BATTLE OF THE BEST! -- NEW 2026 Mazda CX-5 vs. 2026 Honda CR-V: Comparison

What's going on YouTube? It's really hard to stand out in the compact crossover segment where there are over a dozen competitive offerings. One of the most popular and longtime favorites has of course been the Honda CR-V which was recently refreshed. But another important Japanese rival is stepping up to the plate for this year and it is all new in the form of the 2026 Mazda CX-5. And let me tell you guys this model is much different than ever before. So can this important CX-5 topple the best-selling CR-V with more space and more technology than ever? Well let's go ahead and find out. There are a ton of options within the compact crossover space and today we'll be breaking down all that these two competitors offer with their fully loaded trims. If you are looking to buy either one of them make sure to to get the best price and access to invoice pricing information. Let's kick off this comparison with the exterior designs where the CR-V sees some slight tweaks for 2026 and the CX-5 gets some much bigger changes. While its Mazda heritage is still recognizable the CX-5 takes on a more mature look for its new generation with sharper lines borrowed from its bigger siblings like the CX-90 and CX-70. In typical Mazda fashion the CX-5 comes across as quite sporty with lots of gloss black elements throughout. The same could be said for the Honda which also uses lots of gloss black elements for its fascia. We won't score the design which is a subjective matter but let us know which one you prefer in the comments. What we do score are all the various features and differences so let's start with the headlights. Both models have fully LED units but the Mazda has some extra goodies to add. Its headlamps are projector LEDs instead of reflectors and they are also adaptive as well. Punctuating the designs are gloss black 19-inch alloys on both. Continuing to the sides the CX-5 has had a major growth spurt this year adding four and a half inches and taking it to almost the exact same length as the CR-V. However that doesn't necessarily mean equivalent space inside so we'll dive into all those figures later on. Out back they share exposed exhaust outlets spoilers and rear wipers but only the Mazda has full LED tail lamps since Honda is utilizing incandescent turn signals. As equipped the CX-5 has a 500 pound towing advantage maxing out at 1,500 pounds versus 1,000 in the CR-V. Checking out the mirrors each of them feature heating and blind spot monitoring but the Mazda once again adds the luxury touch of power folding and as far as the other important active safety features all of them are included on both models even traffic jam assist functions. That concludes the outside so let's check out the more important interiors but first if you're new here we're brothers and we've been reviewing cars since we were 12 and 16. We started young and since then we have reviewed over 2,000 vehicles at every price point. No matter what you're looking for from humble to high-end we'd love for you to subscribe to be a part of our car confections family. Let's learn a lot and have some fun with all the latest cars. Approaching the doors both crossovers feature smart entry systems but only the CR-V has remote start on its key fob free for life. After opening up the doors you'll find cabins that have very few similarities especially when it comes to design. Let's start with the seats though as always. One similarity these two have are those seats which are both finished in real leather. In addition they also share 10 ways of power adjustment heating and memory but the CX-5 also has seat ventilation a feature still not available on the Honda. Next up let's get into the broad category of material quality which will divide into solidity and material selections. When it comes to build quality both models impress with a sturdy build without any panel gaps. As far as the materials go it's now the CR-V that has the edge this year. The new CX-5 has actually swapped out soft materials on many of the commonly touched panels for hard plastic such as the upper door trims and dash area around the gauges. Once you fire up these two you'll find fully digital gauge clusters on both models this year almost the same size. The Mazda also adds in a head-up display to keep your eyes on the road. Moving back to the steering wheels we have leatherette wrapped manual adjusting wheels with plenty of easy to use buttons. Both steering wheels are heated and the wipers are rain sensing. Next up in our evaluation is storage where we're going to take a look at the console and multi-use cubbies in the dash. Starting with the consoles Honda still manages the advantage over the new CX-5 with an absolutely enormous center console. When we leave the console the CR-V continues its practicality advantages with larger cubbies and better ergonomic placement as well. While the CX-5 has improved in spaciousness and packaging this generation it still hasn't caught up with the ultra practical CR-V. These SUVs forego electronic shifters for physical ones and in reverse you'll find a Honda deficiency. It does not have a 360 degree camera meaning that the CX-5 will certainly be the easier one to park. Moving up the dashboard we stop at the climate controls and also begin to introduce the new screen on the Mazda. Both have two zone automatic systems but the new CX-5 loses the physical control knobs in favor of digitized controls in the touchscreen. This means the CR-V's climate is easier