Subaru Ascent Looks to Unseat Conventional Rear Entertainment Options
Subaru’s latest option package is a disruptive take on the rear-seat entertainment system that has kept families sane and intact for years: the Subaru StarLink Entertainment Anywhere kit. Subaru laughs in the face of your pitiful SUV in-head-restraint screens or the one entertainment screen that folds down from the center of the headliner. Instead, they’ll just sell you two 9.7-inch, 32-gigabyte iPads with Wi-Fi, along with OtterBox Defender cases for both and two pairs of Bluetooth Harman Kardon headphones.
Related: 2019 Subaru Ascent First Drive Video: Does It Rise to the Occasion?
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Shop the 2019 Subaru Ascent near you
The all-new 2019 Subaru Ascent will be the first Subaru model to have an in-car Subaru StarLink Wi-Fi hot spot, but other 2019 Subaru models, including the Forester and Impreza, will follow in the Ascent’s tracks. All told, the StarLink’s kit will cost $970, which Subaru claims is a significant savings over buying each part separately. Kits will be shipped directly to customers’ homes in “custom eco-friendly packaging,” because: Subaru.
Having two separate iPads should let rear SUV passengers customize in-car entertainment, which is a plus. The $970 StarLink package is significantly less than the $1,750 for rear-seat entertainment sans DVD player in a 2018 Chevrolet Traverse SUV. One potential entertainment downside: Rear in-car vehicle screens don’t usually run out of battery power.
If you’ve already purchased a Subaru, Ascent or otherwise, have no fear: The kit is available for ordering during or after the vehicle purchase process.
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