Home > Smartphone comparison > Galaxy S21 FE 5G vs Galaxy S20 FE 5G – which one to choose?

Samsung Galaxy S21 FE 5G vs S20 FE 5G

58 out of 100
Samsung Galaxy S21 FE 5G
VS
59 out of 100
Samsung Galaxy S20 FE 5G
Samsung Galaxy S21 FE 5G
Samsung Galaxy S20 FE 5G

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 S20 FE 5G, which is powered by Qualcomm Snapdragon 865 5G and came out 1 year and 3 months before. On this page, you will find tests, full specs, strengths, and weaknesses of each of the devices.

Select the amount of RAM to evaluate performance and value for money more precisely
Memory
  1. Differences
  2. Review
  3. Specs
  4. Benchmarks
  5. Battery life
  6. Camera
  7. Comments (12)

Key differences

An overview of the main advantages of each smartphone
Reasons to consider the Samsung Galaxy S21 FE 5G
  • More recent OS version: Android 16 versus 13
  • 16% better performance in AnTuTu Benchmark (1138K versus 982K)
  • The phone is 1 year and 3 months newer
  • More energy-efficient CPU – Snapdragon 888
  • 26% faster in single-core GeekBench 6 test: 1481 and 1180 points
Reasons to consider the Samsung Galaxy S20 FE 5G
  • Shows 20% longer battery life (22:18 vs 18:37 hours)
  • Expandable storage via MicroSD card up to 1024GB

Review

Evaluation of Samsung Galaxy S21 FE 5G and S20 FE 5G crucial features
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
Scores with a red asterisk (*) are approximate and may change in the future as we gather more data.
NanoReview Score
Final comparison evaluation
Select your primary usage scenario to get a more accurate NanoReview Score
📱 Primary usage:

Value for money (Beta)

To get an accurate value-for-money index, update the default prices with actual prices from your country’s retailers (for the selected memory configs) and press the "Calculate" button.
Currency
6 / 128 GB
VS
6 / 128 GB
168.7
(Excellent)
Value Index
188.3
(Excellent)

Tests and specifications

Comparison table of technical specifications and tests
Phone:
Galaxy S21 FE 5G
vs
Galaxy S20 FE 5G

Display

Type Dynamic AMOLED Super AMOLED
Size 6.4 inches 6.5 inches
Resolution 1080 x 2340 pixels 1080 x 2400 pixels
Aspect ratio 19.5:9 20:9
PPI 403 ppi 407 ppi
Refresh rate 120 Hz 120 Hz
Adaptive refresh rate No No
Max rated brightness 800 nits 400 nits
Max rated brightness in HDR 1200 nits 1200 nits
HDR support Yes, HDR10+ Yes, HDR10+
Screen protection Gorilla Glass Victus Corning Gorilla Glass 3
Screen-to-body ratio 86.7% 85.8%
Display features - DCI-P3
- Always-On Display		 - DCI-P3
- Always-On Display
Display tests
RGB color space 97% 95.7%
PWM 247 Hz 227 Hz
Response time 6 ms 2.8 ms
Contrast ∞ Infinity ∞ Infinity
Peak brightness test (auto)
Galaxy S21 FE 5G
786 nits
Galaxy S20 FE 5G +4%
818 nits
Sources: NotebookCheck [3], [4]

Design and build

Height 155.7 mm (6.13 inches) 159.8 mm (6.29 inches)
Width 74.5 mm (2.93 inches) 74.5 mm (2.93 inches)
Thickness 7.9 mm (0.31 inches) 8.4 mm (0.33 inches)
Weight 177 g (6.24 oz) 190 g (6.7 oz)
Waterproof IP68 IP68
Rear material Plastic Plastic
Frame material Metal Metal
Colors White, Gray, Green, Purple White, Blue, Green, Red, Orange, Purple
Fingerprint scanner Yes, in-display Yes, in-display
Screen-to-body ratio

