'BORING' CAMRY A PLEASING DRIVE

Crowned The Straits Times Car of the Year 2024, Toyota's ninth-generation Camry impresses with ease of operation, unrivalled efficiency and dependability

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After test-driving a barrage of super high-tech electric cars with more bells and whistles than an ice cream van operated by a retired football referee, I find Toyota's new Camry to be a major reset.

Like all previous generations, the ninth iteration of Toyota's executive saloon is predictably boring. But "boring" can be a good thing. Boring is like the comfort of your own bed after an adrenaline-soaked adventure in the Amazon.

As with most Toyota cars, the latest Camry holds no surprises. Everything works as it should. The touch-activated door handles work each and every time. The brake auto-hold function is activated once and the car remembers it the next time you get in. Same goes for the air-conditioning recirculation button. Boring, really.

The infotainment system has wireless Apple CarPlay, but Android Auto is available only with a cabled connection. Still, it connects wirelessly to my Samsung for calls and music streaming flawlessly and unfailingly. Even after you have not used the car for 12 hours.

The touchscreen responds to the lightest tap and you never have to do so more than once. The wireless phone-charging cradle offers fast charging when compared with so many other cars fitted with the same device. Yawn.