Size matters — when it comes to phones, that is. According to the 2015 American Consumer Satisfaction Index (ACSI), the three most popular smartphones all had one thing in common: their enormous screens. With each clocking in at 5.5 inches or wider, one thing has become clear when it comes to Americans’ relationships with their phones — the bigger, the better.
In first place was the Samsung Galaxy Note 4, with an almost laughably large screen of 5.7 inches. It was the year’s top scorer with 86 out of 100 points, meaning that 86 out of every 100 owners said they were satisfied with this mobile device. In fact, Samsung made the vast majority of the most popular phones in the nation, with the Samsung Galaxy Note 3 and the Samsung Galaxy S5 tying with the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus for the number two spot. Both the Note 3 and the 6 Plus have 5.5 inch screens, while the Galaxy S5 comes in at 5.1 inches, and the iPhone 6 boasts 4.7 inches. Each of these four phones scored an 82 out of 100 on the ACSI survey.
Consumers seemed to prefer Samsung to Apple in terms of the top 10 most popular phones, though Steve Jobs’ legacy reigned supreme when the top 20 were taken into consideration. This trend has remained constant over the last few years, with these two companies all but dominating the mobile landscape.
The surprise contender in the top five was the Blackberry, which has overcome a recent lackluster period to rebound in popularity — in fact, the Blackberry was the fourth most popular cell phone brand among Americans in 2015. Also making the cut within the top 20 were Motorola with the Moto X, Moto G, and Droid RAZR, as well as LG and HTC, which saw considerable consumer satisfaction with their mobile devices as well.
Of course, it is important to note that the ACSI measures customer satisfaction with their current devices, and does not measure relative desirability of these smartphones. So really, the index is more a testament to how good a phone really is, and not to how sexy it seems in advertisements. So despite Apple’s marketing plays and sleek design, the market has spoken — the way to the consumers’ hearts is through giant screens.
