Samsung Galaxy S21 Plus vs S10 Plus
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 Samsung Galaxy S10 Plus, which is powered by Exynos 9 Octa 9820 and came out 23 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 Plus
- Higher display refresh rate – 120 Hz
- Shows 28% longer battery life (30:26 vs 23:44 hours)
- Comes with 700 mAh larger battery capacity: 4800 vs 4100 mAh
- 46% better performance in AnTuTu Benchmark (736K versus 505K)
- Better camera quality (According to DxOMark rating)
- Has a 0.3 inch larger screen size
- Uses a faster type of memory: LPDDR5 2750 MHz
- Delivers 12% higher peak brightness (890 against 794 nits)
- More recent OS version: Android 13 versus 12
- The phone is 1-year and 11-months newer
- Ready for eSIM technology
Reasons to consider the Samsung Galaxy S10 Plus
- The rear camera has a 2x optical zoom
- 32% higher pixel density (522 vs 394 PPI)
- Expandable storage via MicroSD card up to 512GB
- Weighs 25 grams less
- Includes a 3.5 mm headphone audio jack port
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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 | Super AMOLED |
| Size | 6.7 inches | 6.4 inches |
| Resolution | 1080 x 2400 pixels | 1440 x 3040 pixels |
| Aspect ratio | 20:9 | 19:9 |
| PPI | 394 ppi | 522 ppi |
| Refresh rate | 120 Hz | 60 Hz |
| Adaptive refresh rate | No | No |
| Max rated brightness | 1300 nits | 1200 nits |
| HDR support | Yes, HDR10+ | Yes, HDR10+ |
| Screen protection | Gorilla Glass Victus | Corning Gorilla Glass 6 |
| Screen-to-body ratio | 88.3% | 87.5% |
| Display features | - DCI-P3 - Always-On Display |
- DCI-P3 - Always-On Display |
| RGB color space | 98.9% | 96.5% |
| PWM | 240 Hz | 235 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) | 157.6 mm (6.2 inches) |
| Width | 75.6 mm (2.98 inches) | 74.1 mm (2.92 inches) |
| Thickness | 7.8 mm (0.31 inches) | 7.8 mm (0.31 inches) |
| Weight | 200 g (7.05 oz) | 175 g (6.17 oz) |
| Waterproof | IP68 | IP68 |
| Advanced cooling | - | Vapor chamber |
| Rear material | Glass | Glass |
| Frame material | Metal | Metal |
| Colors | Black, Silver, Gold, Red, Purple | Black, Blue, Green, Red |
| Fingerprint scanner | Yes, in-display | Yes, in-display |
Screen-to-body ratio
Performance
| Chipset | Samsung Exynos 2100 | Samsung Exynos 9 Octa 9820 |
| Max clock | 2840 MHz | 2730 MHz |
| CPU cores | 8 (1 + 3 + 4) | 8 (2 + 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 1.9 GHz: Cortex-A55 - 2 cores at 2.3 GHz: Cortex-A75 - 2 cores at 2.7 GHz: Mongoose |
| L3 cache | - | 2 MB |
| Lithography process | 5 nanometers | 8 nanometers |
| Graphics | Mali-G78 MP14 | Mali G76 MP12 |
| GPU clock | 760 MHz | 720 MHz |
| FLOPS | - | ~652 GFLOPS |
Benchmarks
Geekbench 5 (Single-Core)
Geekbench 5 (Multi-Core)
AnTuTu Benchmark 9
| CPU | 189103 | 127140 |
| GPU | 274155 | 187567 |
| Memory | 137436 | 83750 |
| UX | 131951 | 104462 |
| Total score | 736140 | 505014 |
3DMark Wild Life Performance
| Max surface temperature | 41.5 °C | 42.5 °C |
| Stability | 67% | 82% |
| Graphics test | 33 FPS | 19 FPS |
| Graphics score | 5538 | 3223 |
PCMark 3.0
| Web score | - | 6490 |
| Video editing | - | 5808 |
| Photo editing | - | 18882 |
| Data manipulation | - | 6909 |
