Samsung Galaxy S21 FE 5G vs Google Pixel 4

Here we compared two flagship smartphones: the 6.4-inch Samsung Galaxy S21 FE 5G (with Qualcomm Snapdragon 888 ) that was released on January 4, 2022, against the Google Pixel 4, which is powered by Qualcomm Snapdragon 855 and came out 27 months before. On this page, you will find tests, full specs, strengths, and weaknesses of each of the devices.

Key differences

An overview of the main advantages of each smartphone
Reasons to consider the Samsung Galaxy S21 FE 5G
  • Comes with 1700 mAh larger battery capacity: 4500 vs 2800 mAh
  • Has a 0.7 inch larger screen size
  • Shows 43% longer battery life (26:34 vs 18:36 hours)
  • Delivers 80% higher peak brightness (789 against 438 nits)
  • 46% better performance in AnTuTu Benchmark (751K versus 515K)
  • Higher display refresh rate – 120 Hz
  • Compatible with Wi-Fi 6 wireless networks
  • The rear camera has a 3x optical zoom
  • Thinner bezels – 9.8% more screen real estate
  • Fingerprint scanner
  • Slow-motion recording at 960FPS
  • Uses a faster type of memory: LPDDR5 2750 MHz
Reasons to consider the Google Pixel 4
  • 11% higher pixel density (444 vs 401 PPI)
  • Better grip in hands – the body is 5.7 mm narrower
  • Weighs 15 grams less
  • Ready for eSIM technology

Review

Evaluation of Samsung Galaxy S21 FE 5G and Google Pixel 4 crucial features
Display
Screen quality, color accuracy, brightness
Camera
Photo and video recording quality
Performance
CPU and memory performance (apps, system)
Gaming
Capabilities for playing modern games
Battery
Battery life, charging type and speed
Connectivity
Networks, ports, data transmission
NanoReview Score
Final comparison evaluation
Choose the importance of each parameter to more accurately identify the smartphone that best meets your particular needs.
Adjust priorities
Feature
Priority (Weight)
Display:
Camera:
Performance:
Gaming:
Battery Life:
Connectivity:
The higher the priority, the more it will affect the final NanoReview score.

Value for money

You can enter your local prices of these phones (in USD or other currency) and click on the "Calculate" button to see which one has a better value for money.
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Tests and specifications

Comparison table of technical specifications and tests

Display

Type Dynamic AMOLED POLED
Size 6.4 inches 5.7 inches
Resolution 1080 x 2340 pixels 1080 x 2280 pixels
Aspect ratio 20:9 19:9
PPI 401 ppi 444 ppi
Refresh rate 120 Hz 90 Hz
Adaptive refresh rate No No
Max rated brightness 420 nits 450 nits
Max rated brightness in HDR 1200 nits -
HDR support Yes, HDR10+ Yes, HDR10
Screen protection Gorilla Glass Victus Corning Gorilla Glass 5
Screen-to-body ratio 89.6% 79.8%
Display features - DCI-P3
- Always-On Display
- DCI-P3
- Always-On Display
Display tests
RGB color space 97% 95.5%
PWM 247 Hz 367 Hz
Response time 6 ms 2.4 ms
Contrast ∞ Infinity ∞ Infinity
Peak brightness test (auto)
789 nits
438 nits
Sources: NotebookCheck [3], [4]

Design and build

Height 155.7 mm (6.13 inches) 147.1 mm (5.79 inches)
Width 74.5 mm (2.93 inches) 68.8 mm (2.71 inches)
Thickness 7.9 mm (0.31 inches) 8.2 mm (0.32 inches)
Weight 177 g (6.24 oz) 162 g (5.71 oz)
Waterproof IP68 IP68
Rear material Plastic Glass
Frame material Metal Metal
Colors White, Gray, Green, Purple White, Black, Orange
Fingerprint scanner Yes, in-display No
Screen-to-body ratio
89.6%
79.8%

