The Jeep Compass is certainly a prettier car than its predecessor, and the design has plenty of modern showroom appeal. It retains Jeep’s trademark seven-slot grille, but wraparound LED headlamps, a sculpted bonnet and deep lower grille give the front a funky feel that's something of an evolution of the larger Grand Cherokee.

The jaunty styling is carried along the side of the car with kicked up rear quarter-lights and distinctive squared-off wheelarches. The contrasting black roof visually lowers the car for a slightly racier feel, yet there’s an element of luxury provided by a big chrome trim strip that separates the roof from the door tops, running on to create a striking trailing edge for the angular rear pillars.

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A facelift in 2021 saw some minor exterior updates, with a wider lower grille included along with full LED headlights fitted as standard across the range.

While the exterior is as pleasing as the Jeep’s main rivals, the pre-facelift interior didn't score quite so highly, and it all felt rather characterless and bland. In response, the manufacturer has given the Compass a welcome boost in interior quality, also introducing a new dash design, a larger 10.1-inch touchscreen with the manufacturer's new Uconnect 5 infotainment system and a 10.25-inch digital dash.

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The seats have a quality feel and the chunky steering wheel is nice to hold, but otherwise cabin quality isn’t quite up to the standard of rivals.

Sat-nav, stereo and infotainment

The infotainment system is a significant improvement, with a processor that’s five times faster than before, according to Jeep. However, it’s still not the most intuitive set-up to use and response times and screen resolution could still be better, although Apple CarPlay and Android Auto connectivity is standard.