Most versions of the 2020 Honda Odyssey have the features families need to distract each other long enough for a road trip.
Aside from a standard touchscreen on many versions, rear-seat entertainment, USB charge ports, and flexible seating make hours in the rolling living room, well, livable.
Starting from an average score, the 2020 Odyssey gets points for good base features and good value. It misses a point for a small screen on base versions that we don’t recommend.
Like last year, the 2020 Odyssey is offered in LX, EX, EX-L, EX-L with Navigation and RES (rear entertainment system), Elite, and Touring levels.
The 2020 Odyssey LX costs $31,785, including destination and top Odyssey Elite vans cost more than $48,000. Luckily for families, one step above base is a solid value, with more features families may need.
Odyssey LX models are fairly spartan but have the basics. The 2020 Odyssey LX includes a 5.0-inch screen for infotainment, Bluetooth connectivity, two USB charge ports, 18-inch wheels, and a sliding third row.
We’d skip ahead to the EX, which adds an 8.0-inch touchscreen for infotainment with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto compatibility, adaptive cruise control, remote start, seating for eight, active lane control, power sliding rear doors, three-zone climate control, sliding second-row seats, heated front seats, and blind-spot monitors. EX-L and EX-L with Navigation and RES versions add leather seats; leather, navigation and a rear-seat entertainment system, respectively.
The top Odyssey Elite vans are rolling suites. In addition to all of the above, Elites add an in-car vacuum, heated and cooled front seats, premium audio, a wireless phone charger, wi-fi hotspot, and 19-inch wheels. It’s hard to imagine a more comfortable way to drive to Disneyland.
Honda Odyssey infotainment
Most Odyssey vans will leave the factory with an 8.0-inch touchscreen that includes Apple CarPlay and Android Auto smartphone compatibility.
Odyssey EX-L vans with navigation and rear-seat entertainment also offer a in-car PA that uses the van’s Bluetooth microphone to broadcast the driver’s voice into the third row via the speakers. It’s a helpful system that reduces the need to shout toward the backseat that if one more Cheerio gets thrown that we’re more than happy to turn this van around.
Odyssey Touring and Elite vans are equipped with an in-car camera to monitor the food-fight suspects, too. It’s a handy feature that displays a 180-degree view of the cabin, and can zoom, or in low light, can switch to infrared. For most parents with small children, the camera can show whether children in rear-facing car seats are sleeping, which is nice.
The rear-seat entertainment system is helpful, but perhaps already outdated in a world full of iPads. Like those iPads, the rear-seat 10.2-inch screen is internet-connected and can stream PBS Kids and Spotify.
The only downside for owners will be navigating to those in-car cameras and talk-back systems from smartphone software. The functions are only accessible from the Odyssey’s native infotainment screen, which requires drivers—or better still, front-seat passengers—to back out of the map or music apps to use the features.
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