to adjust while driving. The same thing can also be said about the volume knobs. If you prefer a physical one the Honda will be the better pick here although they both have steering wheel controls regardless. Both models are rocking 12 speaker Bose sound systems and let's hear a sample. As expected the sound quality is very similar if not identical between them. Infotainment wise let's start to really dig in here because there are some profound differences. Mazda famously anti-touchscreen in the past did a 180 degree turn with the new model and put the largest touchscreen of any compact SUV into the new CX-5. This 15.6 inch display on the top trim for 2026 absolutely squashes the CR-V's 9 inch display which is about 54 percent smaller. As far as functionality though they match each other with wireless apple carplay and android auto and google apps including google maps built in natively. Wrapping up the front of the cabins they both have auto dimming mirrors although the CX-5 has home link garage door openers. Additionally you will find a panoramic moonroof on the Mazda only since Honda does not offer a panoramic size option in the U.S. Now let's head into the back seats and the cargo areas where we will discuss any packaging differences. As far as leg and headroom figures they are all within the five percent margin to score a point which is a huge step forward for the Mazda which was previously one of the smallest in the segment. As far as features go the Mazda again has an advantage while both back seats offer vents usbs and reclining abilities. The CX-5 goes above and beyond with heated seats too. Now let's pop open the hands-free power tailgates and discuss the space we have inside. While the CX-5 again had a much needed growth spurt for this newest generation the Space King CR-V still holds the maximum cargo advantage with 10 cubic feet of extra space with the seats folded down. However the space behind the seats is within a cubic foot so keep that in mind if you often road trip with the seats upright. Only the CX-5 has 40-20-40 split folding seats that can easily be folded down with rear handles. All right we're done with the interiors now but some of the most important things to consider take place on the test drive so let's take this fight to the streets. These two competitors have long taken different approaches to their powertrain setups and that trend continues for 2026 but not without some changes. On the fully loaded CR-V it comes exclusively with Honda's two motor hybrid system bumping power from the standard gas engine on the lower trims. On the other hand the Mazda has just one engine option now a 2.5 liter four-cylinder making 187 horsepower compared to the Honda's 204 horsepower. Mazda does plan to launch a hybrid but it won't be available for likely another year or more so for now the CR-V has the power advantage and is significantly faster to 60 miles per hour. All right and there we are quickly accelerating up to 60 miles per hour. Now when it comes to the Sport Touring model this is one of the trims that comes standard with a hybrid system so just to remind you guys again you have a 1.5 liter turbocharged gasoline engine that's really reserved for your lower trim levels and then all your upper trim levels are going to be the hybrid exclusive trims. So this is Honda's two motor hybrid system it's unchanged for 2026 so it's a two liter four-cylinder engine with two electric motors total power 204 horsepower and 247 pound-feet of torque. All right that was our acceleration to 60 miles per hour with the 2026 CX-5. Now as you can probably tell it's not overly fast a lot of the coverage that we have had in the past with the CX-5 has been with the turbo model and let's just get that out of the way right from the start they're not going to offer the turbo model for the new generation unfortunately. So you just have the standard powertrain today it's a 2.5 liter naturally aspirated four-cylinder engine it makes 187 horsepower and 186 pound-feet of torque. Transmission wise the Honda uses a direct drive system that acts like an e-CVT while the CX-5 keeps its old school six-speed automatic. Both are smooth and fine for most driving situations and the same can also be said about their all-wheel drive systems. Now as far as your transmissions are concerned we have CVT on the traditional gas end or an e-CVT like transmission here with the hybrid models. Overall response as you can see from that acceleration there is very quick. Now one thing that's definitely different than I think everything else in the segment is the transmission situation so that is also carry over which is pretty old school option it's a six-speed automatic transmission. I think Mazda is the only one doing that at this point and you know it is lacking a couple gears versus a lot of the competition. Now let's discuss ride quality and handling for these two crossovers. While handling is less important for this segment Mazda and Honda have long been segment leaders in this respect and for these newest models the CX-5 has been softened in terms of handling making it closer to the nimble CR-V than ever before. We'll call this category even and for ride quality what the CX-5 loses in agility it has gained in ride quality making the CX-5 much more comfortable than ever. However the CR-V is still one of the best riding in the segment and it will maintain its advantage here. Now we've been driving around CR-Vs all day long and that is really just kind of confirmed in my mind that this is a very good riding