in cities such as Mumbai where it is hot and extremely humid in the summer months, you start off wondering if it’s actually working. But after a while, you really do notice the ventilation kick in. Long drives will no longer leave with a damp back or backside with this feature on. In any case, this is one underrated feature that you need to experience first-hand.
Air purifier – This is another feature that city drivers would find very handy. The Sonet X-line 2024 comes equipped with a Smart Pure Air Purifier, which as the name suggests, controls the air quality in the cabin. Kia also claims that this feature protects against bacteria and viruses but we couldn’t verify this in the brief time we had the car with us. The display for the air quality is located in the middle of the car above the rear AC vents and the air quality can be viewed in real-time by the rear passengers. The folks on the front seats can check the AQI on the main display.
Display & Infotainment system – Well, we are in 2024 and pretty much every new car these days comes with a nice large display on the centre console. And the Sonet X-Line is no different. Gracing the dashboard right in the middle is a 10.25-inch touchscreen colour LCD display that you can use to adjust and get information on various aspects of the car. It is paired with a display behind the steering wheel, and both together, give a whole lot of information to the driver, including the status of the vehicle, driving modes, traction modes, navigation, music playback, air quality and much more. While this feature may be common these days in modern cars, the practicality and responsiveness of this particular system is probably unmatched at this price point. You can also connect your phone to the system thanks to wired Apple CarPlay and Android Auto. Since we are on the subject of smartphones, you also get a little wireless charger under the main centre console screen where your compatible device can sit securely while being charged.
Bose Soundsystem – To keep you entertained on your daily commute or long weekend drive, the Kia Sonet X-Line 2024 comes with a 7-Speaker Bose Sound system. The Bose branding is clearly visible in the cabin on each door and for a stock sound system, it does a pretty good job. According to our in-house audio expert, the speakers have a full-bodied bass, clear mids and decent treble. And if you’re someone who likes to tweak things, then the speakers can also be tuned to your preference from the infotainment screen.
ADAS Lvl 1 – Keeping you on the straight and narrow is the Sonet’s ADAS system which is Level 1 rather than the Level 2 ADAS system found on the Seltos. But honestly, in terms of safety and driving assistance, Level 1 is more than enough for most people, plus it has the most important features anyway. The Sonet’s ADAS Level 1 comes with 10 autonomous features which include, Front Collison Warning, Front Collision Avoidance Assist (Car, Cyclist and Pedestrian), Lane Keep Assist, Lane Departure Warning, Lane Following Assist, Leading Vehicle Departure Alert, High Beam Assist and Driver Attention Warning. So overall, you are very well sorted in terms of assists from the car and would be a nice option for newer drivers.
Blind Spot Alert – Changing lanes while driving is always something a driver should be very careful about for not only the safety of the passengers but also other road users. And this is all the more important especially at higher speeds on highways. To help with that, the Sonet has cameras mounted on the door mirrors that turn on every time you hit the left or right indicator stalk. It’s a nifty little feature that gives you much more confidence before changing lanes or merging onto roads. The implementation of the feature is done very well too. Activating the left indicator shows you your blind spot on the left gauge which usually displays the speed and activating the right indicator displays the blind spot on the right gauge which usually displays the RPM. The implementation is very intuitive and would enforce the habit of always indicating before changing lanes.
360-degree cameras – This feature has been around for quite a while now but lately we have been seeing it more and more in the affordable car segment. And quite frankly. It’s a pleasure to use. The Kia Sonet 2024 features 4 cameras – one in the front, one in the back and two on each door mirror. Put the car into reverse or hit the camera button and the display of the centre console renders a nicely stitched real-time image of the surroundings. This almost completely removes the hassle of parking in tight spots. In fact, just to test the system out we tried to find the most difficult spots to park in our office car park and we were able to park it with ease. The system also projects a path on the image to show you where the car will go by sensing the steering angle.
Driving modes – The Kia Sonet X-Line 2024, offers the driver the option to choose among three driving modes depending on the level of performance or fuel economy desired. The three modes include Eco, Normal and Sport. Eco tries to keep the RPM low for better fuel efficiency but overall feels quite laggy as the gearbox is lazy and hesitant to shift down in this mode. Normal Mode is a bit better in that regard but still feels a bit laggy and won’t usually give you that boost of power needed for a quick overtake. There is a big jump up when you put the car in Sport Mode though. Throttle response gets much quicker and gear shifts are a bit faster as well, more willing to go down for a boost of power. The Eco and Normal modes would be best for urban commutes where you rarely need urgent power, while highway driving would be best served in Sport mode.
Paddle shifters – Although the Kia Sonet X-Line 2024 is an automatic, like most automatic cars these days, it also has a manual mode where you can manually shift gears without the use of a clutch for situations where you might want to force the car into a particular gear. Unlike other cars in this price range though the Kia Sonet also has Paddle shifters behind the steering wheel to aid in the shifting of gears. This is the kind of thing you usually see in high-end sports cars or racing cars and obviously, it is nowhere close to as responsive as it would be on a sports car but you can definitely live out your F1 driver fantasy with this (just don’t bring out the safety car or red flag please).
Traction Modes – The Kia Sonet X-Line 2024 offers 3 Traction Modes, namely , Snow, Mud and Sand. Selecting one of these modes tunes the traction control system for those specific scenarios by sensing the slippage of the left and right wheels and adjusting the power and braking to those wheels. This makes driving on loose surfaces like snow, mud and sand safer and easier in two-wheel drive cars. One important thing to keep in mind here would be that putting the Sonet into one of these Traction modes will not suddenly make it a world-beating off-roader or as capable as a purpose-built 4WD car. This is just to make life a bit easier in low-traction situations.
It goes without saying that the Kia Sonet X-Line 2024 is packed to the brim with features that would have in the past come at a considerable premium. The ventilated front seats, Kia Connect app and paddle shifters really stood out from the rest and we were especially impressed by those. We’re hoping that other car manufacturers will take note and ship with more premium features in mid-range cars for the Indian market.
