Samsung Galaxy S21 FE 5G vs Note 20 Ultra
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 Samsung Galaxy Note 20 Ultra, which is powered by Exynos 990 and came out 17 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
- 38% better performance in AnTuTu Benchmark (753K versus 547K)
- The phone is 1-year and 5-months newer
- More energy-efficient CPU – Snapdragon 888
- Weighs 31 grams less
- 16% faster in single-core GeekBench 5 test: 1100 and 951 points
Reasons to consider the Samsung Galaxy Note 20 Ultra
- The rear camera has a 5x optical zoom
- Delivers 29% higher peak brightness (1021 against 791 nits)
- Newer Bluetooth version (v5.1)
- Expandable storage via MicroSD card up to 1000GB
- Has a 0.5 inch larger screen size
- 24% higher pixel density (496 vs 401 PPI)
- Ready for eSIM technology
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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
You can enter your local price of these phones (in USD or any 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 | Dynamic AMOLED |
| Size | 6.4 inches | 6.9 inches |
| Resolution | 1080 x 2340 pixels | 1440 x 3088 pixels |
| Aspect ratio | 20:9 | 19.5:9 |
| PPI | 401 ppi | 496 ppi |
| Refresh rate | 120 Hz | 120 Hz |
| Adaptive refresh rate | No | Yes |
| Max rated brightness | 420 nits | 600 nits |
| Max rated brightness in HDR | 1200 nits | - |
| HDR support | Yes, HDR10+ | Yes, HDR10+ |
| Screen protection | Gorilla Glass Victus | Gorilla Glass Victus |
| Screen-to-body ratio | 89.6% | 91.7% |
| Display features | - DCI-P3 - Always-On Display |
- DCI-P3 - Always-On Display |
| RGB color space | 97% | 96.9% |
| PWM | 247 Hz | 245 Hz |
| Response time | 6 ms | 6 ms |
| Contrast | ∞ Infinity | ∞ Infinity |
Peak brightness test (auto)
Design and build
| Height | 155.7 mm (6.13 inches) | 164.8 mm (6.49 inches) |
| Width | 74.5 mm (2.93 inches) | 77.2 mm (3.04 inches) |
| Thickness | 7.9 mm (0.31 inches) | 8.1 mm (0.32 inches) |
| Weight | 177 g (6.24 oz) | 208 g (7.34 oz) |
| Waterproof | IP68 | IP68 |
| Advanced cooling | - | Vapor chamber |
| Rear material | Plastic | Glass |
| Frame material | Metal | Metal |
| Colors | White, Gray, Green, Purple | White, Black, Brown |
| Fingerprint scanner | Yes, in-display | Yes, in-display |
Screen-to-body ratio
Performance
| Chipset | Qualcomm Snapdragon 888 | Samsung Exynos 990 |
| Max clock | 2840 MHz | 2730 MHz |
| CPU cores | 8 (1 + 3 + 4) | 8 (2 + 2 + 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 2 GHz: Cortex-A55 - 2 cores at 2.5 GHz: Cortex-A76 - 2 cores at 2.73 GHz: Exynos M5 |
| L3 cache | 4 MB | 2 MB |
| Lithography process | 5 nanometers | 7 nanometers |
| Graphics | Adreno 660 | Mali-G77 MP11 |
| GPU clock | 840 MHz | 800 MHz |
| FLOPS | ~1720 GFLOPS | ~1196 GFLOPS |
Benchmarks
Geekbench 5 (Single-Core)
Geekbench 5 (Multi-Core)
AnTuTu Benchmark 9
| CPU | 194989 | 92406 |
| GPU | 281856 | 216567 |
| Memory | 133252 | 125152 |
| UX | 147872 | 116586 |
| Total score | 753928 | 547637 |
3DMark Wild Life Performance
| Max surface temperature | 39.1 °C | 37.3 °C |
| Stability | 69% | 46% |
| Graphics test | 34 FPS | 25 FPS |
| Graphics score | 5757 | 4247 |
PCMark 3.0
| Web score | 10755 | 8939 |
| Video editing | 7096 | 6882 |
| Photo editing | 28462 | 28631 |
| Data manipulation | 10077 | 8806 |
| Writing score | 14507 | 10714 |
Memory
| RAM size | 6, 8 GB | 8, 12 GB |
| Memory type | LPDDR5 | LPDDR5 |
| Memory clock | 2750 MHz | 2750 MHz |
| Channels | 2 | - |
| Storage size | 128, 256 GB | 256, 512 GB |
| Storage type | UFS 3.1 | UFS 3.1 |
| Memory card | No | MicroSD |