vehicle as you hit bumps in the road it does a great job of soaking it up and really not letting a ton of intrusion inside the cabin. Now we do have the largest wheels here with the sport touring and I'm happy to tell you I don't think that negatively impacts your ride that much at all so you're not paying a huge penalty for that maybe ever so slightly but not a big penalty. That starts with the suspension Mazda's definitely tuned the suspension to be softer for this new generation. We've gone over some pretty rough California roads on this drive today and it seems to soak up all the bumps really well. You have most of those vibrations smoothed out and it's also complemented by these much more comfortable seats for this new generation. Now out on the highway sound insulation is important which is why we take sound level readings of every vehicle we test here at Car Confections. Scientifically speaking most people cannot discern a difference of less than one decibel between sounds and as you can see there's more of a difference than that. But before jumping to conclusions the CX-5 sample was taken in California on a recent press drive which means the rating is unofficial for now until we get one back home in Kentucky. 55.8 decibels is where we've settled in at. Very impressive we've settled in at 53.9 decibels on this all new CX-5. Lastly let's get into fuel economy as you would expect this falls in favor of the CR-V by 11 mpg combined. We're excited to test and compare Mazda's hybrid system at a later date when it launches. In our reviews and comparisons we're also adding in reliability and resale information to give you a better picture of the overall value beyond just the original MSRP. Beginning with reliability we developed the combined reliability index which takes into account several studies from trustworthy sources and combines them in a way that gives you the most realistic picture. In this respect both of them rate well. Honda does quite well ranking 13 slots above industry average giving it plus 2.6 points and Mazda is two slots above average awarding it plus 0.4 points. Related to that they have the same warranty coverage but Honda has one year of complementary maintenance. We also put Mason's economics degree to work to develop a detailed predicted resale value tool. After five years and 60,000 miles Honda actually has the highest value in the entire auto industry at 64.79% of expected retained value. Mazda is a bit further behind at 59.44% giving the CR-V plus one point. Now let's talk about pricing. While the newest generation of CX-5 does see some price increases for its changes this year the lack of hybrid or turbo engine options makes it a good deal more affordable than the CR-V. Its top trim MSRP is below $40,000 making it one of the few options in the segment that can say so regardless of powertrain. But how does that value play out score wise? When you consider the $3,515 price difference the CX-5 will be awarded plus two points for its added value. So there you have it the objective winner. Do you agree? Well let's go over some pros and cons about why you might choose each one so you can find your personal winner and then we'll also tell you which ones we would put in each of our driveways. I'll start with the CR-V. That should be your choice if you're going for the maximum cargo capacity also if you're looking for the hybrid system benefits and also physical climate and audio controls. Now the CX-5 might be the choice for you if you prefer having more features throughout the cabin as well as on the exterior with things such as adaptive led lighting. Additionally it also has a larger touch screen that does work a bit quicker. Now if a certain category matters more to you personally then you can use our tool at carconfections.com slash vehicle rankings where you can sort based on the 10 most important categories to compact crossover shoppers. This is a great tool to use while shopping and can help you find the best choice and make an informed buying decision. Now which models will we put in each of our driveways? I'll start with the CX-5. I prefer that because of the sophisticated design. I also like that it has kind of more features throughout and a little bit more of a high-tech feel. Now I would choose the Honda CR-V mainly because I value things such as having physical controls for things like my climate as well as my volume knob. Additionally for now I prefer having the hybrid system in the CR-V. Well guys that's where we'll finish off this comparison for today. If you're looking to buy either one of these vehicles we would encourage you to go to carconfections.com slash new car quotes. On there you can get access to things such as invoice pricing which is a great tool for dealership negotiation. It's also going to get you access to things such as a monthly payment tool which is a great help as well. If you're interested in checking this out we do have a pinned comment at the top of this video as well as a link in the video description. Well guys we appreciate your support throughout these comparisons and if you're interested in checking these out or any other automotive content we have plenty for you to check out on the channel so we would appreciate it if you would subscribe down below. When you do you get access to all of our different content that we do on many different types of vehicles. If you're already a fan and subscriber thank you so much for your continued support and we'll catch you next time as we sample more of the latest automotive delicacies.