Car Comparisons

2025 Toyota Camry Hybrid vs Honda Accord Hybrid Comparison Test

Comparison Data

2025 Honda Accord Sport Hybrid
2025 Toyota Camry Hybrid XSE AWD
Engine Displacement
2.0L
2.5L
Engine Cylinders
Hybrid I4
Hybrid I4
Peak Horsepower
204 hp
232 net hp
Peak Torque
247 lb-ft
N/A
Fuel Economy
5.0 / 5.7 / 5.3 L/100 km cty/hwy/cmb
5.3 / 5.5 /5.3 L/100 km cty/hwy/cmb
Cargo Space
473 L
428 L
Base Price
$41,500
$44,250
A/C Tax
$100
$100
Destination Fee
$1,830
$1,860
Price as Tested
$43,730
$46,765
Optional Equipment
$300 — Radiant Red Metallic paint, $300
$555 — Ocean Gem paint w/black roof, $555

[Editor’s Note: Shortly after this comparison was completed Honda announced a handful of changes to the 2025 Accord. While the trims and packaging have changed slightly, the car’s fundamentals remain the same.]

Something interesting has happened in the midsize sedan segment in recent years.

Where once there was a viable offering from just about every automaker, only a few are still standing. They also happen to be really good. Gone are the rental grade offerings with all the panache of a can of No Name brand beans. Instead, the remaining players offer tremendous refinement and plenty of features.

For four decades, the Toyota Camry and Honda Accord have faced each other as competitive examples of just how good an efficient and dependable mainstream sedan can be. For 2025, Toyota has given its venerable midsize entry a comprehensive update, so it only seems fitting to pit it against its nemesis from Honda that’s now available as a hybrid.

Styling

Of these two, traditionally the Camry has represented the staid, sensibly styled option versus the more sporting Accord. In recent years, Toyota has tried to rectify that somewhat stodgy image by offering a TRD-tuned version replete with snazzy wheels and a trunk lid spoiler. The TRD is no more, and with this glow-up the Camry looks like it’s meant to be a greatest hits album of Toyota’s current styling elements. There are headlights pulled from the Prius, tail lights that aren’t unlike the ones from the GR86 coupe, and an enormous cheese grater grille stolen from the kitchen, err, Crown

Meanwhile, Honda has stripped the Accord of any of the last generation’s modest flamboyance and created the most vanilla sedan in generations — and yet it works. The relative slab-sidedness means it’s not adorned with trendy baubles and will look tasteful for decades to come. Better still, the front end doesn’t look like a whale gulping krill, and the profile features a nice, clean arc from roof to tail.

It’s a similar story inside these cars, with the Camry having a much busier design with lines and swoops stretching from the centre console toward the passenger door. It’s an improvement over last year’s model, but with an abundance of smudge-prone piano-black plastic, it’s still more overdone than the cleaner Accord cabin, whose only flourish is the mesh treatment to the vents that we’ve grown to love in several contemporary Hondas.

Toyota Camry: 7/10; Honda Accord: 8/10

 

User-Friendliness

Fortunately, the busyness of the Camry’s cockpit doesn’t negatively affect usability. The digital instrument display presents an awful lot of information all at once, requiring a split-second more time to sort it compared to the simpler setup in the Honda, but that’s about where the griping ends. Both cars do an excellent job of mixing a very simple, user-friendly infotainment touchscreen with essential hard buttons for climate and audio, plus heated seats and steering wheel.

We especially appreciate each car having a traditional gear selector and straightforward steering wheel controls. Both cockpits offer the sort of user-friendliness that means buyers should be able to set everything up to their liking without needing to spend a whole weekend studying the owner’s manual. Meanwhile, the driving position is similar in each, offering clear outward sightlines in all directions.

Toyota Camry: 9/10; Honda Accord: 9/10

 

Comfort

One of the most impressive aspects of these modern sedans is the comfort and refinement they offer. The ride quality in each would’ve rivaled many European luxury sedans from a decade or so ago, with the ability to remain composed yet take the sharp edge off all but the worst of road imperfections. 

Both cars do a great job of quelling road and wind noise, too, but Sébastien Bell, AutoTrader’s sharp-eared associate editor, noted more engine noise from the Camry than he’d like. After too many years of loud music, your author didn’t notice a difference between the two. 

Honda has done a great job of scooping out the interior to create as much space for occupants (and stuff) as possible, making it a better fit for folks who might be a bit taller or broader. Rear legroom in both is generous, but the Camry’s fancy dual-pane sunroof cuts into headroom in the back quite significantly.

Conversely, while rear-seat passengers might prefer the Honda’s space, the front seats have hard and flat bottoms, and despite their fabric finish, don’t breathe well, leading to sweaty backs during this early autumn test. The Camry’s front seats, meanwhile, are both well-padded and well-shaped — plus featured three-stage ventilation — for comfort over the long haul.

Toyota Camry: 7.5/10; Honda Accord: 7.5/10

 

Features

While both the sportiest variants available, the Accord Sport is a mid-level trim lacking the leather, wireless phone charger, head-up display, power passenger seat, and upgraded stereo found in the Accord Hybrid Touring — and in the Camry XSE tested alongside it. The Camry’s cooled and perforated front seats were a welcome feature, and in the back, the Toyota offers vents and a pair of USB-C ports absent in the Accord.

