Samsung Galaxy S23 vs Nokia XR21
85
out of 100
VS
69
out of 100
Here we compared two smartphones: the 6.1-inch Samsung Galaxy S23 (with Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 Mobile Platform for Galaxy) that was released on February 1, 2023, against the Nokia XR21, which is powered by Qualcomm Snapdragon 695 and came out 3 months after. 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 S23
- 3.1x better performance in AnTuTu Benchmark (1364K versus 439K)
- The rear camera has a 3x optical zoom
- Delivers 148% higher peak brightness (1207 against 487 nits)
- Handles wireless charging up to 10W
- Thinner bezels – 11.1% more screen real estate
- Newer Bluetooth version (v5.3)
- Optical image stabilization
- Has 33% more RAM: 8GB versus 6GB
- Dynamic AMOLED display (versus competitor's IPS LCD)
- Better grip in hands – the body is 7.68 mm narrower
Reasons to consider the Nokia XR21
- Comes with 900 mAh larger battery capacity: 4800 vs 3900 mAh
- Expandable storage via MicroSD card up to 1024GB
- Has a 0.39 inch larger screen size
- Includes a 3.5 mm headphone audio jack port
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.
Promotion
Tests and specifications
Comparison table of technical specifications and testsDisplay
| Type | Dynamic AMOLED | IPS LCD |
| Size | 6.1 inches | 6.49 inches |
| Resolution | 1080 x 2340 pixels | 1080 x 2400 pixels |
| Aspect ratio | 19.5:9 | 20:9 |
| PPI | 425 ppi | 406 ppi |
| Refresh rate | 120 Hz | 120 Hz |
| Adaptive refresh rate | Yes | No |
| Max rated brightness | 800 nits | 550 nits |
| Max rated brightness in HDR | 1750 nits | - |
| HDR support | Yes, HDR10+ | No |
| Screen protection | Gorilla Glass Victus 2 | Gorilla Glass Victus |
| Screen-to-body ratio | 88.1% | 77% |
| Display features | - DCI-P3 - Always-On Display |
- DCI-P3 |
| RGB color space | 98.9% | 99.5% |
| PWM | 240 Hz | 55100 Hz |
| Response time | 1 ms | 33 ms |
| Contrast | ∞ Infinity | 1118:1 |
Peak brightness test (auto)
Design and build
| Height | 146.3 mm (5.76 inches) | 168 mm (6.61 inches) |
| Width | 70.9 mm (2.79 inches) | 78.58 mm (3.09 inches) |
| Thickness | 7.6 mm (0.3 inches) | 10.45 mm (0.41 inches) |
| Weight | 168 g (5.93 oz) | 231 g (8.15 oz) |
| Waterproof | IP68 | IP68 |
| Advanced cooling | Vapor chamber | - |
| Rear material | Glass | Plastic |
| Frame material | Metal | Plastic |
| Colors | White, Black, Gray, Green, Purple, Yellow | Black, Green |
| Fingerprint scanner | Yes, in-display | Yes, in-button |
Screen-to-body ratio
Performance
| Chipset | Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 Mobile Platform for Galaxy | Qualcomm Snapdragon 695 |
| Max clock | 3360 MHz | 2200 MHz |
| CPU cores | 8 (1 + 2 + 2 + 3) | 8 (2 + 6) |
| Architecture | - 3 cores at 2 GHz: Cortex-A510 - 2 cores at 2.8 GHz: Cortex-A710 - 2 cores at 2.8 GHz: Cortex-A715 - 1 core at 3.2 GHz: Cortex-X3 |
- 6 cores at 1.8 GHz: Kryo 660 Silver (Cortex-A55) - 2 cores at 2.2 GHz: Kryo 660 Gold (Cortex-A78) |
| L3 cache | 8 MB | - |
| Lithography process | 4 nanometers | 6 nanometers |
| Graphics | Adreno 740 | Adreno 619 |
| GPU shading units | 2560 | 256 |
| GPU clock | 719 MHz | 950 MHz |
| FLOPS | ~3481.6 GFLOPS | ~486.4 GFLOPS |
Benchmarks
Geekbench 6 (Single-Core)
Geekbench 6 (Multi-Core)
AnTuTu Benchmark 10
| CPU | 366724 | - |
| GPU | 551228 | - |
| Memory | 192220 | - |
| UX | 247673 | - |
| Total score | 1364479 | 439471 |
3DMark Wild Life Performance
| Max surface temperature | 34.3 °C | 54.3 °C |
| Stability | 60% | - |
| Graphics test | 72 FPS | - |
| Graphics score | 12033 | - |
PCMark 3.0
| Web score | 13647 | - |
| Video editing | 7797 | - |
| Photo editing | 34238 | - |
| Data manipulation | 12529 | - |
| Writing score | 19579 | - |
Memory
| RAM size | 8 GB | 6 GB |
