4 Android devices beat Apple iPhone 5 in U.S. customer satisfaction

Is Apple losing its luster among American consumers? In a recent survey by mobile research firm OnDevice, American respondents gave a clear indication of how popular Android is becoming to mobile users. In terms of satisfaction, four Android models have beat out the Apple iPhone 5. What’s surprising is that the most satisfying device is not even a top-of-the-line model.

The Motorola Atrix HD and Droid Razr M, HTC Rezound 4G and Samsung Galaxy Note 2 all got higher satisfaction ratings than the iPhone 5. With the Motorola Atrix HD being offered for free (on conrtact), this aligns it with Apple’s two-year old iPhone 4 in terms of cost-of-ownership. Does this signal that consumers want cheaper devices that don’t necessarily come with bleeding-edge tech and specs?

Here are a few takeaways:

• On an aggregate level, Apple still took the most satisfaction among mobile brands, with Google, Motorola, HTC and Nokia closely following suit.
• Samsung was actually in the last place from among 13 brands when it came to aggregate satisfaction.
• OnDevice believes that users are better satisfied at brands that only produce a few products. Apple only has three current smartphone models in the market. Google only has one (the LG Nexus 4). Meanwhile, Samsung offers models all the way from inexpensive entry-level smartphones to the top-billing Galaxy S3 and Galaxy Note 2.
• The presence of 4G service gives users better satisfaction, although only marginally so, with a 0.48% difference among the surveyed individuals.

The survey was done from amongst 90,000 plus Americans and about 50,000 plus smartphone users from the U.K. According to OnDevice, the level of user satisfaction may have something to do with meeting expectations, which may be  one reason users reported to be satisfied with an inexpensive Motorola device, compared with the more expensive iPhone 5. Additionally, offering services like 4G do not only add to satisfaction, but can also be a good source of additional revenue.

Which smartphone model are you using as your main Android device, and are you satisfied with the brand and model?