Home > Smartphone comparison > Mi 11 Ultra vs Galaxy S21 Ultra – which one to choose?

Xiaomi Mi 11 Ultra vs Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra

64 out of 100
Xiaomi Mi 11 Ultra
VS
62 out of 100
Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra
Xiaomi Mi 11 Ultra
Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra

Here we compared two flagship smartphones: the 6.81-inch Xiaomi Mi 11 Ultra (with Qualcomm Snapdragon 888) that was released on March 29, 2021, against the Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra, which is powered by Exynos 2100 and came out 3 months before. On this page, you will find tests, full specs, strengths, and weaknesses of each of the devices.

Select the amount of RAM to evaluate performance and value for money more precisely
Memory
  1. Differences
  2. Review
  3. Specs
  4. Benchmarks
  5. Battery life
  6. Camera
  7. Comments (18)

Key differences

An overview of the main advantages of each smartphone
Reasons to consider the Xiaomi Mi 11 Ultra
  • Better camera quality (According to DxOMark rating)
  • Supports higher wattage charging (67W versus 25W)
  • Slow-motion recording at 1920FPS
  • Has a built-in infrared port
Reasons to consider the Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra
  • The rear camera has a 10x optical zoom
  • Shows 23% longer battery life (22:05 vs 17:59 hours)
  • Delivers 9% higher peak brightness (1028 against 946 nits)
  • More recent OS version: Android 15 versus 14
  • Supports Dolby Atmos sound technology
  • The front-facing camera can record video at 4K
  • Ready for eSIM technology

Review

Evaluation of Xiaomi Mi 11 Ultra and Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra crucial features
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
NanoReview Score
Final comparison evaluation
Select your primary usage scenario to get a more accurate NanoReview Score
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Value for money (Beta)

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Currency
8 / 256 GB
VS
8 / 128 GB
64.7
(Average)
Value Index
32.0
(Mediocre)

Tests and specifications

Comparison table of technical specifications and tests
Phone:
Mi 11 Ultra
vs
Galaxy S21 Ultra

Display

Type AMOLED Dynamic AMOLED
Size 6.81 inches 6.8 inches
Resolution 1440 x 3200 pixels 1440 x 3200 pixels
Aspect ratio 20:9 20:9
PPI 515 ppi 515 ppi
Refresh rate 120 Hz 120 Hz
Adaptive refresh rate Yes Yes (10-120 Hz)
Max rated brightness 900 nits 1500 nits
Max rated brightness in HDR 1500 nits -
HDR support Yes, HDR10+ Yes, HDR10+
Touch sampling rate 480 Hz -
Screen protection Gorilla Glass Victus Gorilla Glass Victus
Screen-to-body ratio 91.4% 89.5%
Display features - DCI-P3
- Always-On Display
- DC Dimming		 - DCI-P3
- Always-On Display
Display tests
RGB color space 99.8% -
PWM 510 Hz -
Response time 2.8 ms -
Contrast ∞ Infinity -
Peak brightness test (auto)
Mi 11 Ultra
946 nits
Galaxy S21 Ultra +9%
1028 nits
Sources: NotebookCheck [3], [4]

Design and build

Height 164.3 mm (6.47 inches) 165.1 mm (6.5 inches)
Width 74.6 mm (2.94 inches) 75.6 mm (2.98 inches)
Thickness 8.4 mm (0.33 inches) 8.9 mm (0.35 inches)
Weight 234 g (8.25 oz) 227 g (8.01 oz)
Waterproof IP68 IP68
Rear material Ceramic Glass
Frame material Metal Metal
Colors White, Black Black, Silver, Gray, Blue
Fingerprint scanner Yes, in-display Yes, in-display
Screen-to-body ratio
Mi 11 Ultra +2%
91.4%
Galaxy S21 Ultra
89.5%

Performance

Chipset specifications of Xiaomi Mi 11 Ultra and Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra
SoC
Chipset Qualcomm Snapdragon 888 Samsung Exynos 2100
Max clock 2840 MHz 2900 MHz
CPU cores 8 (1 + 3 + 4) 8 (1 + 3 + 4)
Architecture - 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)		 - 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 4 MB -
Manufacturing Samsung Samsung
Lithography process 5 nanometers 5 nanometers
Neural processor (NPU) Hexagon 780 Yes
GPU
Graphics Adreno 660 Mali-G78 MP14
GPU shading units 768 448
GPU clock 840 MHz 854 MHz
FLOPS ~1290.2 GFLOPS ~765.2 GFLOPS

