Samsung Galaxy S21 Plus vs Apple iPhone 13 Pro
Here we compared two flagship smartphones: the 6.7-inch Samsung Galaxy S21 Plus (with Exynos 2100) that was released on January 14, 2021, against the Apple iPhone 13 Pro, which is powered by Apple A15 Bionic and came out 8 months after. On this page, you will find tests, full specs, strengths, and weaknesses of each of the gadgets.
Key differences
Reasons to consider the Samsung Galaxy S21 Plus
- Comes with 1705 mAh larger battery capacity: 4800 vs 3095 mAh
- Has a 0.6 inch larger screen size
- Fingerprint scanner
- Slow-motion recording at 960FPS
- Uses a faster type of memory: LPDDR5 2750 MHz
- Has 33% more RAM: 8GB versus 6GB
- Has 2 SIM card slots
- Reverse charging feature
- CPU with a higher amount of cores (+2)
Reasons to consider the Apple iPhone 13 Pro
- The rear camera has a 3x optical zoom
- Better camera quality (According to DxOMark rating)
- Shows 21% longer battery life (36:56 vs 30:26 hours)
- Apple releases software updates and supports their phones a few years longer than Samsung
- Delivers 21% higher peak brightness (1073 against 890 nits)
- 17% higher pixel density (460 vs 394 PPI)
- 56% faster in single-core GeekBench 5 test: 1715 and 1096 points
- The phone is 8-months newer
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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 | OLED |
| Size | 6.7 inches | 6.1 inches |
| Resolution | 1080 x 2400 pixels | 1170 x 2532 pixels |
| Aspect ratio | 20:9 | 19.5:9 |
| PPI | 394 ppi | 460 ppi |
| Refresh rate | 120 Hz | 120 Hz |
| Max rated brightness | 1300 nits | 1000 nits |
| Max rated brightness in HDR | - | 1200 nits |
| HDR support | Yes, HDR10+ | Yes, Dolby Vision |
| Screen protection | Gorilla Glass Victus | Ceramic Shield |
| Screen-to-body ratio | 88.3% | 86% |
| Display features | - DCI-P3 - Always-On Display |
- DCI-P3 |
| RGB color space | 98.9% | 99.8% |
| PWM | 240 Hz | 510 Hz |
| Response time | 6.2 ms | 4.8 ms |
| Contrast | ∞ Infinity | ∞ Infinity |
Peak brightness test (auto)
Design and build
| Height | 161.5 mm (6.36 inches) | 146.7 mm (5.78 inches) |
| Width | 75.6 mm (2.98 inches) | 71.5 mm (2.81 inches) |
| Thickness | 7.8 mm (0.31 inches) | 7.65 mm (0.3 inches) |
| Weight | 200 g (7.05 oz) | 204 g (7.2 oz) |
| Waterproof | IP68 | IP68 |
| Rear material | Glass | Glass |
| Frame material | Metal | Metal |
| Colors | Black, Silver, Gold, Red, Purple | Black, Silver, Gold, Blue, Green |
| Fingerprint scanner | Yes, in-display | No |
Screen-to-body ratio
Performance
| Chipset | Samsung Exynos 2100 | Apple A15 Bionic |
| Max. clock | 2840 MHz | 3200 MHz |
| CPU cores | 8 (1 + 3 + 4) | 6 (2 + 4) |
| Architecture | - 4 cores at 2.2 GHz: Cortex-A55 - 3 cores at 2.8 GHz: Cortex-A78 - 1 core at 2.9 GHz: Cortex-X1 |
- 4 cores at 2.02 GHz: Blizzard - 2 cores at 3.24 GHz: Avalanche |
| Lithography process | 5 nanometers | 5 nanometers |
| Graphics | Mali-G78 MP14 | Apple GPU |
| GPU clock | 760 MHz | 1200 MHz |
Benchmarks
Geekbench 5 (Single-Core)
Geekbench 5 (Multi-Core)
AnTuTu Benchmark 9
| CPU | 189103 | 216602 |
| GPU | 274155 | 336667 |
| Memory | 137436 | 112950 |
| UX | 131951 | 131916 |
| Total score | 737350 | 798315 |
3DMark Wild Life Performance
| Stability | 67% | 78% |
| Graphics test | 33 FPS | 56 FPS |
| Graphics score | 5538 | 9510 |
Memory
| RAM size | 8 GB | 6 GB |
| Memory type | LPDDR5 | LPDDR4X |
| Memory clock | 2750 MHz | 2133 MHz |
| Channels | 2 | 2 |
| Storage size | 128, 256 GB | 128, 256, 512, 1024 GB |
| Storage type | UFS 3.1 | NVMe |
| Memory card | No | No |
Software
| Operating system | Android 11 (Can be upgraded to Android 13) | iOS 15 (Can be upgraded to iOS 16.2) |
| ROM | One UI 5.0 | - |
| OS size | 27.2 GB | 15.2 GB |
Battery
| Capacity | 4800 mAh | 3095 mAh |
| Charge power | 25 W | 23 W |
