Samsung Galaxy S21 Plus vs A53 5G
Here we compared two smartphones: the 6.7-inch Samsung Galaxy S21 Plus (with Exynos 2100) that was released on January 14, 2021, against the Samsung Galaxy A53 5G, which is powered by Exynos 1280 and came out 14 months after. 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 Plus
- Better camera quality (According to DxOMark rating)
- 74% better performance in AnTuTu Benchmark (736K versus 423K)
- Compatible with Wi-Fi 6 wireless networks
- Supports wireless charging up to 15W
- The rear camera has a 1.1x optical zoom
- Waterproof body (IP68 classification)
- Slow-motion recording at 960FPS
- Uses a faster type of memory: LPDDR5 2750 MHz
- Ready for eSIM technology
Reasons to consider the Samsung Galaxy A53 5G
- Shows 12% longer battery life (33:59 vs 30:26 hours)
- Newer Bluetooth version (v5.1)
- Expandable storage via MicroSD card up to 1024GB
- The phone is 1-year and 2-months newer
We may receive a commission from Amazon for purchases made using the links below, but this has no bearing on our assessment methodology.
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 | Super AMOLED |
| Size | 6.7 inches | 6.5 inches |
| Resolution | 1080 x 2400 pixels | 1080 x 2400 pixels |
| Aspect ratio | 20:9 | 20:9 |
| PPI | 394 ppi | 405 ppi |
| Refresh rate | 120 Hz | 120 Hz |
| Adaptive refresh rate | No | No |
| Max rated brightness | 1300 nits | 500 nits |
| Max rated brightness in HDR | - | 830 nits |
| HDR support | Yes, HDR10+ | Yes, HDR10 |
| Screen protection | Gorilla Glass Victus | Corning Gorilla Glass 5 |
| Screen-to-body ratio | 88.3% | 85.4% |
| Display features | - DCI-P3 - Always-On Display |
- DCI-P3 - Always-On Display |
| RGB color space | 98.9% | 97.6% |
| PWM | 240 Hz | 250 Hz |
| Response time | 6.2 ms | 9 ms |
| Contrast | ∞ Infinity | ∞ Infinity |
Peak brightness test (auto)
Design and build
| Height | 161.5 mm (6.36 inches) | 159.6 mm (6.28 inches) |
| Width | 75.6 mm (2.98 inches) | 74.8 mm (2.94 inches) |
| Thickness | 7.8 mm (0.31 inches) | 8.1 mm (0.32 inches) |
| Weight | 200 g (7.05 oz) | 189 g (6.67 oz) |
| Waterproof | IP68 | IP67 |
| Rear material | Glass | Plastic |
| Frame material | Metal | Plastic |
| Colors | Black, Silver, Gold, Red, Purple | White, Black, Blue, Yellow |
| Fingerprint scanner | Yes, in-display | Yes, in-display |
Screen-to-body ratio
Performance
| Chipset | Samsung Exynos 2100 | Samsung Exynos 1280 |
| Max clock | 2840 MHz | 2400 MHz |
| CPU cores | 8 (1 + 3 + 4) | 8 (2 + 6) |
| 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 |
- 6 cores at 2 GHz: Cortex-A55 - 2 cores at 2.4 GHz: Cortex-A78 |
| Lithography process | 5 nanometers | 5 nanometers |
| Graphics | Mali-G78 MP14 | Mali-G68 MP4 |
| GPU clock | 760 MHz | 1000 MHz |
| FLOPS | - | ~487 GFLOPS |
Benchmarks
Geekbench 5 (Single-Core)
Geekbench 5 (Multi-Core)
AnTuTu Benchmark 9
| CPU | 189103 | 112126 |
| GPU | 274155 | 126851 |
| Memory | 137436 | 73975 |
| UX | 131951 | 98952 |
| Total score | 736140 | 423805 |
3DMark Wild Life Performance
| Max surface temperature | 41.5 °C | 45.2 °C |
| Stability | 67% | 99% |
| Graphics test | 33 FPS | 13 FPS |
| Graphics score | 5538 | 2287 |
PCMark 3.0
| Web score | - | 9324 |
| Video editing | - | 7468 |
