Samsung Galaxy S21 vs Galaxy A23
Here we compared two smartphones: the 6.2-inch Samsung Galaxy S21 (with Exynos 2100) that was released on January 14, 2021, against the Samsung Galaxy A23, which is powered by Qualcomm Snapdragon 680 and came out 14 months after. On this page, you will find tests, full specs, strengths, and weaknesses of each of the gadgets.
Key differences
Reasons to consider the Samsung Galaxy S21
- Waterproof body (IP68 classification)
- 2.9x better performance in AnTuTu Benchmark (768K versus 268K)
- Delivers 84% higher peak brightness (862 against 469 nits)
- Higher display refresh rate – 120 Hz
- Compatible with the latest Wi-Fi 6 wireless networks
- Supports wireless charging up to 15W
- The rear camera has a 1.1x optical zoom
- Slow-motion recording at 960FPS
- Ability to record video in 4K resolution
- Uses a faster type of memory: LPDDR5 2750 MHz
- Stereo speakers
- Dynamic AMOLED display (versus competitor's PLS TFT)
Reasons to consider the Samsung Galaxy A23
- Shows 42% longer battery life (36:17 vs 25:31 hours)
- Comes with 1000 mAh larger battery capacity: 5000 vs 4000 mAh
- Expandable storage via MicroSD card up to 1024GB
- Has a 0.4 inch larger screen size
- The phone is 1-year and 2-months newer
- 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 | PLS TFT |
| Size | 6.2 inches | 6.6 inches |
| Resolution | 1080 x 2400 pixels | 1080 x 2408 pixels |
| Aspect ratio | 20:9 | 20:9 |
| PPI | 421 ppi | 400 ppi |
| Refresh rate | 120 Hz | 90 Hz |
| Max rated brightness | 800 nits | 460 nits |
| HDR support | Yes, HDR10+ | No |
| Screen protection | Gorilla Glass Victus | Corning Gorilla Glass 5 |
| Screen-to-body ratio | 87.2% | 83% |
| Display features | - DCI-P3 - Always-On Display |
- |
| RGB color space | 99.5% | - |
| PWM | 240 Hz | - |
| Response time | 5 ms | - |
| Contrast | ∞ Infinity | - |
Peak brightness test (auto)
Design and build
| Height | 151.7 mm (5.97 inches) | 164.5 mm (6.48 inches) |
| Width | 71.2 mm (2.8 inches) | 76.9 mm (3.03 inches) |
| Thickness | 7.9 mm (0.31 inches) | 8.4 mm (0.33 inches) |
| Weight | 169 g (5.96 oz) | 195 g (6.88 oz) |
| Waterproof | IP68 | No |
| Rear material | Plastic | Plastic |
| Frame material | Metal | Plastic |
| Colors | White, Gray, Pink, Purple | White, Black, Blue, Yellow |
| Fingerprint scanner | Yes, in-display | Yes, in home button |
Screen-to-body ratio
Performance
| Chipset | Samsung Exynos 2100 | Qualcomm Snapdragon 680 |
| Max. clock | 2900 MHz | 2400 MHz |
| CPU cores | 8 (1 + 3 + 4) | 8 (4 + 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: Kryo 265 Silver (Cortex-A53) - 4 cores at 2.4 GHz: Kryo 265 Gold (Cortex-A73) |
| Lithography process | 5 nanometers | 6 nanometers |
| Graphics | Mali-G78 MP14 | Adreno 610 |
| GPU clock | 760 MHz | 1114 MHz |
Benchmarks
Geekbench 5 (Single-Core)
Geekbench 5 (Multi-Core)
AnTuTu Benchmark 9
| CPU | 203417 | 81885 |
| GPU | 272156 | 48510 |
| Memory | 144766 | 64789 |
| UX | 146598 | 71783 |
| Total score | 768433 | 268528 |
3DMark Wild Life Performance
| Stability | 66% | 98% |
| Graphics test | 34 FPS | 2 FPS |
| Graphics score | 5685 | 439 |
| PCMark 3.0 score | 13727 | 7180 |
Memory
| RAM size | 8 GB | 4, 6, 8 GB |
| Memory type | LPDDR5 | LPDDR4X |
| Memory clock | 2750 MHz | - |
