Samsung Galaxy S9 vs S21 FE 5G
Here we compared two flagship smartphones: the 5.8-inch Samsung Galaxy S9 (with Exynos 9 Octa 9810) that was released on February 25, 2018, against the Samsung Galaxy S21 FE 5G, which is powered by Qualcomm Snapdragon 888 and came out 47 months after. On this page, you will find tests, full specs, strengths, and weaknesses of each of the gadgets.
Key differences
Reasons to consider the Samsung Galaxy S9
- 42% higher pixel density (568 vs 401 PPI)
- Expandable storage via MicroSD card up to 400GB
- Better grip in hands – the body is 5.8 mm narrower
- Weighs 14 grams less
- Includes a 3.5 mm headphone audio jack port
Reasons to consider the Samsung Galaxy S21 FE 5G
- The rear camera has a 3x optical zoom
- Higher display refresh rate – 120 Hz
- 2.1x better performance in AnTuTu Benchmark (757K versus 367K)
- Comes with 1500 mAh larger battery capacity: 4500 vs 3000 mAh
- Has a 0.6 inch larger screen size
- Shows 29% longer battery life (26:34 vs 20:36 hours)
- Better camera quality (According to DxOMark rating)
- Compatible with the latest Wi-Fi 6 wireless networks
- More recent OS version: Android 13 versus 10
- More energy-efficient CPU – Snapdragon 888
- Uses a faster type of memory: LPDDR5 2750 MHz
- The phone is 3-years and 11-months newer
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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
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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 | 568 ppi | 401 ppi |
| Refresh rate | 60 Hz | 120 Hz |
| Max rated brightness | 658 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 | - | 97% |
| PWM | 240 Hz | 247 Hz |
| Response time | 7 ms | 6 ms |
| Contrast | ∞ Infinity | ∞ Infinity |
Peak brightness test (auto)
Design and build
| Height | 147.7 mm (5.81 inches) | 155.7 mm (6.13 inches) |
| Width | 68.7 mm (2.7 inches) | 74.5 mm (2.93 inches) |
| Thickness | 8.5 mm (0.33 inches) | 7.9 mm (0.31 inches) |
| Weight | 163 g (5.75 oz) | 177 g (6.24 oz) |
| Waterproof | IP68 | IP68 |
| Rear material | Glass | Plastic |
| Frame material | Metal | Metal |
| Colors | Black, Gold, Gray, Blue, Purple | White, Gray, Green, Purple |
| Fingerprint scanner | Yes, rear | Yes, in-display |
Screen-to-body ratio
Performance
| Chipset | Samsung Exynos 9 Octa 9810 | Qualcomm Snapdragon 888 |
| Max. clock | 2700 MHz | 2840 MHz |
| CPU cores | 8 (4 + 4) | 8 (1 + 3 + 4) |
| Architecture | - 4 cores at 1.9 GHz: Cortex-A55 - 4 cores at 2.9 GHz: Exynos M3 |
- 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 | 4 MB |
| Lithography process | 10 nanometers | 5 nanometers |
| Graphics | Mali-G72MP18 | Adreno 660 |
| GPU clock | 572 MHz | 840 MHz |
| FLOPS | ~658 GFLOPS | ~1720 GFLOPS |
Benchmarks
Geekbench 5 (Single-Core)
Geekbench 5 (Multi-Core)
AnTuTu Benchmark 9
| CPU | 106403 | 194989 |
| GPU | 131325 | 281856 |
| Memory | 59895 | 133252 |
| UX | 69985 | 147872 |
| Total score | 367228 | 757753 |
3DMark Wild Life Performance
| Stability | 93% | 69% |
| Graphics test | 13 FPS | 34 FPS |
| Graphics score | 2270 | 5787 |
| PCMark 3.0 score | 6266 | 12363 |
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 400 GB | - |
Software
| Operating system | Android 8.0 (Can be upgraded to Android 10) | Android 12 (Can be upgraded to Android 13) |
| ROM | One UI 2,1 | One UI 5.0 |
| OS size | 14 GB | 17.5 GB |
Battery
| Capacity | 3000 mAh | 4500 mAh |
| Charge power | 15 W | 25 W |
| Battery type | Li-Po | Li-Ion |
| Replaceable | No | No |
| Wireless charging | Yes, Qi/PMA (10 W) | Yes (15 W) |
| Reverse charging | No | Yes, (wireless) |
| Fast charging | Yes (40% in 30 min) | Yes (51% in 30 min) |
| Full charging time | 1:35 hr | 1:15 hr |
| Web browsing | 06:04 hr | 07:42 hr |
| Watching video | 10:57 hr | 13:05 hr |
| Gaming | 02:42 hr | 05:29 hr |
| Standby | 70 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 60FPS | Up to 60FPS |
| 1080p video recording | Up to 240FPS | Up to 60FPS |
| Slow motion | 960 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/1.5 - 2.4 - Focal length: 26 mm - Pixel size: 1.4 micron - Sensor: 1/2.55", Samsung SAK2L3 (ISOCELL 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 | - Bokeh mode - Pro mode |
- Bokeh mode - Pro mode - RAW support |
| Samples | - | 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 | ISOCELL 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* | 18 | 19 |
| 5G support | No | Yes |
Sound
| Speakers | Stereo | Stereo |
| Headphone audio jack | Yes | No |
| FM radio | No | No |
| Dolby Atmos | Yes | Yes |
Speakers test
Max. loudness
Other
| Category | Flagship | Flagship |
| Announced | February 2018 | January 2022 |
| Release date | March 2018 | January 2022 |
| SAR (head) | 0.362 W/kg | 0.95 W/kg |
| SAR (body) | 1.18 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: 44