Samsung Galaxy S23 vs S21 Ultra
86
out of 100
VS
77
out of 100
Here we compared two flagship 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 Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra, which is powered by Exynos 2100 and came out 25 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 S23
- Better camera quality (According to DxOMark rating)
- 53% better performance in AnTuTu Benchmark (1141K versus 747K)
- Shows 10% longer battery life (34:17 vs 31:14 hours)
- Newer Bluetooth version (v5.3)
- The phone is 2-years and 1-month newer
- Delivers 17% higher peak brightness (1191 against 1020 nits)
- Faster storage type - UFS 4.0 versus UFS 3.1
- Weighs 59 grams less
- 36% faster in single-core GeekBench 5 test: 1508 and 1107 points
Reasons to consider the Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra
- The rear camera has a 10x optical zoom
- Has a 0.7 inch larger screen size
- Comes with 1100 mAh larger battery capacity: 5000 vs 3900 mAh
- 21% higher pixel density (515 vs 425 PPI)
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
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 | 6.8 inches |
| Resolution | 1080 x 2340 pixels | 1440 x 3200 pixels |
| Aspect ratio | 19.5:9 | 20:9 |
| PPI | 425 ppi | 515 ppi |
| Refresh rate | 120 Hz | 120 Hz |
| Adaptive refresh rate | Yes | Yes |
| Max rated brightness | 800 nits | 1500 nits |
| Max rated brightness in HDR | 1750 nits | - |
| HDR support | Yes, HDR10+ | Yes, HDR10+ |
| Screen protection | Gorilla Glass Victus 2 | Gorilla Glass Victus |
| Screen-to-body ratio | 88.1% | 89.8% |
| Display features | - DCI-P3 - Always-On Display |
- DCI-P3 - Always-On Display |
| RGB color space | 98.9% | - |
| PWM | 240 Hz | - |
| Response time | 1 ms | - |
| Contrast | ∞ Infinity | - |
Peak brightness test (auto)
Design and build
| Height | 146.3 mm (5.76 inches) | 165.1 mm (6.5 inches) |
| Width | 70.9 mm (2.79 inches) | 75.6 mm (2.98 inches) |
| Thickness | 7.6 mm (0.3 inches) | 8.9 mm (0.35 inches) |
| Weight | 168 g (5.93 oz) | 227 g (8.01 oz) |
| Waterproof | IP68 | IP68 |
| Advanced cooling | Vapor chamber | - |
| Rear material | Glass | Glass |
| Frame material | Metal | Metal |
| Colors | White, Black, Gray, Green, Purple, Yellow | Black, Silver, Gray, Blue |
| Fingerprint scanner | Yes, in-display | Yes, in-display |
Screen-to-body ratio
Performance
| Chipset | Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 Mobile Platform for Galaxy | Samsung Exynos 2100 |
| Max clock | 3360 MHz | 2840 MHz |
| CPU cores | 8 (1 + 2 + 2 + 3) | 8 (1 + 3 + 4) |
| 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 |
- 4 cores at 2.2 GHz: Cortex-A55 - 3 cores at 2.81 GHz: Cortex-A78 - 1 core at 2.91 GHz: Cortex-X1 |
| L3 cache | 8 MB | - |
| Lithography process | 4 nanometers | 5 nanometers |
| Graphics | Adreno 740 | Mali-G78 MP14 |
| GPU clock | 719 MHz | 854 MHz |
| FLOPS | ~3481 GFLOPS | ~1575 GFLOPS |
Benchmarks
Geekbench 5 (Single-Core)
Geekbench 5 (Multi-Core)
AnTuTu Benchmark 9
| CPU | 265909 | 191240 |
| GPU | 546848 | 256481 |
| Memory | 172080 | 151369 |
| UX | 157786 | 149052 |
| Total score | 1141613 | 747682 |
3DMark Wild Life Performance
| Max surface temperature | 34.3 °C | 40.8 °C |
| Stability | 61% | 69% |
| Graphics test | 72 FPS | 31 FPS |
| Graphics score | 12096 | 5221 |
PCMark 3.0
| Web score | 13347 | - |
| Video editing | 7801 | - |
| Photo editing | 34097 | - |
| Data manipulation | 11937 | - |
| Writing score | 19763 | - |
Best Smartphones in AnTuTu (25th and 160th place)
Memory
| RAM size | 8 GB | 12, 16 GB |
| Memory type | LPDDR5X | LPDDR5 |
| Memory clock | - | 2750 MHz |
| Channels | 4 | 2 |
| Storage size | 128, 256, 512 GB | 128, 256, 512 GB |
| Storage type | UFS 4.0 | UFS 3.1 |
| Memory card | No | No |
Software
| Operating system | Android 13 | Android 11 (Can be upgraded to Android 13) |
| ROM | One UI 5.1 | One UI 5.1 |
| OS size | 29.7 GB | 26.4 GB |
Battery
| Capacity | 3900 mAh | 5000 mAh |
| Max charge power | 25 W | 25 W |
| Battery type | Li-Po | Li-Ion |
| Replaceable | No | No |
| Wireless charging | Yes (10 W) | Yes (15 W) |
| Reverse charging | Yes, (wireless) | Yes, (wireless) |
| Fast charging | Yes (57% in 30 min) | Yes (54% in 30 min) |
| Full charging time | 1:16 hr | 1:11 hr |
| Web browsing | 12:06 hr | 10:13 hr |
| Watching video | 15:00 hr | 15:32 hr |
| Gaming | 05:45 hr | 05:26 hr |
| Standby | 111 hr | 98 hr |
General battery life
Camera
| Matrix | 50 megapixels | 108 megapixels |
| Image resolution | 8160 x 6120 | 12000 x 9000 |
| Zoom | Optical, 3x | Optical, 10x |
| Flash | LED | Dual LED |
| Stabilization | Optical | Optical |
| 8K video recording | Up to 30FPS | 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 (1080p) | 960 FPS (720p) |
| Angle of widest lens | 120° | 120° |
| Lenses | 3 (50 MP + 10 MP + 12 MP) | 4 (108 MP + 10 MP + 10 MP + 12 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 |
- 108 MP - Aperture: f/1.8 - Focal length: 26 mm - Pixel size: 0.8 micron - Sensor: 1/1.33", Samsung S5KHM3 (ISOCELL Plus CMOS) - Laser autofocus - Optical stabilization |
| 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 |
- 10 MP - Aperture: f/4.9 - Focal length: 240 mm - Pixel size: 1.22 micron - Sensor: 1/2.65", Samsung S5K3J1 (ISOCELL 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) |
- 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 S23 from DxOMark | Photo samples of Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra from DxOMark |
| Megapixels | 12 megapixels | 40 megapixels |
| Image resolution | 4000 x 3000 | 7864 x 5200 |
| Aperture | f/2.2 | f/2.2 |
| Focal length | 26 mm | 26 mm |
| Pixel size | 1.12 microns | 0.7 microns |
| Sensor type | ISOCELL CMOS | ISOCELL CMOS |
| Sensor size | 1/3.24" | 1/2.65" |
| 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 6E (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 | 5.3 | 5.2 |
| 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, QZSS | 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 2023 | January 2021 |
| Release date | February 2023 | February 2021 |
| SAR (head) | 0.96 W/kg | 0.71 W/kg |
| SAR (body) | 1.3 W/kg | 1.58 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 | - |
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: 77