You told us: This is the smartphone brand you're happiest with right now

The smartphone industry is dominated by Apple, Samsung, and Xiaomi right now. There are plenty of other manufacturers vying for market-share though, such as OPPO, vivo, OnePlus, Sony, Motorola, and others.

These players don’t stand still though, and they’re all generally evolving their products, services, and strategies. So with that in mind, we thought now would be a good time to ask which brand you’re happiest with at the moment. Here’s how you responded.

Which brand are you most happy with right now?

Results

The poll was posted on June 1 and over 6,000 votes were cast as of writing, giving us a good sample size to work with. But is it really a surprise that Samsung earned the most votes (32.71%)?

The company has made several consumer-friendly moves in the last year or two, including four years of security updates and three generations of Android version updates for a variety of devices. Samsung also launched the Galaxy S21 series with a $200 price cut across the board compared to the S20 series, while its new Galaxy A phones look like good value for money too.

Interestingly enough, Google is in second place, with 14% of respondents saying it’s the manufacturer they’re happiest with. Google isn’t a top-five player in terms of shipments, but the company offered great mid-range devices in the Pixel 4a and Pixel 4a 5G. The Pixel 5 wasn’t a full-blown flagship, using mid-range silicon instead, but it still brought plenty to the table. Toss in Google’s three-year commitment to Android version updates and it’s understandable why people would choose the brand.

More reading: The best Snapdragon 888 phones you can buy

Apple and OnePlus were virtually tied, accounting for 12% of the vote each. It’s interesting to see Apple so high up the list, but it isn’t surprising when you think about it. Apple’s iPhones deliver a different operating system altogether, lengthy update commitments, access to a different ecosystem of services, and some powerful silicon. In fact, Apple devices account for 20% of our audience according to our most recent visitor stats report.

Oppo, realme, and vivo brought up the rear, accounting for 1% of the votes each. It’s worth noting that OPPO and vivo recently announced new update commitments, but these pledges felt more like a PR move than a consumer-friendly decision. Both companies announced three years of version updates, but OPPO is only offering it to the Find X3 series while vivo is only offering it to upcoming X series flagships (so the new X60 series doesn’t get in on this action). Meanwhile, realme only endeavors to offer two years of version updates for its prominent devices.

Comments

• Michael Garoutte: Um… None of the above? I’d like a Pixel camera, OnePlus or Samsung specs, Motorola battery, dual sims, a headphone jack, SD card support, and LineageOS privacy. No manufacturer is providing what many users want.
• Peter Mulders: Picking a new phone right now would be a nightmare. OnePlus used to be my go-to but they’ve messed up their updates. Pixel is expensive and not really flagship. Samsung has too much bloat. Apple is expensive and that notch.. yikes.. For me, there simply isn’t a “best brand” at the moment
• aaron cooper: Google – 4a5G, just works, easy to use, battery lasts a long time, takes great pics, running Android 12 Beta, everything is running and I am happy.
• Rahul Pai: quite happy to see ROG 5 bring back the jack. meanwhile disappointing to see jack and sd removed by samsung
• GR: Easily ASUS. They have their priorities right. Zenfone 8 doesn’t overcharge for fancy gimmicks, it gives the essentials; pocketable size, 120hz display, SD888, headphone jack, killer battery, killer software that helps that killer battery intelligently, and an unbeatable price especially for the performance. I’d pick up a Zenfone 8 if my current phone wasn’t doing the trick. Still gotta see about updates though.
• Joer’ct Drew (Aiodensghost): Samsung just because their mid-range offering still have the headphone jack and SD card support. The moment they quit I’m gonna go elsewhere
• Piotr: Why I’m happy with Samsung ? beacause of 3 years of OS upgrades – simply as that. Why I’m extremely unhappy? Because Samsung is not supporting fast charging in its products. 25W charging ? It’s mediocre
• Christian Hinayon: I’m happy and contented with what Xiaomi is offering to us end consumers, i know theres a lot of people complaining about the Ads issues on xioami smartphones but i dont really mind it at all because disabling it is not that hard.

Thanks for voting in this poll and for giving your thoughts on the topic in the comments section. What do you make of these results? Let us know below.