wife's '15 CRV has the CVT. I find it very respectable for most normal driving. There are days I actually miss it when I'm in the other car. What I like most about it is it holds the engine RPMs as low as possible, and in turn probably keeps the throttle pretty open. The driver experience is a lot of torque and go without a lot of revs and noise. It's not unlike driving the V8 truck around on a calm day - it never has to rev up. And if you have to pop the throttle, like to get around a stopped car in traffic, delivery is immediate and smooth without a gear change. The programming allows a surprising amount of gettyup off the line.
Flaw - it still rubber-bands on the interstate if abruptly lifting the throttle after accelerating. While I don't like it, a driver who's in tune with the car could adjust to compensate. I just don't drive it enough.
I think they have their place. I certainly appreciate the mpg. 27mpg combined in a 3500lb vehicle, with the A/C on all the time, heated seats.
It works great for my wife, who is not an enthusiast. And I don't mind either, I'm just not a CRV kinda guy.
-m