Kia Sonet X-Line Review: The Good, the Bad and Everything In Between

In the overcrowded sub-4m compact SUV segment, Indian car buyers are pampered for choice. Depending on the preference, there are multiple high-volume contenders, feature-loaded city commuters, or frugal highway cruisers. But for buyers seeking a subtle balance of bold design, tech-loaded cabin, and multiple powertrain choices, the Kia Sonet continues to be a strong contender in 2026.

With the 2024 update, Kia refreshed the Sonet's design, updated the interior layout, and packed in features like dual 10.25-inch displays, level-1 ADAS, driving modes, and a 360-degree camera. Positioned at the top of the lineup, the X-Line variant brings a stealthy, premium look to complement its turbo-petrol and diesel powertrains.

But does this cosmetic and feature upgrade make it the most complete sub-compact SUV in its segment?

To find out, we tested the flagship Kia Sonet X Line powered by the 1.0-litre turbo-petrol engine for over 1,000 km across Noida-Gurugram traffic and multiple expressways. We evaluated its real-world drivability, fuel economy, ride comfort, and overall usability for daily commutes and long family road
trips.

Most importantly, does the top-spec X-Line justify its premium price tag over standard trims and strong segment rivals?

Let’s get started!!

What’s Good:

Design

The design of the Kia Sonet X Line is striking, and it has a bold appearance. Though it is due for an update, the current model has a sharp front profile with a tiger nose grille. The LED headlamps and DRLs give it a muscular appearance.

During my daily commute from Noida to Gurugram at night, I felt the throw of the headlamps was okayish, and I expect Kia India to offer better headlights in the coming model. On low-beam, these have decent illumination in pitch-dark conditions, and on high-beams, the throw did improve, but I cannot drive with them in city conditions.

The bonnet has cuts and creases, and on the lower parts, there are silver accents, along with LED fog lamps, which do look premium. The front parking camera is neatly integrated, and I feel the front profile is one of the most striking units in the entire segment.

Now, on the side, the silhouette continues and remains unchanged from the previous generation. Despite, I was driving the Sonet X Line variant, the design of the five-spoke diamond-cut 16-inch alloy wheels was similar to what is offered on the GT-Line trims, and I expected something different and unique on the X-Line trim. 

Moreover, it has all four disc brakes for better braking. The ingress and egress were quite easy as the doors open wide enough. To add to the sportiness, the Sonet X-Line has subtle roof rails. Additionally, the Matte Graphite paint shade with a modest amount of gloss black finishing enhances the overall aesthetics.

Coming to the rear, the Sonet has a clean tail lamp design. It has a connected LED DRL treatment, but Kia has cut corners by offering a single reverse lamp on the bumper. You have a shark-fin antenna, a subtle roof spoiler, wiper and washer setup as it is the top-spec variant, and lower down, the bumper has a blacked-out treatment to reduce the visual bulk.

For practicality and weekend travel, the Sonet X-Line offers 385L of boot space, which I found was sufficient to carry my luggage. However, I expect that with the latest update to the Sonet coming in 2027, the new platform and the slight increase in dimensions would open up more boot space for more storage.

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Features

Kia is always known for loading its vehicles with multiple convenience and safety features. During my 1000 km experience, I found some features very useful. It has a plethora of convenience features like front ventilated seats, a wireless charger, multiple USB Type-C ports, and safety features like six airbags and ABS with EBD, traction modes, ISOFIX child seat mount, Level-1 ADAS, and others.

Now, sharing my experience with the Sonet’s 10.25-inch infotainment system, it comes with wired connectivity for Apple CarPlay and Android Auto. I feel that in 2026, Kia could have updated the Sonet with subtle features and should have added wireless connectivity. However, that’s not the case here. It gets wired connectivity, and it helps keep your iPhone charged all the time, which I feel is a plus point. The infotainment screen has a crisp display, and the touch is intuitive to use. I barely felt any lag on the touch.

Inside it, there are multiple settings and features to play with. One thing I would like to mention about this infotainment screen is that the navigation system that Kia India offers in the Sonet, I feel, is fairly better than Google Maps at some point. During my daily commute from Noida to Gurugram, I used the in-built navigation system of the Sonet, and though Google Maps has many advanced features, the Sonet’s navigation system gained my points for showing the exact route to take, whether to go on the fly-over or to avoid it, which sometimes becomes a bit confusing while using Google Maps.

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Some of the other convenience features that I felt are quite practical and necessary in the Sonet are the multiple driving modes and, interestingly, the instrument cluster theme changes with each mode, front ventilated seats, a 360-degree parking camera to park in tight spaces, and others. Talking about the camera quality, I feel it does the job well, and there is scope for nighttime clarity, as it gets a bit pixelated.

The front ventilated seats are a boon in this hot and humid climate, as they instantly cooled my lower back and gave me a relaxing drive. Moreover, the three driving modes, ECO, NORMAL, and SPORT, altered the engine performance, and the Eco mode helped in slightly better fuel efficiency while having the E20 petrol.

Kia offers an 8-speaker BOSE audio system, and it comes with mood lighting as well. As I am a music lover, the audio output from different music was pretty good, and it made my travel pleasant. I would not recommend anyone to upgrade the audio setup, but if you still wish to, it is your choice.
 

Now, coming to the safety aspect. The Sonet X-Line has multiple safety features like a 360-degree parking camera, front and rear parking sensors, six airbags, ABS with EBD, traction control, traction modes, and others.

