We just leased the wife a 2021 CX-30 Premium in the Polymetal Gray Metallic. The final contenders were the CX-30, Honda HR-V Premium and Hyundai Kona. They were all comparably priced.
She was coming from her third Acura ILX., but after fighting the Chicago snow for years we decided it was time for an AWD vehicle. The Mazda had a head start as I've been leasing CX-5's since they first came out and she likes driving my 2020 GT PP.
In the end the HR-V was a nice car but the interior wasn't nearly as upscale as the Mazda's for about the same money. The Kona is a nice car too but was not really the right fit for someone in their 60's. The Polymetal Gray Metallic with white interior and brown accents really won her over cosmetically.
Overall she's happy with the car, but some of the quirks are certainly annoying. That goofy automatic parking brake is a PITA. They need a software update to be able to turn it off permanently. The lane departure / centering system was more aggressive in the Acura, which is the same as the Honda's. That can be a mixed bag for sure, but she did like it better than the 30's rather mild assist. She's still trying to master the infotainment system's knob driven interface, but I think it'll work out OK.
It would have been nice if it had included the cargo cover, that ran another 150 clams.
I like driving it as much as my CX-5. I like the bigger car, it suits my needs better, and it certainly has a few nicer features but the smaller 30 is great in city traffic. I do really like the memory mirrors with the tilt down feature on the 30, it makes city parking a bit easier.
As a value comparison goes between the three cars the CX-30 was the clear winner for us.