In the ever-evolving space of smartphones, AI has become the next big thing. More and more makers are interested in integrating AI into their devices, but what about the users? Do they actually want to use AI, or is it just a gimmick for them? Well, that’s what we’re here to find out.
In this edition of the Digit Research, let’s take a look at what smartphone users in India think about AI. During the survey, over 3800 Digit readers participated in answering these questions from February 10 to March 1.
Also Read: Digit Research: Vivo, Oppo lead camera smartphone preference over Apple and Samsung
First and foremost, talking about AI in their next smartphone. Nearly half of all smartphone buyers now consider AI features a “very important” factor in their purchasing choice. When combined with those who find it “somewhat important”, over 70% of the market is actively looking for AI integration in smartphones.
Given these figures, it is safe to say that for manufacturers, it is becoming actively important to integrate AI. AI features are no longer an add-on but rather a baseline requirement to remain competitive in the current smartphone market.
Coming to the battle of the AI chatbots, while most might think that OpenAI might take the crown with ChatGPT, our survey tells a different story. Google’s Gemini is the clear favourite among the voters, with close to 50% of the audience picking it as their choice.
The reason behind this could be because of how Gemini’s integration into the Android ecosystem is making it more accessible to users. It went on to outperform ChatGPT, which came close as it was the next most picked option. But safe to say, in the battle of these two chatbots, Claude and Perplexity are trailing significantly.
Despite the hype surrounding AI, our data tells a bit of a different story. At least our readers still want to prioritise the look and feel of their device over AI-based features. Over 40% of our readers picked “customisation options” over “AI-based features”
This indicates that for many, a functional and beautiful software experience remains more essential than the latest AI features. Surprisingly, over 27% of users picked security-based features next, followed by ecosystem-based features that stood at around 10%.
Speaking of which, let’s also take a look at the most popular option among the various flavours of Android skins. Well, surprisingly, Samsung took the cake here with One UI, as it was the most preferred Android-based interface, accounting for over 50% of the voters.
Given the amount of work Samsung has put into integrating AI into One UI, this makes sense. The majority is so high that One UI is accounting for more than the combined total of its closest three competitors, which include the ColorOS family with OxygenOS and RealmeUI, along with other popular skins like Vivo’s OriginOS and Xiaomi’s HyperOS.
Last but not least, talking about the usage of AI in smartphones, there was a surprising learning here. Over 55% of the voters suggested that they use AI every day. The reason why the usage of AI is so polarising here is that the second most popular choice was “I don’t use AI at all”, which accounted for close to 20% of voters.
Also Read: Digit Research: One in two people ask AI chatbots, Google for health advice in India
