2022 Infiniti QX55 Interior Review: Beauty That Isn't Just Skin Deep

The 2022 Infiniti QX55 is one of the Japanese luxury automaker's best-looking SUVs in decades. Its crisp, wave-formed sheetmetal recalls the hugely successful Infiniti FX SUV from the early 2000s, which was one of the first performance crossover SUVs on the market. While it's clear Infiniti designers spent much time loving the surfaces of the QX55 (and its more conservatively styled sibling, the QX50), you might be wondering if they spent as much time on the interior design. Read on to find out.

I'm not quite sure what it is with fancy hotels in Europe, but so many of them feature beautiful-looking showers without any glass, which inevitably results in water absolutely everywhere. This is all a long, roundabout way of saying interior design is meaningless if the space isn't functional. Before we dig into the QX55's looks and features, how is it at the fundamentals?

Well, despite its rakish roofline, the QX55 cabin is just as comfortable and nearly as roomy as that of the QX50. The front seats are spacious and supportive, with both driver and passenger seats using Nissan's cozy Zero Gravity memory-foam-like cushions. The back seats don't get Zero Gravity cushions and are noticeably harder than those up front.

Aside from the lack of cushioning, the rear seats are surprisingly adult friendly. A low seat height brings occupants' knees up high while allowing those around the 6-foot mark enough headroom in back despite the sloping roof. Foot room is tight, legroom is adequate, and shoulder room is great. Back-seat passengers get their own air conditioning controls, a cupholder in each door, two cupholders in the fold-down armrest, and a single USB outlet to fight over.

The rear seat slides fore and aft and folds flat in a 60/40 split via two easy-to-operate pulls in the trunk. The QX55 offers up 26.9 cubic feet of cargo space, or 54.1 cubic feet with the rear seat folded.

Yes, very—especially if you have the money to spend on the loaded Sensory trim. The top-trim QX55 features a beautifully finished, suede-topped dashboard that's particularly striking when you opt for a contrasting color. The black and red combo is our favorite; it features red seats and a red swoosh of suede flowing down from the center stack, through the center console, and toward the back seats.

As stylish as the QX55's cabin is, Infiniti's overreliance on Nissan switchgear detracts from an otherwise premium-feeling cabin. Nissan switchgear on the door panels, steering wheel, and control stalks—not to mention the instrument cluster—take away from an otherwise successful luxury design.

Well, that depends. At first pass, sure—the required hard- and software are all there. Dual infotainment screens? Check. A rotary knob controller? Check? Apple CarPlay? Android Auto? Check and check. Except the user experience isn't quite what it should be. Sure, the optional 16-speaker Bose audio system sounds excellent, and a 4G LTE Wi-Fi hotspot is nice to have, but the software that controlls the infotainment system isn't quite as functional as that found in similar two-screen infotainment systems from rival luxury automakers like Audi or Mercedes-Benz.

Our problem with the QX55's infotainment system is that it lacks flexibility. Each screen can only be used for specific functions, hard buttons are scattered seemingly randomly throughout the center stack, and simple functions can require multiple steps. We found it easiest to just put Apple CarPlay on the top display and forget the bottom screen exists.

Pricing for the 2022 Infiniti QX55 AWD Luxe—the base model—starts at $47,525. Next up the ladder is the QX55 AWD Essential, which starts at $52,625, while the fanciest version, the QX55 AWD Sensory, starts at $58,075.

Want more on the 2022 Infiniti QX55? Check out our First Drive here.