AI Features Fail to Impress iPhone and Samsung Users, but Better Mobile AI Could Spark Loyalty Shift Among iPhone Owners
Key Findings:
73% of iPhone users and 87% of Samsung users say AI features add little to no value, highlighting widespread apathy across both brands.
16.8% of iPhone users (1 in 6) would however consider switching to Samsung for better AI features, compared to only 9.7% of Samsung users willing to move to Apple.
AI Matters More to iPhone Users, 47.6% say It’s key in choosing a new phone vs. 23.7% of Samsung users
Whether it’s using a chatbot to find information quickly or prompting an image generator to create art in a matter of seconds, the Artificial Intelligence (AI) era ushered in by OpenAI’s ChatGPT has fundamentally changed the way we interact with technology. With the AI hype still in full swing and in an attempt to capitalize on the trending technology, top smartphone brands including Apple and Samsung have rushed in and launched their own set of AI features designed for mobile devices.
Samsung was among the first to bring generative AI to the smartphone market with the rollout of OneUI 6.1 on March 28th of this year. Dubbed ‘Galaxy AI’, the new AI additions from Samsung included Circle to Search, Chat Assist, Photo Assist, Browsing Assist, Live Translate, and more. Whereas Apple rolled out the majority of its AI features in the recently released iOS 18.1 update which included new Apple Intelligence offerings such as Writing Tools, Photos Clean Up, Smart Reply, Priority Messages, Notifications Summaries, and more. This update wasn’t released until October 28th, so people who bought an iPhone 16 in September have been made to wait for these AI features.
And now, as Apple is readying the release of iOS 18.2 with even more AI features baked in, we decided to ask users with AI-supported iPhones and Samsung Galaxy smartphones what they think of the new AI features, whether they would switch brands for better AI features, how important is AI when buying a new phone, whether they would pay for AI, and more.
Note: The survey included more than 2000 smartphone users including 1000+ iPhone users with an AI-supported model (iPhone 16 series, iPhone 15 Pro, and iPhone 15 Pro Max) and 1000+ Samsung Galaxy smartphone users with an AI-supported model (Galaxy S24 series, Galaxy S23 series, Galaxy S22 series, Galaxy Z Fold6, Galaxy Z Fold5, Galaxy Z Fold4, Galaxy Z Flip6, Galaxy Z Flip5, and Galaxy Z Flip4), aged 18 years or older, based in the US.
In this report, Apple iPhone users who stated they had used the AI features from Apple (also known as Apple Intelligence) will be referred to as iPhone AI users or Apple Intelligence users. Similarly, Samsung Galaxy smartphone users who declared they had used the AI features from Samsung (also known as Galaxy AI) will be referred to as Galaxy AI users.
Highlights from the survey
- Among the most popular AI features are ‘Writing Tools’ (72%), ‘Notification summaries’ (54%), ‘Priority Messages’ (44.5%), ‘Clean Up in Photos’ (29.1%), and ‘Smart Reply in Mail and Messages’ (20.9%) for iPhone AI users and ‘Circle to Search’ (82.1%), ‘Photo Assist’ (55.5%), ‘Chat Assist’ (28.8%), ‘Note Assist’ (17.4%), and ‘Browsing Assist’ (11.6%) for Samsung AI users. Respondents were allowed to select multiple options.
- When asked how Apple Intelligence compares to Galaxy AI, the responses from iPhone AI users were: 15.4% said Apple Intelligence is better, 5.9% said Galaxy AI is better, 32% admitted neither is better, and 46.7% did not know enough about AI to draw a comparison. Responses from Galaxy AI users were: 3.8% said Apple Intelligence is better, 7.8% said Galaxy AI is better, 75.4% polled nothing is better, and 13% did not know enough about AI to make a comparison.
- Smartphone users in general are unsatisfied with the existing AI features as the survey recorded 73% of Apple Intelligence users and 87% of Galaxy AI users stating the new features to be either ‘not very valuable’ or they ‘add little to no value’ to their smartphone experience.
- iPhone users showed relatively higher interest in mobile AI than Samsung users as almost half (47.6%) of iPhone users reported AI features as a ‘very’ or ‘somewhat’ important deciding factor when buying a new phone vs. 23.7% of Samsung users who said the same.
