Samsung’s Galaxy S20 Ultra leads new US Customer Satisfaction Ranking: T-Mobile surpasses Verizon

You’ve probably seen Samsung compared to Apple (and Motorola) in terms of the number of smartphones shipped in the United States; however, pretty much every recent (and semi-recent) iPhone model has surpassed the popularity of the most recent Galaxy high-enders; and the top three wireless service providers in the United States have been ranked (and ranked again) in terms of the speed and availability of 5G.

However, at this point, it is time to check out brand-new research that is exhaustive in scope and examines all of the heavyweights in the mobile sector from a unique but at least as essential (if not more so) perspective. After all, you cannot ensure the long-term financial well-being of a business without the loyalty of the company’s customers. You most certainly cannot have the commitment of the company’s customers without the happiness of the company’s customers.

Enter the American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI), which has been around for 25 years and is a pretty self-explanatory and widely respected national economic indicator. Its most recent edition is based on interviews with more than 23,000 people who were randomly selected and contacted via email between April 2021 and March 2022.

The most successful smartphone manufacturers are Samsung, Apple, and… LG (?!?).

Keep in mind that we are not talking about simple participation trophies in this context; instead, we are discussing real triumphs that can be claimed by all three of those firms, one of which is no longer in the business of manufacturing and selling phones.

While Samsung and Apple are tied for the lead in the hierarchy of mobile phone manufacturers with an identical ACSI average of 80 points out of a possible 100, LG ranks second in the handset model chart with a low-end device released three years ago. Apple and Samsung both have an identical score of 80 points out of a possible 100.

Believe it or not, loyal owners of the Aristo 3 continue to be more pleased with their purchase than users of far newer and/or higher-end smartphones such as the iPhone 11 Pro Max (!), Galaxy S20 (!!), or second-generation iPhone SE (!!!).

This nearly makes this silver medal more critical than the real trophy presented for that category, which was awarded to the Galaxy S20 Ultra after Samsung’s Galaxy Note 10+, S10+, and S20+ took up the whole podium this same time last year.

It may come as a surprise, but none of the members of the Galaxy S21 family made it into the top 15 list for this year. On the other hand, it is essential to note that the same is true for Apple’s iPhone 12 series. The ACSI table includes older underdogs such as the HTC U12+ and more recent underdogs such as the Galaxy A20 and A21. These clone phones are not often among the finest smartphones currently available.

Until you consider the notion that maybe, just maybe, “ordinary” folks don’t care as much as you do about the most recent CPUs, finest cameras, and smoothest displays, it can sound like a strange statement to make at first.

When it comes to the overall pleasure of their customers, it is evident that LG cannot genuinely compete with Apple and Samsung, the two brands that have been named the joint champions of the brand competition. The same is true for Motorola and “other” smartphone manufacturers.

The winner of the carrier competition is… who?!

If you are not acquainted with Consumer Cellular, you may want to alter that, as the company’s most recent ACSI score of 78 recommends you should. This is particularly true if you are not very satisfied with the “big three” mobile network provider that you are now using.

T-Mobile is the only one of those three that has managed to move back ahead of both Verizon and AT&T. Both of those companies now have a customer satisfaction score of 73, which is tied for third place behind the averages of Consumer Cellular, Straight Talk Wireless, Tracfone, Cricket Wireless, and Xfinity Mobile. However, T-Mobile has managed to move back in front of both companies.

It is not fair to compare all of these big and small wireless industry players, which is why they are split into three distinct categories. The categories are dominated by Consumer Cellular, Optimum Mobile (who?), and T-Mobile, the latter of which stands at a not very impressive total of 74 points but has nonetheless soared from 71 points last year.

More than 23,000 user surveys are also used to assess overall “network quality” based on how consumers perceive aspects such as call clarity, call dependability, network coverage, and data speeds. This may be an aspect that is even more intriguing.

Whether it comes as a surprise or not, Verizon comes out on top in this evaluation, beating out AT&T by a single point, while T-Mobile trails behind in third place, barely managing to beat out US Cellular in the process.