Performance

Chipset specifications of Samsung Galaxy S21 FE 5G and Samsung Galaxy S20 FE 5G
SoC
Chipset Qualcomm Snapdragon 888 Qualcomm Snapdragon 865 5G
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: Kryo 585 Silver (Cortex-A55)
- 3 cores at 2.42 GHz: Kryo 585 Gold (Cortex-A77)
- 1 core at 2.84 GHz: Kryo 585 Prime (Cortex-A77)
L3 cache 4 MB 4 MB
Manufacturing Samsung TSMC
Lithography process 5 nanometers 7 nanometers
Neural processor (NPU) Hexagon 780 Hexagon 698
GPU
Graphics Adreno 660 Adreno 650
GPU shading units 768 768
GPU clock 840 MHz 587 MHz
FLOPS ~1290.2 GFLOPS ~901.6 GFLOPS

Benchmarks

Benchmark comparison of Samsung Galaxy S21 FE 5G and Samsung Galaxy S20 FE 5G
Geekbench 6 (Single-Core)
Geekbench 6 (Multi-Core)
Compute Score (GPU)
Compute Score (GPU) 4514 2923
Single-core score 1481 1180
Multi-core score 3173 3300
Sources: Geekbench [3], [4]
AnTuTu Benchmark 11
Galaxy S21 FE 5G +16%
1138928
Galaxy S20 FE 5G
982474
CPU 415282 391258
GPU 207688 171698
Memory 174461 167605
UX 341497 251913
Total score 1138928 982474
Samples [17 tests] [27 tests]
3DMark Steel Nomad Light
Stability 71% -
Graphics test 3 FPS -
Graphics score 390 -
3DMark Wild Life Extreme
Stability 68% 90%
Graphics test 9 FPS 6 FPS
Graphics score 1666 1114
Sources: 3DMark [5], [6]
PCMark 3.0
Web score 13606 10914
Video editing 7043 7129
Photo editing 28743 31102
Data manipulation 10563 9568
Writing score 14216 12727
Submit your benchmark results

Recent User Tests

The latest benchmark tests that have been submitted by users
Samsung Galaxy S21 FE 5G
DateBenchmarkResult
📘 2026-08-08 -> AlicanTuTuAnTuTu 111198886
📘 2026-07-21 (Psycho0Dream)AnTuTu 111157836
📘 2026-07-06 (Puzatik)AnTuTu 111118460
📘 2026-05-10 -> AlicanTuTuAnTuTu 111197004
📘 2026-05-10 (Alican TuTu)AnTuTu 111197004
Add View all (36)
Samsung Galaxy S20 FE 5G
DateBenchmarkResult
📘 2026-08-31 (GameFabuloso16)AnTuTu 111010010
📘 2026-08-09 (May)AnTuTu 11745543
📘 2026-07-13 (pooh)AnTuTu 111010016
📘 2026-07-12 (Jao)AnTuTu 111010390
📘 2026-07-10 (pooh)AnTuTu 11903117
Add View all (44)

Memory

RAM
RAM size 6 GB 6 GB
Memory type LPDDR5 LPDDR5
Memory clock 3200 MHz 2750 MHz
Channels 4 2
Storage
Storage size 128 GB 128 GB
Storage type UFS 3.1 UFS 3.1
Memory card No MicroSD
Memory card max size - Up to 1024 GB

Software

Operating system Android 12 (Can be upgraded to Android 16) Android 10 (Can be upgraded to Android 13)
ROM One UI 8.0 One UI 5.0
OS size 17.5 GB 25.6 GB
OS updates 4 years 2 years
Security updates 5 years 4 years

Battery

Capacity 4500 mAh 4500 mAh
Max charge power 25 W 25 W
Battery type Li-Ion Li-Ion
Replaceable No No
Wireless charging Yes (15 W) Yes (15 W)
Reverse charging Yes, (wireless) Yes, (wireless)
Bypass charging No -
Fast charging Yes (51% in 30 min) Yes (37% in 30 min)
Full charging time 1:15 hr 1:35 hr
Battery life tests
Web browsing 06:11 hr 08:09 hr
Watching video 11:05 hr 13:42 hr
Gaming 04:48 hr 05:01 hr
Standby 100 hr 114 hr
General battery life
Galaxy S21 FE 5G
18:37 hr
Galaxy S20 FE 5G +20%
22:18 hr
Add your battery life