Performance

Tests of Samsung Galaxy S21 FE 5G and Google Pixel 4 in the benchmarks
SoC
Chipset Qualcomm Snapdragon 888 Qualcomm Snapdragon 855
Max clock 2840 MHz 2840 MHz
CPU cores 8 (1 + 3 + 4) 8 (1 + 3 + 4)
Architecture - 4 cores at 1.8 GHz: Kryo 680 Silver (Cortex-A55)
- 3 cores at 2.42 GHz: Kryo 680 Gold (Cortex-A78)
- 1 core at 2.84 GHz: Kryo 680 Prime (Cortex-X1)
- 4 cores at 1.8 GHz: Cortex-A55 (Kryo 485 Silver)
- 3 cores at 2.42 GHz: Cortex-A76 (Kryo 485 Gold)
- 1 core at 2.84 GHz: Cortex-A76 (Kryo 485 Gold)
L3 cache 4 MB 2 MB
Lithography process 5 nanometers 7 nanometers
Graphics Adreno 660 Adreno 640
GPU clock 840 MHz 585 MHz
FLOPS ~1720 GFLOPS ~899 GFLOPS

Benchmarks

Geekbench 5 (Single-Core)
1100
622
Geekbench 5 (Multi-Core)
3023
2433
AnTuTu Benchmark 9
751733
515775
CPU 194989 138581
GPU 281856 186622
Memory 133252 64898
UX 147872 126346
Total score 751733 515775
3DMark Wild Life Performance
5706
3044
Max surface temperature 39.1 °C 39 °C
Stability 69% 78%
Graphics test 34 FPS 18 FPS
Graphics score 5706 3044
Web score 10704 7204
Video editing 7086 7054
Photo editing 28462 23812
Data manipulation 10082 8954
Writing score 14483 12151
Sources: 3DMark [3], [4]

Memory

RAM
RAM size 6, 8 GB 6 GB
Memory type LPDDR5 LPDDR4X
Memory clock 2750 MHz 2133 MHz
Channels 2 2
Storage
Storage size 128, 256 GB 64, 128 GB
Storage type UFS 3.1 UFS 3.0
Memory card No No

Software

Operating system Android 12 (Can be upgraded to Android 13) Android 10 (Can be upgraded to Android 13)
ROM One UI 5.0 -
OS size 17.5 GB 9.55 GB

Battery

Capacity 4500 mAh 2800 mAh
Max charge power 25 W 18 W
Battery type Li-Ion Li-Po
Replaceable No No
Wireless charging Yes (15 W) Yes (11 W)
Reverse charging Yes, (wireless) No
Fast charging Yes (51% in 30 min) Yes (50% in 30 min)
Full charging time 1:15 hr 1:20 hr
Battery life tests
Web browsing 07:42 hr 06:04 hr
Watching video 13:05 hr 08:41 hr
Gaming 05:29 hr 03:09 hr
Standby 91 hr 62 hr
General battery life
26:34 hr
18:36 hr

