Samsung Galaxy S21 FE 5G vs Galaxy A72
72
out of 100
VS
60
out of 100
Here we compared two smartphones: the 6.4-inch Samsung Galaxy S21 FE 5G (with Qualcomm Snapdragon 888 ) that was released on January 4, 2022, against the Samsung Galaxy A72, which is powered by Qualcomm Snapdragon 720G and came out 10 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
- 2.3x better performance in AnTuTu Benchmark (751K versus 333K)
- Better camera quality (According to DxOMark rating)
- Higher display refresh rate – 120 Hz
- Compatible with Wi-Fi 6 wireless networks
- Handles wireless charging up to 15W
- Waterproof body (IP68 classification)
- Slow-motion recording at 960FPS
- Uses a faster type of memory: LPDDR5 2750 MHz
- The front-facing camera can record video at 4K
Reasons to consider the Samsung Galaxy A72
- Shows 39% longer battery life (36:59 vs 26:34 hours)
- Expandable storage via MicroSD card up to 1024GB
- Has a 0.3 inch larger screen size
- Comes with 500 mAh larger battery capacity: 5000 vs 4500 mAh
- Includes a 3.5 mm headphone audio jack port
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.
Tests and specifications
Comparison table of technical specifications and testsDisplay
| Type | Dynamic AMOLED | Super AMOLED |
| Size | 6.4 inches | 6.7 inches |
| Resolution | 1080 x 2340 pixels | 1080 x 2400 pixels |
| Aspect ratio | 20:9 | 20:9 |
| PPI | 401 ppi | 393 ppi |
| Refresh rate | 120 Hz | 90 Hz |
| Adaptive refresh rate | No | No |
| Max rated brightness | 420 nits | 400 nits |
| Max rated brightness in HDR | 1200 nits | 800 nits |
| HDR support | Yes, HDR10+ | Yes, HDR10+ |
| Screen protection | Gorilla Glass Victus | Corning Gorilla Glass 5 |
| Screen-to-body ratio | 89.6% | 84.9% |
| Display features | - DCI-P3 - Always-On Display |
- Always-On Display |
| RGB color space | 97% | 98.7% |
| PWM | 247 Hz | 367 Hz |
| Response time | 6 ms | 4.8 ms |
| Contrast | ∞ Infinity | ∞ Infinity |
Peak brightness test (auto)
Design and build
| Height | 155.7 mm (6.13 inches) | 165 mm (6.5 inches) |
| Width | 74.5 mm (2.93 inches) | 77.4 mm (3.05 inches) |
| Thickness | 7.9 mm (0.31 inches) | 8.4 mm (0.33 inches) |
| Weight | 177 g (6.24 oz) | 203 g (7.16 oz) |
| Waterproof | IP68 | IP67 |
| Rear material | Plastic | Plastic |
| Frame material | Metal | Plastic |
| Colors | White, Gray, Green, Purple | White, Black, Blue, Pink |
| Fingerprint scanner | Yes, in-display | Yes, in-display |
Screen-to-body ratio
Performance
| Chipset | Qualcomm Snapdragon 888 | Qualcomm Snapdragon 720G |
| Max clock | 2840 MHz | 2300 MHz |
| CPU cores | 8 (1 + 3 + 4) | 8 (2 + 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 465 Silver (Cortex-A55) - 2 cores at 2.3 GHz: Kryo 465 Gold (Cortex-A76) |
| L3 cache | 4 MB | - |
| Lithography process | 5 nanometers | 8 nanometers |
| Graphics | Adreno 660 | Adreno 618 |
| GPU clock | 840 MHz | 750 MHz |
| FLOPS | ~1720 GFLOPS | ~384 GFLOPS |
Benchmarks
Geekbench 5 (Single-Core)
Geekbench 5 (Multi-Core)
AnTuTu Benchmark 9
| CPU | 194989 | 105759 |
| GPU | 281856 | 85686 |
| Memory | 133252 | 52933 |
| UX | 147872 | 90296 |
| Total score | 751733 | 333961 |
