Proton X70 Premium X Facelift Review: Still Relevant Today

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Despite being around for 7 years, the changes from its recent facelift has given the X70 a renewed competitive edge.

Late last year, Proton had unveiled a facelifted version of its X70 SUV. And of course the big news with this update is for wireless(!) Android Auto and Apple CarPlay is now FINALLY (officially) be made available!

This revised X70 has since also gained a new elephant hide Stone Grey interior upholstery, replacing the (much classier) brown that came before. A new ambient lighting panel has made its way on to the dashboard as well, along with a new-shape three-spoke flat-bottomed steering wheel that was first seen on its sedan sibling.

Oh, this facelifted Proton SUV has a new look too. Or a fresh new face at least, which from some angles at least could be said to have more than a little hint of Jaguar F-Pace to it (not a bad thing in any regard).

But apart from these changes, the X70 is pretty much the same car as before. And no matter how you slice it, this Proton SUV has already been around for nearly 7 years already…

Though as easy as it may be to end the review there, there is of course the old adage that states for age to just be but a number. And in the X70’s case at least too, this old dog is actually still more than capable of holding its own against its more modern competition!

Now as the Proton salesperson will undoubtably point out at the first possible instance, the X70 still comes very well equipped for the price. From creature comforts like ventilated front seats and the newly-added Walk Away Auto Lock functionality, to a very comprehensive ADAS suite that brings with it really rather decent adaptive cruise control (now with stop-and-go and lane centring functionality), the X70 really has more than everything that one could ask for at this price.

Also, precisely because of its age, the X70 still blessedly has proper physical buttons in its cabin, if not for in-car audio controls, at least for its climate settings. The physical buttons are however doubly essential in this Proton though, as it has to be noted that its newly updated infotainment system still somehow takes longer than expected to boot up initially upon starting the vehicle.

As for the rest of the interior here, the X70 still retains the air of relative quality to its cabin as it had before. Its doors still shut with a solid enough thud, and everything inside feels decently well screwed together too.

If being really nitpicky within the X70 however, the seats are to be a tad on the firm and flat side of things. It is also slightly frustrating to find that there isn’t anywhere to conveniently store one’s phone up front in this SUV, though this could charitably be construed as a safety feature in which Proton is tacitly forcing the driver to keep their phone in their pockets/bag and not fiddle with it while on the road.

And in terms of how the X70 is like to drive meanwhile, being behind the wheel of this Proton SUV does feel somewhat like helming a barge, just from how high up the driver sits and how big the car feels on the road. The new boxier bonnet certainly doesn’t help matters in this regard too, but credit where credit is due to the driving dynamics people at Proton, the X70 is actually quite the tidy handler.

Set the steering in Sport mode (could be done independently of its drive mode) and the X70’s steering does weight up to a decent degree. And while its suspension is certainly on the stiffer side of things, this tradeoff for a firmer ride down a rough road does nevertheless mean that the X70 still remains one of the best Chinese SUVs when it comes to tackling corners, not to mention being remarkably stable at highway speeds too.

What more is that with NVH isolation in the X70 being above par as well — especially when it comes to the N bit while on the move — one doesn’t actually realise you’re doing triple digits speeds until staring down at the digital driver’s display.

Despite there being just three-cylinders under the X70’s hood also, the boosted mill still has more than enough punch to propel this mid-sized to those triple digit speeds with utmost ease. It does unfortunately still also quite like to guzzle down the jungle juice as if it is going out of fashion, and upon start up at least, it does still have that unmistakable tractor clatter.

So just to wrap up this review of the facelifted X70, while it may be long in the tooth, the car that previously pretty much saved Proton from ruin is still a decently worthwhile purchase today. The updates made during its recent revamp has done just enough to keep it relevant in its ever-competitive segment. And in ending by saying the quiet part loud here, it FINALLY gaining Android Auto and Apple CarPlay pretty much puts to rest the main critique most buyers have had with what has always been an altogether decent SUV for the past 7 years.

Odds & Ends

Proton (rather confusingly) dubs the blind spot monitoring system in the X70 as Lane Change Assist. At least there is the option to turn beeping off individually though, and still retain the visual blind spot warning.

The sunroof blind automatically closes when the X70 is switched off. A useful feature that most X70 owners will not get to appreciate, as no one actually buys this Premium X variant with the sunroof anyway…

The digital driver’s display does not show hiragana when displaying music track titles, or at least most hiragana anyway.

Like most cars of Chinese origin, the X70 prohibits drivers from driving off without putting their seatbelt on. That said, the seatbelt reminder in the X70 is only applicable to its front two seats.
The X70 has a USB Type-A for wired smartphone connectivity up front, but a USB Type-C for charging.