Hmm...This must be a "to each his own" feature ...
Personally, when looking at 4 vehicles to decide which to buy, this became one of two deciding factors for me when buying the Equinox. I can't stand those headrests that they now make where it drives your head forward as you sit curving your neck back into it. Evven if you sit very straight, you can't avoid touching that headrest with you head....very annoying...Everything else new that I've seen is like this, an appx. 20 degree angle formed between headrest and backseat. It's crazy uncomfortable to me. Admittedly, the others were foreign designed cars which might play into the height/comfort thing; I don' know for sure.
I love that the Nox is almost straight up and down. I see it working fine for stopping my head in an accident if needed. I find it very comfortable and almost wish it were a little flatter in following the line of the seat. Note, this comes from someone 6' .
**The other vehicle I was deciding between almost won me IF I could have flipped the headrest around. I noticed one headrest completely out and thought of this. Alas, the notches that hold it in place as you move it up and down were literally one-sided so it would work. There was a significant price difference between that one and the Nox; I went with the Nox largely in part due to the headrest design.** I haven't looked at this flip potential on the Equinox.