3DMark Wild Life Performance
| Max surface temperature | 39.1 °C | 38.2 °C |
| Stability | 69% | 99% |
| Graphics test | 34 FPS | 6 FPS |
| Graphics score | 5706 | 1038 |
| Web score | 10704 | 7185 |
| Video editing | 7086 | 6240 |
| Photo editing | 28462 | 17168 |
| Data manipulation | 10082 | 7555 |
| Writing score | 14483 | 9120 |
Memory
| RAM size | 6, 8 GB | 6, 8 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 2.1 |
| Memory card | No | MicroSD |
| Memory card max size | - | Up to 1024 GB |
Software
| Operating system | Android 12 (Can be upgraded to Android 13) | Android 11 (Can be upgraded to Android 13) |
| ROM | One UI 5.0 | One UI 5.0 |
| OS size | 17.5 GB | 25.8 GB |
Battery
| Capacity | 4500 mAh | 5000 mAh |
| Max charge power | 25 W | 25 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 (54% in 30 min) |
| Full charging time | 1:15 hr | 1:15 hr |
| Web browsing | 07:42 hr | 11:27 hr |
| Watching video | 13:05 hr | 14:00 hr |
| Gaming | 05:29 hr | 05:39 hr |
| Standby | 91 hr | 151 hr |
General battery life
Camera
| Matrix | 12 megapixels | 64 megapixels |
| Image resolution | 4032 x 3024 | 9000 x 7000 |
| Zoom | Optical, 3x | Optical, 3x |
| 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 (1080p) |
| Angle of widest lens | 123° | 123° |
| Lenses | 3 (12 MP + 8 MP + 12 MP) | 4 (64 MP + 8 MP + 12 MP + 5 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 |
- 64 MP - Aperture: f/1.8 - Focal length: 26 mm - Pixel size: 0.8 micron - Sensor: 1/1.7" (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 - Pixel size: 1 micron - 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) |
- 12 MP - Aperture: f/2.2 - Focal length: 13 mm - Pixel size: 1.12 micron |
| Macro lens | - | - 5 MP - Aperture: f/2.4 |
| Camera features | - Bokeh mode - Pro mode - RAW support |
- Bokeh mode - Pro mode |
| Samples | Photo samples of Samsung Galaxy S21 FE 5G from DxOMark | Photo samples of Samsung Galaxy A72 from DxOMark |
| Megapixels | 32 megapixels | 32 megapixels |
| Image resolution | 6464 x 4864 | 4000 x 3000 |
| Aperture | f/2.2 | f/2.2 |
| Focal length | 26 mm | 26 mm |
| Pixel size | 0.8 microns | 0.8 microns |
| Sensor type | Exmor-RS CMOS | CMOS |
| Sensor size | 1/2.74" | 1/2.8" |
| Video resolution | 2160p (4K) at 60 FPS | 1080p (Full HD) at 60 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 | PBAP/PAB, PAN, OPP, MAP, HSP, HID, HFP, DIP, AVRCP, A2DP |
| USB type | USB Type-C | USB Type-C |
| USB version | 3.2 | 2 |
| 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 | Active |
| eSIM support* | No | No |
| Hybrid slot | No | Yes |
| LTE Cat* | 19 | 15 |
| 5G support | Yes | No |
Sound
| Speakers | Stereo | Stereo |
| Headphone audio jack | No | Yes |
| FM radio | No | Yes |
| Dolby Atmos | Yes | Yes |
Speakers test
Max loudness
Other
| Category | Flagship | Mid-range |
| Announced | January 2022 | March 2021 |
| Release date | January 2022 | March 2021 |
| SAR (head) | 0.95 W/kg | 0.23 W/kg |
| SAR (body) | 1.48 W/kg | 1.17 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 |
| 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: 156
