Samsung Galaxy S22 vs Galaxy S21
77
out of 100
VS
71
out of 100
Here we compared two flagship smartphones: the 6.1-inch Samsung Galaxy S22 (with Exynos 2200) that was released on February 9, 2022, against the Samsung Galaxy S21, which is powered by Exynos 2100 and came out 13 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 S22
- The rear camera has a 3x optical zoom
- Better camera quality (According to DxOMark rating)
- Newer Bluetooth version (v5.2)
- 17% better performance in AnTuTu Benchmark (893K versus 763K)
- The phone is 1-year and 1-month newer
- 14% faster in single-core GeekBench 5 test: 1174 and 1031 points
Reasons to consider the Samsung Galaxy S21
- Comes with 300 mAh larger battery capacity: 4000 vs 3700 mAh
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
Scores with a red asterisk (*) are approximate and may change in the future as we gather more data.
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.
Tests and specifications
Comparison table of technical specifications and testsDisplay
| Type | Dynamic AMOLED | Dynamic AMOLED |
| Size | 6.1 inches | 6.2 inches |
| Resolution | 1080 x 2340 pixels | 1080 x 2400 pixels |
| Aspect ratio | 19.5:9 | 20:9 |
| PPI | 425 ppi | 421 ppi |
| Refresh rate | 120 Hz | 120 Hz |
| Adaptive refresh rate | Yes | No |
| Max rated brightness | 780 nits | 800 nits |
| Max rated brightness in HDR | 1300 nits | - |
| HDR support | Yes, HDR10+ | Yes, HDR10+ |
| Screen protection | Gorilla Glass Victus Plus | Gorilla Glass Victus |
| Screen-to-body ratio | 87.4% | 87.2% |
| Display features | - DCI-P3 - Always-On Display |
- DCI-P3 - Always-On Display |
| RGB color space | 99.3% | 99.5% |
| PWM | 239 Hz | 240 Hz |
| Response time | 10 ms | 5 ms |
| Contrast | ∞ Infinity | ∞ Infinity |
Peak brightness test (auto)
Design and build
| Height | 146 mm (5.75 inches) | 151.7 mm (5.97 inches) |
| Width | 70.6 mm (2.78 inches) | 71.2 mm (2.8 inches) |
| Thickness | 7.6 mm (0.3 inches) | 7.9 mm (0.31 inches) |
| Weight | 167 g (5.89 oz) | 169 g (5.96 oz) |
| Waterproof | IP68 | IP68 |
| Advanced cooling | Vapor chamber | - |
| Rear material | Glass | Plastic |
| Frame material | Metal | Metal |
| Colors | White, Black, Gray, Blue, Green, Pink, Purple, Yellow | White, Gray, Pink, Purple |
| Fingerprint scanner | Yes, in-display | Yes, in-display |
Screen-to-body ratio
Performance
| Chipset | Samsung Exynos 2200 | Samsung Exynos 2100 |
| Max clock | 2800 MHz | 2900 MHz |
| CPU cores | 8 (1 + 3 + 4) | 8 (1 + 3 + 4) |
| Architecture | - 4 cores at 1.82 GHz: Cortex-A510 - 3 cores at 2.52 GHz: Cortex-A710 - 1 core at 2.8 GHz: Cortex-X2 |
- 4 cores at 2.2 GHz: Cortex-A55 - 3 cores at 2.81 GHz: Cortex-A78 - 1 core at 2.91 GHz: Cortex-X1 |
| Lithography process | 4 nanometers | 5 nanometers |
| Graphics | Samsung Xclipse 920 | Mali-G78 MP14 |
| GPU clock | 1300 MHz | 854 MHz |
| FLOPS | - | ~1575 GFLOPS |
Benchmarks
Geekbench 5 (Single-Core)
Geekbench 5 (Multi-Core)
AnTuTu Benchmark 9
| CPU | 222420 | 203417 |
| GPU | 371227 | 272156 |
| Memory | 145195 | 144766 |
| UX | 162492 | 146598 |
| Total score | 893685 | 763002 |
3DMark Wild Life Performance
| Max surface temperature | 38 °C | 38.9 °C |
| Stability | 60% | 66% |
| Graphics test | 39 FPS | 34 FPS |
| Graphics score | 6532 | 5714 |
| Web score | 10223 | 12610 |
| Video editing | 7167 | 7114 |
| Photo editing | 27204 | 29380 |
| Data manipulation | 10534 | 10466 |
| Writing score | 15091 | 16574 |
AnTuTu Benchmark Android Rating (95th and 155th place)
Memory
| RAM size | 8 GB | 8 GB |
| Memory type | LPDDR5 | LPDDR5 |
| Memory clock | - | 2750 MHz |
| Channels | 4 | 2 |
| Storage size | 128, 256 GB | 128, 256 GB |
| Storage type | UFS 3.1 | UFS 3.1 |
| Memory card | No | No |
Software
| Operating system | Android 12 (Can be upgraded to Android 13) | Android 11 (Can be upgraded to Android 13) |
| ROM | One UI 5.1 | One UI 5.1 |
| OS size | 30.2 GB | 28.1 GB |
Battery
| Capacity | 3700 mAh | 4000 mAh |
| Max charge power | 25 W | 25 W |
| Battery type | Li-Po | Li-Ion |
| Replaceable | No | No |
| Wireless charging | Yes (15 W) | Yes (15 W) |
| Reverse charging | Yes, (wireless) | Yes, (wireless) |
| Fast charging | Yes (63% in 30 min) | Yes (55% in 50 min) |
| Full charging time | 1:03 hr | 1:35 hr |
| Web browsing | - | 07:27 hr |
| Watching video | - | 12:26 hr |
| Gaming | - | 04:31 hr |
| Standby | - | 92 hr |
General battery life
Camera
| Matrix | 50 megapixels | 12 megapixels |
| Image resolution | 8160 x 6120 | 4000 x 3000 |
| Zoom | Optical, 3x | Optical, 1.1x |
| Flash | 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 | 3 (50 MP + 10 MP + 12 MP) | 3 (12 MP + 64 MP + 12 MP) |
| Wide (main) lens | - 50 MP - Aperture: f/1.8 - Focal length: 24 mm - Pixel size: 1 micron - Sensor: 1/1.56", Samsung GN5 (ISOCELL Plus 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 | - 10 MP - Aperture: f/2.4 - Focal length: 70 mm - Pixel size: 1 micron - Sensor: 1/3.94", Sony IMX772 (Exmor-RS CMOS) - Phase autofocus - Optical stabilization |
- 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 IMX713 (Exmor-RS CMOS) - Phase autofocus |
- 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) |
| Camera features | - Bokeh mode - Pro mode - RAW support |
- Bokeh mode - Pro mode - RAW support |
| Samples | Photo samples of Samsung Galaxy S22 from DxOMark | Photo samples of Samsung Galaxy S21 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" | 1/3.24" |
| 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 | 5.2 | 5 |
| Bluetooth features | LE | LE, A2DP |
| USB type | USB Type-C | USB Type-C |
| USB version | 3.2 | 3.2 |
| USB features | - Charging - USB-Storage 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* | 20 | 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 | February 2022 | January 2021 |
| Release date | March 2022 | February 2021 |
| 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 |
- 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
These smartphones have a lot in common, but we would recommend the Samsung Galaxy S22. It has a better camera, performance, gaming, battery life, and design.
Cast your vote
Total votes: 1713