Smartphone buyers seek AI phones while performance remains a key ask, report

Majority smartphone buyers (82%) revealed that they are looking for AI-enabled phones that can assist them in contextual assistance, generative photo editing and visual search. Conducted by Amazon on their marketplace in July, the survey highlighted that these buyers also want phones that can do adaptive battery management.

Almost 25% buyers said they need a phone that can understand and suggest action, 18% needed it for generative photo editing, 17% for doing visual search, and 11% for adaptive battery management.

The respondents prefer performance and speed (87%), battery life (79%) and camera quality (77%) in their phones. Battery life stands out as both the most-wanted quality and also as the most common shortfall. They want their phone’s battery must be fixed (22%), ahead of camera (17%) and performance (12%).

One in three smartphone buyers also considered ₹50,000 or more for their next phone, including 15% in the ₹50,000 to ₹75,000 range and 17% looking above ₹75,000. Among respondents considering phones above ₹75,000, metros account for 18%, Tier-2 for 17% and Tier-3 for 15%.

The largest single segment remains ₹25,000 to ₹50,000 at 42%, with the ₹25,000 to ₹35,000 and ₹35,000 to ₹50,000 bands level at 21% each. While just 7% are shopping under ₹15,000.

More than half (54%) keep their phones for two years or longer, while 48% plan to upgrade in the next three months, the ₹15,000 to ₹25,000 band accounts for 19%. They say that while making that decision, reviews and ratings matter more than discounts: 47% cite them as an important consideration, against 35% for rate and deals.

“While AI has moved from a talking point to an expectation, customers are just as clear about the fundamentals that still matter, like performance, battery, camera. They are also willing to pay more for the device that gets it right,” stated Zeba Khan, Director, Consumer Electronics, Amazon India.