Main camera

Matrix 12 megapixels 12 megapixels
Image resolution 4032 x 3024 4032 x 3024
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 60FPS
Slow motion 960 FPS (720p) 960 FPS (720p)
Angle of widest lens 123° 123°
Lenses 1) Standard: 12 MP
2) Telephoto: 8 MP
3) Ultrawide: 12 MP
1) Standard: 12 MP
2) Telephoto: 8 MP
3) Ultrawide: 12 MP
Camera features - Bokeh mode
- Pro mode		 - Bokeh mode
- Pro mode
- RAW support
Standard lens
Image resolution 12 MP 12 MP
Aperture f/1.8 f/1.8
Focal length 26 mm 26 mm
Sensor Sony IMX555 Sony IMX555
Sensor size 1/1.76" (≈ 0.57 inch) 1/1.76" (≈ 0.57 inch)
Pixel size 1.8 micron 1.8 micron
Autofocus Phase autofocus (Dual Pixel) Phase autofocus (Dual Pixel)
Stabilization Optical Optical
Telephoto lens
Image resolution 8 MP 8 MP
Aperture f/2.4 f/2.4
Focal length 76 mm 76 mm
Sensor Hynix Hi847 Hynix HI-847
Sensor size 1/4.5" (≈ 0.22 inch) 1/4.5" (≈ 0.22 inch)
Pixel size 1 micron 1 micron
Stabilization Optical Optical
Ultra-wide lens
Image resolution 12 MP 12 MP
Aperture f/2.2 f/2.2
Focal length 13 mm 13 mm
Sensor Sony IMX258 -
Sensor size 1/3.0" (≈ 0.33 inch) 1/3.0" (≈ 0.33 inch)
Pixel size 1.12 micron 1.12 micron
Stabilization Digital Digital

DxOMark main camera tests

Photo quality
Video quality
Generic main camera score
Samples Photo samples of Samsung Galaxy S21 FE 5G from DxOMark -

Selfie camera

Megapixels 32 megapixels 32 megapixels
Image resolution 6464 x 4864 6528 x 4896
Aperture f/2.2 f/2.0
Focal length 26 mm 26 mm
Sensor Sony IMX616 CMOS
Sensor size 1/2.74" (≈ 0.36 inch) 1/2.74" (≈ 0.36 inch)
Pixel size 0.8 micron 0.8 micron
Autofocus No Phase autofocus
Stabilization Digital Digital
Video resolution 2160p (4K) at 60 FPS 2160p (4K) at 60 FPS
Depth sensor (TOF 3D) No No

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 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 3.2
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
Network
Number of SIM* 2 2
Type of SIM card Nano Nano
Multi SIM mode Standby Standby
eSIM support* No No
Hybrid slot No Yes
LTE Cat* 19 20
5G support Yes Yes

Sound

Speakers Stereo Stereo
Headphone audio jack No No
FM radio No No
Dolby Atmos Yes Yes
Speakers test
Max loudness
Galaxy S21 FE 5G
88.9 dB
Galaxy S20 FE 5G +1%
90.1 dB

Other

Category Flagship Flagship
Announced January 2022 September 2020
Release date January 2022 October 2020
Launch price (MSRP) $790 $700
Successor - Samsung Galaxy S25 FE - Samsung Galaxy S25 FE
SAR (head) 0.95 W/kg 0.5 W/kg
SAR (body) 1.48 W/kg 1.35 W/kg
Sensors - Hall-effect sensor
- Barometer
- Proximity sensor
- Gyroscope
- Accelerometer
- Ambient light sensor
- Compass
- Fingerprint		 - Hall-effect sensor
- Gyroscope
- Accelerometer
- Ambient light sensor
- Compass
- Fingerprint
Bundled charger Not included Yes, 15 W
*Disclaimer! NFC, GSM network support, and some other specs can be different depending on the country.

Conclusion

If the battery life is more important to you, then choose the Samsung Galaxy S20 FE 5G. But if the performance and software are more of a priority – go for the Samsung Galaxy S21 FE 5G.

