Does Our $80,000 Lincoln Nautilus Have a Better Interior Than a $120K Navigator?

Motor Trend

6 hours ago

The wow factor on our yearlong review 2025 Lincoln Nautilus SUV is its panoramic screen, a marvelous and slick 48 inches of pixels and information spread across the width of the vehicle but placed low enough to not be a distraction. It made its debut on the Nautilus, and the two-row SUV held court for a while. But Lincoln has a new flagship Navigator, and you just knew the Nautilus was about to lose its unique status.
The 2025 Lincoln Nautilus arguably offers a superior interior, thanks to its 48-inch screen, better layout, and intuitive controls compared to the pricier Navigator. Despite its smaller size, the Nautilus provides a more tailored experience, appealing to tech-savvy buyers.
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As our long-term Nautilus' chaperone, I was keen to check the 2025 Lincoln Navigator out myself. Could the newer and more expensive vehicle do the big screen thing better? The answer is yes and no.
Both SUVs have the 48-inch panoramic screen and a separate 11.1-inch infotainment screen to control the expansive display. Both feature the intuitive Lincoln Digital Experience user interface to run Google programs, as well as Apple CarPlay or Android Auto phone mirroring. Being newer, the Navigator launched with a few more apps and goodies than our Nautilus has, such as a light mode for daytime viewing, which will eventually also be deployed on the Nautilus. Some of the other additional apps have already been added via over-the-air updates, such as a Quick Tips app that can be downloaded from the Google Play Store to help owners better use the system. Also new: a Sirius XM sports widget to show the score during a live game. Size Matters
Because the Navigator is a much larger—and more important, wider—vehicle, its screen doesn't extend fully from one side of the vehicle to the other. Lincoln's designers cleverly placed speakers on each end for aesthetics, but it means all the displays shift slightly versus where they are in our Nautilus. Instead of having the speedometer directly in front of the driver, it has moved a bit to the right. It is still easy to see in the Navigator, but the slight relocation bothered at least one editor. We recognize it would likely have been prohibitively expensive to develop a wider screen, and we are all for keeping costs down and vehicles more affordable, but at the same time Lincoln is asking $102,190 for a base Navigator. We get the rationale, but we award points to the smaller Nautilus for its more tailored look. Software Can Fix This, Right?
Perhaps Lincoln can rearrange the Navigator's graphics on the programmable digital space on the screen to make the speedometer more front and center and move some less vital information closer to the left pillar.
An over-the-air update should do the trick. This is how Lincoln will continue to add some of the features and apps now on the Navigator to the Nautilus, such as the Quick Tips app that has already made its way to the smaller SUV.
Another offshoot of the Navigator's sheer size: The control screen might feel a bit too low and out of reach because the vehicle is so big and the screen is integrated into the dashboard. The Nautilus is smaller, and the screen is mounted higher on the dash, making it easier to access. What About the Lincoln Aviator?
If you are wondering why we compared the Nautilus to the Navigator and skipped the middle man, the smaller three-row Aviator, that's because the 2025 Aviator did not get the splendid screen as part of its refresh. It has a 13.2-inch center touchscreen—an improvement over the outgoing model but a far cry from the 48-inch screen on the smaller and more affordable Nautilus, which struck us as odd. We were told the splashier screen went into the Nautilus because the two-row SUV attracts a younger, techier, more metropolitan buyers while the Aviator is more family-oriented. We still think families would have liked the bigger screen in their Aviator, but at least Lincoln recognized the flagship Navigator needed the wow factor of the panoramic screen.
The piano key gearshift is nicer in our Nautilus Black Label, a sparkling silver and integrated into the dash. The Navigator Black Label we drove had glossy black buttons incorporated into the center console, to the right of the ignition button, a location that puts the gearshift farther from the driver's reach. The ignition button is on the dash in the Nautilus, another location we prefer to the larger Navigator.
One placement improvement where the Navigator wins: The button to open the rear hatch is still left of the steering wheel, but it's higher up and easier to see and use. The Nautilus houses its button lower where it is harder to get at, alongside the button to release the fuel door—thankfully the Navigator does not require that.
The Navigator also has an angled wireless phone charging, but instead of being up at the front and angled toward you, it's now side by side with the cupholders.
We recognize the Nautilus and Navigator buyers are not the same and have different needs. But the fact that our Nautilus keeps up with and in some ways surpasses the flagship three-row is a testament to the high-end nature of our long-term vehicle. More on Our 2025 Lincoln Nautilus Long-Termer: 2025 Lincoln Nautilus Black Label Yearlong Arrival: A Worthy SUV of the Year?
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