Samsung Galaxy S22 Plus vs S21 Plus

Here we compared two flagship smartphones: the 6.6-inch Samsung Galaxy S22 Plus (with Exynos 2200) that was released on February 9, 2022, against the Samsung Galaxy S21 Plus, 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

An overview of the main advantages of each smartphone
Reasons to consider the Samsung Galaxy S22 Plus
  • The rear camera has a 3x optical zoom
  • Better camera quality (According to DxOMark rating)
  • Newer Bluetooth version (v5.2)
  • 23% better performance in AnTuTu Benchmark (905K versus 736K)
  • Delivers 24% higher peak brightness (1101 against 890 nits)
  • The phone is 1-year and 1-month newer
Reasons to consider the Samsung Galaxy S21 Plus
  • Comes with 300 mAh larger battery capacity: 4800 vs 4500 mAh
We may receive a commission from Amazon for purchases made using the links below, but this has no bearing on our assessment methodology.

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.
Price

Tests and specifications

Comparison table of technical specifications and tests

Display

Type Dynamic AMOLED Dynamic AMOLED
Size 6.6 inches 6.7 inches
Resolution 1080 x 2340 pixels 1080 x 2400 pixels
Aspect ratio 19.5:9 20:9
PPI 393 ppi 394 ppi
Refresh rate 120 Hz 120 Hz
Adaptive refresh rate Yes No
Max rated brightness 780 nits 1300 nits
Max rated brightness in HDR 1750 nits -
HDR support Yes, HDR10+ Yes, HDR10+
Screen protection Gorilla Glass Victus Plus Gorilla Glass Victus
Screen-to-body ratio 88.3% 88.3%
Display features - DCI-P3
- Always-On Display
- DCI-P3
- Always-On Display
Display tests
RGB color space 98.2% 98.9%
PWM 240 Hz 240 Hz
Response time 5 ms 6.2 ms
Contrast ∞ Infinity ∞ Infinity
Peak brightness test (auto)
1101 nits
890 nits
Sources: NotebookCheck [3], [4]

Design and build

Height 157.4 mm (6.2 inches) 161.5 mm (6.36 inches)
Width 75.8 mm (2.98 inches) 75.6 mm (2.98 inches)
Thickness 7.6 mm (0.3 inches) 7.8 mm (0.31 inches)
Weight 195 g (6.88 oz) 200 g (7.05 oz)
Waterproof IP68 IP68
Advanced cooling Vapor chamber -
Rear material Glass Glass
Frame material Metal Metal
Colors White, Black, Gray, Blue, Green, Pink, Purple, Yellow Black, Silver, Gold, Red, Purple
Fingerprint scanner Yes, in-display Yes, in-display
Screen-to-body ratio

Performance

Tests of Samsung Galaxy S22 Plus and Samsung Galaxy S21 Plus in the benchmarks
SoC
Chipset Samsung Exynos 2200 Samsung Exynos 2100
Max clock 2800 MHz 2840 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 2.8 GHz: Cortex-A78
- 1 core at 2.9 GHz: Cortex-X1
Lithography process 4 nanometers 5 nanometers
Graphics Samsung Xclipse 920 Mali-G78 MP14
GPU clock 1300 MHz 760 MHz

Benchmarks

Geekbench 5 (Single-Core)
Geekbench 5 (Multi-Core)
AnTuTu Benchmark 9
905474
CPU 219050 189103
GPU 388639 274155
Memory 147516 137436
UX 149456 131951
Total score 905474 736140
3DMark Wild Life Performance
Max surface temperature 38.8 °C 41.5 °C
Stability 63% 67%
Graphics test 41 FPS 33 FPS
Graphics score 6914 5538
PCMark 3.0
Web score 10330 -
Video editing 7155 -
Photo editing 27129 -
Data manipulation 10555 -
Writing score 15455 -
AnTuTu 9 Ranking (81st and 149th place)
Sources: 3DMark [3], [4]

Memory

RAM
RAM size 8 GB 8 GB
Memory type LPDDR5 LPDDR5
Memory clock - 2750 MHz
Channels 4 2
Storage
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 5.0
OS size 28.6 GB 27.2 GB

Battery

Specifications
Capacity 4500 mAh 4800 mAh
Charge power 45 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 (64% in 30 min) Yes (54% in 30 min)
Full charging time 1:01 hr 1:12 hr
Battery life tests
Web browsing - 09:17 hr
Watching video - 15:27 hr
Gaming - 05:07 hr
Standby - 101 hr
General battery life

Camera

Specs and camera test of smartphones
Main 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", Samsung S5K3K1 (ISOCELL 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 Plus from DxOMark Photo samples of Samsung Galaxy S21 Plus from DxOMark
Selfie camera
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 Exmor-RS 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 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 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
Network
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
91.3 dB
87.8 dB

Other

Category Flagship Flagship
Announced February 2022 January 2021
Release date March 2022 February 2021
SAR (head) - 0.54 W/kg
SAR (body) - 1.33 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

These smartphones have a lot in common, but we would recommend the Samsung Galaxy S22 Plus. It has a better display, battery life, camera, and design.

Cast your vote

So, which phone would you choose?
333 (51.6%)
312 (48.4%)
Total votes: 645

User opinions

You can share your opinion or ask a question in the comments below
Avatar
Apple/Samsung user 06 July 2022 19:47
S22 plus is definitely better, but if you have an S21 plus already, don’t upgrade unless you have a lot of money.
+7 Reply
Avatar
Michael 01 February 2023 18:23
Is the Galaxy s21 plus with Exynos 2100 still worth it?
0 Reply
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