Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra vs Galaxy S21
62
out of 100
VS
57
out of 100
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 Samsung Galaxy S21, which is powered by the same chip. 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
Key differences
Reasons to consider the Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra
- The rear camera has a 10x optical zoom
- Has a 0.6 inch larger screen size
- Comes with 1000 mAh larger battery capacity: 5000 vs 4000 mAh
- Shows 23% longer battery life (22:05 vs 17:54 hours)
- Newer Bluetooth version (v5.2)
- Delivers 20% higher peak brightness (1015 against 848 nits)
- 22% higher pixel density (515 vs 421 PPI)
Reasons to consider the Samsung Galaxy S21
- Weighs 58 grams less
Review
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
Select your primary usage scenario to get a more accurate NanoReview Score
Value for money (Beta)
Tests and specifications
Comparison table of technical specifications and testsDisplay
| Type | Dynamic AMOLED | Dynamic AMOLED |
| Size | 6.8 inches | 6.2 inches |
| Resolution | 1440 x 3200 pixels | 1080 x 2400 pixels |
| Aspect ratio | 20:9 | 20:9 |
| PPI | 515 ppi | 421 ppi |
| Refresh rate | 120 Hz | 120 Hz |
| Adaptive refresh rate | Yes (10-120 Hz) | Yes (48-120 Hz) |
| Max rated brightness | 1500 nits | 800 nits |
| HDR support | Yes, HDR10+ | Yes, HDR10+ |
| Screen protection | Gorilla Glass Victus | Gorilla Glass Victus |
| Screen-to-body ratio | 89.5% | 85.9% |
| Display features | - DCI-P3 - Always-On Display |
- DCI-P3 - Always-On Display |
| RGB color space | - | 99.5% |
| PWM | - | 240 Hz |
| Response time | - | 5 ms |
| Contrast | - | ∞ Infinity |
Screen space comparison
Galaxy S21 Ultra
6.8″ (20:9 ratio) = 17.3 in2
Galaxy S21
6.2″ (20:9 ratio) = 14.4 in2
~20% more screen space
Peak brightness test (auto)
Design and build
| Height | 165.1 mm (6.5 inches) | 151.7 mm (5.97 inches) |
| Width | 75.6 mm (2.98 inches) | 71.2 mm (2.8 inches) |
| Thickness | 8.9 mm (0.35 inches) | 7.9 mm (0.31 inches) |
| Weight | 227 g (8.01 oz) | 169 g (5.96 oz) |
| Waterproof | IP68 | IP68 |
| Rear material | Glass | Plastic |
| Frame material | Metal | Metal |
| Colors | Black, Silver, Gray, Blue | White, Gray, Pink, Purple |
| Fingerprint scanner | Yes, in-display | Yes, in-display |
Screen-to-body ratio
Performance
| Chipset | Samsung Exynos 2100 | Samsung Exynos 2100 |
| Max clock | 2900 MHz | 2900 MHz |
| CPU cores | 8 (1 + 3 + 4) | 8 (1 + 3 + 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 2.2 GHz: Cortex-A55 - 3 cores at 2.81 GHz: Cortex-A78 - 1 core at 2.91 GHz: Cortex-X1 |
| Manufacturing | Samsung | Samsung |
| Lithography process | 5 nanometers | 5 nanometers |
| Neural processor (NPU) | Yes | Yes |
| Graphics | Mali-G78 MP14 | Mali-G78 MP14 |
| GPU shading units | 448 | 448 |
| GPU clock | 854 MHz | 854 MHz |
| FLOPS | ~765.2 GFLOPS | ~765.2 GFLOPS |
Benchmarks
Geekbench 6 (Single-Core)
Geekbench 6 (Multi-Core)
Compute Score (GPU)
| Compute Score (GPU) | 6870 | 6754 |
| Single-core score | 1486 | 1484 |
| Multi-core score | 3800 | 3767 |
AnTuTu Benchmark 11
| CPU | 420330 | 418023 |
| GPU | 186151 | 191872 |
| Memory | 193925 | 170606 |
| UX | 273776 | 301277 |
| Total score | 1074182 | 1081778 |
| Samples | [11 tests] | [17 tests] |
3DMark Steel Nomad Light
| Stability | - | 72% |
| Graphics test | - | 2 FPS |
| Graphics score | - | 328 |
3DMark Wild Life Extreme
| Stability | - | 64% |
| Graphics test | - | 10 FPS |
| Graphics score | - | 1800 |
PCMark 3.0
| Web score | - | 13238 |
| Video editing | - | 7092 |
| Photo editing | - | 29658 |
| Data manipulation | - | 10433 |
| Writing score | - | 15614 |
Recent User Tests
Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra
| Date | Benchmark | Result |
|---|---|---|
| 📘 2026-07-22 (Squizzyyy) | AnTuTu 11 | 857016 |
| 📘 2026-06-02 (My name) | AnTuTu 11 | 1271841 |
| 📘 2026-06-02 (Tim) | AnTuTu 11 | 1213515 |
| 📘 2026-01-18 (Adhamious) | AnTuTu 11 | 1123155 |
| 📘 2025-12-31 (onegear) | AnTuTu 11 | 1074182 |
Samsung Galaxy S21
| Date | Benchmark | Result |
|---|---|---|
| 📘 2026-07-10 (TechNova0627) | Geekbench 6 CPU | 1446 / 3772 |
| 📘 2026-07-10 (TechNova0627) | AnTuTu 11 | 1115971 |