| Memory card max size | - | Up to 1000 GB |
Software
| Operating system | Android 12 (Can be upgraded to Android 13) | Android 10 (Can be upgraded to Android 13) |
| ROM | One UI 5.0 | One UI 5.0 |
| OS size | 17.5 GB | 34.7 GB |
Battery
| Capacity | 4500 mAh | 4500 mAh |
| Charge power | 25 W | 25 W |
| Battery type | Li-Ion | Li-Po |
| Replaceable | No | No |
| Wireless charging | Yes (15 W) | Yes (15 W) |
| Reverse charging | Yes, (wireless) | Yes, (wireless) |
| Fast charging | Yes (51% in 30 min) | Yes (43% in 30 min) |
| Full charging time | 1:15 hr | 1:20 hr |
| Web browsing | 07:42 hr | 08:59 hr |
| Watching video | 13:05 hr | 13:52 hr |
| Gaming | 05:29 hr | 04:58 hr |
| Standby | 91 hr | 74 hr |
General battery life
Camera
| Matrix | 12 megapixels | 108 megapixels |
| Image resolution | 4032 x 3024 | 12000 x 9000 |
| Zoom | Optical, 3x | Optical, 5x |
| Flash | LED | LED |
| Stabilization | Optical | Optical |
| 8K video recording | No | Up to 24FPS |
| 4K video recording | Up to 60FPS | Up to 60FPS |
| 1080p video recording | Up to 60FPS | Up to 240FPS |
| Slow motion | 960 FPS (720p) | 960 FPS (720p) |
| Angle of widest lens | 123° | 120° |
| Lenses | 3 (12 MP + 8 MP + 12 MP) | 4 (108 MP + 12 MP + 12 MP + 0.3 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 |
- 108 MP - Aperture: f/1.8 - Focal length: 26 mm - Pixel size: 0.8 micron - Sensor: 1/1.33", Samsung Bright S5KHM1 (ISOCELL Plus CMOS) - Laser 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 |
- 12 MP - Aperture: f/3.0 - Focal length: 103 mm - Pixel size: 1 micron - 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) |
- 12 MP - Aperture: f/2.2 - Focal length: 13 mm - Pixel size: 1.4 micron - Sensor: 1/2.55", Samsung S5K2L3 (ISOCELL CMOS) - Phase autofocus |
| Depth lens | - | - 0.3 MP |
| 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 Samsung Galaxy Note 20 Ultra from DxOMark |
| Megapixels | 32 megapixels | 10 megapixels |
| Image resolution | 6464 x 4864 | 3872 x 2592 |
| Aperture | f/2.2 | f/2.2 |
| Focal length | 26 mm | 26 mm |
| Pixel size | 0.8 microns | 1.22 microns |
| Sensor type | Exmor-RS CMOS | CMOS |
| Sensor size | 1/2.74" | 1/3.2" |
| Video resolution | 2160p (4K) at 60 FPS | 2160p (4K) 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 6 (802.11 a/b/g/n/ac/ax) |
| 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 | 5.1 |
| Bluetooth features | LE | PBAP/PAB, PAN, OPP, MAP, LE, HSP, HID, HFP, DIP, AVRCP, A2DP |
| USB type | USB Type-C | USB Type-C |
| USB version | 3.2 | 3.2 |
| USB features | - Charging - USB-Storage mode - OTG |
- Charging - USB-Storage mode - OTG |
| GPS | GPS, GLONASS, Beidou, Galileo | GPS, GLONASS, Beidou, Galileo, NAVIC |
| 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 | Yes |
| Hybrid slot | No | Yes |
| LTE Cat* | 19 | 20 |
| 5G support | Yes | Yes |
Sound
| Speakers | Stereo | Stereo |
| Headphone audio jack | No | No |
| FM radio | No | Yes |
| Dolby Atmos | Yes | Yes |
Speakers test
Max loudness
Other
| Category | Flagship | Flagship |
| Announced | January 2022 | August 2020 |
| Release date | January 2022 | August 2020 |
| SAR (head) | 0.95 W/kg | 0.319 W/kg |
| SAR (body) | 1.48 W/kg | 1.557 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 - Fingerprint |
*Disclaimer! NFC, GSM network support, and some other specs can be different depending on the country.
Conclusion
If the performance is more important to you, then choose the Samsung Galaxy S21 FE 5G. But if the design is more of a priority – go for the Samsung Galaxy Note 20 Ultra.
Cast your vote
Total votes: 178