Samsung Galaxy S8 vs S21 FE 5G
Here we compared two flagship smartphones: the 5.8-inch Samsung Galaxy S8 (with Exynos 9 Octa 8895) that was released on March 29, 2017, against the Samsung Galaxy S21 FE 5G, which is powered by Qualcomm Snapdragon 888 and came out 58 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 S8
- 42% higher pixel density (570 vs 401 PPI)
- Expandable storage via MicroSD card up to 256GB
- Better grip in hands – the body is 6.4 mm narrower
- Weighs 22 grams less
- Includes a 3.5 mm headphone audio jack port
Reasons to consider the Samsung Galaxy S21 FE 5G
- 2.6x better performance in AnTuTu Benchmark (765K versus 291K)
- The rear camera has a 3x optical zoom
- Higher display refresh rate – 120 Hz
- Comes with 1500 mAh larger battery capacity: 4500 vs 3000 mAh
- Has a 0.6 inch larger screen size
- Better camera quality (According to DxOMark rating)
- Compatible with Wi-Fi 6 wireless networks
- Delivers 29% higher peak brightness (796 against 619 nits)
- More recent OS version: Android 13 versus 9
- Slow-motion recording at 960FPS
- The phone is 4-years and 10-months newer
- More energy-efficient CPU – Snapdragon 888
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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 | Super AMOLED | Dynamic AMOLED |
| Size | 5.8 inches | 6.4 inches |
| Resolution | 1440 x 2960 pixels | 1080 x 2340 pixels |
| Aspect ratio | 18.5:9 | 20:9 |
| PPI | 570 ppi | 401 ppi |
| Refresh rate | 60 Hz | 120 Hz |
| Adaptive refresh rate | No | No |
| Max rated brightness | 540 nits | 420 nits |
| Max rated brightness in HDR | - | 1200 nits |
| HDR support | Yes, HDR10 | Yes, HDR10+ |
| Screen protection | Corning Gorilla Glass 5 | Gorilla Glass Victus |
| Screen-to-body ratio | 83.6% | 89.6% |
| Display features | - Always-On Display | - DCI-P3 - Always-On Display |
| RGB color space | 99.8% | 97% |
| PWM | 250 Hz | 247 Hz |
| Response time | 4.4 ms | 6 ms |
| Contrast | ∞ Infinity | ∞ Infinity |
Peak brightness test (auto)
Design and build
| Height | 148.9 mm (5.86 inches) | 155.7 mm (6.13 inches) |
| Width | 68.1 mm (2.68 inches) | 74.5 mm (2.93 inches) |
| Thickness | 8 mm (0.31 inches) | 7.9 mm (0.31 inches) |
| Weight | 155 g (5.47 oz) | 177 g (6.24 oz) |
| Waterproof | IP68 | IP68 |
| Rear material | Glass | Plastic |
| Frame material | Metal | Metal |
| Colors | Black, Silver, Gold, Gray, Blue, Red, Pink | White, Gray, Green, Purple |
| Fingerprint scanner | Yes, rear | Yes, in-display |
Screen-to-body ratio
Performance
| Chipset | Samsung Exynos 9 Octa 8895 | Qualcomm Snapdragon 888 |
| Max clock | 2300 MHz | 2840 MHz |
| CPU cores | 8 (4 + 4) | 8 (1 + 3 + 4) |
| Architecture | - 4 cores at 1.7 GHz: Cortex-A53 - 4 cores at 2.3 GHz: Exynos M2 |
- 4 cores at 1.8 GHz: Kryo 680 Silver (Cortex-A55) - 3 cores at 2.42 GHz: Kryo 680 Gold (Cortex-A78) - 1 core at 2.84 GHz: Kryo 680 Prime (Cortex-X1) |
| L3 cache | - | 4 MB |
| Lithography process | 10 nanometers | 5 nanometers |
| Graphics | Mali-G71 MP20 | Adreno 660 |
| GPU clock | 546 MHz | 840 MHz |
| FLOPS | ~349 GFLOPS | ~1720 GFLOPS |
Benchmarks
Geekbench 5 (Single-Core)
Geekbench 5 (Multi-Core)
AnTuTu Benchmark 9
| CPU | 80858 | 194989 |
| GPU | 111879 | 281856 |
| Memory | 43386 | 133252 |
| UX | 55707 | 147872 |
| Total score | 291892 | 765423 |
3DMark Wild Life Performance
| Max surface temperature | 40.4 °C | 39.1 °C |
| Stability | - | 69% |
| Graphics test | - | 34 FPS |
| Graphics score | - | 5757 |
PCMark 3.0
| Web score | - | 10755 |
| Video editing | - | 7096 |
| Photo editing | - | 28462 |
| Data manipulation | - | 10077 |
| Writing score | - | 14507 |
Memory
| RAM size | 4 GB | 6, 8 GB |