- Around 1 in 6 iPhone users (16.8%) said they would consider switching to Samsung if they offered better AI features while a relatively lower 9.7% of Samsung users would consider moving to Apple for better AI features. The percentage of users loyal to the brand declined more notably (from 92% in 2021 to 78.9%) in the case of Apple, compared with Samsung (from 74% in 2021 to 67.2%). AI is not that important to justify a switch according to the remaining 4.3% of Apple users and 23.1% of Samsung users.
- Apple users (11.6%) are more likely to pay for a subscription to use AI services than Samsung users (4%). However, most smartphone users (86.5% of iPhone AI users and 94.5% of Samsung users) said they would not pay to use AI. A mere 1.9% of Apple users and 1.5% of Samsung users are still undecided on whether they would pay an AI subscription.
- Not updating to the latest software (57.6%), not finding them useful (36.7%) and inaccuracy (18.2%) are among the top reasons for not having used AI features according to iPhone users with an AI-supported model, whereas Samsung users revealed top reasons to be not finding them useful (44.2%), inaccuracy (35.5%), privacy and security concerns (30.1%) and not updating to the latest software (19.7%). Respondents were allowed to select multiple options.
Among the most popular AI features are ‘Writing Tools’, ‘Notifications Summaries’ for Apple users and ‘Circle to Search’, ‘Photo Assist’ for Samsung users
We started the survey by asking the respondents with an AI-supported Apple or Samsung Galaxy smartphone separately whether or not they have used any of the features introduced with iOS 18.1 ‘Apple Intelligence’ or ‘Galaxy AI’ update, respectively.
- Two-fifths of AI-supported Apple iPhone owners (41.6%) responded ‘yes’; 58.4% said they had not used any of the new Apple Intelligence features
- Less than half of AI-supported Samsung Galaxy smartphone owners (46.9%) confirmed they had used Galaxy AI features whereas 53.1% said they had not.
So 5% more Samsung Galaxy owners have used AI features than Apple iPhone owners. A possible explanation for this is that Apple only rolled out its iOS 18.1 update that included the AI features at the end of October, whereas Samsung rolled out their AI update at the end of March. Therefore Samsung owners have had more of an opportunity to use these AI features than their Apple counterparts.
Next, we sought to understand smartphone users’ familiarity with the new AI features introduced by Apple and Samsung. iPhone and Samsung smartphone users who previously responded ‘yes’ were asked separately to select one or more features that they had already used from a list of options.
What follows were the responses from iPhone users, with features ranked from most voted to least voted:
Note: Respondents were allowed to select one or more options.
- Writing Tools (Assists with proofreading, rewriting, and summarizing text across various apps, helping users communicate more effectively) – 72%
- Notification summaries (Get key information from multiple notifications in a single view) – 54%
- Priority Messages (Highlights urgent emails and offers message summaries) – 44.5%
- Clean Up in Photos (Removes unwanted background objects from photos with a simple tap) – 29.1%
- Smart Reply in Mail and Messages (Helps quickly draft responses based on the contents of the message) – 20.9%
- Natural language search in Photos (Search for photos using natural language descriptions) – 13.3%
- Transcription Summaries (Creates a summary of the transcript from audio or call recording in Notes and other apps) – 7.1%
- Memory movie in Photos (Creates custom movies from user descriptions by selecting photos and videos and crafting a storyline) – 5%
- AI-enhanced Siri (Richer language understanding, ability to maintain context between requests and fluidly switch between text and voice) – 3.1%
- Other – 1.2%
Meanwhile, these were the most popular ‘Galaxy AI’ features according to Samsung users:
Note: Respondents were allowed to select one or more options.
- Circle to Search (Draw a circle around any image on the screen to search Google for relevant information about the selected content) – 82.1%
- Photo Assist (AI photo edit suggestions and Generative Edit that regenerates images as you resize, remove, or move objects, etc.) – 55.5%
- Chat Assist (Enhances communication with writing style improvements, grammar corrections, and translation) – 28.8%
- Note Assist (Instantly transcribes audio to text and generates a concise summary) – 17.4%
- Browsing Assist (Summarize and translate web content in the Samsung Internet browser) – 11.6%
- Transcript Assist (Creates a transcription of recorded speech along with a summary in the Voice Recorder app) – 3.4%
- Interpreter (Instant translation of text and audio across different languages) – 1.9%
- Other – 1.7%
- Live Translate (Real-time translation of phone calls, letting two people speak different languages seamlessly) – 1.1%
Users are largely unimpressed by current AI features
The survey further questioned iPhone and Samsung AI users to ascertain how satisfied they were with the new AI features from their respective smartphone brands.
