Storage in general is pretty good; I’m especially a fan of the wireless charging system (standard on all trims), which not only charges your phone, but it keeps it out of the way, yet accessible. A word of warning: larger phones (we’re talking iPhone 6 Plus-sized) will have a hard time sliding into the slot. Should be fine for most, though.

For those who care more about the soft touch of fine cowhide than they do space, the materials used in the XT5 won’t disappoint. Almost everything you see is real; real open-pore wood, real leather and real aluminum. Yes, there are a few plasticized aluminum bits here and there, but that’s mostly overshadowed by the sumptuous materials used. I’m especially a fan of the microfibre suede used on some of the trim combos, which get names like “Maple Sugar” and “Carbon Plum” (bit of a cheeky nod to Mopar muscle cars of old there, eh, Caddy?). You know, because “black” and “beige” is just so boring. Oh, and how can we forget the carbon fibre used is not of the charcoal variety you’d expect; instead, it gets a very cool Kevlar-like finish. Job very well done with this interior, Caddy.

Once you get past all that and it’s time to actually consider user/car interaction, Cadillac’s next big ace up the sleeve comes to the fore: the available tech.

We talked about the standard wireless charging dock, but that’s quickly overshadowed by the standard availability of both Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, as well as a 4G WiFi hotspot.

For its part, I find CarPlay to be one of the best infotainment technologies to arrive in a long time, right up there with touchscreen interfaces and back-up cameras. It’s as plug-and-play as you can get; simply plug your iDevice into the car’s USB, and your infotainment screen becomes a mirror of your phone.

During our drive, the Apple system worked a treat, but the Android system took a little longer. For one, you have to download an app in order for it to work. Then, there’s actually a set-up process done through your phone and once that’s done, certain handset functions can only be used when you’re in park; that’s not a huge problem, but CarPlay can be modified any time, by anybody, sitting anywhere in the car (up to seven devices can be paired with the system), while only people with access to the Cadillac User Experience (CUE) touchscreen are able to use Android Auto. I guess you could say that makes the Android system safer, but I still think it’s a little much.

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