Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra vs Google Pixel 7 Pro

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 Google Pixel 7 Pro, which is powered by Google Tensor G2 and came out 1 year and 9 months after. 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

Key differences

An overview of the main advantages of each smartphone
Reasons to consider the Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra
  • The rear camera has a 10x optical zoom
  • Shows 20% longer battery life (22:05 vs 18:28 hours)
  • Slow-motion recording at 960FPS
  • Has 2 SIM card slots
  • Supports Dolby Atmos sound technology
Reasons to consider the Google Pixel 7 Pro
  • Better camera quality (According to DxOMark rating)
  • More recent OS version: Android 17 versus 15
  • The phone is 1 year and 9 months newer

Review

Evaluation of Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra and Google Pixel 7 Pro 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
NanoReview Score
Final comparison evaluation
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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
8 / 128 GB
VS
8 / 128 GB
32.0
(Mediocre)
Value Index
30.5
(Mediocre)

Tests and specifications

Comparison table of technical specifications and tests

Display

Type Dynamic AMOLED AMOLED
Size 6.8 inches 6.7 inches
Resolution 1440 x 3200 pixels 1440 x 3120 pixels
Aspect ratio 20:9 19.5:9
PPI 516 ppi 513 ppi
Refresh rate 120 Hz 120 Hz
Adaptive refresh rate Yes (10-120 Hz) Yes (10-120 Hz)
Max rated brightness 1500 nits 550 nits
Max rated brightness in HDR - 1500 nits
HDR support Yes, HDR10+ Yes, HDR10+
Screen protection Gorilla Glass Victus Gorilla Glass Victus
Screen-to-body ratio 89.5% 88.3%
Display features - DCI-P3
- Always-On Display
- DCI-P3
- Always-On Display
Display tests
RGB color space - 97%
PWM - 240 Hz
Response time - 4 ms
Contrast - ∞ Infinity
Peak brightness test (auto)
1019 nits
1085 nits
Sources: NotebookCheck [3], [4]

Design and build

Height 165.1 mm (6.5 inches) 162.9 mm (6.41 inches)
Width 75.6 mm (2.98 inches) 76.6 mm (3.02 inches)
Thickness 8.9 mm (0.35 inches) 8.9 mm (0.35 inches)
Weight 227 g (8.01 oz) 212 g (7.48 oz)
Waterproof IP68 IP68
Rear material Glass Glass
Frame material Metal Metal
Colors Black, Silver, Gray, Blue White, Black, Gray
Fingerprint scanner Yes, in-display Yes, in-display
Screen-to-body ratio
89.5%
88.3%

Performance

Chipset specifications of Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra and Google Pixel 7 Pro
SoC
Chipset Samsung Exynos 2100 Google Tensor G2
Max clock 2900 MHz 2850 MHz
CPU cores 8 (1 + 3 + 4) 8 (2 + 2 + 4)
Architecture - 4 cores at 2.2 GHz: Cortex-A55
- 3 cores at 2.81 GHz: Cortex-A78
- 1 core at 2.91 GHz: Cortex-X1
- 4 cores at 1.8 GHz: Cortex-A55
- 2 cores at 2.35 GHz: Cortex-A78
- 2 cores at 2.85 GHz: Cortex-X1
L3 cache - 4 MB
Manufacturing Samsung Samsung
Lithography process 5 nanometers 5 nanometers
Neural processor (NPU) Yes Next-gen Tensor Processing Unit
GPU
Graphics Mali-G78 MP14 Mali-G710 MC10
GPU shading units 448 448
GPU clock 854 MHz 848 MHz
FLOPS ~765.2 GFLOPS ~759.8 GFLOPS

Benchmarks

Benchmark comparison of Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra and Google Pixel 7 Pro
Geekbench 6 (Single-Core)
Geekbench 6 (Multi-Core)
Compute Score (GPU)
6870
Compute Score (GPU) 6870 5079
Single-core score 1486 1462
Multi-core score 3800 3866
Sources: Geekbench [3], [4]
AnTuTu Benchmark 11
1122581
CPU 420330 381695
GPU 186151 267518
Memory 193925 156286
UX 273776 317082
Total score 1074182 1122581
Samples [11 tests] [14 tests]
3DMark Steel Nomad Light
Stability - 74%
Graphics test - 5 FPS
Graphics score - 702
3DMark Wild Life Extreme
Stability - 77%
Graphics test - 10 FPS
Graphics score - 1821
Sources: 3DMark [5], [6]
PCMark 3.0
Web score - 9424
Video editing - 6870
Photo editing - 19507
Data manipulation - 12051
Writing score - 15852

Recent User Tests

The latest benchmark tests that have been submitted by users
Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra
DateBenchmarkResult
📘 2026-10-21 (OptiMMXXVI)AnTuTu 121294357
📘 2026-10-06 (Nurik)AnTuTu 12900228
📘 2026-09-30 -> fh_hxx19AnTuTu 121191592
📘 2026-09-30 -> fh_hxx19AnTuTu 121191592
📘 2026-07-22 (Squizzyyy)AnTuTu 11857016
Google Pixel 7 Pro
DateBenchmarkResult
📘 2026-10-27 (Artem buran)AnTuTu 121515782
📘 2026-10-22 (Suke.)Geekbench 7 CPU1298 / 3764
📘 2026-10-21 (Suke.)AnTuTu 121376107
📘 2026-09-09 -> Kimash333AnTuTu 111253847
📘 2026-09-08 (Kimash333)AnTuTu 111253847

