Samsung Galaxy S21 FE 5G vs OnePlus 7 Pro
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 OnePlus 7 Pro, which is powered by Qualcomm Snapdragon 855 and came out 32 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
- Waterproof body (IP68 classification)
- 38% better performance in AnTuTu Benchmark (765K versus 555K)
- Higher display refresh rate – 120 Hz
- Compatible with Wi-Fi 6 wireless networks
- Supports wireless charging up to 15W
- Delivers 28% higher peak brightness (796 against 621 nits)
- Comes with 415 mAh larger battery capacity: 4500 vs 4085 mAh
- Uses a faster type of memory: LPDDR5 2750 MHz
- The phone is 2-years and 8-months newer
- More recent OS version: Android 13 versus 12
- Slow-motion recording at 960FPS
Reasons to consider the OnePlus 7 Pro
- 29% higher pixel density (516 vs 401 PPI)
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Review
Display
Screen quality, color accuracy, brightness
Performance
CPU/GPU performance in apps and games
Battery
Battery life, charging type and speed
Camera
Photo and video recording quality
Connectivity
Networks, ports, data transmission
NanoReview score
Final comparison evaluation
Value for money
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Tests and specifications
Comparison table of technical specifications and testsDisplay
| Type | Dynamic AMOLED | AMOLED |
| Size | 6.4 inches | 6.67 inches |
| Resolution | 1080 x 2340 pixels | 1440 x 3120 pixels |
| Aspect ratio | 20:9 | 19.5:9 |
| PPI | 401 ppi | 516 ppi |
| Refresh rate | 120 Hz | 90 Hz |
| Adaptive refresh rate | No | No |
| Max rated brightness | 420 nits | 616 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% | 88.1% |
| Display features | - DCI-P3 - Always-On Display |
- DCI-P3 - Always-On Display - DC Dimming |
| RGB color space | 97% | 99.8% |
| PWM | 247 Hz | 122 Hz |
| Response time | 6 ms | 6 ms |
| Contrast | ∞ Infinity | ∞ Infinity |
Peak brightness test (auto)
Design and build
| Height | 155.7 mm (6.13 inches) | 162.6 mm (6.4 inches) |
| Width | 74.5 mm (2.93 inches) | 75.9 mm (2.99 inches) |
| Thickness | 7.9 mm (0.31 inches) | 8.8 mm (0.35 inches) |
| Weight | 177 g (6.24 oz) | 206 g (7.27 oz) |
| Waterproof | IP68 | IPX4 |
| Rear material | Plastic | Glass |
| Frame material | Metal | Metal |
| Colors | White, Gray, Green, Purple | Gold, Gray, Blue |
| Fingerprint scanner | Yes, in-display | Yes, in-display |
Screen-to-body ratio
Performance
| 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)
Geekbench 5 (Multi-Core)
AnTuTu Benchmark 9
| CPU | 194989 | 157094 |
| GPU | 281856 | 194179 |
| Memory | 133252 | 97218 |
| UX | 147872 | 105184 |
| Total score | 765423 | 555705 |
3DMark Wild Life Performance
| Max surface temperature | 39.1 °C | 49.6 °C |
| Stability | 69% | 97% |
| Graphics test | 34 FPS | 12 FPS |
| Graphics score | 5757 | 2115 |
PCMark 3.0
| Web score | 10755 | 7921 |
| Video editing | 7096 | 5874 |
| Photo editing | 28462 | 25240 |
| Data manipulation | 10077 | 9543 |
| Writing score | 14507 | 13681 |
Memory
| RAM size | 6, 8 GB | 6, 8, 12 GB |
| Memory type | LPDDR5 | LPDDR4X |
| Memory clock | 2750 MHz | 2133 MHz |
| Channels | 2 | 2 |
| Storage size | 128, 256 GB | 128, 256 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 9.0 (Can be upgraded to Android 12) |
| ROM | One UI 5.0 | OxygenOS 12.1 |
| OS size | 17.5 GB | 17 GB |
Battery
| Capacity | 4500 mAh | 4085 mAh |
| Charge power | 25 W | 30 W |
| Battery type | Li-Ion | Li-Po |
| Replaceable | No | No |
| Wireless charging | Yes (15 W) | No |
| Reverse charging | Yes, (wireless) | No |
| Fast charging | Yes (51% in 30 min) | Yes, Warp Charge (50% in 20 min) |
| Full charging time | 1:15 hr | 1:20 hr |
| Web browsing | 07:42 hr | 08:34 hr |
| Watching video | 13:05 hr | 11:21 hr |
| Gaming | 05:29 hr | 03:59 hr |
| Standby | 91 hr | 104 hr |
General battery life
Camera
| Matrix | 12 megapixels | 48 megapixels |
| Image resolution | 4032 x 3024 | 8000 x 6000 |
| Zoom | Optical, 3x | Optical, 3x |
| Flash | LED | Dual 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 240FPS |
| Slow motion | 960 FPS (720p) | 480 FPS (720p) |
| Angle of widest lens | 123° | 117° |
| Lenses | 3 (12 MP + 8 MP + 12 MP) | 3 (48 MP + 8 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 |
- 48 MP - Aperture: f/1.6 - Focal length: 27 mm - Pixel size: 0.8 micron - Sensor: 1/2", Sony IMX586 (Exmor-RS CMOS) - Phase autofocus - 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 |
- 8 MP - Aperture: f/2.4 - Focal length: 78 mm - Sensor: 1/3.4", Samsung S5K3M5 (ISOCELL 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: 13 mm - Pixel size: 1 micron - Sensor: 1/3.09", Sony IMX481 (BSI CMOS) - Phase autofocus |
| 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 OnePlus 7 Pro from DxOMark |
| Megapixels | 32 megapixels | 16 megapixels |
| Image resolution | 6464 x 4864 | 4608 x 3456 |
| Aperture | f/2.2 | f/2.0 |
| Focal length | 26 mm | 25 mm |
| Pixel size | 0.8 microns | 1 microns |
| Sensor type | Exmor-RS CMOS | Exmor-RS CMOS |
| Sensor size | 1/2.74" | 1/3.1" |
| 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 Direct - Wi-Fi Hotspot |
| Bluetooth version | 5 | 5 |
| Bluetooth features | 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 |
| Number of SIM* | 2 | 2 |
| Type of SIM card | Nano | Nano |
| Multi SIM mode | Standby | Standby |
| eSIM support* | No | No |
| Hybrid slot | No | No |
| LTE Cat* | 19 | 16 |
| 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
Other
| Category | Flagship | Flagship |
| Announced | January 2022 | May 2019 |
| Release date | January 2022 | May 2019 |
| SAR (head) | 0.95 W/kg | 1.199 W/kg |
| SAR (body) | 1.48 W/kg | 1.394 W/kg |
| Sensors | - Hall-effect sensor - Barometer - Proximity sensor - Gyroscope - Accelerometer - Ambient light sensor - Compass - Fingerprint |
- Proximity sensor - Gyroscope - Accelerometer - Ambient light sensor - Compass - Fingerprint |
*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: 7