Since the debut of the iPhone, the small computers in our pockets have transformed how we live and work. In our latest survey, we asked the readers of PCMag to rate the smartphones they use for work (whether it's provided by the boss or not), as well as the mobile operating systems and carriers/providers powering them. Read on to see just how well they may work for your business.

Smartphones for Work

If you don't think of the iconic iPhone as work-ready, you're not alone. PCMag readers have once again picked Google-branded smartphones as the best devices for getting work done. Since 2016, when we first broke out the phone scores for a Business Choice award, Google's Android has been a crowd pleaser. And its current Pixel line is apparently more than enough to keep people happy at the office.

The numbers may be down a bit from the 9.1 (out of 10) overall satisfaction score Google received in the last two surveys, but Google's current 8.9 overall is still well ahead of the closest competition. Motorola and Samsung, each with their own Android-based phones, made it to 8.6, which is still very respectable.

Google is ahead on another important factor: overall work satisfaction, and it has the top score for phones when it comes to reliability (9.0), setup (9.3), the likelihood to be recommended (9.1). It's on top of several phone functions for work, such as contact management (8.7), calendar (8.9), email (8.9), app selection (9.2), app quality (8.7), photography (9.3), shooting video (8.9), and for use as a personal digital assistant (in this case via Google Assistant) with a 8.4.

Moto and Samsung work phones, as noted, trail Google on every single criterion, except the fact that their phones needed less tech support—10 and 13 percent, respectively—than the 15 percent Google needed. LG, which comes in last in most of the important metrics here, tied Moto for least tech support need, but otherwise didn't stand out.

Apple's fourth place finish overall is pretty much where it was at a couple of years ago. If anything, that 8.4 overall score is an improvement for iPhone work use. However, when it came in fourth previously, it stood behind Microsoft, a company that isn't even in the phone biz anymore. Samsung is now in third.

Apple's best scores are for reliability (8.7), messaging (8.8), and app selection (8.7). Its worst are for its calendar (7.9) and, for the personal assistant functions provided by Siri (6.8, compared to Google's 8.4 for Google Assistant).

See all of our survey results for work smartphones.

WINNERS: SMARTPHONES FOR WORK

Google
The current Pixel line of phones, like the Nexus line before it, is pure, unadulterated Android as Google intended it, and the people who use those phones to get work done appreciate that. This is Google's third time taking the crown for work smartphones.

Looking for expert opinion? Read The Best Android Phones.

Mobile Operating Systems (OSes) for Work

And then there were two. Operating systems for phones, that is—at least in enough quantity that our survey could register them. With Microsoft's Windows Phone essentially dead, only Google's Android and Apple's iOS remain as serious options for the majority of the mobile workforce. It's obvious which one they feel is more for fun versus getting work done.

Android's 8.7 overall score is a full half point ahead of iOS. In fact, in the major metrics we asked about like setup, reliability, and work satisfaction, Android is always ahead, either in short bits or giant leaps.

Apple fares a bit better in a few of the more specific work functions. Messaging is better with iMessage than anything Android has to offer, at least. iOS app quality is a bit ahead of that found in the Google Play store. Apple iOS makes for a better digital wallet. But those three are the only areas where Apple is ahead at the office.

See all of our survey results for mobile OSes for work.

WINNERS: MOBILE OPERATING SYSTEMS FOR WORK

Google Android
Need to get some serious work done? It's pretty clear that Android is the no-nonsense operating system for mobile workers. Pair it with a phone from Google (as if you have a choice when you get a Google Pixel phone) and you've got the perfect work phone according to our readers.

Mobile Carriers for Work

It's been a few years since we did a deep dive into the best carriers for a work-based smartphone. At the time, Verizon Wireless sat as high as it could, with an overall score of 7.9. Verizon has that same exact score now—but was pushed out of the top spot by the so-called un-carrier, T-Mobile, which shot from 7.6 back then to an 8.3 overall score now.

T-Mobile's also ahead in the likelihood to be recommend these days, with an 8.4 compared to Verizon's 7.9. Those scores are more than enough to ensure that T-Mobile is the rightful Business Choice award winner for 2019.

T-Mobile is also on top of a couple other measurements. The best is how far ahead it is with satisfaction with fees; earning an 8.3 in that category is nothing short of a miracle. That's especially obvious when you see how the other vendors did; T-Mobile's (hoped-for) future spouse, Sprint, only managed a 6.5 for fees, and the less said about how workers feel about the cost of using Verizon and AT&T for work, the better. T-Mobile is also on top of choice of phones (tied with Verizon with an 8.4), speed of its data network (8.3), and satisfaction with customer service incidents (7.8).

But Verizon Wireless is no slouch in categories for which it always toots its own horn, such as coverage at home (8.6), coverage out of the home area (8.7), minimizing dropped calls (8.5), and overall reliability (8.4). If those are the most important things, money is no object, or the boss is paying, you know who to consider.

See all of our survey results for mobile carriers for work.

WINNERS: MOBILE CARRIER FOR WORK

T-Mobile
The carrier that tries to do the opposite of the rest of the pack did exactly that in our survey, by actually appearing to be beloved in many categories of workplace use by the people actively using their network for calls and data.

Looking for expert opinion? Read The Fastest Mobile Networks.

The PCMag Business Choice survey for smartphones and carriers was in the field from February 19, 2019 through March 11, 2019. For more information on how the survey is conducted, read the survey methodology.

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