2025.5 Volvo XC90 Interior Review: What Tricks Does This Cabin Hide?
Volvo updated the XC90’s interior tech and style this year. This is what you need to know.
Rarely do attractive cars also offer great all-around visibility but, then again, the 2025.5 Volvo XC90 is no ordinary car. Volvo takes its own path with the XC90, and nowhere is that more evident than the interior. A tiny Swedish flag attached to the side of the front seat subtly celebrates the brand’s unique heritage, but the 2025.5 XC90 interior needs more than charm to succeed among three-row luxury SUVs today.
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Luckily, the newly updated XC90 enters the 2025.5 model year (no, that’s not a typo) with interior changes a previous owner will spot instantly. Here are the highs and lows of the 2025.5 Volvo XC90’s interior.
Check This Out!
From the driver’s seat, the 2025.5 XC90 can drop its second-row headrests down. Like magic! Or like someone pressed an on-screen command in the infotainment system. Either way, this is an awesome trick Volvos have been able to do for years to easily increase rear visibility for when you’ve dropped off the little ones and it’s just you inside.
The 2025.5 XC90 is offered in a six-seat configuration with captain’s chairs, as well as a seven-seat variation. What’s especially nice is that both versions are available on every powertrain, from the 247-hp B5 to the 295-hp B6 and the 455-hp T8 plug-in hybrid.
At Last, a Bigger Screen
Volvo’s central infotainment screen was feeling outdated and quite small in a world of ever-bigger automotive displays. But that’s less of a problem for the 2025.5 XC90. The 9.0-inch vertically oriented touchscreen has been replaced by an 11.2-inch unit that necessitates slimmer, vertical air vents. More screen space isn’t always better in a luxury car; sometimes the extra digital space can be exhausting if you think of your luxury SUV’s interior as a respite from the outside world.
Here, Volvo meets modern expectations better than before. The screen’s larger size allows for a much better split-screen experience, whether you’re using the Google Built-In system’s integrated Spotify app with Google Maps or Apple CarPlay as shown above. Even so, a horizontally oriented display would prevent so many song titles from being cut off.
The digital driver display is also well-done, even if the design is limited. You get an analog-style speedometer and hybrid-power display (on the T8) flanking a big map in the center. Your other option is no map in the center, a good option for those who want to keep it simple. We’d like to see more design creativity in this display in the future, but what's here works.
The Screen That Won’t Disappear
Temperature and airflow controls can be operated via voice command or with on-screen menus at the bottom of the 11.2-inch screen. Many MotorTrend editors remain fans of having more physical controls than are found in the XC90, but voice commands are also available.
Having said that, we appreciate how quickly you can change the temperature—one tap on the temperature display and a second to change to the desired level of coldness or heat. Volvo automatically makes the tiny temperature pop-up disappear after a few seconds, but the same isn’t the case for the airflow screen. That one stays up until you cancel it because, Volvo says, there are enough options (like fan speed and where to focus the air) that you might want extra time to make your selection.
Pictured above: A 2025.5 XC90 seatbelt with “Since 1959” etched on the metal. That year is when Volvo patented the three-point seatbelt.
Third-Row Access and Cargo Space
The XC90’s third row has never been easy to access, and that doesn’t change for 2025.5. Pull a lever on top of the second-row seats and then push the seat—with the backrest now folded forward—toward the front seats. In the small space left, you can climb into the third row. Many SUVs of this size and price also have compromised third rows but, suffice it to say, this is no Honda Pilot in versatility.
Materials in the third row aren’t great, but there’s plenty of headroom and a closeable storage area that can fit a phone.
The XC90 is like the Toyota Highlander of three-row luxury SUVs in that it’s not trying to be the most capacious family car out there. The new Lexus TX matches the Volvo with three engine options and similar pricing, but that much bigger SUV outdoes the XC90 in its ability to schlep your family’s stuff with ease. The same is true of the Acura MDX.
Cargo Space (behind third/second rows):
2025.5 Volvo XC90: 12.6/37.4 cubic feet (including underfloor storage)
2025 Lexus TX: 20.2/57.4 cubic feet
2025 Acura MDX: 18.1/48.4 cubic feet
With the XC90, you sacrifice overall road tripping interior space for a greater ability to fit into a parking spot in your day-to-day life. One change we hope Volvo will make: We’d prefer the cargo cover to rise when the liftgate opens to ease loading.