Camera

Specs and camera test of smartphones
Main camera
Matrix 12 megapixels 12.2 megapixels
Image resolution 4032 x 3024 4000 x 3000
Zoom Optical, 3x Optical, 2x
Flash LED LED
Stabilization Optical Optical
8K video recording No No
4K video recording Up to 60FPS Up to 30FPS
1080p video recording Up to 60FPS Up to 60FPS
Slow motion 960 FPS (720p) 240 FPS (720p)
Angle of widest lens 123° 119°
Lenses 3 (12 MP + 8 MP + 12 MP) 2 (12.2 MP + 16 MP)
Wide (main) lens - 12 MP
- Aperture: f/1.8
- Focal length: 26 mm
- Pixel size: 1.8 micron
- Sensor: 1/1.76", Sony IMX555 (Exmor-RS CMOS)
- Phase autofocus (Dual Pixel)
- Optical stabilization
- 12.2 MP
- Aperture: f/1.7
- Focal length: 28 mm
- Pixel size: 1.4 micron
- Sensor: 1/2.55", Sony IMX363 (BSI CMOS)
- Phase autofocus (Dual Pixel)
- Optical stabilization
Telephoto lens - 8 MP
- Aperture: f/2.4
- Focal length: 76 mm
- Pixel size: 1 micron
- Sensor: 1/4.5", Hynix Hi847 (CMOS)
- Phase autofocus
- Optical stabilization
- 16 MP
- Aperture: f/2.4
- Focal length: 45 mm
- Pixel size: 1 micron
- Sensor: 1/3.09", Sony IMX481 (BSI CMOS)
- Phase autofocus
- Optical stabilization
Ultra-wide lens - 12 MP
- Aperture: f/2.2
- Focal length: 13 mm
- Pixel size: 1.12 micron
- Sensor: 1/3.0", Sony IMX258 (Exmor-RS CMOS)
-
Camera features - Bokeh mode
- Pro mode
- RAW support
- Bokeh mode
- Pro mode
- RAW support
Samples Photo samples of Samsung Galaxy S21 FE 5G from DxOMark Photo samples of Google Pixel 4 from DxOMark
Selfie camera
Megapixels 32 megapixels 8 megapixels
Image resolution 6464 x 4864 3264 x 2448
Aperture f/2.2 f/2.0
Focal length 26 mm 22 mm
Pixel size 0.8 microns 1.22 microns
Sensor type Exmor-RS CMOS CMOS
Sensor size 1/2.74" -
Video resolution 2160p (4K) at 60 FPS 1080p (Full HD) at 30 FPS

DxOMark camera tests

Photo quality
Video quality
Generic camera score

Connectivity

Wi-Fi standard Wi-Fi 6 (802.11 a/b/g/n/ac/ax) Wi-Fi 5 (802.11 b/g/n/ac)
Wi-Fi features - Dual Band
- Wi-Fi MiMO
- Wi-Fi Direct
- Wi-Fi Hotspot
- Wi-Fi Display
- Dual Band
- Wi-Fi Direct
- Wi-Fi Hotspot
- Wi-Fi Display
Bluetooth version 5 5
Bluetooth features LE LE, A2DP
USB type USB Type-C USB Type-C
USB version 3.2 3.1
USB features - Charging
- USB-Storage mode
- OTG
- Charging
- USB-Storage mode
- OTG
GPS GPS, GLONASS, Beidou, Galileo GPS, GLONASS, Beidou, Galileo
NFC* Yes Yes
Infrared port No No
Network
Number of SIM* 2 2
Type of SIM card Nano Nano
Multi SIM mode Standby Standby
eSIM support* No Yes
Hybrid slot No No
LTE Cat* 19 18
5G support Yes No

Sound

Speakers Stereo Stereo
Headphone audio jack No No
FM radio No No
Dolby Atmos Yes Yes
Speakers test
Max loudness
88.9 dB
85.6 dB

Other

Category Flagship Flagship
Announced January 2022 October 2019
Release date January 2022 November 2019
SAR (head) 0.95 W/kg 1.19 W/kg
SAR (body) 1.48 W/kg 1.39 W/kg
Sensors - Hall-effect sensor
- Barometer
- Proximity sensor
- Gyroscope
- Accelerometer
- Ambient light sensor
- Compass
- Fingerprint
- Hall-effect sensor
- Barometer
- Proximity sensor
- Gyroscope
- Accelerometer
- Ambient light sensor
- Compass
- Face recognition sensor
Bundled charger Not included -
*Disclaimer! NFC, GSM network support, and some other specs can be different depending on the country.

Conclusion

After analyzing all the data, we think that the Samsung Galaxy S21 FE 5G is definitely a better buy.

Cast your vote

So, which phone would you choose?
2 (14.3%)
12 (85.7%)
Total votes: 14

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