Infotainment seems to be the name of the game when it comes to vehicle must-haves in 2026. Here, our blogger introduces you to three that are making waves with auto owners.
By Zachary Perlmutter
Infotainment in vehicles is the future. Cars are basically incomplete without them. If you were looking at what infotainment features to be excited about in 2026, your best bet would be to look at your next automobile purchase. There are many detailed articles online dedicated to this exact topic, but for those not willing to be bogged down by lists or minutiae, here are three examples of what to look for:
Deep Connectivity (5G)
If automobiles today are cellphones on wheels, then they will have to function as one. This includes frequent software updates and backing up information to cloud storage for later. Need to quickly reference your last phone call with a family member? That’s now possible thanks to cloud storage. Is your vehicle’s navigation system out-of-date? With a quick update overnight, that’s an easy fix. Software updates are so ubiquitous with infotainment these days that website U.S. News even mentioned it as a criteria for their ranking of car models for 2026. By scoring both the infotainment and interior of the many models they surveyed, their conclusion was that most cars have solid features that could easily be updated in the future, making them well worth your time.
In-Car Commerce
Another aspect of infotainment to watch out for involves commerce features. For those drivers who hate getting out of their vehicles to pay for tolls and gas, having everything available at the touch of a button is a dream. After all, why fish through your wallet for your credit card when it’s available on your touchscreen at a second’s notice? Isn’t that so much more convenient? PYMNTS.com seems to think so, even devoting an entire piece to it on their website. As AiDEN Automotive CEO Niclas Gyllenram argues, because cars having commerce features is secondary to the driving experience, having features built in that suggest where to eat and what to buy while driving could potentially help to ease the burden of the driver checking it out on their own. This would make the experience of driving that much smoother and more efficient overall, and that’s never bad.
Biometric Integration
The final bit of infotainment worth keeping an eye out for centres around personal security. The notion that your voice, fingerprint or retinal scan can be used to access sensitive information isn’t a new one, but having it available as you drive feels almost radical in its own way. Of course, that’s not to say that it’s all fine: issues of security breaches and scams are a real threat to personal safety, and it’s easy for someone to impersonate your identity. However, the benefits of having quick access to your accounts might be worth checking these features out. This is especially the case with both two-factor authentication, which enhances privacy, and Public Safety Canada (PSC) earmarking over $1 million to combat privacy breaches in automobiles through programs like The National Action Plan on Combatting Auto Theft.
Concluding thoughts
Ultimately, the power to really determine the efficiency of newer infotainment features in 2026 is up to you, the consumer. There are many more aspects that haven’t been covered in here-such as podcast features, Spotify and gaming-but that’s part of the fun! So go! Try them all out for yourself! After all, you’re the judge of what suits you best, right?
Be sure to keep an eye out for our upcoming issue of ATA, where we take a deeper dive into the trends shaping the industry. Coming soon!