Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra vs Asus ROG Phone 5 Ultimate
Here we compared two flagship smartphones: the 6.8-inch Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra (with Exynos 2100) that was released on January 14, 2021, against the Asus ROG Phone 5 Ultimate, which is powered by Qualcomm Snapdragon 888 and came out 2 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 Ultra
- Waterproof body (IP68 classification)
- The rear camera has a 10x optical zoom
- 30% higher pixel density (515 vs 395 PPI)
- Supports wireless charging up to 15W
- Optical image stabilization
- More recent OS version: Android 13 versus 11
- Slow-motion recording at 960FPS
- Thinner bezels – 7.8% more screen real estate
- The front-facing camera can record video at 4K
- Ready for eSIM technology
Reasons to consider the Asus ROG Phone 5 Ultimate
- Comes with 1000 mAh larger battery capacity: 6000 vs 5000 mAh
- Higher display refresh rate – 144 Hz
- 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
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Tests and specifications
Comparison table of technical specifications and testsDisplay
| Type | Dynamic AMOLED | AMOLED |
| Size | 6.8 inches | 6.78 inches |
| Resolution | 1440 x 3200 pixels | 1080 x 2448 pixels |
| Aspect ratio | 20:9 | 20:9 |
| PPI | 515 ppi | 395 ppi |
| Refresh rate | 120 Hz | 144 Hz |
| Adaptive refresh rate | Yes | No |
| Max rated brightness | 1500 nits | 800 nits |
| Max rated brightness in HDR | - | 1200 nits |
| HDR support | Yes, HDR10+ | Yes, HDR10+ |
| Screen protection | Gorilla Glass Victus | Gorilla Glass Victus |
| Screen-to-body ratio | 89.8% | 82% |
| Display features | - DCI-P3 - Always-On Display |
- DCI-P3 - Always-On Display - DC Dimming |
Peak brightness test (auto)
Design and build
| Height | 165.1 mm (6.5 inches) | 173 mm (6.81 inches) |
| Width | 75.6 mm (2.98 inches) | 77.3 mm (3.04 inches) |
| Thickness | 8.9 mm (0.35 inches) | 9.9 mm (0.39 inches) |
| Weight | 227 g (8.01 oz) | 239 g (8.43 oz) |
| Waterproof | IP68 | No |
| Advanced cooling | - | Vapor chamber |
| Rear material | Glass | Glass |
| Frame material | Metal | Metal |
| Colors | Black, Silver, Gray, Blue | White |
| Fingerprint scanner | Yes, in-display | Yes, in-display |
Screen-to-body ratio
Performance
| Chipset | Samsung Exynos 2100 | Qualcomm Snapdragon 888 |
| Max clock | 2840 MHz | 2840 MHz |
| CPU cores | 8 (1 + 3 + 4) | 8 (1 + 3 + 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 1.8 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) |
| L3 cache | - | 4 MB |
| Lithography process | 5 nanometers | 5 nanometers |
| Graphics | Mali-G78 MP14 | Adreno 660 |
| GPU clock | 760 MHz | 840 MHz |
| FLOPS | - | ~1720 GFLOPS |
Benchmarks
Geekbench 5 (Single-Core)
Geekbench 5 (Multi-Core)
AnTuTu Benchmark 9
| CPU | 191240 | 206712 |
| GPU | 256481 | 312734 |
| Memory | 151369 | 136404 |
| UX | 149052 | 151552 |
| Total score | 751805 | 814237 |
3DMark Wild Life Performance
| Max surface temperature | 40.8 °C | - |
| Stability | 69% | - |
| Graphics test | 31 FPS | - |
| Graphics score | 5221 | - |
AnTuTu Benchmark Results (145th and 115th place)
Memory
| RAM size | 12, 16 GB | 18 GB |
| Memory type | LPDDR5 | LPDDR5 |
| Memory clock | 2750 MHz | 3200 MHz |
| Channels | 2 | 2 |
| Storage size | 128, 256, 512 GB | 512 GB |
| Storage type | UFS 3.1 | UFS 3.1 |
| Memory card | No | No |
Software
