Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra vs S21 FE 5G
75
out of 100
VS
72
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 FE 5G, which is powered by Qualcomm Snapdragon 888 and came out 12 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
- The rear camera has a 10x optical zoom
- Shows 18% longer battery life (31:14 vs 26:34 hours)
- 28% higher pixel density (515 vs 401 PPI)
- Delivers 29% higher peak brightness (1025 against 793 nits)
- Newer Bluetooth version (v5.2)
- Has a 0.4 inch larger screen size
- Comes with 500 mAh larger battery capacity: 5000 vs 4500 mAh
- 25% faster in single-core GeekBench 6 test: 1462 and 1172 points
- Ready for eSIM technology
Reasons to consider the Samsung Galaxy S21 FE 5G
- 20% better performance in AnTuTu Benchmark (813K versus 676K)
- The phone is 1-year newer
- Weighs 50 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
Choose the importance of each parameter to more accurately identify the smartphone that best meets your particular needs.
Value for money
You can enter your local prices of these phones (in USD or other currency) and click on the "Calculate" button to see which one has a better value for money.
Promotion
Tests and specifications
Comparison table of technical specifications and testsDisplay
| Type | Dynamic AMOLED | Dynamic AMOLED |
| Size | 6.8 inches | 6.4 inches |
| Resolution | 1440 x 3200 pixels | 1080 x 2340 pixels |
| Aspect ratio | 20:9 | 20:9 |
| PPI | 515 ppi | 401 ppi |
| Refresh rate | 120 Hz | 120 Hz |
| Adaptive refresh rate | Yes | No |
| Max rated brightness | 1500 nits | 420 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% | 89.6% |
| Display features | - DCI-P3 - Always-On Display |
- DCI-P3 - Always-On Display |
| RGB color space | - | 97% |
| PWM | - | 247 Hz |
| Response time | - | 6 ms |
| Contrast | - | ∞ Infinity |
Peak brightness test (auto)
Design and build
| Height | 165.1 mm (6.5 inches) | 155.7 mm (6.13 inches) |
| Width | 75.6 mm (2.98 inches) | 74.5 mm (2.93 inches) |
| Thickness | 8.9 mm (0.35 inches) | 7.9 mm (0.31 inches) |
| Weight | 227 g (8.01 oz) | 177 g (6.24 oz) |
| Waterproof | IP68 | IP68 |
| Rear material | Glass | Plastic |
| Frame material | Metal | Metal |
| Colors | Black, Silver, Gray, Blue | White, Gray, Green, Purple |
| 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 2.81 GHz: Cortex-A78 - 1 core at 2.91 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 shading units | 896 | 1024 |
| GPU clock | 854 MHz | 792 MHz |
| FLOPS | ~1530.4 GFLOPS | ~1622 GFLOPS |
Benchmarks
Geekbench 6 (Single-Core)
Geekbench 6 (Multi-Core)
AnTuTu Benchmark 10
| CPU | 142297 | 247479 |
| GPU | 240988 | 279733 |
| Memory | 151927 | 144313 |
| UX | 140705 | 134400 |
| Total score | 676754 | 813058 |
3DMark Wild Life Performance
| Max surface temperature | 40.8 °C | 39.1 °C |
| Stability | 69% | 69% |
| Graphics test | 31 FPS | 34 FPS |
| Graphics score | 5221 | 5703 |
PCMark 3.0
| Web score | - | 10889 |
| Video editing | - | 7079 |
| Photo editing | - | 28541 |
| Data manipulation | - | 10075 |
| Writing score | - | 14461 |
Memory
| RAM size | 12, 16 GB | 6, 8 GB |
| Memory type | LPDDR5 | LPDDR5 |
| Memory clock | 2750 MHz | 2750 MHz |
| Channels | 2 | 2 |
| Storage size | 128, 256, 512 GB | 128, 256 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 12 (Can be upgraded to Android 13) |
| ROM | One UI 5.1 | One UI 5.0 |
| OS size | 26.4 GB | 17.5 GB |
Battery
| Capacity | 5000 mAh | 4500 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) |
| Fast charging | Yes (54% in 30 min) | Yes (51% in 30 min) |
| Full charging time | 1:11 hr | 1:15 hr |
| Web browsing | 10:13 hr | 07:42 hr |
| Watching video | 15:32 hr | 13:05 hr |
| Gaming | 05:26 hr | 05:29 hr |
| Standby | 98 hr | 91 hr |
General battery life
Camera
| Matrix | 108 megapixels | 12 megapixels |
| Image resolution | 12000 x 9000 | 4032 x 3024 |
| Zoom | Optical, 10x | Optical, 3x |
| Flash | Dual LED | 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) | 960 FPS (720p) |
| Angle of widest lens | 120° | 123° |
| Lenses | 4 (108 MP + 10 MP + 10 MP + 12 MP) | 3 (12 MP + 8 MP + 12 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 |
- 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 |
| 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 |
- 8 MP - Aperture: f/2.4 - Focal length: 76 mm - Pixel size: 1 micron - Sensor: 1/4.5", Hynix Hi847 (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) |
- 12 MP - Aperture: f/2.2 - Focal length: 13 mm - Pixel size: 1.12 micron - Sensor: 1/3.0", Sony IMX258 (Exmor-RS CMOS) |
| Camera features | - Bokeh mode - Pro mode - RAW support |
- Bokeh mode - Pro mode - RAW support |
| Samples | Photo samples of Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra from DxOMark | Photo samples of Samsung Galaxy S21 FE 5G from DxOMark |
| Megapixels | 40 megapixels | 32 megapixels |
| Image resolution | 7864 x 5200 | 6464 x 4864 |
| Aperture | f/2.2 | f/2.2 |
| Focal length | 26 mm | 26 mm |
| Pixel size | 0.7 microns | 0.8 microns |
| Sensor type | ISOCELL CMOS | Exmor-RS CMOS |
| Sensor size | 1/2.65" | 1/2.74" |
| 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 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 |
| 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 |
| 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 | 19 |
| 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 2022 |
| Release date | February 2021 | January 2022 |
| SAR (head) | 0.71 W/kg | 0.95 W/kg |
| SAR (body) | 1.58 W/kg | 1.48 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 |
| Bundled charger | - | Not included |
*Disclaimer! NFC, GSM network support, and some other specs can be different depending on the country.
Conclusion
If the display, camera, battery life, connectivity, and design are more important to you, then choose the Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra. But if the gaming is more of a priority – go for the Samsung Galaxy S21 FE 5G.
Cast your vote
Total votes: 733