Ready for a Red Bull (and Other Details)
Volvo’s center console has always been one of the most recognizable details of its unmistakable interior design. For the 2025.5 model year, open the roll-up matte-wood cover to reveal more functionality. Two decent-size cupholders can handle most bottles but now there’s a third spot in between for a Red Bull-sized skinny can. A phone stand works great when you don’t need the new wireless phone charger at the base of the dash.
A crystal shift lever from the Swedish craftsmen at Orrefors remains a cool detail. If you’re into that kind of thing, also check out BMW X5s and X7s with available glass controls. Those who opt for a Bowers & Wilkins sound system on the XC90 get premium-look mesh speaker grates. Again, not unique to the automotive luxury world, but it does create an upscale ambiance alongside other details.
New Textile Trim Is Mostly a Hit
One of the best changes on the 2025.5 XC90 is the recycled textile trim in front of the front passenger. Instead of what would otherwise be a perfectly satisfactory piece of rubbery dash material, Volvo adds this fabric in either beige or charcoal. The addition manages to class-up the dash without making it feel busy, and we especially like it in the Cardamom (beige) interior.
One test SUV had Nordico leatherlike seats that felt fine, and another wore a beautiful dark blue set of seats covered in what Volvo calls Herringbone Weave cloth. We wish the dark blue color (pictured below) had been carried over onto the textile dash trim instead of dark gray, though, which is why we’d stick to the beige interior.
Nappa leather is also available on the highest trim. The three 2025.5 XC90 trims are Core, Plus, and Ultra, and, unfortunately, ventilated seats are only included with those Ultra-trimmed Nappa leather seats.
Updated 360 Camera
To accompany the new 11.2-inch touchscreen, Volvo also updated its 360-degree camera. Included on Plus and Ultra trims, the 360-degree camera can be accessed on the bottom of the home screen once you’re traveling slowly enough—this easy access is a real win. There are multiple views, and when you’re in reverse (pictured here), you get a rear and an overhead view.
The Verdict
Easy for us to say, but if it were our money, we’d crunch the numbers and see if a midlevel Plus or high-end Ultra were within budget. The Plus adds laminated front glass and side windows to enhance the feeling of quiet we experienced when we drove these new Volvos. Ultra includes the fancy Bowers & Wilkins audio system that sounds good and visually brightens the interior. Going Ultra also means ventilated front seats and power seat cushion extenders that made every trip we took more comfortable.
Ultimately, the 2025.5 Volvo XC90’s interior is largely successful or merely alright, depending on where you sit. If you’ve owned an XC90 since 2016, the changes are substantive enough to warrant considering the new one. It’ll function differently, and look different, and it’s better than before.
If you’re not brand-loyal, the XC90’s changes bring the SUV up to contemporary standards, but that’s it. You’re going to find more interior space elsewhere and, for all the screen’s improvements, some may prefer the horizontal display setups found in other vehicles.
I’ve come a long way since I drove sugar packets across restaurant tables as a kid, pretending they were cars. With more than 17 years of experience, I'm passionate about demystifying the new car market for shoppers and enthusiasts. My expertise comes from thoughtfully reviewing countless vehicles across the automotive spectrum. The greatest thrill I get isn’t just from behind the wheel of an exotic car but from a well-executed car that’s affordable, entertaining, and well-made. Since about the time I learned to walk I’ve been fascinated by cars of all shapes and sizes, but it wasn’t until I struggled through a summer high school class at the Pasadena Art Center College of Design that I realized writing was my ticket into the automotive industry. My drive to high school was magical, taking me through a beautiful and winding canyon; I've never lost the excited feeling some 16-year-olds get when they first set out on the road. The automotive industry, singing, and writing have always been my passions, but because no one seeks a writer who sings about the automotive industry, I honed my writing and editing skills at UC Irvine (zot zot!), serving as an editor of the official campus newspaper and writing stories as a literary journalism major. At USC, I developed a much greater appreciation for broadcast journalists and became acquainted with copy editing rules such as why the Oxford comma is so important. Though my beloved 1996 Audi A4 didn’t survive my college years, my career with MotorTrend did. I started at the company in 2007 building articles for motorcycle magazines, soon transitioning to writing news posts for MotorTrend’s budding online department. I spent some valuable time in the copy editing department, as an online news director, and as a senior production editor. Today, MotorTrend keeps me busy as the Buyer's Guide Director. Not everyone has a career centered on one of their passions, and I remind myself all the time how lucky I am.
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