Cast your vote

So, which phone would you choose?
827 (30.4%)
1891 (69.6%)
Total votes: 2718

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User opinions

You can share your opinion or ask a question in the comments below
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Avatar
Heinz Müller September 7, 2023 at 02:00 PM
I'd maybe consider the S21 for the software updates + performance - however, the lower battery life and no SD card slot ruin it for me. I've already lost the audio jack, I don't want to lose another feature because it was deemed unnecessary by Apple execs and everyone follows suit for some reason. Having expandable storage is convenient and so much cheaper than upgrading.
+5 Reply
Avatar
Fernando April 17, 2023 at 01:39 PM
Well judging that 888 has thermal issues by now 865 & 870 are the most stable and efficient SoCs against the SD 8 Gen 1 & 2. So if you are looking for stability go for the S20 FE.
+34 Reply
Avatar
Sandesh March 1, 2023 at 08:13 AM
Buying S20 FE in 2023 is worth it or not? I want a good camera, display, and good battery life too. For how long will I get software updates if I buy it now?
+133 Reply
Avatar
A Roy March 19, 2023 at 10:09 AM
No never coz, because Android 13 is the last software update. Choose S21 FE.
+61 Reply
Avatar
J j l March 10, 2024 at 02:14 PM
A Roy, Having just replaced my S20 with an S21, I can confidently assert that the S20 is a superior phone.
+5 Reply
Avatar
Anonymous February 13, 2023 at 04:45 PM
If the S21 FE was a true FE phone, it had remained the SD card and the snapdragon processor, and also had to contain a charger in the box (not to mention the S21 FE doesn't last long as the S20 FE/FE 5G). Samsung basically forces users to get the S21 FE for better software support and 'better' specs. However, you shouldn't fall into that trap. If you don't care about software and just want a longer battery and expandable storage, go with the S20 FE/FE 5G. If you don't mind about the minuses and want longer software support, go with the S21 FE, but you should consider what is better for you before deciding which one to get.
+19 Reply
Avatar
M.D April 17, 2022 at 09:30 AM
In my country, the price of s21 fe is almost equal to S20 FE 5G, but s21 fe is offered with exynos processor. what is your opinion? Which one do you suggest buying?
+165 Reply
Avatar
Dude April 25, 2022 at 09:55 AM
Depends on your needs. if you want better specs & fewer bezels, go for S21 FE If you want 20% longer battery life & expandable Micro SD card (memory) go for S20 FE I had S10 Plus, but I upgraded to S20 FE for nearly $500 back in January, at that time the S21 FE was $700 But, if they had the same price. S21 FE can match S20 FE in value (better specs but less battery & no SD card)
+53 Reply
Avatar
Dawn September 4, 2022 at 11:54 PM
Late reply but Exynos 2100 and 2200 aren't trash like Exynos 990 was when it comes to performance and battery drain. The 2100 can go toe to toe with the Snapdragon 888 while the 2200 loses to Snap 8 gen 1. You win some you lose some. All in all both phones are great if you want a boring slab of glass and plastic.
+22 Reply
Avatar
Remis September 23, 2022 at 10:01 AM
In india now you can get S21 FE for as low as $375.
+8 Reply
Avatar
Eileen February 14, 2023 at 12:42 AM
Hello, In the USA, I've been trying to buy Samsung Galaxy S20 FE 5G which by now 2023 is already 3 yrs old, yet its price lowered to $599.99 at Samsung, Best Buy, Target, and Walmart. Ask yourself * if an S Series that's 3 yrs old is still so expensive, why? Has all the specs you really need... camera isn't a priority at least to me, I just need a good phone & to me, this would be excellent that is going to last me another couple of years. My truest recommendation would be the Galaxy S20 FE 5G note idk if you'll get 5G in your county. Good lucky friend.
+10 Reply
Avatar
Aryash Sengar January 17, 2022 at 05:37 AM
As of the current scenario in India S20 FE 5G is a better option to have hands-on and it also provides better value for money but S21 FE 5G holds its position, the specs it is equipped with and if is available below 50k ₹ it would be the better one.
+95 Reply
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