Apple & Samsung tied for top spot in customer satisfaction study

Apple and Samsung sit at the top of the heap for satisfaction among smartphone buyers, but the Galaxy edges out the iPhone when it comes to 5G users.

Apple is habitually at the top of satisfaction surveys and analysis of hardware sales throughout the year. In a new survey from the American Customer Satisfaction Index, it's something that Apple continues to do with the iPhone.

In the ACSI Wireless Phone Service and Cell Phone Study 2023-2024, the overall phone industry saw an improvement in customer satisfaction. The 2024 figure of 81 is a 3% increase from 2023's result, and an all-time high score.

ACSI says that a lot of this is due to the popularity of 5G smartphones, which outpaces legacy technologies for customer satisfaction by almost 10 points.

On a phone brand basis, Apple saw its 2023 score of 81 go up by one point to 82 out of 100. Apple's in joint first place with Samsung, which saw it move from a score of 80 to 82 in the same timeframe.

ACSI's Cell Phones scores for 2024 and 2023 [via American Customer Satisfaction Index LLC]

Google is next in the rankings with 77, a drop from the 2023 figure of 78. It is joined by Motorola(Lenovo) in the same position, growing from a score of 75 to 77.

Overall, the survey scored 81 for phone satisfaction across all brand, up two points from 2023.

ACSI's 5G Phone scores for 2024 and 2023 [via American Customer Satisfaction Index LLC]

While Apple and Samsung are tied in the overall rankings, Samsung does actually lead when it comes to 5G users. In that subcategory, Samsung scores 83 to Apple's 82, with Google and Motorola at 78 each.

In terms of industry trends, the ease of phone calling remains a top priority, with an overall score of 86 out of 100 for 2024. Video quality, website satisfaction, and the variety of phone features all scored 86, with Bluetooth performance and ease of text messaging following at 84.