The Sync3 system is the low-point of this vehicle. IT works fine, but is slow, buggy, and leaves a lot on the table in simple design principles (screen usage etc.) When I've rented 2021 budget import cars that have Android Auto, I'm always surprised that it works (and works well) wirelessly! How did we miss this boat and still have to plug in our phones. I can't imagine the tech jump from 20 to 21 was some sort of moonlanding moment.
That said, when I've been in a rented Explorer with the horizontal screen, some of the features are better, others are not. e.g. Android or Carplay take up the entire screen. You can't get to the other sync controls (sat radio) when Android or Apple dominates the screen. it's just a different set of issues with the horizontal version. Backup camera is larger though, which helps.
fingers crossed the new build will offer some noticeable benefits!