When Apple Intelligence users (iPhone users who responded ‘yes’ to having used AI features) were asked how they would rate Apple Intelligence compared to AI features they have seen or heard on Samsung Galaxy devices, the responses were:
- 15.4% said Apple Intelligence is better and only 5.9% deemed Galaxy AI as a better option
- A third (32%) don’t have any favorites and admitted neither is a better option than the other
- Around half of iPhone AI users (46.7%) confessed they don’t know enough about AI to compare
When asked, “Do you feel Apple Intelligence features currently add significant value to your iPhone experience?”, the same set of Apple Intelligence users reported:
- More than one in ten iPhone AI users (11.1%) felt the AI features were very valuable
- 15.9% thought they were somewhat valuable but not significantly valuable
- A majority (64.7%) voted them to be not very valuable and that other features are more important
- 8.3% thought they added little to no value to their iPhone experience
Separately, Galaxy AI users (Samsung Galaxy smartphone users who responded ‘yes’ to having used AI features) were also asked a similar set of questions, starting with “Compared to AI features you’ve seen or heard about on iPhone devices, how would you rate Galaxy AI?”, and the results were:
- A mere 3.8% said Apple Intelligence is better while twice as many (7.8%) selected Galaxy AI as the better of the two
- A whopping three out of four Galaxy AI users (75.4%) said neither is better
- Meanwhile, 13% don’t know enough about AI to make a comparison
When asked “Do you feel Galaxy AI features currently add significant value to your Samsung experience?”, Samsung Galaxy users familiar with AI features responded:
- An insignificant 5.9% of Galaxy AI users considered the features to be very valuable
- 7.1% believed they were somewhat valuable but not significantly valuable
- One-third (35.1%) of Galaxy AI indicated they are not very valuable and other features are more important
- More than half (51.9%) said they added little to no value to their smartphone experience
1-in-6 iPhone users would switch brands for better AI
We then followed up with a series of questions to gauge the extent to which artificial intelligence (AI) would influence brand loyalty and buying decisions of smartphone consumers.
Apple Intelligence users were asked if Galaxy AI features would ever encourage them to switch away from an iPhone, and we found out:
- Over one-sixth of iPhone AI users (16.8%) answered affirmatively that they would consider switching to Samsung if Galaxy AI features were significantly better
- A majority (78.9%) responded they would still prefer an iPhone or Apple Intelligence regardless but the new figure indicates a 13% drop in brand loyalty compared to 92% in 2021
- Meanwhile, AI features are not that important to warrant a switch for 4.3%
When asked, “When thinking about buying a phone, how important is AI in your decision compared to other factors (e.g. design, camera, battery life, etc.)?”, the iPhone AI users revealed:
- More than one-fifth (21.1%) said AI is a very important deciding factor
- More than a quarter (26.5%) polled somewhat important but not the top priority
- Two-fifths (42.2%) stated AI features are not very important and that other features are more important
- For 10.2%, AI is not important at all when buying a new phone
Again we repeated a similar set of questions to collect the responses from Samsung Galaxy smartphone users familiar with Galaxy AI features. Responses to the question, “Would iPhone’s Apple Intelligence AI features ever encourage you to switch from a Samsung?”, were as follows:
- Almost one in ten Galaxy AI users (9.7%) agreed they would switch to a different smartphone brand for significantly better AI features
- 67.2% are loyal to Samsung/Galaxy AI brand and wouldn’t switch away for better AI additions
- A quarter (23.1%) felt AI is not that important to them
Galaxy AI users were followed up with the question, “When thinking about buying a phone, how important is AI in your decision compared to other factors (e.g. design, camera, battery life, etc.)?”, and the responses were recorded as follows:
- 14.9% of Galaxy AI users reported AI to be a very important deciding factor
- AI is somewhat important but not the top priority for 8.8%
- 47.7% said AI features were not important and other features were more important
- AI is not important at all according to 28.6% of Galaxy AI users
Apple users more likely to pay for AI than Samsung users
Finally, we asked both Apple Intelligence and Galaxy AI users whether they would pay a subscription for AI services in the future.
