Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra vs S21 Plus
Here we compared two flagship smartphones: the 6.8-inch Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra (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
Reasons to consider the Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra
- The rear camera has a 10x optical zoom
- Better camera quality (According to DxOMark rating)
- 27% higher pixel density (500 vs 394 PPI)
- Shows 9% longer battery life (33:09 vs 30:26 hours)
- Delivers 43% higher peak brightness (1271 against 890 nits)
- Newer Bluetooth version (v5.2)
- 29% better performance in AnTuTu Benchmark (950K versus 738K)
- The phone is 1-year and 1-month newer
- 8% faster in single-core GeekBench 5 test: 1187 and 1095 points
Reasons to consider the Samsung Galaxy S21 Plus
- Weighs 28 grams less
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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 | Dynamic AMOLED |
| Size | 6.8 inches | 6.7 inches |
| Resolution | 1440 x 3088 pixels | 1080 x 2400 pixels |
| Aspect ratio | 19.5:9 | 20:9 |
| PPI | 500 ppi | 394 ppi |
| Refresh rate | 120 Hz | 120 Hz |
| Adaptive refresh rate | Yes | No |
| Max rated brightness | 830 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 | 90.2% | 88.3% |
| Display features | - DCI-P3 - Always-On Display |
- DCI-P3 - Always-On Display |
| RGB color space | 98.2% | 98.9% |
| PWM | 120 Hz | 240 Hz |
| Response time | 1 ms | 6.2 ms |
| Contrast | ∞ Infinity | ∞ Infinity |
Peak brightness test (auto)
Design and build
| Height | 163.3 mm (6.43 inches) | 161.5 mm (6.36 inches) |
| Width | 77.9 mm (3.07 inches) | 75.6 mm (2.98 inches) |
| Thickness | 8.9 mm (0.35 inches) | 7.8 mm (0.31 inches) |
| Weight | 228 g (8.04 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, Red | Black, Silver, Gold, Red, 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 | 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
| CPU | 223163 | 189103 |
| GPU | 391575 | 274155 |
| Memory | 175188 | 137436 |
| UX | 154579 | 131951 |
| Total score | 950483 | 738170 |
3DMark Wild Life Performance
| Max surface temperature | 39.7 °C | 41.5 °C |
| Stability | 64% | 67% |
| Graphics test | 41 FPS | 33 FPS |
| Graphics score | 6872 | 5538 |
PCMark 3.0
| Web score | 10770 | - |
| Video editing | 7102 | - |
| Photo editing | 28477 | - |
| Data manipulation | 10409 | - |
| Writing score | 15835 | - |
AnTuTu Benchmark Android Smartphone Scores (69th and 145th place)
Memory
| RAM size | 8, 12 GB | 8 GB |
| Memory type | LPDDR5 | LPDDR5 |
| Memory clock | - | 2750 MHz |
| Channels | 4 | 2 |
| Storage size | 128, 256, 512, 1024 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 | 26.8 GB | 27.2 GB |
Battery
| Capacity | 5000 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 (60% in 30 min) | Yes (54% in 30 min) |
| Full charging time | 0:59 hr | 1:12 hr |
| Web browsing | 11:20 hr | 09:17 hr |
| Watching video | 14:43 hr | 15:27 hr |
| Gaming | 05:53 hr | 05:07 hr |
| Standby | 109 hr | 101 hr |
General battery life
Camera
| Matrix | 108 megapixels | 12 megapixels |
| Image resolution | 12000 x 9000 | 4000 x 3000 |
| Zoom | Optical, 10x | 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 | 4 (108 MP + 10 MP + 10 MP + 12 MP) | 3 (12 MP + 64 MP + 12 MP) |
| Wide (main) lens | - 108 MP - Aperture: f/1.8 - Focal length: 24 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: 230 mm - Sensor: 1/3.52", Sony IMX574 (Exmor-RS CMOS) - Phase autofocus (Dual Pixel) - 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 IMX563 (Exmor-RS CMOS) - Phase autofocus (Dual Pixel) |
- 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 Ultra from DxOMark | Photo samples of Samsung Galaxy S21 Plus from DxOMark |
| Megapixels | 40 megapixels | 10 megapixels |
| Image resolution | 7864 x 5200 | 3872 x 2592 |
| Aperture | f/2.2 | f/2.2 |
| Focal length | 26 mm | 26 mm |
| Pixel size | 0.7 microns | 1.22 microns |
| Sensor type | CMOS | Exmor-RS CMOS |
| Sensor size | 1/2.82" | 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 |
| 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) | 1.05 W/kg | 0.54 W/kg |
| SAR (body) | 1.58 W/kg | 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
After analyzing all the data, we think that the Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra is definitely a better buy.
Cast your vote
Total votes: 114