Top trim versus top trim, only the Camry’s dual-pane sunroof would set the two apart in terms of feature count if it weren’t for Toyota also offering its midsize sedan with all-wheel drive. This is sure to be a deal-breaker for a number of Canadian buyers who presume they need four-wheel propulsion.

Toyota Camry: 9/10; Honda Accord: 8/10

 

Safety

Unsurprisingly, both cars mirror each other with their very comprehensive safety suites. Each offers advanced systems like adaptive cruise control, automatic emergency braking, lane departure warning and keeping assist, and pedestrian and cyclist detection. Both have automatic high-beam control and traffic sign recognition technology, plus high-strength construction and a wealth of airbags. All of this adds up to each model earning the highest ratings from the not-for-profit Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS). 

Toyota Camry: 9.5/10; Honda Accord: 9.5/10

Driving Feel

If it weren’t for driving the Camry, the Accord presents itself very well. Neither of these are sport sedans, yet both manage to acquit themselves decently when thrown at an onramp or roundabout. It’s the Accord, that surprisingly howled in protest first when driven hard through a succession of curves though, as it seemed surprisingly unhappy about being driven aggressively. This isn’t what we had come to expect from previous Accords, but with this pair, it’s the Camry that feels better composed and more willing to play. 

Did the Toyota’s third motor driving the rear wheels help? Very possibly, but the rest of the suspension is slightly more sophisticated than the Accord’s. Both cars suffer a lack of any real steering feel, but the Accord’s is precise and well-weighted, and in both cars the brakes deliver a firm pedal feel and decent stopping power. 

Toyota Camry: 8/10; Honda Accord: 7/10

 

Power

The Toyota’s larger engine and automatic continuously-variable transmission (CVT) make it snappier accelerating from a standstill and for overtaking. On its own, the 2.5L four-cylinder generates 184 hp and 163 lb-ft of torque, augmented by three electric motors for a net result of 232 hp.

The Accord is powered by a 2.0L with an electric motor bumping output from 146 hp and 134 lb-ft of torque to 204 hp and 247 lb-ft. Toyota doesn’t publish its net torque figure for the Camry, but given the Camry’s roughly 80 kg (176 lb) of extra mass, we figure it must be twisting out more than 250 lb-ft of torque to make it feel so much livelier than the Accord.

When driven in anger, Honda’s CVT is programmed to step through simulated gear changes rather than holding a bunch of revs until the desired speed is achieved. There’s enough gusto from both cars that for most daily-driving duties these two can quietly and confidently motor around town, relying on electric-only modes when at parking lot speeds or crawling in stop-and-go traffic.

Toyota Camry: 7.5/10; Honda Accord: 7/10

Fuel Economy

The penalty of the Camry’s greater mass and larger engine are felt at the gas pump, but not by as much as you might think. In fact, the Honda only beats the Toyota for city driving, posting an official 5.0 L/100 km versus the Toyota’s 5.3. On the highway, the Camry is rated at 5.5 versus the Accord’s 5.7, and the combined ratings are an identical 5.3 L/100 km.

During our test loop that mixed urban, country back roads, and some highway time, the Camry showed an average of 6.0 versus the Accord’s 5.4. Both are impressively efficient and only require regular unleaded fuel.

Toyota Camry: 8.5/10; Honda Accord: 9/10

Practicality

Those prioritizing ultimate practicality will likely opt for a crossover — or better yet, a minivan — instead of either of these two sedans. Still, each one provides a spacious, comfortable cabin for as many as five occupants, and plenty of luggage space as well. On paper, the Accord shows a slight advantage in cargo carrying with 473 L versus 428 L in the Camry, but both are sizable trunks that increase with their split-folding rear seats. 

In places with lots of hills and bad weather, the Camry’s all-wheel drive could be an advantage, but for those who need to transport fully grown passengers, the Accord’s back seat offers more usable headroom.  

Toyota Camry: 7/10; Honda Accord: 7/10

 

Value

An entry-level Honda Accord starts at slightly more than $40,000 including freight, but that’s a non-hybrid model. Our Sport Hybrid tester rings in at $43,730 with fees included — equivalent to the 2025 Honda Accord Sport-L that’s priced at $45,005 — while the top Touring trim is $47,505 before tax.

Toyota no longer offers a non-hybrid Camry, yet it starts at a modest $37,295 including freight and fees. There’s a mid-trim SE AWD for $40,945, while our XSE AWD tops $46,000 — just a few hundred bucks less than the more luxurious XLE AWD trim. Apples-to-apples, these two are priced very competitively.

Toyota Camry: 8.5/10; Honda Accord: 8/10

The Verdict

The Accord and Camry continue doing what Honda and Toyota have sought to do with these models all along: provide good, sensible transportation. With modern technology and amenities, they’ve become far more luxurious and efficient than ever before, making them fantastic machines to live with whether slogging through the daily drive or setting off on a road trip. They offer competitive performance and plenty of comfort with enough style to stand out from the endless number of crossovers on the road. Still, with its livelier drivetrain, all-wheel drive, and more comfortable seats, it’s the 2025 Toyota Camry that comes out on top for us.

 

 

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