| 📘 2026-07-05 (Luckyy) | AnTuTu 11 | 1086158 |
| 📘 2026-06-28 (forneusgang) | AnTuTu 11 | 1087003 |
| 📘 2026-05-28 (Sulurya) | AnTuTu 11 | 1099324 |
Memory
| RAM size | 8 GB | 8 GB |
| Memory type | LPDDR5 | LPDDR5 |
| Memory clock | 2750 MHz | 2750 MHz |
| Channels | 2 | 2 |
| 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 11 (Can be upgraded to Android 15) |
| ROM | One UI 7.0 | One UI 7.0 |
| OS size | 26.4 GB | 28.1 GB |
| OS updates | 2 years | 2 years |
| Security updates | 4 years | 4 years |
Battery
| Capacity | 5000 mAh | 4000 mAh |
| Max charge power | 25 W | 25 W |
| Battery type | Li-Ion | Li-Ion |
| Replaceable | No | No |
| Wireless charging | Yes (15 W) | Yes (15 W) |
| Reverse charging | Yes, (wireless) | Yes, (wireless) |
| Bypass charging | - | No |
| Fast charging | Yes (54% in 30 min) | Yes (55% in 30 min) |
| Full charging time | 1:11 hr | 1:13 hr |
| Web browsing | 07:58 hr | 06:01 hr |
| Watching video | 13:59 hr | 11:06 hr |
| Gaming | 05:14 hr | 04:21 hr |
| Standby | 111 hr | 95 hr |
General battery life
Main camera
| Matrix | 108 megapixels | 12 megapixels |
| Image resolution | 12000 x 9000 | 4000 x 3000 |
| Zoom | Optical, 10x | Optical, 1.1x |
| Flash | Dual LED | Dual LED |
| Stabilization | Optical | Optical |
| 8K video recording | Up to 24FPS | Up to 24FPS |
| 4K video recording | Up to 60FPS | Up to 60FPS |
| 1080p video recording | Up to 60FPS | Up to 60FPS |
| Slow motion | 960 FPS (720p) | 960 FPS (720p) |
| Angle of widest lens | 120° | 120° |
| Lenses | 1) Standard: 108 MP 2) Telephoto: 10 MP 3) Telephoto: 10 MP 4) Ultrawide: 12 MP |
1) Standard: 12 MP 2) Telephoto: 64 MP 3) Ultrawide: 12 MP |
| Camera features | - Bokeh mode - Pro mode - RAW support |
- Bokeh mode - Pro mode - RAW support |
| Image resolution | 108 MP | 12 MP |
| Aperture | f/1.8 | f/1.8 |
| Focal length | 26 mm | 26 mm |
| Sensor | Samsung S5KHM3 | Sony IMX555 |
| Sensor size | 1/1.33" (≈ 0.75 inch) | 1/1.76" (≈ 0.57 inch) |
| Pixel size | 0.8 micron | 1.8 micron |
| Autofocus | Laser autofocus | Phase autofocus (Dual Pixel) |
| Stabilization | Optical | Optical |
| Image resolution | 10 MP | 64 MP |
| Aperture | f/4.9 | f/2.0 |
| Focal length | 240 mm | 28 mm |
| Sensor | Samsung S5K3J1 | Samsung Bright S5KGW2 |
| Sensor size | 1/2.65" (≈ 0.38 inch) | 1/1.72" (≈ 0.58 inch) |
| Pixel size | 1.22 micron | 0.8 micron |
| Stabilization | Optical | Optical |
| Image resolution | 12 MP | 12 MP |
| Aperture | f/2.2 | f/2.2 |
| Focal length | 13 mm | 13 mm |
| Sensor | Sony IMX563 | Sony IMX563 |
| Sensor size | 1/2.55" (≈ 0.39 inch) | 1/2.55" (≈ 0.39 inch) |
| Pixel size | 1.4 micron | 1.4 micron |
| Stabilization | Digital | Digital |
DxOMark main camera tests
Photo quality
Video quality
Generic main camera score
| Bokeh | 70 | 70 |
| Preview | 67 | 61 |
| Zoom | 106 | 114 |
| Samples | Photo samples of Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra from DxOMark | Photo samples of Samsung Galaxy S21 from DxOMark |
Selfie camera
| Megapixels | 40 megapixels | 10 megapixels |
| Image resolution | 7864 x 5200 | 3872 x 2592 |
| Aperture | f/2.2 | f/2.2 |
| Focal length | 26 mm | 26 mm |
| Sensor | Samsung S5KGH1 | Sony IMX374 |
| Sensor size | 1/2.65" (≈ 0.38 inch) | 1/3.24" (≈ 0.31 inch) |
| Pixel size | 0.7 micron | 1.22 micron |
| Autofocus | Phase autofocus | Phase autofocus (Dual Pixel) |
| 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 | - |
| Video | 140 | - |
Connectivity
| Wi-Fi standard | Wi-Fi 6E (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 | 5.2 | 5 |
| Bluetooth features | LE, A2DP | LE, A2DP |
| 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 - USB-Host 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 | Yes |
| Hybrid slot | No | No |
| LTE Cat* | 24 | 24 |
| 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 | January 2021 |
| Release date | February 2021 | February 2021 |
| Launch price (MSRP) | $1200 | $800 |
| Successor | - Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra | - Samsung Galaxy S22 |
| SAR (head) | 0.71 W/kg | 0.46 W/kg |
| SAR (body) | 1.58 W/kg | 1.51 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 Ultra is definitely a better buy.
Cast your vote
Total votes: 730