Responses from Apple Intelligence users are as follows:
- More than one in ten iPhone AI users (11.6%) were willing to pay for using AI services
- 86.5% reported they wouldn’t pay to use AI while a meager 1.9% are still not sure
On the other hand, Galaxy AI users reported:
- Only 4% revealed they would pay to use AI services in the future
- Almost all (94.5%) of Galaxy AI users were not interested in paying for AI services and 1.5% said they were not sure
Users reveal reasons for not using AI features
When asked to cite reasons for not having used any of the new AI features, results from respondents with an AI-eligible iPhone model were as follows:
Note: Respondents were allowed to select one or more options.
- ‘I haven’t updated to the latest software’ – 57.6%
- ‘I don’t find them useful’ – 36.7%
- ‘I don’t trust AI or its accuracy’ – 18.2%
- ‘I’m concerned about privacy and security’ – 6.1%
- ‘I don’t understand how to use these features’ – 4.4%
- ‘I am concerned about the ethics of using AI – needs regulation’ – 4.1%
- ‘I am worried about becoming too reliant on AI’ – 2.5%
- ‘I don’t have time to explore them’ – 1.5%
- ‘I don’t know what these features are’ – 1.2%
Meanwhile, respondents with an AI-eligible Samsung Galaxy smartphone revealed the following as the reasons for not having used AI features:
Note: Respondents were allowed to select one or more options.
- ‘I don’t find them useful’ – 44.2%
- ‘I don’t trust AI or its accuracy’ – 35.5%
- ‘I’m concerned about privacy and security’ – 30.1%
- ‘I haven’t updated to the latest software’ – 19.7%
- ‘I am concerned about the ethics of using AI – needs regulation’ – 10%
- ‘I don’t know what these features are’ – 4.5%
- ‘I don’t understand how to use these features’ – 2.8%
- ‘I am worried about becoming too reliant on AI’ – 1.5%
- ‘I don’t have time to explore them’ – 0.7%
Conclusion
Most smartphone users, as a whole, generally appear to be unsatisfied with the existing AI features, with 73% of Apple Intelligence users and 87% of Galaxy AI users indicating they are ‘not very valuable’ or they ‘add little to no value’ to their smartphone experience.
But surprisingly, iPhone users still consider AI to be a significant deciding factor when it comes to making purchase decisions as 47.6% said they were ‘very’ or ‘somewhat’ important. Furthermore, one in five iPhone AI users (16.8%) said they would consider switching away if Galaxy AI features were significantly better. This suggests AI could impact brand loyalty among Apple users as the percentage of iPhone users who are loyal to the brand dropped to 78.9% from 92% in 2021, the lowest point since 2019 (90.5%).
On the other hand, Samsung users seem to have relatively lower levels of interest in AI features compared to Apple users; 23.7% of Samsung users consider AI to be a ‘very’ or ‘somewhat’ important factor as far as buying decisions are concerned. Per the survey, 9.7% of Samsung users would consider a switch if Apple Intelligence features were significantly better while 67.2% said they prefer to stick to the Samsung brand – a 6.8% drop from 74% in 2021.
Samsung has hinted at the possibility that some of its AI features could be charged under a subscription after 2025, however, the survey reported most smartphone users (86.5% Apple vs 94.5% Samsung) are not willing to pay to use AI services. Conversely, the survey also revealed that Apple users (11.6%) are more likely to pay for a subscription to use AI services than Samsung users (4%).
Survey Methodology
The report is based on an online survey – conducted between November 28 to December 6, 2024 – involving more than 2000 smartphone users, aged 18 years or older, based in the United States. Of the 2000+ survey-takers, 52% identified as ‘men’, 46% as ‘women’, and 2% as ‘other’.
The survey sample consisted of 1000+ iPhone users with an AI-supported model including the iPhone 16 series, iPhone 15 Pro & iPhone 15 Pro Max, and 1000+ Samsung Galaxy smartphone users with an AI-supported model including the Galaxy S24 series, Galaxy S23 series, Galaxy S22 series, Galaxy Z Fold6, Galaxy Z Fold5, Galaxy Z Fold4, Galaxy Z Flip6, Galaxy Z Flip5, and Galaxy Z Flip4.
The respondents were asked a pre-qualifying question to confirm whether they have an AI-supported iPhone or Samsung Galaxy model, and those who did not qualify were terminated from the survey.
The responses to the survey were collected without storing any personally identifiable information of the involved respondents.
The motive of the survey was to study what smartphone users think of the new mobile AI features, whether they would switch brands for better AI features, how important is AI when buying a new phone, whether they would pay for AI, and more.