Samsung Galaxy S21 vs Note 20
Here we compared two flagship smartphones: the 6.2-inch Samsung Galaxy S21 (with Exynos 2100) that was released on January 14, 2021, against the Samsung Galaxy Note 20, which is powered by Exynos 990 and came out 5 months before. 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
- Higher display refresh rate – 120 Hz
- 39% better performance in AnTuTu Benchmark (767K versus 551K)
- Delivers 39% higher peak brightness (864 against 622 nits)
- Slow-motion recording at 960FPS
- More energy-efficient CPU – Exynos 2100
- Weighs 23 grams less
- 11% faster in single-core GeekBench 5 test: 1041 and 938 points
Reasons to consider the Samsung Galaxy Note 20
- The rear camera has a 3x optical zoom
- Better camera quality (According to DxOMark rating)
- Has a 0.5 inch larger screen size
- Comes with 300 mAh larger battery capacity: 4300 vs 4000 mAh
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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 | Super AMOLED |
| Size | 6.2 inches | 6.7 inches |
| Resolution | 1080 x 2400 pixels | 1080 x 2400 pixels |
| Aspect ratio | 20:9 | 20:9 |
| PPI | 421 ppi | 393 ppi |
| Refresh rate | 120 Hz | 60 Hz |
| Adaptive refresh rate | No | No |
| Max rated brightness | 800 nits | 600 nits |
| HDR support | Yes, HDR10+ | Yes, HDR10+ |
| Screen protection | Gorilla Glass Victus | Corning Gorilla Glass 5 |
| Screen-to-body ratio | 87.2% | 89.2% |
| Display features | - DCI-P3 - Always-On Display |
- DCI-P3 - Always-On Display |
| RGB color space | 99.5% | 99.9% |
| PWM | 240 Hz | 250 Hz |
| Response time | 5 ms | 6.4 ms |
| Contrast | ∞ Infinity | ∞ Infinity |
Peak brightness test (auto)
Design and build
| Height | 151.7 mm (5.97 inches) | 161.6 mm (6.36 inches) |
| Width | 71.2 mm (2.8 inches) | 75.2 mm (2.96 inches) |
| Thickness | 7.9 mm (0.31 inches) | 8.3 mm (0.33 inches) |
| Weight | 169 g (5.96 oz) | 192 g (6.77 oz) |
| Waterproof | IP68 | IP68 |
| Advanced cooling | - | Vapor chamber |
| Rear material | Plastic | Plastic |
| Frame material | Metal | Metal |
| Colors | White, Gray, Pink, Purple | Black, Green, Brown |
| Fingerprint scanner | Yes, in-display | Yes, in-display |
Screen-to-body ratio
Performance
| Chipset | Samsung Exynos 2100 | Samsung Exynos 990 |
| Max clock | 2900 MHz | 2730 MHz |
| CPU cores | 8 (1 + 3 + 4) | 8 (2 + 2 + 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 2 GHz: Cortex-A55 - 2 cores at 2.5 GHz: Cortex-A76 - 2 cores at 2.73 GHz: Exynos M5 |
| L3 cache | - | 2 MB |
| Lithography process | 5 nanometers | 7 nanometers |
| Graphics | Mali-G78 MP14 | Mali-G77 MP11 |
| GPU clock | 760 MHz | 550 MHz |
| FLOPS | - | ~1196 GFLOPS |
Benchmarks
Geekbench 5 (Single-Core)
Geekbench 5 (Multi-Core)
AnTuTu Benchmark 9
| CPU | 203417 | 147614 |
| GPU | 272156 | 195295 |
| Memory | 144766 | 97621 |
| UX | 146598 | 108092 |
| Total score | 767840 | 551784 |
3DMark Wild Life Performance
| Max surface temperature | 38.9 °C | 38.6 °C |
| Stability | 66% | 88% |
| Graphics test | 34 FPS | 25 FPS |
| Graphics score | 5695 | 4312 |
PCMark 3.0
| Web score | 12745 | 7665 |
| Video editing | 7118 | 5703 |
| Photo editing | 29419 | 29880 |
| Data manipulation | 10610 | 8172 |
| Writing score | 16578 | 11921 |
Memory
| RAM size | 8 GB | 8 GB |
| Memory type | LPDDR5 | LPDDR5 |
| Memory clock | 2750 MHz | 2400 MHz |
| Channels | 2 | 2 |
| Storage size | 128, 256 GB | 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 10 (Can be upgraded to Android 13) |
| ROM | One UI 5.0 | One UI 5.0 |
| OS size | 28.1 GB | 35 GB |
Battery
| Capacity | 4000 mAh | 4300 mAh |
| 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 (55% in 50 min) | Yes (50% in 30 min) |
| Full charging time | 1:35 hr | 1:05 hr |
| Web browsing | 07:27 hr | - |
| Watching video | 12:26 hr | - |
| Gaming | 04:31 hr | - |
| Standby | 92 hr | - |
General battery life
Camera
| Matrix | 12 megapixels | 12 megapixels |
| Image resolution | 4000 x 3000 | 4000 x 3000 |
| Zoom | Optical, 1.1x | Optical, 3x |
| 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 240FPS |
| Slow motion | 960 FPS (720p) | 240 FPS (1080p) |
| Angle of widest lens | 120° | 120° |
| Lenses | 3 (12 MP + 64 MP + 12 MP) | 3 (12 MP + 64 MP + 12 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 |
- 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 | - 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 |
- 64 MP - Aperture: f/2.0 - Focal length: 27 mm - Pixel size: 0.8 micron - Sensor: 1/1.72", Samsung Bright S5KGW2 (ISOCELL Plus 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 - Pixel size: 1.4 micron - Sensor: 1/2.55", Samsung S5K2LA (ISOCELL CMOS) - Phase autofocus |
| Camera features | - Bokeh mode - Pro mode - RAW support |
- Bokeh mode - Pro mode - RAW support |
| Samples | Photo samples of Samsung Galaxy S21 from DxOMark | Photo samples of Samsung Galaxy Note 20 from DxOMark |
| Megapixels | 10 megapixels | 10 megapixels |
| Image resolution | 3872 x 2592 | 3872 x 2592 |
| Aperture | f/2.2 | f/2.2 |
| Focal length | 26 mm | 26 mm |
| Pixel size | 1.22 microns | 1.22 microns |
| Sensor type | CMOS | CMOS |
| Sensor size | 1/3.24" | 1/3.2" |
| 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 6 (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 | 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 |
| GPS | GPS, GLONASS, Beidou, Galileo | GPS, GLONASS, Beidou, Galileo, 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 | 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 | Yes |
Speakers test
Max loudness
Other
| Category | Flagship | Flagship |
| Announced | January 2021 | August 2020 |
| Release date | February 2021 | August 2020 |
| SAR (head) | 0.46 W/kg | 0.359 W/kg |
| SAR (body) | 1.51 W/kg | 1.366 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
If the display, performance, and camera are more important to you, then choose the Samsung Galaxy S21. But if the battery life is more of a priority – go for the Samsung Galaxy Note 20.
Cast your vote
Total votes: 575
