Samsung Galaxy S21 FE 5G vs Google Pixel 5
71
out of 100
VS
60
out of 100
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 5, which is powered by Qualcomm Snapdragon 765G and came out 15 months before. On this page, you will find tests, full specs, strengths, and weaknesses of each of the devices.
Key differences
Reasons to consider the Samsung Galaxy S21 FE 5G
- The rear camera has a 3x optical zoom
- 50% better performance in AnTuTu Benchmark (622K versus 415K)
- Higher display refresh rate – 120 Hz
- Has a 0.4 inch larger screen size
- Slow-motion recording at 960FPS
- Comes with 420 mAh larger battery capacity: 4500 vs 4080 mAh
- Uses a faster type of memory: LPDDR5 2750 MHz
- Compatible with Wi-Fi 6 wireless networks
- Delivers 13% higher peak brightness (791 against 697 nits)
- Has 2 SIM card slots
- The phone is 1-year and 3-months newer
Reasons to consider the Google Pixel 5
- Shows 19% longer battery life (31:36 vs 26:34 hours)
- Weighs 26 grams less
- Ready for eSIM technology
Review
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
Choose the importance of each parameter to more accurately identify the smartphone that best meets your particular needs.
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.
Promotion
Tests and specifications
Comparison table of technical specifications and testsDisplay
| Type | Dynamic AMOLED | OLED |
| Size | 6.4 inches | 6 inches |
| Resolution | 1080 x 2340 pixels | 1080 x 2340 pixels |
| Aspect ratio | 20:9 | 19.5:9 |
| PPI | 401 ppi | 432 ppi |
| Refresh rate | 120 Hz | 90 Hz |
| Adaptive refresh rate | No | No |
| Max rated brightness | 420 nits | 700 nits |
| Max rated brightness in HDR | 1200 nits | - |
| HDR support | Yes, HDR10+ | Yes, HDR10+ |
| Screen protection | Gorilla Glass Victus | Corning Gorilla Glass 6 |
| Screen-to-body ratio | 89.6% | 85.9% |
| Display features | - DCI-P3 - Always-On Display |
- Always-On Display |
| RGB color space | 97% | 97.4% |
| PWM | 247 Hz | 367 Hz |
| Response time | 6 ms | 5 ms |
| Contrast | ∞ Infinity | ∞ Infinity |
Peak brightness test (auto)
Design and build
| Height | 155.7 mm (6.13 inches) | 144.7 mm (5.7 inches) |
| Width | 74.5 mm (2.93 inches) | 70.4 mm (2.77 inches) |
| Thickness | 7.9 mm (0.31 inches) | 8 mm (0.31 inches) |
| Weight | 177 g (6.24 oz) | 151 g (5.33 oz) |
| Waterproof | IP68 | IP68 |
| Rear material | Plastic | Metal |
| Frame material | Metal | Metal |
| Colors | White, Gray, Green, Purple | Black, Green |
| Fingerprint scanner | Yes, in-display | Yes, rear |
Screen-to-body ratio
Performance
| Chipset | Qualcomm Snapdragon 888 | Qualcomm Snapdragon 765G |
| Max clock | 2840 MHz | 2400 MHz |
| CPU cores | 8 (1 + 3 + 4) | 8 (1 + 1 + 6) |
| 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) |
- 6 cores at 1.8 GHz: Kryo 475 Silver (Cortex-A55) - 1 core at 2.2 GHz: Kryo 475 Gold (Cortex-A76) - 1 core at 2.4 GHz: Kryo 475 Prime (Cortex-A76) |
| L3 cache | 4 MB | - |
| Lithography process | 5 nanometers | 7 nanometers |
| Graphics | Adreno 660 | Adreno 620 |
| GPU shading units | 1024 | 384 |
| GPU clock | 792 MHz | 750 MHz |
| FLOPS | ~1622 GFLOPS | ~576 GFLOPS |
Benchmarks
Geekbench 6 (Single-Core)
Geekbench 6 (Multi-Core)
AnTuTu Benchmark 10
| CPU | 140597 | 132677 |
| GPU | 209723 | 89779 |
| Memory | 134992 | 90554 |
| UX | 139479 | 106168 |
| Total score | 622691 | 415569 |
