I would prefer 3.5mm over Bluetooth, but keep in mind most people get their music off their phones and (almost?) no modern phones have headphone jacks. Dongles are a thing, but meh.

Additionally, modern Bluetooth devices have very little friction in my experience.

Ye. Many modern phones are *@*$ too. My wife is still bitter about not having a 3.5mm jack on hers she unknowingly bought 5 years ago. So much trouble ...

However if more than one person will use the car (incl. as passanger) the annoyance of Bluetooth is even worse.

We have a dongle in the car that is protected by a sworn oath to never be removed from the cabinet along with some charger cables.

It's my understanding that Bluetooth 5.1 fixes the multiple users in car issue, and it only got properly rolled out in the last couple years.

I believe it when I see it.

> Dongles are a thing, but meh.

A USB to jack left fixed in the car is not much of an imposition. Even less so if it can be combined with a 12V adapter for charging.

Even our Renault scenic from a decade ago seamlessly connects to my phone when I enter it.

Multi user seem to be the major pain point. I think linked and active headphones blocks the car too.

There is just so much stuff that can make the abstraction of automation leak and you have to spend more time fixing it this one time than saved in the total lifetime of the car with a simple cable.

> All the headache and time to pair Bluetooth devices over a dead simple connector.

Conversely, I pair my phone once when I get the car and I never need to worry about messing with it again; it's just connected when the car starts. I don't even need to take my device out of my pocket or bag.

On top of that I get hands-free calling if someone calls while I'm driving, I get steering wheel media controls, I get voice controlled media selection (play playlist foo, play artist bar, etc.)

Ye that is my experience too. Aslong as noone touches the setup it works.