Benchmarks

Benchmark comparison of Xiaomi Mi 11 Ultra and Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra
Geekbench 6 (Single-Core)
Geekbench 6 (Multi-Core)
Compute Score (GPU)
Compute Score (GPU) - 6870
Single-core score 1523 1486
Multi-core score 3979 3800
Sources: Geekbench [3], [4]
AnTuTu Benchmark 11
Mi 11 Ultra +2%
1100336
Galaxy S21 Ultra
1074182
CPU 398735 420330
GPU 180832 186151
Memory 194748 193925
UX 326051 273776
Total score 1100336 1074182
Samples [13 tests] [11 tests]
3DMark Wild Life Extreme
Stability 91% -
Graphics test 7 FPS -
Graphics score 1314 -
Sources: 3DMark [5], [6]
PCMark 3.0
Web score 11865 -
Video editing 7582 -
Photo editing 28098 -
Data manipulation 9632 -
Writing score 14688 -
Submit your benchmark results

Recent User Tests

The latest benchmark tests that have been submitted by users
Xiaomi Mi 11 Ultra
DateBenchmarkResult
📘 2026-07-07 (Gordon)Geekbench 6 CPU1523 / 3979
📘 2026-07-07 (Gordon)AnTuTu 111225128
📘 2026-07-07 (Gordon)AnTuTu 111204573
📘 2026-04-10 -> LORIXAnTuTu 111004194
📘 2026-02-24 (N00b1k_x)AnTuTu 111028590
Add View all (14)
Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra
DateBenchmarkResult
📘 2026-10-06 (Nurik)AnTuTu 12900228
📘 2026-09-30 -> fh_hxx19AnTuTu 121191592
📘 2026-09-30 -> fh_hxx19AnTuTu 121191592
📘 2026-07-22 (Squizzyyy)AnTuTu 11857016
📘 2026-06-02 (My name)AnTuTu 111271841
Add View all (30)

Memory

RAM
RAM size 8 GB 8 GB
Memory type LPDDR5 LPDDR5
Memory clock 2750 MHz 2750 MHz
Channels 2 2
Storage
Storage size 256 GB 128 GB
Storage type UFS 3.1 UFS 3.1
Memory card No No

Software

Operating system Android 11 (Can be upgraded to Android 14) Android 11 (Can be upgraded to Android 15)
ROM HyperOS 1.0 One UI 7.0
OS size 31 GB 26.4 GB
OS updates - 2 years
Security updates - 4 years

Battery

Capacity 5000 mAh 5000 mAh
Max charge power 67 W 25 W
Battery type Li-Po Li-Ion
Replaceable No No
Wireless charging Yes (67 W) Yes (15 W)
Reverse charging Yes, (wireless) Yes, (wireless)
Fast charging Yes (90% in 30 min) Yes (54% in 30 min)
Full charging time 0:37 hr 1:11 hr
Battery life tests
Web browsing 06:28 hr 07:58 hr
Watching video 11:22 hr 13:59 hr
Gaming 04:38 hr 05:14 hr
Standby 90 hr 111 hr
General battery life
Mi 11 Ultra
17:59 hr
Galaxy S21 Ultra +23%
22:05 hr
Add your battery life

Main camera

Matrix 50 megapixels 108 megapixels
Image resolution 8700 x 5800 12000 x 9000
Zoom Optical, 5x Optical, 10x
Flash Dual 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 1920 FPS (1080p) 960 FPS (720p)
Angle of widest lens 128° 120°
Lenses 1) Standard: 50 MP
2) Telephoto: 48 MP
3) Ultrawide: 48 MP
1) Standard: 108 MP
2) Telephoto: 10 MP
3) Telephoto: 10 MP
4) Ultrawide: 12 MP
Camera features - Bokeh mode
- Pro mode
- RAW support		 - Bokeh mode
- Pro mode
- RAW support
Standard lens
Image resolution 50 MP 108 MP
Aperture f/2.0 f/1.8
Focal length 24 mm 26 mm
Sensor Samsung GN2 Samsung S5KHM3
Sensor size 1/1.12" (≈ 0.89 inch) 1/1.33" (≈ 0.75 inch)
Pixel size 1.4 micron 0.8 micron
Autofocus Laser autofocus Laser autofocus
Stabilization Optical Optical
Telephoto lens
Image resolution 48 MP 10 MP
Aperture f/4.1 f/4.9
Focal length 120 mm 240 mm
Sensor Sony IMX586 Samsung S5K3J1
Sensor size 1/2" (≈ 0.5 inch) 1/2.65" (≈ 0.38 inch)
Pixel size 0.8 micron 1.22 micron
Stabilization Optical Optical
Ultra-wide lens
Image resolution 48 MP 12 MP
Aperture f/2.2 f/2.2
Focal length 12 mm 13 mm
Sensor Sony IMX586 Sony IMX563
Sensor size 1/2" (≈ 0.5 inch) 1/2.55" (≈ 0.39 inch)
Pixel size 0.8 micron 1.4 micron
Stabilization Digital Digital

