Samsung Galaxy S21 FE 5G vs S10 Lite
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 S10 Lite, which is powered by Qualcomm Snapdragon 855 and came out 24 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)
- The rear camera has a 3x optical zoom
- Higher display refresh rate – 120 Hz
- 37% better performance in AnTuTu Benchmark (813K versus 593K)
- Handles wireless charging up to 15W
- Uses a faster type of memory: LPDDR5 2750 MHz
- Compatible with Wi-Fi 6 wireless networks
- Stereo speakers
- Delivers 12% higher peak brightness (793 against 707 nits)
- The phone is 2-years newer
Reasons to consider the Samsung Galaxy S10 Lite
- Shows 29% longer battery life (34:20 vs 26:34 hours)
- Expandable storage via MicroSD card up to 1000GB
- Has a 0.3 inch larger screen size
- Supports higher wattage charging (45W versus 25W)
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.
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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 | 60 Hz |
Adaptive refresh rate | No | No |
Max rated brightness | 420 nits | 400 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% | 87.8% |
Display features | - DCI-P3 - Always-On Display |
- Always-On Display |
RGB color space | 97% | 98.3% |
PWM | 247 Hz | 250 Hz |
Response time | 6 ms | 32 ms |
Contrast | ∞ Infinity | ∞ Infinity |
Peak brightness test (auto)
Design and build
Height | 155.7 mm (6.13 inches) | 162.5 mm (6.4 inches) |
Width | 74.5 mm (2.93 inches) | 75.6 mm (2.98 inches) |
Thickness | 7.9 mm (0.31 inches) | 8.1 mm (0.32 inches) |
Weight | 177 g (6.24 oz) | 186 g (6.56 oz) |
Waterproof | IP68 | No |
Rear material | Plastic | Plastic |
Frame material | Metal | Metal |
Colors | White, Gray, Green, Purple | White, Black, 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 shading units | 1024 | 768 |
GPU clock | 792 MHz | 585 MHz |
FLOPS | ~1622 GFLOPS | ~898.5 GFLOPS |
Benchmarks
Geekbench 6 (Single-Core)
Geekbench 6 (Multi-Core)
AnTuTu Benchmark 10
CPU | 247479 | 191714 |
GPU | 279733 | 135891 |
Memory | 144313 | 118187 |
UX | 134400 | 143989 |
Total score | 813058 | 593855 |
3DMark Wild Life Performance
Max surface temperature | 39.1 °C | 39.1 °C |
Stability | 69% | 88% |
Graphics test | 34 FPS | 18 FPS |
Graphics score | 5703 | 3072 |
PCMark 3.0
Web score | 10889 | 7242 |
Video editing | 7079 | 6013 |
Photo editing | 28541 | 22497 |
Data manipulation | 10075 | 7672 |
Writing score | 14461 | 11995 |
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, 512 GB |
Storage type | UFS 3.1 | UFS 2.1 |
Memory card | No | MicroSD |
Memory card max size | - | Up to 1000 GB |
Software
Operating system | Android 12 (Can be upgraded to Android 13) | Android 10.0 (Can be upgraded to Android 13) |
ROM | One UI 5.0 | One UI 5.0 |
OS size | 17.5 GB | 22.5 GB |
Battery
Capacity | 4500 mAh | 4500 mAh |
Max charge power | 25 W | 45 W |
Battery type | Li-Ion | Li-Ion |
Replaceable | No | No |
Wireless charging | Yes (15 W) | No |
Reverse charging | Yes, (wireless) | No |
Fast charging | Yes (51% in 30 min) | Yes (50% in 30 min) |
Full charging time | 1:15 hr | 1:40 hr |
Web browsing | 07:42 hr | 10:36 hr |
Watching video | 13:05 hr | 15:48 hr |
Gaming | 05:29 hr | 04:56 hr |
Standby | 91 hr | 125 hr |
General battery life
Camera
Matrix | 12 megapixels | 48 megapixels |
Image resolution | 4032 x 3024 | 8000 x 6000 |
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 240FPS |
Slow motion | 960 FPS (720p) | 960 FPS (720p) |
Angle of widest lens | 123° | 123° |
Lenses | 3 (12 MP + 8 MP + 12 MP) | 3 (48 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 |
- 48 MP - Aperture: f/2.0 - Focal length: 26 mm - Pixel size: 0.8 micron - Sensor: 1/2.0", Samsung S5KGM1 (ISOCELL 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 |
- |
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: 12 mm |
Macro lens | - | - 5 MP - Aperture: f/2.4 - Focal length: 25 mm - Pixel size: 1.12 micron - Sensor: 1/5.0" (CMOS) |
Camera features | - Bokeh mode - Pro mode - RAW support |
- Bokeh mode - Pro mode |
Samples | Photo samples of Samsung Galaxy S21 FE 5G from DxOMark | - |
Megapixels | 32 megapixels | 32 megapixels |
Image resolution | 6464 x 4864 | 6464 x 4864 |
Aperture | f/2.2 | f/2.2 |
Focal length | 26 mm | 25 mm |
Pixel size | 0.8 microns | 0.8 microns |
Sensor type | Exmor-RS CMOS | ISOCELL CMOS |
Sensor size | 1/2.74" | 1/2.8" |
Video resolution | 2160p (4K) at 60 FPS | 2160p (4K) 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 |
Bluetooth version | 5 | 5 |
Bluetooth features | LE | LE, 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 | Standby |
eSIM support* | No | No |
Hybrid slot | No | No |
LTE Cat* | 19 | 20 |
5G support | Yes | No |
Sound
Speakers | Stereo | Mono |
Headphone audio jack | No | No |
FM radio | No | Yes |
Dolby Atmos | Yes | Yes |
Speakers test
Max loudness
Other
Category | Flagship | Flagship |
Announced | January 2022 | January 2020 |
Release date | January 2022 | January 2020 |
SAR (head) | 0.95 W/kg | 0.484 W/kg |
SAR (body) | 1.48 W/kg | 1.02 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 |
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: 86