• by Aaron Baar , April 2, 2010

Now that they are becoming more familiar with the uses of smartphones, consumers are beginning to show preference when it comes to the features they expect.

According to new research from J.D. Power and Associates, people who own touchscreen-enabled smartphones (versus QWERTY keyboards) are more satisfied with their devices than other users. Similarly, owners of non-smart "feature phones" also have a higher customer satisfaction rating than the overall average.

"There's a lot more capabilities to [touchscreens]," Kirk Parsons, senior director of wireless services at J.D. Power, tells Marketing Daily. "It's all about getting what you need to get done quickly."

It should come as little surprise that consumers of both traditional and smartphones are using their devices for more than just talking.

According to J.D. Power, a quarter of traditional handset owners say they frequently send and receive multimedia and picture messages on their phones, and smartphone owners are twice as likely to share such messages. In addition, 17% of smartphone owners with touchscreens say they frequently download and watch video on their devices.

Smartphone users are also riding the App wave. According to J.D. Power, 60% of smartphone users have downloaded games to play on their handsets, while 46% have downloaded travel software such as maps and weather applications. Only 26% say they download business-specific programs.

When it comes to customer satisfaction, the key factors among traditional phone users are (in order): ease of operation, physical design, features and battery function. For smartphone users the key factors are: ease of use, operating system, physical design, features and battery function.

Not surprisingly, Apple has the highest customer satisfaction rating among smartphone owners, with a score of 810 (on a scale of 1,000), performing well in categories such as ease of operation, operating system, features and physical design. RIM's BlackBerry trailed in second with a score of 741.

LG had the highest customer satisfaction among traditional handsets, scoring well in all five areas, particularly design, features and operation.