J.D. Power, which previously awarded the iPhone highest in consumer satisfaction for smartphones eight years in a row, today released a report that puts Apple on top for customer satisfaction by carrier. While measure four key metrics— performance, physical design, features, and ease of operation— across the four major carriers, J.D. Power found Apple and the iPhone’s overall score ranked #1 for Sprint, Verizon, AT&T and T-Mobile. However, in most cases, it’s only beating Samsung by a small margin.

The report also shared some stats on overall satisfaction for carriers and the most requested features for new devices from consumers:

Overall satisfaction with smartphone devices is highest among AT&T customers (844), followed by Sprint (839); T-Mobile (835); and Verizon Wireless (829) customers. Overall satisfaction among smartphone owners is 837. While smartphone owners continue to cite “features” as the primary reason for selecting their device (35%), the rate has declined significantly from the 2011 Vol. 2 study (57%)… Reasons for purchase have an impact on customer satisfaction and future loyalty. Selecting a smartphone device based on price generates significantly lower levels of satisfaction (808 on a 1,000-point scale) and repurchase rates (18%) than selections based on product-specific reasons such as operating system (860 and 35%, respectively). –

In addition, J.D. Power’s study included some stats on the most requested features that consumers want in new devices and surprisingly the upcoming iPhone’s rumored larger display didn’t make the list: smartphone owners most often cite seamless voice control (36%); built-in sensors that can gauge temperature, lighting, noise and moods to customize settings to the environment (35%); and facial recognition and biometric security (28%).

The study was done between September 2013 and February of 2014 and included “13,237 smartphone customers who have owned their current smartphone device less than one year and who are customers of the four Tier 1 carriers.”

Apple has several times used studies from J.D. Power in iPhone and iPad advertising on its website and in other marketing materials (pictured above). J.D. Power has ranked Apple highest in consumer satisfaction for smartphones eight years straight since the introduction of the first iPhone, but its process was questioned recently when it ranked Samsung on top for tablet customer satisfaction despite Apple ranking in higher in most categories other than pricing.

(via TheLoop)

FTC: We use income earning auto affiliate links. More.

Check out 9to5Mac on YouTube for more Apple news: