The BYD Atto 3 is a fully electric vehicle that stands out over its rivals due to its quirky interior design. Aside from its controversial looks, the Atto 3 is comfortable to drive, spacious, feature-packed, offers a good electric range and a competent performance.
As standard and across the entire trim range, you’ll find an eight-speaker audio configuration. Unfortunately, at the time of writing there is no option to upgrade.
Click here to read the full BYD Atto 3 review
BYD Atto 3 audio setup
To tinker with the vehicle’s audio settings, one has to navigate to the appropriate menu on the 12.8″ (or 15.6” in the Design trim) infotainment system – here are our optimal settings:
- Dirac Live: HiFi Room
- Loudness: Off
- EQ: Customize
- 80Hz: -2
- 500Hz: -1
- 1kHz: +0
- 5Khz: +1
- 16 kHz: +2
- Balance & Fader: Centre
To connect to the vehicle’s system, you can use Apple CarPlay or Android Auto over a wired or wireless connection. There is also Bluetooth, but the lowest-quality SBC codec is supported only. Therefore, to get the best audio fidelity we would recommend using the aforementioned mobile operating systems over a wireless or better still, a wired connection. Aside from using your phone, you can also playback audio via microSD and USB – both are quite a novelty, namely the former.
As for your media controls, they can be accessed through the display or by using the physical buttons found on the steering wheel.
Read next: Citroen e-C4 audio review: Upgrade to Citroen Hi-Fi?
BYD Atto 3 audio performance
For a demo of the BYD Atto 3’s audio system, head on over to our YouTube channel.
When it comes to its audio configuration, there are 164mm 20W woofers and 35mm 10W tweeters found within each of the four doors. It is therefore presumed that the total system output is rated at 120 Watts.
The omission of a subwoofer means that the pronounced low-end rumble is missing in Tiësto’s single ‘Lay Low (Nick Strand x Mio Remix)’. The speakers found within each of the doors do try their best to reproduce that sub-bass extension but ultimately fail to provide that level of excitement. As such, the Atto 3’s audio system can’t compete with those that offer a dedicated subwoofer in the boot.
On the other hand, the system’s mid-bass presence is hearty, providing a good amount of life in the lower-end frequency range. Taking a few notches off the 80Hz range helps reduce the overall impact, and provides a more balanced and less bassy sound signature.
Unfortunately, the design of the doors hinders the system’s mid-bass performance. For some reason, BYD thought it would be a good idea to include fabric guitar-like strings, which are mounted on the speaker units. The result is that vibrations can be heard at louder volumes or if you simply have bass-heavy music being played; the design of the doors degrades the audio reproduction. We’d go as far as saying that we’d be tempted to cut all of the strings to better the listening experience.
With an emphasis on the lows, it’s no surprise that the mids are affected. While not overly recessed, male and female vocals are still pushed back. You might be tempted to tinker with the 500Hz, 1kHz and 5kHz bands, but doing so will negatively impact the overall accuracy – to ensure vocals are as the artist intends, we’d be mindful of adding notches to the relevant frequency bands.
Read next: The best dash cams to mount inside your vehicle
As for the highs, they extend well both at the front and rear of the cabin due to the inclusion of those dedicated tweeters. With two notches added onto the 16 kHz band, cymbals have that extra bit of sparkle, with classical songs benefitting from a lively top-end.
In terms of the overall soundstage reproduction, it’s decent. There is good instrument separation, however, the system does lack that level of width and depth. Due to the omission of additional audio drivers within the dashboard, the doors and the rear parcel shelf, music sounds a bit narrow. Take John Legend’s ‘Who Do We Think We Are’ for example, which should sound expansive and grandiose but rather in the Atto 3 is a little underwhelming.
Finally, onto cabin noise, the BYD Atto 3 is relatively well insulated. There is a little bit of tyre noise that can be heard at higher speeds, but in the grander scheme of things, it’s minimal. Using a sound meter we recorded the following: 35-36 dBA at a standstill; 53-57 dBA while driving at 20-30mph; 59-63 dBA while driving at 40mph; and 69-72 dBA when at 70mph.
Read next: New Tesla Model 3 audio review: Standard vs Long Range sound
TotallyEV’s verdict on the BYD Atto 3’s audio system
While we have been a bit critical of the Atto 3’s audio system, it is worth considering that no matter the trim level, you’re still getting a punchy eight-speaker configuration as standard. Given its competencies and fun sound signature we feel it’ll suffice for the average consumer and as such, receives TotallyEV’s Approved Audio award.
Find the best BYD Atto 3 deals
It’s a shame that BYD has included those redundant guitar strings as it would have elevated the listening experience. Meanwhile, the inclusion of extra speakers around the cabin and a subwoofer in the boot would have taken it to another level. If you’re a serious audiophile, it’s worth considering some of the alternatives.
What do you make of the audio system? Let us know in the comments section below or via social media; we’re on: YouTube, Instagram, Facebook, X and LinkedIn.