| Writing score | - | 9725 |
Memory
| RAM size | 8 GB | 8, 12 GB |
| Memory type | LPDDR5 | LPDDR4X |
| Memory clock | 2750 MHz | 2133 MHz |
| Channels | 2 | 2 |
| Storage size | 128, 256 GB | 128, 1024 GB |
| Storage type | UFS 3.1 | UFS 2.1 |
| Memory card | No | MicroSD |
| Memory card max size | - | Up to 512 GB |
Software
| Operating system | Android 11 (Can be upgraded to Android 13) | Android 9.0 (Can be upgraded to Android 12) |
| ROM | One UI 5.0 | One UI 4.0 |
| OS size | 27.2 GB | 46.5 GB |
Battery
| Capacity | 4800 mAh | 4100 mAh |
| Charge power | 25 W | 15 W |
| Battery type | Li-Ion | Li-Po |
| Replaceable | No | No |
| Wireless charging | Yes (15 W) | Yes, Qi/PMA (15 W) |
| Reverse charging | Yes, (wireless) | Yes, (wireless) |
| Fast charging | Yes (54% in 30 min) | Yes, Samsung Adaptive Fast Charge (50% in 30 min) |
| Full charging time | 1:12 hr | 1:40 hr |
| Web browsing | 09:17 hr | 07:07 hr |
| Watching video | 15:27 hr | 12:01 hr |
| Gaming | 05:07 hr | 03:51 hr |
| Standby | 101 hr | 80 hr |
General battery life
Camera
| Matrix | 12 megapixels | 12 megapixels |
| Image resolution | 4000 x 3000 | 4000 x 3000 |
| Zoom | Optical, 1.1x | Optical, 2x |
| 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 240FPS |
| Slow motion | 960 FPS (720p) | 960 FPS (720p) |
| Angle of widest lens | 120° | 123° |
| Lenses | 3 (12 MP + 64 MP + 12 MP) | 3 (12 MP + 12 MP + 16 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 - 2.4 - Focal length: 26 mm - Pixel size: 1.4 micron - Sensor: 1/2.55", Samsung SAK2L4 (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 |
- 12 MP - Aperture: f/2.4 - Focal length: 52 mm - Pixel size: 1 micron - Sensor: 1/3.6", Samsung S5K3M3 (ISOCELL CMOS) - Phase autofocus - 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) |
- 16 MP - Aperture: f/2.2 - Focal length: 12 mm - Pixel size: 1 micron - Phase autofocus |
| 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 Samsung Galaxy S10 Plus from DxOMark |
| Megapixels | 10 megapixels | 10 megapixels |
| Image resolution | 3872 x 2592 | 4320 x 2432 |
| Aperture | f/2.2 | f/1.9 |
| Focal length | 26 mm | 26 mm |
| Pixel size | 1.22 microns | 1.22 microns |
| Sensor type | Exmor-RS CMOS | CMOS |
| Sensor size | 1/3.24" | 1/2.65" |
| 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 |
| Bluetooth version | 5 | 5 |
| Bluetooth features | LE, A2DP | PBAP/PAB, PAN, OPP, MAP, LE, HSP, HID, HFP, DIP, AVRCP, A2DP |
| USB type | USB Type-C | USB Type-C |
| USB version | 3.2 | 3.1 |
| 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 | Yes |
| 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 | 20 |
| 5G support | Yes | No |
Sound
| Speakers | Stereo | Stereo |
| Headphone audio jack | No | Yes |
| FM radio | No | No |
| Dolby Atmos | Yes | Yes |
Speakers test
Max loudness
Other
| Category | Flagship | Flagship |
| Announced | January 2021 | February 2019 |
| Release date | February 2021 | March 2019 |
| SAR (head) | 0.54 W/kg | 0.516 W/kg |
| SAR (body) | 1.33 W/kg | 1.582 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
After analyzing all the data, we think that the Samsung Galaxy S21 Plus is definitely a better buy.
Cast your vote
Total votes: 538