| Channels | 2 | 2 |
| Storage size | 128, 256 GB | 32, 64, 128 GB |
| Storage type | UFS 3.1 | eMMC 5.1 |
| Memory card | No | MicroSD |
| Memory card max. size | - | Up to 1024 GB |
Software
| Operating system | Android 11 (Can be upgraded to Android 13) | Android 12 (Can be upgraded to Android 13) |
| ROM | One UI 5.0 | One UI 5.0 |
| OS size | 28.1 GB | 24 GB |
Battery
| Capacity | 4000 mAh | 5000 mAh |
| Charge power | 25 W | 25 W |
| Battery type | Li-Ion | - |
| Replaceable | No | No |
| Wireless charging | Yes (15 W) | No |
| Reverse charging | Yes, (wireless) | No |
| Fast charging | Yes (55% in 50 min) | Yes (32% in 30 min) |
| Full charging time | 1:35 hr | 1:43 hr |
| Web browsing | 07:17 hr | 13:42 hr |
| Watching video | 12:26 hr | 12:41 hr |
| Gaming | 04:20 hr | 06:33 hr |
| Standby | 92 hr | 127 hr |
General battery life
Camera
| Matrix | 12 megapixels | 50 megapixels |
| Image resolution | 4000 x 3000 | 8700 x 5800 |
| Zoom | Optical, 1.1x | Digital |
| Flash | Dual LED | LED |
| Stabilization | Optical | Optical |
| 8K video recording | Up to 24FPS | No |
| 4K video recording | Up to 60FPS | No |
| 1080p video recording | Up to 60FPS | Up to 30FPS |
| Slow motion | 960 FPS (720p) | 120 FPS (720p) |
| Angle of widest lens | 120° | - |
| Lenses | 3 (12 MP + 64 MP + 12 MP) | 4 (50 MP + 5 MP + 2 MP + 2 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 |
- 50 MP - Aperture: f/1.8 - Focal length: 26 mm - 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 |
- |
| 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) |
- 5 MP - Aperture: f/2.2 - Pixel size: 1.12 micron - Sensor: 1/5" (CMOS) |
| Macro lens | - | - 2 MP - Aperture: f/2.4 |
| Depth lens | - | - 2 MP - Aperture: f/2.4 |
| Camera features | - Bokeh mode - Pro mode - RAW support |
- Bokeh mode - Pro mode |
| Samples | Photo samples of Samsung Galaxy S21 from DxOMark | - |
| Megapixels | 10 megapixels | 8 megapixels |
| Image resolution | 3872 x 2592 | 3264 x 2448 |
| Aperture | f/2.2 | f/2.2 |
| Focal length | 26 mm | - |
| Pixel size | 1.22 microns | - |
| Sensor type | CMOS | CMOS |
| Sensor size | 1/3.24" | - |
| 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 6 (802.11 a/b/g/n/ac/ax) | Wi-Fi 5 (802.11 a/b/g/n/ac) |
| 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 - Wi-Fi Display |
| Bluetooth version | 5 | 5 |
| Bluetooth features | LE, A2DP | PBAP/PAB, PAN, OPP, MAP, HSP, HID, HFP, DIP, AVRCP, A2DP |
| USB type | USB Type-C | USB Type-C |
| USB version | 3.2 | 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 |
| 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 | - |
| 5G support | Yes | No |
Sound
| Speakers | Stereo | Mono |
| Headphone audio jack | No | Yes |
| FM radio | No | Yes |
| Dolby Atmos | Yes | Yes |
Speakers test
Max. loudness
Other
| Category | Flagship | Budget |
| Announced | January 2021 | March 2022 |
| Release date | February 2021 | March 2022 |
| SAR (head) | 0.46 W/kg | - |
| SAR (body) | 1.51 W/kg | - |
| Sensors | - Hall-effect sensor - Barometer - Proximity sensor - Gyroscope - Accelerometer - Ambient light sensor - Compass - Fingerprint |
- Gyroscope - Accelerometer - 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 is definitely a better buy.
Cast your vote
Total votes: 20