Samsung takes the top industry spot for cell phones in the “American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI) Telecommunications, Cell Phone, and Smartwatch Study 2026”
It has an ACSI score of 81 (out of 100). That’s narrowly ahead of Apple (down 1% to 80).
According to the study, a drop in satisfaction among Samsung (down 4%) watch owners results in a tie with Apple at the top of the satisfaction chart; both have a score of 80. Google Fitbit (up 8% to 78) is next, followed by newcomers Garmin (76) and Google Pixel (74).
Overall, cell phone satisfaction rose in 2026, up 1% to 79, after experiencing a sharp decrease last year. The highest-rated customer experience metrics are primarily basic functionalities such as phone calling and text messaging. AI feature performance, measured by the ACSI for the first time, debuts near the top with a score of 85 alongside the table-stakes benchmarks. Additionally, satisfaction with flagship models (82) far outpaces legacy phones (76) and foldables (72).
In its second year of measurement, smartwatch satisfaction holds steady with a score of 77. On a positive note, every customer experience benchmark sees progress at the industry level. Service metrics for repairs, in particular, all advance substantially this year.
The ACSI Telecommunications, Cell Phone, and Smartwatch Study 2026 is based on 26,963 completed surveys. Customers were chosen at random and contacted via email between April 2025 and March 2026.
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