iPhone, HTC, Sasmung - Top Best Smartphones Battery Drain Complaints Worst

J.D. Power's latest study showed how satisfied customers are with their basic mobile handsets and smartphones.

Customers don't like when their batteries drain too quickly especially with 4G LTE smartphones which is the area  of satisfaction that has declined the most recently. If customers are happy with battery life then they are more likely to repurchase the same brand of smartphone.

“Both carriers and manufacturers recognize the fact that battery life needs to be improved,” said Kirk Parsons, senior director of wireless services at J.D. Power and Associates. “However, the study uncovers the need for a greater sense of urgency—short battery life can result in perceived phone problems, higher rates of merchandise returns and customer defections.”

For a seventh consecutive time, Apple ranked highest among manufacturers of smartphones in customer satisfaction with a score of 839 on a 1,000-point scale. The iPhone performed well in all factors, particularly in ease of operation and features.  The next best smartphone maker was HTC (798) followed Apple then Samsung (769), Motorola (758), LG (733), BlackBerry(733), Nokia(702) and Palm/HP(697).

Here are some other facts from the study.

• The price of a traditional wireless mobile phone continues to decline and averaged $66 between July and December 2011, compared with an average of $81 during the same time period in 2010. Currently, 44 percent of owners report having received a free mobile phone when subscribing to a wireless service.
•   Seventy percent of smartphone owners say they have accessed social networking sites using their device. Nearly three in four (72%) say they have the ability to download and/or view video and movies, while 59 percent indicate having voice recognition and/or command dialing applications.
• Two in 10 current smartphone owners report experiencing a software or device malfunction (21%). These problems have an impact on overall satisfaction, as there is a satisfaction gap of 77 points between customers who experience software malfunctions and those who do not.