| Battery type | Li-Ion | Li-Ion |
| Replaceable | No | No |
| Wireless charging | Yes (15 W) | Yes (7.5 W) |
| Reverse charging | Yes, (wireless) | No |
| Fast charging | Yes (54% in 30 min) | Yes (60% in 30 min) |
| Full charging time | 1:12 hr | 1:38 hr |
| Web browsing | 09:17 hr | 13:06 hr |
| Watching video | 15:27 hr | 16:46 hr |
| Gaming | 05:07 hr | 05:51 hr |
| Standby | 101 hr | 117 hr |
General battery life
Camera
| Matrix | 12 megapixels | 12 megapixels |
| Image resolution | 4000 x 3000 | 4032 x 3024 |
| Zoom | Optical, 1.1x | Optical, 3x |
| Flash | Dual LED | Dual LED |
| Stabilization | Optical | Optical |
| 8K video recording | Up to 24FPS | No |
| 4K video recording | Up to 60FPS | Up to 60FPS |
| 1080p video recording | Up to 60FPS | Up to 60FPS |
| Slow motion | 960 FPS (720p) | 240 FPS (1080p) |
| Angle of widest lens | 120° | 120° |
| Lenses | 3 (12 MP + 64 MP + 12 MP) | 4 (12 MP + 12 MP + 12 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 |
- 12 MP - Aperture: f/1.5 - Focal length: 26 mm - Pixel size: 1.9 micron - Sensor: 1/1.66", Sony IMX703 (Exmor-RS CMOS) - Phase autofocus (Dual Pixel) - Optical stabilization |
| Telephoto lens | - 64 MP - Aperture: f/2.0 - Focal length: 28 mm - Pixel size: 0.8 micron - Sensor: 1/1.72", Samsung Bright S5KGW2 (ISOCELL Plus CMOS) - Phase autofocus (Dual Pixel) - Optical stabilization |
- 12 MP - Aperture: f/2.8 - Focal length: 77 mm - Pixel size: 1 micron - Phase autofocus (Dual Pixel) - Optical stabilization |
| Ultra-wide lens | - 12 MP - Aperture: f/2.2 - Focal length: 13 mm - Pixel size: 1.4 micron - Sensor: 1/2.55", Sony IMX563 (Exmor-RS CMOS) - Phase autofocus (Dual Pixel) |
- 12 MP - Aperture: f/1.8 - Focal length: 13 mm - Pixel size: 1 micron - Phase autofocus |
| Depth lens | - | Yes |
| Camera features | - Bokeh mode - Pro mode - RAW support |
- Bokeh mode - Pro mode - RAW support |
| Samples | Photo samples of Samsung Galaxy S21 Plus from DxOMark | Photo samples of Apple iPhone 13 Pro from DxOMark |
| Megapixels | 10 megapixels | 12 megapixels |
| Image resolution | 3872 x 2592 | 4032 x 3024 |
| Aperture | f/2.2 | f/2.2 |
| Focal length | 26 mm | 23 mm |
| Pixel size | 1.22 microns | - |
| Sensor type | Exmor-RS CMOS | Exmor-RS CMOS |
| Sensor size | 1/3.24" | 1/3.6" |
| 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 MiMO - Wi-Fi Direct - Wi-Fi Hotspot - Wi-Fi Display |
| Bluetooth version | 5 | 5 |
| Bluetooth features | LE, A2DP | LE, A2DP |
| USB type | USB Type-C | - |
| USB version | 3.2 | 2 |
| USB features | - Charging - USB-Storage mode - USB-Host mode - OTG |
- Charging - USB-Storage mode - OTG |
| GPS | GPS, GLONASS, Beidou, Galileo | GPS, GLONASS, Beidou, Galileo, QZSS |
| NFC* | Yes | Yes |
| Infrared port | No | No |
| Number of SIM* | 2 | 1 |
| Type of SIM card | Nano | Nano |
| Multi SIM mode | Standby | - |
| eSIM support* | Yes | Yes |
| Hybrid slot | No | No |
| LTE Cat* | 24 | 18 |
| 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
Other
| Category | Flagship | Flagship |
| Announced | January 2021 | September 2021 |
| Release date | February 2021 | September 2021 |
| SAR (head) | 0.54 W/kg | 0.99 W/kg |
| SAR (body) | 1.33 W/kg | 0.98 W/kg |
| Sensors | - Hall-effect sensor - Barometer - Proximity sensor - Gyroscope - Accelerometer - Ambient light sensor - Compass - Fingerprint |
- Barometer - Proximity sensor - Gyroscope - Accelerometer - Ambient light sensor - Compass - Face recognition sensor |
*Disclaimer! NFC, GSM network support, and some other specs can be different depending on the country.
Conclusion
If the display, performance, software, and camera are more important to you, then choose the Apple iPhone 13 Pro. But if the connectivity is more of a priority – go for the Samsung Galaxy S21 Plus.
Cast your vote
Total votes: 338