3DMark Wild Life Performance
| Max surface temperature | 39.1 °C | 38.6 °C |
| Stability | 69% | 89% |
| Graphics test | 34 FPS | 6 FPS |
| Graphics score | 5703 | 1084 |
PCMark 3.0
| Web score | 10889 | - |
| Video editing | 7079 | - |
| Photo editing | 28541 | - |
| Data manipulation | 10075 | - |
| Writing score | 14461 | - |
Memory
| RAM size | 6, 8 GB | 8 GB |
| Memory type | LPDDR5 | LPDDR4X |
| Memory clock | 2750 MHz | 2133 MHz |
| Channels | 2 | 2 |
| Storage size | 128, 256 GB | 128 GB |
| Storage type | UFS 3.1 | UFS 2.1 |
| Memory card | No | No |
Software
| Operating system | Android 12 (Can be upgraded to Android 13) | Android 11 (Can be upgraded to Android 13) |
| ROM | One UI 5.0 | Stock Android |
| OS size | 17.5 GB | 16.6 GB |
Battery
| Capacity | 4500 mAh | 4080 mAh |
| Max charge power | 25 W | 18 W |
| Battery type | Li-Ion | Li-Po |
| Replaceable | No | No |
| Wireless charging | Yes (15 W) | Yes (12 W) |
| Reverse charging | Yes, (wireless) | Yes |
| Fast charging | Yes (51% in 30 min) | Yes (30% in 30 min) |
| Full charging time | 1:15 hr | 1:45 hr |
| Web browsing | 07:42 hr | 10:13 hr |
| Watching video | 13:05 hr | 15:02 hr |
| Gaming | 05:29 hr | 05:39 hr |
| Standby | 91 hr | 104 hr |
General battery life
Camera
| Matrix | 12 megapixels | 12.2 megapixels |
| Image resolution | 4032 x 3024 | 4290 x 2800 |
| Zoom | Optical, 3x | Digital |
| Flash | LED | LED |
| Stabilization | Optical | Optical |
| 8K video recording | No | No |
| 4K video recording | Up to 60FPS | Up to 60FPS |
| 1080p video recording | Up to 60FPS | Up to 60FPS |
| Slow motion | 960 FPS (720p) | 240 FPS (1080p) |
| Angle of widest lens | 123° | 107° |
| 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: 27 mm - Sensor: 1/2.55", Sony IMX363 (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 |
- |
| 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) |
- 16 MP - Aperture: f/2.2 - Focal length: 24 mm - Pixel size: 1 micron |
| 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 5 from DxOMark |
| Megapixels | 32 megapixels | 8 megapixels |
| Image resolution | 6464 x 4864 | 3264 x 2448 |
| Aperture | f/2.2 | f/2.0 |
| Focal length | 26 mm | 24 mm |
| Pixel size | 0.8 microns | 1.12 microns |
| Sensor type | Exmor-RS CMOS | CMOS |
| Sensor size | 1/2.74" | 1/4.0" |
| 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 a/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 MiMO - 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 |
| GPS | GPS, GLONASS, Beidou, Galileo | GPS, GLONASS, Beidou, Galileo, QZSS |
| NFC* | Yes | Yes |
| Infrared port | No | No |
| Number of SIM* | 2 | 1 |
| Type of SIM card | Nano | Nano |
| Multi SIM mode | Standby | Standby |
| eSIM support* | No | Yes |
| Hybrid slot | No | No |
| LTE Cat* | 19 | 15 |
| 5G support | Yes | Yes |
Sound
| Speakers | Stereo | Stereo |
| Headphone audio jack | No | No |
| FM radio | No | No |
| Dolby Atmos | Yes | No |
Speakers test
Max loudness
Other
| Category | Flagship | Flagship |
| Announced | January 2022 | September 2020 |
| Release date | January 2022 | October 2020 |
| SAR (head) | 0.95 W/kg | 0.96 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 |
- Barometer - Proximity sensor - Gyroscope - Accelerometer - Ambient light sensor - Compass - Fingerprint |
| 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
Total votes: 29