Mercedes GLB review

The driving position in the GLB may be fairly upright, in typical SUV style, but you don’t sit as high up as you do in the Land Rover Discovery Sport. The seats feature lots of adjustment, including a seat squab that's extendable and can be angled up to support your thighs.

Oddly, you don't get adjustable lumbar support as standard, but the seat is so well shaped that you don't really miss it. To get lumbar adjustment you have to go for the top-level AMG Line Premium Plus trim, which brings many extras on top, including full electric seat adjustment with a memory function.

All GLBs come with digital instruments instead of conventional dials, and you can arrange them in a number of modes and styles. As standard, it's a 7.0in screen but, if you step up to AMG Line Premium, it grows to 10.3in. The rest of the dashboard layout works really well, with a row of simple buttons to manage things such as the climate control. 

The GLB's big, square windows provide a great view out of the front and to the sides, but look back over your shoulders and there are blindspots behind each rear pillar. You get a rear-view camera as standard to help mitigate those, but front and rear parking sensors are standard only once you get to AMG Line Premium trim.

Every GLB gets LED lights all round, including the headlights, and top-spec AMG Line Premium Plus models have adaptive LED headlights, which you can leave on main beam and they automatically shape their light to avoid dazzling other road users.

As standard, you get a 7.0in infotainment screen with crisp graphics and responsive software. Built-in sat nav, Bluetooth and a DAB radio are all included, and upgrading to AMG Line Premium expands the screen’s size to 10.25in, and adds wireless phone charging as well as Apple CarPlay and Android Auto smartphone mirroring.

Whatever the screen size, it can be operated either as a touchscreen or via a touchpad controller (similar to laptop's) between the front seats. The latter method is less distracting when you're driving, and gives the GLB an advantage over pure touchscreen systems like the one in the Discovery Sport.

There are also two tiny touchpads on the steering wheel that you can use to control the system, or you can use the natural speech voice control for many things, which you wake up by calling out "Hey Mercedes". Overall, the GLB's infotainment system isn't as brilliantly simple to use as the BMW X3's, though.

Even without the atmosphere created by the ambient interior lighting in AMG Line Premium models, the GLB still strikes a classy pose. The twin digital displays offer a clean and modern look, and the most prominent areas, such as the top of the doors and dashboard, are upholstered in soft plastic or man-made leather. 

That said, some of the trim finishers appear quite cheap to the discerning eye and, lower down, the interior materials certainly take on a more durable rather than tactile feel. Interior quality is roughly on par with the Discovery Sport, but not as good as in the the Audi Q5 or BMW X3.