Xiaomi SU7: Gateway to the future of the automotive industry, as seen by Marquez Brownsley
Influential tech reviewer Marquez Brownsley, who usually surprises with his reviews of smartphones and laptops, has gone even further this time – he tested the Xiaomi SU7 electric car for several weeks. The results are not only expected, but also clearly show how quickly the so-called “smartphones on wheels” are entering the car market and who are actually starting to set new standards in the world of automotive engineering. From the first interface details shown in front of viewers, Brownsley emphasized that the Xiaomi SU7 feels like a “preview of what Apple could do if it finally launched its own car.”
Brownsley attributes this feeling to the unsurpassed fluidity of the software part and the general logic of use. Everything is so absolutely refined that it feels like you’re using a premium smartphone, only instead of a display, it’s a huge electric sedan. One of the truly innovative revelations is the implementation of voice navigation instructions. While in most cars the GPS voice suddenly “overwrites” the music at the exact moment when an expected and powerful bass part starts, Xiaomi has come up with a truly “smartphone-like” solution. The navigation voice is played only from a single, separate speaker integrated into the driver’s headrest. Meanwhile, music continues to play on all the other speakers – both for the passengers and for the driver himself. As Brownsley notes, “I can hear the navigation cues, but the music stays there, loud and uninterrupted. For the passengers, no change at all.”
It is pertinent to mention here that the Xiaomi SU7 is equipped with an impressive 25 speakers. This is quite unusual in the car segment, where it is available in China starting at 299 thousand yuan (about 42 thousand US dollars). It is almost impossible to find an audio system of this level in this price category. This is another strong proof that Xiaomi is successfully transferring the premium logic of its smartphones to the automotive world.
Autonomous driving systems and future predictions
Another aspect Brownsley particularly liked was how the automatic driving system worked. He claims that the assistance system works calmly, stably and much more convincingly than you would expect from a first-generation car created by a “phone brand”. And this is despite the fact that the system is not yet fully optimized for American roads. This suggests that companies that already ship millions of “smart” devices are able to train autonomous driving models faster than traditional car manufacturers. Although, of course, there was also an incident when the autopilot crashed on the Xiaomi SU7 in response to an unexpected lane change at high speed.
Marquez concludes by asking a question that will be relevant to both Europe and the US: If the first generation electric car from the tech giant looks and behaves like this, what can we expect from the second and third generations? Xiaomi SU7 will appear on the European market in 2027, and it will probably give many traditional brands a “very cold shower”. It should be noted that Xiaomi is already testing a longer version of the SU7 with a significantly more comfortable cabin, confirming continuous development.