| Operating system | Android 11 (Can be upgraded to Android 13) | Android 11 |
| ROM | One UI 5.0 | ROG UI |
| OS size | 26.4 GB | - |
Battery
| Capacity | 5000 mAh | 6000 mAh |
| Charge power | 25 W | 65 W |
| Battery type | Li-Ion | Li-Po |
| Replaceable | No | No |
| Wireless charging | Yes (15 W) | No |
| Reverse charging | Yes, (wireless) | Yes |
| Fast charging | Yes (54% in 30 min) | Yes, Quick Charge 5 (70% in 30 min) |
| Full charging time | 1:11 hr | 1:07 hr |
| Web browsing | 10:13 hr | - |
| Watching video | 15:32 hr | - |
| Gaming | 05:26 hr | - |
| Standby | 98 hr | - |
General battery life
Camera
| Matrix | 108 megapixels | 64 megapixels |
| Image resolution | 12000 x 9000 | 9000 x 7000 |
| Zoom | Optical, 10x | Digital |
| Flash | Dual LED | Dual LED |
| Stabilization | Optical | Digital |
| 8K video recording | Up to 24FPS | Up to 30FPS |
| 4K video recording | Up to 60FPS | Up to 60FPS |
| 1080p video recording | Up to 60FPS | Up to 60FPS |
| Slow motion | 960 FPS (720p) | 480 FPS (720p) |
| Angle of widest lens | 120° | 125° |
| Lenses | 4 (108 MP + 10 MP + 10 MP + 12 MP) | 3 (64 MP + 13 MP + 5 MP) |
| Wide (main) lens | - 108 MP - Aperture: f/1.8 - Focal length: 26 mm - Pixel size: 0.8 micron - Sensor: 1/1.33", Samsung S5KHM3 (ISOCELL Plus CMOS) - Laser autofocus - Optical stabilization |
- 64 MP - Aperture: f/1.8 - Focal length: 26 mm - Pixel size: 0.8 micron - Sensor: 1/1.7", Sony IMX686 (CMOS) - Phase autofocus |
| Telephoto lens | - 10 MP - Aperture: f/4.9 - Focal length: 240 mm - Pixel size: 1.22 micron - Sensor: 1/2.65", Samsung S5K3J1 (ISOCELL 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) |
- 13 MP - Aperture: f/2.4 - Focal length: 11 mm - Pixel size: 0.8 micron - Sensor: 1/2.9" (CMOS) |
| Macro lens | - | - 5 MP - Aperture: f/2.0 - Pixel size: 1.12 micron - Sensor: 1/4" (CMOS) |
| Camera features | - Bokeh mode - Pro mode - RAW support |
- Bokeh mode - Pro mode |
| Samples | Photo samples of Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra from DxOMark | - |
| Megapixels | 40 megapixels | 24 megapixels |
| Image resolution | 7864 x 5200 | 6000 x 4000 |
| Aperture | f/2.2 | f/2.5 |
| Focal length | 26 mm | 35 mm |
| Pixel size | 0.7 microns | - |
| Sensor type | ISOCELL CMOS | CMOS |
| Sensor size | 1/2.65" | - |
| Video resolution | 2160p (4K) at 60 FPS | 1080p (Full HD) at 30 FPS |
DxOMark camera tests
Photo quality
Video quality
Generic camera score
Connectivity
| Wi-Fi standard | Wi-Fi 6E (802.11 a/b/g/n/ac/ax) | Wi-Fi 6E (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 | 5.2 | 5.2 |
| Bluetooth features | LE, A2DP | LE, 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, QZSS, NAVIC |
| 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 | No |
| LTE Cat* | 24 | 20 |
| 5G support | Yes | Yes |
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 | March 2021 |
| Release date | February 2021 | May 2021 |
| SAR (head) | 0.71 W/kg | - |
| SAR (body) | 1.58 W/kg | - |
| Sensors | - Hall-effect sensor - Barometer - Proximity sensor - Gyroscope - Accelerometer - Ambient light sensor - Compass - Fingerprint |
- Hall-effect sensor - 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
If the display, software, camera, connectivity, and design are more important to you, then choose the Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra. But if the performance and battery life are more of a priority – go for the Asus ROG Phone 5 Ultimate.
Cast your vote
Total votes: 102