Memory

RAM
RAM size 8 GB 8 GB
Memory type LPDDR5 LPDDR5
Memory clock 2750 MHz 3200 MHz
Channels 2 4
Storage
Storage size 128 GB 128 GB
Storage type UFS 3.1 UFS 3.1
Memory card No No

Software

Operating system Android 11 (Can be upgraded to Android 15) Android 13 (Can be upgraded to Android 17)
ROM One UI 7.0 Stock Android
OS size 26.4 GB 14 GB
OS updates 2 years 5 years
Security updates 4 years 5 years

Battery

Capacity 5000 mAh 5000 mAh
Max charge power 25 W 23 W
Battery type Li-Ion Li-Po
Replaceable No No
Wireless charging Yes (15 W) Yes (23 W)
Reverse charging Yes, (wireless) Yes, (wireless)
Bypass charging - No
Fast charging Yes (54% in 30 min) Yes (46% in 30 min)
Full charging time 1:11 hr 1:49 hr
Battery life tests
Web browsing 07:58 hr 07:06 hr
Watching video 13:59 hr 12:49 hr
Gaming 05:14 hr 04:48 hr
Standby 111 hr 83 hr
General battery life
22:05 hr
18:28 hr

Main camera

Matrix 108 megapixels 50 megapixels
Image resolution 12000 x 9000 8192 x 6144
Zoom Optical, 10x Optical, 5x
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° 126°
Lenses 1) Standard: 108 MP
2) Telephoto: 10 MP
3) Telephoto: 10 MP
4) Ultrawide: 12 MP
1) Standard: 50 MP
2) Telephoto: 48 MP
3) Ultrawide: 12 MP
Camera features - Bokeh mode
- Pro mode
- RAW support
- Bokeh mode
- Pro mode
- RAW support
Standard lens
Image resolution 108 MP 50 MP
Aperture f/1.8 f/1.9
Focal length 26 mm 25 mm
Sensor Samsung S5KHM3 Samsung GN1
Sensor size 1/1.33" (≈ 0.75 inch) 1/1.31" (≈ 0.76 inch)
Pixel size 0.8 micron 1.2 micron
Autofocus Laser autofocus Laser autofocus
Stabilization Optical Optical
Telephoto lens
Image resolution 10 MP 48 MP
Aperture f/4.9 f/3.5
Focal length 240 mm 120 mm
Sensor Samsung S5K3J1 Samsung S5KGM1
Sensor size 1/2.65" (≈ 0.38 inch) 1/2.55" (≈ 0.39 inch)
Pixel size 1.22 micron 0.8 micron
Stabilization Optical Optical
Ultra-wide lens
Image resolution 12 MP 12 MP
Aperture f/2.2 f/2.2
Focal length 13 mm -
Sensor Sony IMX563 Sony IMX381
Sensor size 1/2.55" (≈ 0.39 inch) 1/2.9" (≈ 0.34 inch)
Pixel size 1.4 micron 1.25 micron
Stabilization Digital Digital

DxOMark main camera tests

Photo quality
Video quality
Generic main camera score
Bokeh 70 70
Preview 67 74
Zoom 106 143
Samples Photo samples of Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra from DxOMark Photo samples of Google Pixel 7 Pro from DxOMark

Selfie camera

Megapixels 40 megapixels 10.8 megapixels
Image resolution 7864 x 5200 3648 x 2736
Aperture f/2.2 f/2.2
Focal length 26 mm 21 mm
Sensor Samsung S5KGH1 Samsung S5K3J1
Sensor size 1/2.65" (≈ 0.38 inch) 1/3.1" (≈ 0.32 inch)
Pixel size 0.7 micron 1.22 micron
Autofocus Phase autofocus No
Stabilization Digital Digital
Video resolution 2160p (4K) at 60 FPS 2160p (4K) at 60 FPS
Depth sensor (TOF 3D) No No
DxOMark front camera
Photo 133 140
Video 140 146

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
USB type USB Type-C USB Type-C
USB version 3.2 3.2
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, NAVIC
NFC* Yes Yes
Infrared port No No
Network
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 20
5G support Yes Yes

Sound

Speakers Stereo Stereo
Headphone audio jack No No
FM radio No No
Dolby Atmos Yes No
Speakers test
Max loudness

Other

Category Flagship Flagship
Announced January 2021 October 2022
Release date February 2021 October 2022
Launch price (MSRP) $1200 $899
Successor - Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra - Google Pixel 10 Pro
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
- Barometer
- Proximity sensor
- Gyroscope
- Accelerometer
- Ambient light sensor
- Compass
- Fingerprint
Bundled charger - Not included
*Disclaimer! NFC, GSM network support, and some other specs can be different depending on the country.

Conclusion

If the camera and gaming are more important to you, then choose the Google Pixel 7 Pro. But if the battery life and sound are more of a priority – go for the Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra.

Cast your vote

So, which phone would you choose?
193 (50.4%)
190 (49.6%)
Total votes: 383

User opinions

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