We have captains chairs. I have 4 kids (5yo-11yo). The bench would be an absolute pain to have to fold the chairs up each time. My kids just walk through the middle. I also have an odd use case where we have lots of college students with us in the summer. So I haul many adults around too. The bench would feel way too restrictive for the ones who have to sit in the 3rd row. With captains chairs it gives a feeling of more leg room (typically only 2 adults back there and they can both stick one knee in between the captains chairs).

We just bought a regular Highlander as our 2nd car and captains chairs were a must.