Realme, which ranks top on techARC's smartphone brand quality index at 69.7 points is also the No.1 in the recommendation and repurchase score at 87.4.

Besides Realme and OnePlus, other three brands which made it to the top five holistic quality brands include Apple, Samsung, and Xiaomi.

However, in terms of product quality index, Apple leads the brands followed by Samsung and Realme, while with regard to engagement quality index, Realme, Xiaomi and OnePlus are the top three brands as per users, said the report.

"The active engagement of brands with its consumers through community-driven approach has democratised technology as users are co-creating the products as well as processes of the brands which helps in holistically improving the quality of product as well as the engagement," Faisal Kawoosa, Founder & Chief Analyst, techARC, said in a statement.

"As these brands are increasingly adopting user driven innovation, the gap between experience and expectations is narrowing leading to overall quality."

The research also showed that users of Realme and OnePlus have got their smartphones least repaired - over 60 per cent of Realme users have never got their smartphone repaired since purchase, closely followed by OnePlus at 59.3 per cent.

The quantitative research was done during August-September covering over 25 major cities and towns in India with evenly distributed sample size of 5,000 smartphone users, using the current smartphone for at least one year.

Some of the key elements measured during the research included availability and quality of information helping users to make the right choice, community nurturing and active engagement of community members, among others.