2026 Nissan Frontier Pro-4X Review

This week I’ve got the 2026 Nissan Frontier that was heavily refreshed in 2025. It has been nice to see Nissan paying more attention to the Frontier than it has in the past, likely due to the demise and elimination of the larger Titan in 2024. This truck competes with Ford Ranger, Chevy Colorado, GMC Canyon, and Toyota Tacoma.

The thing I’ve always admired about Frontier is its toughness, but even more than that its simplicity. It feels a little old school and in this day of turbochargers, superchargers, CVT transmissions, hybrids, and the list goes on and on, this feels pretty good. I almost feel like I could work on this truck.

My tester is the top-of-the-line Pro-4X Crew Cab, but it doesn’t try to compete with the Tacoma TRD Pro. Instead, it comes in at a much cheaper price for those who want capability and toughness, and honestly, I think it has a better ride in daily driving than the beefed up Tacoma.

The Frontier offers an extended cab or a full four door, it comes with either a short or long wheelbase long bed, and two or four-wheel drive. It is one of the few that offers a full six-foot bed sitting behind a crew cab. That is excellent for people who actually work out of their trucks but need the room of a crew cab.

Exterior

The truck looks great in this Tactical Green color with 17” wheels and all-terrain Hankook tires. The lines are crisp and sharp, and while I generally like larger wheels than the ones on my tester, these look good, especially the black wheels and black flares built into the fenders.

The new grill that came out in 2025 is one of my favorite features, and it is flanked by LED headlights and fog lights, with red recovery hooks underneath. This truck sits up nicely but not so much that most people will be fine without running boards.

Perfomance

There is one simple choice under the hood of all Frontiers and that’s a 3.8-liter naturally-aspirated V6 that is putting out 310-horses and 281-pound feet of torque. No turbos and no 4-cylinders. It is mated to a strong-shifting 9-speed automatic transmission. My press fleet truck has the shift-on-the-fly four-wheel drive system.

Interior

Moving to the interior, it was surprisingly nice with soft-touch materials throughout the cabin. NASA-designed zero-gravity leather seats are super comfortable, heated, and the driver gets power controls, including power lumbar settings. The seats are stitched, and stitching runs across the dash as well. The seats are embroidered on the back with Pro-4X on them, and you’ll see some hints of orange trim inside, a color that has become synonymous with off-road trucks.

As you sit, there is a colorful 7” gauge cluster and a driver info center that works from the heated leather tilt steering wheel. A large, round, tachometer sits to the left, and a matching speedometer on the right. In the middle I chose the digital speedometer for most of the week, and it displays traffic signs, including the speed limit. You can change settings from the steering wheel and one available screen will show you off-road info like pitch and roll angles.

High center dash is a large 12.3” infotainment screen that handles the terrific 10-speaker Fender sound system, navigation, Bluetooth, voice recognition, Sirius XM, wireless Apple Car Play, and wireless Android auto. It will also give you real-time sports scores, traffic, weather, fuel prices, and how the stock market is doing. The screen is colorful, simple, and fast to understand and operate.The center console is well done and has a couple of grab handles, cup holders, a wireless charger, the gear shifter, switches for the heated front seats, USB and USB-C ports. To the right of the steering wheel is the pushbutton start and button to turn off the start/stop system, and to the left are buttons for various things including tow mode, the outside cargo lamp, hill-descent control, and you can turn off the traction control.

Also on the console and new for 2026 is a new drive mode selector, giving drivers more confidence and control for varied terrain. Selecting from its five modes – Rock, Sand, On-Road, Mud, Hill Descent Control – adjusts key vehicle characteristics to ensure Frontier drivers get the performance and capability they need in nearly any scenario.

The back seat is OK but not as roomy as some of the competition. You get USB and USB-C ports, an outlet for a 110 plug-in, and there is a fold down armrest with cup holders. The back seat folds up and has a nice storage area underneath.

Standard Equipment

The 2026 Nissan Frontier PRO-4X comes standard with: Bilstein off-road performance shocks, all-terrain tires on 17-inch PRO aluminum-alloy wheels, protective skid plates, an electronic locking rear differential, and unique PRO-4X exterior styling; on the convenience and comfort side it includes heated front seats, a heated steering wheel, remote engine start, four-way power passenger seat, premium embroidered PRO-4X upholstery, a sliding rear window, a telescoping steering column, and a large NissanConnect touchscreen with wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto integration. Interior features also include supportive Zero Gravity front seats, abundant USB connectivity, Bluetooth audio, dual-zone climate control, and thoughtful storage and driver-oriented controls that balance rugged capability with everyday usability.

Safety     

On the safety side, it comes standard with Nissan’s Safety Shield 360 suite, which includes Automatic Emergency Braking with Pedestrian Detection, Rear Automatic Braking, Blind Spot Warning, Rear Cross Traffic Alert, Lane Departure Warning and High Beam Assist, plus Intelligent Cruise Control, Intelligent Forward Collision Warning, a rearview camera and rear parking sensors to help keep you aware and engaged on city streets or back-country roads.

Options  

This truck has $5,170 in three options. The Premium Paint is $450. Then we have the $1,680 Pro Convenience Package which includes a spray-on bedliner with Utili-Track cargo management, bed-mounted and rear console 120-volt power outlets, heated outside mirrors, LED under-rail bed lighting, a Class-IV trailer hitch with wiring harness, an Intelligent Around-View Monitor with Moving-Object Detection and Off-Road Mode for enhanced situational awareness, and a wireless charging pad for devices to make trail days and everyday use a little easier and more connected.

Finally, it also has the $3,080 Pro Premium package that adds leather-appointed front and rear seats, a Fender premium audio system with 10 speakers and dual subwoofer, an auto-dimming rearview mirror with HomeLink universal transceiver, Nissan door-to-door navigation, traffic sign recognition and an auto-tilt/slide sunroof with manual shade to elevate the truck’s daily comfort and convenience. 

Ride and Drive

The Frontier Pro-4X is a beast off the road, yet a very nice daily driver. The ride is really good, and acceleration is terrific from the V6. Interior quietness is really good. Visibility is good as well, and I expected the handling to be sub-par, but you can tell this truck will handle a heavy load in the bed and do a good job towing up to 7,150 pounds. I noted were the steering feels a little heavy in city driving but would be good off-road.

Fuel economy is rated at 16 city and 20 highway, 18 combined, not bad for a 4,700-pound, 4-wheel drive truck.

Verdict 

Total MSRP as you see it is $48,735 which gives Frontier a nice edge over the competition, especially with the very aggressive incentives offered by Nissan most times of the year.