| Memory type | LPDDR4X | LPDDR5 |
| Memory clock | 1794 MHz | 2750 MHz |
| Channels | 2 | 2 |
| Storage size | 64 GB | 128, 256 GB |
| Storage type | UFS 2.1 | UFS 3.1 |
| Memory card | MicroSD | No |
| Memory card max size | Up to 256 GB | - |
Software
| Operating system | Android 7.0 (Can be upgraded to Android 9.0) | Android 12 (Can be upgraded to Android 13) |
| ROM | One UI | One UI 5.0 |
| OS size | 11.7 GB | 17.5 GB |
Battery
| Capacity | 3000 mAh | 4500 mAh |
| Charge power | 15 W | 25 W |
| Battery type | Li-Ion | Li-Ion |
| Replaceable | No | No |
| Wireless charging | Yes, Qi/PMA | Yes (15 W) |
| Reverse charging | No | Yes, (wireless) |
| Fast charging | Yes, Samsung Adaptive Fast Charge (40% in 30 min) | Yes (51% in 30 min) |
| Full charging time | 1:45 hr | 1:15 hr |
| Web browsing | 08:42 hr | 07:42 hr |
| Watching video | 11:12 hr | 13:05 hr |
| Gaming | 04:31 hr | 05:29 hr |
| Standby | 85 hr | 91 hr |
General battery life
Camera
| Matrix | 12 megapixels | 12 megapixels |
| Image resolution | 4000 x 3000 | 4032 x 3024 |
| Zoom | Digital | Optical, 3x |
| Flash | Dual LED | LED |
| Stabilization | Optical | Optical |
| 8K video recording | No | No |
| 4K video recording | Up to 30FPS | Up to 60FPS |
| 1080p video recording | Up to 60FPS | Up to 60FPS |
| Slow motion | 240 FPS (720p) | 960 FPS (720p) |
| Angle of widest lens | - | 123° |
| Lenses | 1 (12 MP) | 3 (12 MP + 8 MP + 12 MP) |
| Wide (main) lens | - 12 MP - Aperture: f/1.7 - Focal length: 26 mm - Pixel size: 1.4 micron - Sensor: 1/2.55", Sony IMX333 (Exmor-RS CMOS) - Phase 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 | - | - 8 MP - Aperture: f/2.4 - Focal length: 76 mm - Pixel size: 1 micron - Sensor: 1/4.5", Hynix Hi847 (CMOS) - Phase autofocus - Optical stabilization |
| Ultra-wide lens | - | - 12 MP - Aperture: f/2.2 - Focal length: 13 mm - Pixel size: 1.12 micron - Sensor: 1/3.0", Sony IMX258 (Exmor-RS CMOS) |
| Camera features | - Pro mode | - Bokeh mode - Pro mode - RAW support |
| Samples | Photo samples of Samsung Galaxy S8 from DxOMark | Photo samples of Samsung Galaxy S21 FE 5G from DxOMark |
| Megapixels | 8 megapixels | 32 megapixels |
| Image resolution | 3264 x 2448 | 6464 x 4864 |
| Aperture | f/1.7 | f/2.2 |
| Focal length | 25 mm | 26 mm |
| Pixel size | 1.22 microns | 0.8 microns |
| Sensor type | CMOS | Exmor-RS CMOS |
| Sensor size | 1/3.6" | 1/2.74" |
| Video resolution | 1440p at 30 FPS | 2160p (4K) at 60 FPS |
DxOMark camera tests
Photo quality
Video quality
Generic camera score
Connectivity
| Wi-Fi standard | Wi-Fi 5 (802.11 a/b/g/n/ac) | Wi-Fi 6 (802.11 a/b/g/n/ac/ax) |
| Wi-Fi features | - Dual Band - Wi-Fi Direct - Wi-Fi Hotspot |
- Dual Band - Wi-Fi MiMO - Wi-Fi Direct - Wi-Fi Hotspot - Wi-Fi Display |
| Bluetooth version | 5 | 5 |
| Bluetooth features | PBAP/PAB, PAN, OPP, MAP, LE, HSP, HID, HFP, DIP, AVRCP, A2DP | LE |
| USB type | USB Type-C | USB Type-C |
| USB version | 3.1 | 3.2 |
| USB features | - Charging - USB-Storage mode - OTG |
- Charging - USB-Storage 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* | No | No |
| Hybrid slot | Yes | No |
| LTE Cat* | 16 | 19 |
| 5G support | No | Yes |
Sound
| Speakers | Mono | Stereo |
| Headphone audio jack | Yes | No |
| FM radio | No | No |
| Dolby Atmos | Yes | Yes |
Speakers test
Max loudness
Other
| Category | Flagship | Flagship |
| Announced | March 2017 | January 2022 |
| Release date | April 2017 | January 2022 |
| SAR (head) | 0.315 W/kg | 0.95 W/kg |
| SAR (body) | 1.27 W/kg | 1.48 W/kg |
| Sensors | - 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 S21 FE 5G is definitely a better buy.
Cast your vote
Total votes: 51