Samsung has narrowly claimed the top spot for smartphone customer satisfaction in the United States, overtaking Apple in a new consumer survey that also points to rising demand for artificial intelligence features on mobile devices.

The latest American Customer Satisfaction Index rankings gave Samsung a score of 81, placing it just ahead of Apple on 80. Google and Motorola followed behind on 77 points each.

The survey, based on responses from around 30,000 US consumers collected between April 2025 and March 2026, assessed smartphones and smartwatches across areas including battery life, display quality, cameras, messaging, calls and AI tools.

Samsung also performed strongly in premium categories, leading both flagship smartphone and foldable device rankings. In the smartwatch category, Samsung and Apple finished tied at the top.

One of the most notable additions to this year’s report was a new category focused specifically on mobile AI features. That segment received a satisfaction score of 85, making it one of the highest-rated smartphone features measured in the survey.

Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra 5G 512GB (Cobalt Violet)

The findings suggest consumers are becoming more comfortable using AI-powered tools on their devices, particularly as manufacturers increasingly position features such as live translation, photo editing, voice assistance and automated productivity tools as core parts of the smartphone experience.

Battery satisfaction also improved noticeably, rising 5 per cent compared with the previous year as manufacturers continue optimising power efficiency for more demanding AI-driven workloads.

The results arrive as Samsung, Apple, Google and other smartphone makers intensify competition around on-device AI, foldable hardware and premium mobile ecosystems in an increasingly mature global smartphone market.