ChangeWave: Siri helps iPhone 4S become the most beloved iPhone yet

It’s a stats day today as research firms push out various surveys at the beginning of each month. Having chewed on Apple increasing its lead over Android in mobile OS usage and Chrome surpassing Firefox globally, it’s time for some iPhone numbers. According to a ChangeWave Research survey of 215 iPhone 4S owners conducted November 2-9, folks are loving their new handset better than the previous model.

Apple hit new highs in customer satisfaction as a whopping 96 percent of respondents are Very Satisfied (77 percent) or Satisfied (19 percent) with their new iPhone 4S, while only two percent consider themselves Unsatisfied. So much about the iPhone 4S battery issues tarnishing the Apple brand. That’s not to say the problem is non-existent as 38 percent of respondents dislike the too short battery life. However:

Two-in-five owners said they had experienced reduced battery life with their iPhone 4S (40%). But when asked how much of a problem this issue was for them, only 8% of all owners said it was a Very Big Problem while 20% said it was Somewhat of a Problem.

Dropped calls? iPhone 4S owners reported half (2.5 percent) the rate of dropped calls their iPhone 4 counterparts (5.2 percent) reported in the June 2010 survey. Dropped calls on iPhone 4S are primarily attributable to “owners now using multiple wireless service providers – as opposed to only using AT&T back in July 2010”. Lack of 4G? A downer for nearly one in three (30 percent). Interestingly, just one in ten, or eleven percent, don’t like the new iPhone’s relatively small 3.5-inch display compared to the monstrous 4-inch and bigger Android devices. All other iPhone 4S dislikes are in a single-digit range.

As for the likes, 49 percent are sold on Siri, 39 percent are all for ease of use and 33 percent like the new camera system. Faster web browsing and high screen resolution also rated high. Interestingly, the heavily advertised iCloud service ranked sixth. More likes and dislikes in a pair of pretty charts after the break.

Call me a fanboy (I’ve been called worst things), but such a high degree of approval – 96 percent – is unheard of in the industry and goes a long way explaining the iPhone’s stickiness. In addition to ChangeWave’s reputation and this survey, another credible (depending on your view) organization, Consumer Reports, recently recommended the iPhone 4S, saying it “did not display the same reception flaw” in their tests compared to the GSM iPhone 4. With that in mind, we can finally put questionable “surveys” claiming iPhone 4S buyer’s remorse in South Korea and the United Kingdom to rest.