| Photo editing | - | 21110 |
| Data manipulation | - | 9095 |
| Writing score | - | 14991 |
Memory
| RAM size | 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 2.2 |
| Memory card | No | MicroSD |
| Memory card max size | - | Up to 1024 GB |
Software
| Operating system | Android 11 (Can be upgraded to Android 13) | Android 12 (Can be upgraded to Android 13) |
| ROM | One UI 5.0 | One UI 5.1 |
| OS size | 27.2 GB | 36 GB |
Battery
| Capacity | 4800 mAh | 5000 mAh |
| 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 (54% in 30 min) | Yes (45% in 30 min) |
| Full charging time | 1:12 hr | 1:24 hr |
| Web browsing | 09:17 hr | 10:38 hr |
| Watching video | 15:27 hr | 15:55 hr |
| Gaming | 05:07 hr | 05:01 hr |
| Standby | 101 hr | 120 hr |
General battery life
Camera
| Matrix | 12 megapixels | 64 megapixels |
| Image resolution | 4000 x 3000 | 9000 x 7000 |
| Zoom | Optical, 1.1x | Digital |
| Flash | Dual LED | LED |
| Stabilization | Optical | Optical |
| 8K video recording | Up to 24FPS | 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 (720p) |
| Angle of widest lens | 120° | 123° |
| Lenses | 3 (12 MP + 64 MP + 12 MP) | 4 (64 MP + 12 MP + 5 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: 1/1.72", Samsung S5KGW1P (ISOCELL CMOS) - Phase autofocus - 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 |
- |
| 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/2.2 - Focal length: 13 mm - Pixel size: 1.12 micron - Sensor: 1/4.0" (CMOS) |
| Macro lens | - | - 5 MP - Aperture: f/2.4 |
| Depth lens | - | - 5 MP - Aperture: f/2.4 - Pixel size: 0.8 micron - Sensor: 1/2.8", Sony IMX616 (Exmor-RS CMOS) |
| Camera features | - Bokeh mode - Pro mode - RAW support |
- Bokeh mode - Pro mode |
| Samples | Photo samples of Samsung Galaxy S21 Plus from DxOMark | Photo samples of Samsung Galaxy A53 5G from DxOMark |
| Megapixels | 10 megapixels | 32 megapixels |
| Image resolution | 3872 x 2592 | 6464 x 4864 |
| Aperture | f/2.2 | f/2.2 |
| Focal length | 26 mm | 26 mm |
| Pixel size | 1.22 microns | 0.8 microns |
| Sensor type | Exmor-RS CMOS | CMOS |
| Sensor size | 1/3.24" | 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 a/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 | 5.1 |
| Bluetooth features | LE, A2DP | 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 - USB-Host mode - OTG |
- Charging - USB-Storage mode - OTG |
| GPS | GPS, GLONASS, Beidou, Galileo | GPS, GLONASS, Beidou, Galileo |
| NFC* | Yes | Depends on the region |
| Infrared port | No | No |
| Number of SIM* | 2 | 2 |
| Type of SIM card | Nano | Nano |
| Multi SIM mode | Standby | Standby |
| eSIM support* | Yes | No |
| Hybrid slot | No | Yes |
| LTE Cat* | 24 | 18 |
| 5G support | Yes | Yes |
Sound
| Speakers | Stereo | Stereo |
| Headphone audio jack | No | No |
| FM radio | No | - |
| Dolby Atmos | Yes | Yes |
Speakers test
Max loudness
Other
| Category | Flagship | Mid-range |
| Announced | January 2021 | March 2022 |
| Release date | February 2021 | April 2022 |
| SAR (head) | 0.54 W/kg | - |
| SAR (body) | 1.33 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 |
*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 Plus is definitely a better buy.
Cast your vote
Total votes: 47