| Memory type | LPDDR5X | LPDDR4X |
| Memory clock | - | 2133 MHz |
| Channels | 4 | 2 |
| Storage size | 128, 256, 512 GB | 128 GB |
| Storage type | UFS 4.0 | UFS 2.2 |
| Memory card | No | MicroSD |
| Memory card max size | - | Up to 1024 GB |
Software
| Operating system | Android 13 | Android 12 (Can be upgraded to Android 13) |
| ROM | One UI 5.1 | - |
| OS size | 29.7 GB | 14 GB |
Battery
| Capacity | 3900 mAh | 4800 mAh |
| Max charge power | 25 W | 33 W |
| Battery type | Li-Po | Li-Po |
| Replaceable | No | No |
| Wireless charging | Yes (10 W) | No |
| Reverse charging | Yes, (wireless) | No |
| Fast charging | Yes (57% in 30 min) | Yes (50% in 50 min) |
| Full charging time | 1:16 hr | 2:15 hr |
| Web browsing | 12:15 hr | - |
| Watching video | 15:00 hr | - |
| Gaming | 05:56 hr | - |
| Standby | 111 hr | - |
General battery life
Camera
| Matrix | 50 megapixels | 64 megapixels |
| Image resolution | 8160 x 6120 | 9000 x 7000 |
| Zoom | Optical, 3x | Digital |
| Flash | LED | Dual LED |
| Stabilization | Optical | Digital |
| 8K video recording | Up to 30FPS | No |
| 4K video recording | Up to 60FPS | Up to 30FPS |
| 1080p video recording | Up to 60FPS | Up to 60FPS |
| Slow motion | 960 FPS (1080p) | - |
| Angle of widest lens | 120° | - |
| Lenses | 3 (50 MP + 10 MP + 12 MP) | 2 (64 MP + 8 MP) |
| Wide (main) lens | - 50 MP - Aperture: f/1.8 - Focal length: 23 mm - Pixel size: 1 micron - Sensor: 1/1.57", Samsung S5KGN3 (ISOCELL Plus CMOS) - Phase autofocus (Dual Pixel) - Optical stabilization |
- 64 MP - Aperture: f/1.8 - Sensor: 1/2" (CMOS) - Phase autofocus |
| Telephoto lens | - 10 MP - Aperture: f/2.4 - Focal length: 70 mm - Pixel size: 1 micron - Sensor: 1/3.94", Samsung S5K3K1 (Exmor-RS 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 IMX564 (Exmor-RS CMOS) - Phase autofocus (Dual Pixel) |
- 8 MP - Aperture: f/2.2 - Pixel size: 1.12 micron - Sensor: 1/4.0" (CMOS) |
| Camera features | - Bokeh mode - Pro mode - RAW support |
- Bokeh mode - Pro mode |
| Samples | Photo samples of Samsung Galaxy S23 from DxOMark | - |
| Megapixels | 12 megapixels | 16 megapixels |
| Image resolution | 4000 x 3000 | - |
| Aperture | f/2.2 | f/2.4 |
| Focal length | 26 mm | - |
| Pixel size | 1.12 microns | - |
| Sensor type | ISOCELL 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 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 Direct - Wi-Fi Hotspot - Wi-Fi Display |
| Bluetooth version | 5.3 | 5.1 |
| Bluetooth features | LE | LE |
| USB type | USB Type-C | USB Type-C |
| USB version | 3.2 | 2 |
| USB features | - Charging - USB-Storage mode - OTG |
- Charging - USB-Storage mode - OTG |
| GPS | GPS, GLONASS, Beidou, Galileo, QZSS | GPS, GLONASS, Beidou, Galileo, QZSS, NAVIC |
| NFC* | Yes | Depends on the region |
| 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 | Yes |
| LTE Cat* | 20 | 18 |
| 5G support | Yes | Yes |
Sound
| Speakers | Stereo | Stereo |
| Headphone audio jack | No | Yes |
| FM radio | No | No |
| Dolby Atmos | Yes | - |
Speakers test
Max loudness
Other
| Category | Flagship | Mid-range |
| Announced | February 2023 | May 2023 |
| Release date | February 2023 | June 2023 |
| SAR (head) | 0.96 W/kg | - |
| SAR (body) | 1.3 W/kg | - |
| Sensors | - Hall-effect sensor - Barometer - Proximity sensor - Gyroscope - Accelerometer - Ambient light sensor - Compass - Fingerprint |
- Barometer - Proximity sensor - Gyroscope - Accelerometer - Ambient light sensor - Compass - Fingerprint |
| Bundled charger | Not included | Yes, 33 W |
Further details
Notes on Galaxy S23:
- The 128GB version uses slower UFS 3.1 memory, while the 256GB and 512GB models have UFS 4.0.
*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 S23 is definitely a better buy.
Cast your vote
Total votes: 2