Talking about the front parking camera and sensors, they made parking much more convenient, and the camera quality is also decent. I do not have many complaints with this camera setup offered in the Sonet X-Line, and I expect slightly better camera quality in its coming updates.

As the Sonet X-Line is equipped with Level-1 ADAS features, my experience was okayish. It comes with Lane Departure Warning, Forward Collision Warning, High-Beam Assist, and others. 

I found them very useful in my daily commute. However, the Front Collision Avoidance was quite intrusive, and the driver attention warning kept on kicking in even when I was following the lane and was in peak bumper-to-bumper traffic.

Engine Performance

Now comes the main aspect: the Kia Sonet with three engine options. However, I drove the 1.0L inline three-cylinder turbo petrol engine, which makes 120BHP and 170Nm torque, paired with a seven-speed DCT gearbox. The X-Line variant is only available with this engine option, so if you want another engine option, then you might need to downgrade to another variant.

The driving dynamics of this engine are great, and since I drove the DCT variant, it is a joy to drive. The seven-speed gearbox and the dual-clutch system are pretty smooth, and the engine was responsive on light throttle inputs.

As I mentioned earlier, the Kia Sonet X Line has three driving modes and traction modes; I was able to feel that the difference in power output with different driving modes and the dynamics of the car completely changed. While I was cruising on the Delhi-Dehradun Expressway, I felt the turbo lag below 2000 RPM, and as soon as I pushed a bit hard, the engine immediately downshifted to get going. However, I feel the engine refinement could have been better.

Here’s my quick experience of all three driving modes of the Kia Sonet X-Line:

• I feel the Eco Mode is best suited for city driving conditions as it gives less power, and on highways, it feels quite sluggish when the RPMs are under 2000. Here, the gear shifts are smooth and always shift under 2,000 RPM.
• In the Normal Mode, the engine performance changed quite well, and it became more lively to drive, and the steering response also changed a bit.
• Now, for the most fun-to-drive aspect, I put the Sonet X-Line in the Sports Mode, and the engine came to a different character altogether. It became more responsive with lightest throttle inputs and stayed around 2000 RPM. While I tested its acceleration and 0-100km/h sprint time, it upshifted in the mid-range for better performance from the engine.

Seating Comfort

The seating comfort in the Sonet X-Line is decent. The front seats of the Sonet are pretty comfortable, and since it is the top-spec variant, you have 4-way electric adjustment for the driver and co-driver seats. In my seating position, I was pretty much comfortable in the front seats, and I had a good view of what’s around. The seat cushioning is soft, and the leatherette upholstery also feels premium.

Now, as I come to the rear seats, things change a bit. There is a decent amount of knee, leg and headroom; the shoulder room is quite compromised. Here, only two passengers are comfortable in the back seats, and three passengers will be a tight fit. However, the back support is quite upright, and I feel a slight tilt could have added to the overall cabin experience in the rear seats.

What’s Bad

Fuel Efficiency

One of the prime reasons and a major dealbreaker for many buyers in this segment is the fuel efficiency. The Kia Sonet has an ARAI fuel efficiency of 19.2 km/l. With a tank-to-tank method, while driving it for around 200km in the city and on highways, I was able to extract a fuel efficiency of 10.92km/l with the regular E20 petrol.

I feel the fuel efficiency of the Kia Sonet X Line turbo petrol is hampered because it would not make an upshift to seventh gear till a speed of 80km/h automatically. With the help of paddle shifters, I made an upshift to the seventh gear to bring down the RPM at cruising speeds.

Ride and Handling

The next drawback to many customers, and I also felt the ride and handling of the Kia Sonet X-Line require improvement. Though the suspension is on the softer side, the ride becomes a bit bouncy at triple-digit speeds. On bad roads and potholes, it neither glides over it and infact, does the suspension noise filter inside the cabin. Moreover, when I was travelling on the Delhi-Dehradun Expressway, the expansion joints did filter inside, and my parents in the rear seats were not satisfied with the comfort quality in the Sonet.

Now, the steering wheel has an okayish feel and feedback. While I mostly drove in the city, from Noida to Gurugram and back, the steering wheel is light, and easy to manueveur. 

However, while I was cruising at around 100-120 km/h on the expressway, the feedback was almost negligible, and while going on curves, the body roll is present. I had to slow down to keep it in line. It does feel disconnected, and I expect Kia to enhance this in the upcoming Sonet.

NVH

The NVH levels in the Sonet could have been better. Despite the outside noise being well contained, the suspension noise does filter inside. As I have previously mentioned, the engine noise is quite evident, and vibrations filter in on different panels at idle. The road noise does not filter inside the cabin. Talking about the vibrations, the three-cylinder effect of a turbo petrol engine is present, and you can feel it on different panels.

What is the price of the Kia Sonet X-Line?

The price of the Kia Sonet starts at ₹7.40 lakh (ex-showroom), while the X-Line is priced at ₹13.79 lakh (ex-showroom). You can check out the latest on-road price in your area at CARHP.IN.

Should You Buy it?

Now the question arises -- should you go for the Kia Sonet X-Line at its price and segment or not? Our answer is yes. The exteriors of the Sonet X-Line have a bold appearance, and the interior comes with an all-black cabin, which people might feel is a bit claustrophobic. Though the feature list is long, there are some features, that are not available in the SUVs that are one segment above at its price, which might be a deciding factor for many buyers. The drive of the Kia Sonet X-Line feels sporty, and the performance of the engine is also great. However, customers who are prioritising comfort may not like the ride quality, as it is on the bumpy side, but I expect Kia to offer a better suspension setup in the upcoming model in 2027.

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