DxOMark main camera tests

Photo quality
Video quality
Generic main camera score
Bokeh 75 70
Preview 72 67
Zoom 142 106
Samples Photo samples of Xiaomi Mi 11 Ultra from DxOMark Photo samples of Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra from DxOMark

Selfie camera

Megapixels 20 megapixels 40 megapixels
Image resolution 5380 x 3620 7864 x 5200
Aperture f/2.3 f/2.2
Focal length 27 mm 26 mm
Sensor Samsung S5K3T2 Samsung S5KGH1
Sensor size 1/3.4" (≈ 0.29 inch) 1/2.65" (≈ 0.38 inch)
Pixel size 0.8 micron 0.7 micron
Autofocus Phase autofocus Phase autofocus
Stabilization Digital Digital
Video resolution 1080p (Full HD) at 60 FPS 2160p (4K) at 60 FPS
Depth sensor (TOF 3D) No No
DxOMark front camera
Photo 117 133
Video 139 140

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 5.2 5.2
Bluetooth features LE, A2DP LE, A2DP
USB type USB Type-C USB Type-C
USB version 2 3.2
USB features - Charging
- USB-Storage mode
- OTG		 - Charging
- USB-Storage mode
- USB-Host mode
- OTG
GPS GPS, GLONASS, Beidou, Galileo, QZSS, NAVIC GPS, GLONASS, Beidou, Galileo
NFC* Yes Yes
Infrared port Yes No
Network
Number of SIM* 2 2
Type of SIM card Nano Nano
Multi SIM mode Standby Standby
eSIM support* No Yes
Hybrid slot No No
LTE Cat* 24 24
5G support Yes Yes

Sound

Speakers Stereo Stereo
Headphone audio jack No No
FM radio No No
Dolby Atmos No Yes
Speakers test
Max loudness
Mi 11 Ultra +2%
89.5 dB
Galaxy S21 Ultra
88 dB

Other

Category Flagship Flagship
Announced March 2021 January 2021
Release date April 2021 February 2021
Launch price (MSRP) $1299 $1200
Successor - Xiaomi 12S Ultra - Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra
SAR (head) - 0.71 W/kg
SAR (body) - 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
*Disclaimer! NFC, GSM network support, and some other specs can be different depending on the country.

Conclusion

If the camera and design are more important to you, then choose the Xiaomi Mi 11 Ultra. But if the battery life, connectivity, software, and sound are more of a priority – go for the Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra.

Cast your vote

So, which phone would you choose?
2083 (57.1%)
1565 (42.9%)
Total votes: 3648

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User opinions

You can share your opinion or ask a question in the comments below
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Avatar
Jerry October 6, 2021 at 05:30 PM
I have both of these phones, both of them are the best flagship killers, but unfortunately galaxy S21 ultra has software bugs so it show itself during working and in long time.
+39 Reply
Avatar
Mokeet October 13, 2021 at 09:10 PM
What are you saying 😅 Mi 11 ultra's MIUI has the bugs but S21 Ultra's One Ui is clean and fast ui
+38 Reply
Avatar
Danial September 8, 2021 at 07:34 PM
From what we see on cast your vote segment.. its clearly that xiaomi goddamn licker thinking their flagship device could beat samsung flagship even in fact that s21 ultra clearly is better.
+22 Reply
Avatar
Favour January 29, 2025 at 09:31 AM
No it doesn't can't u see the gap difference
+2 Reply
Avatar
Jas August 29, 2021 at 02:03 PM
East or west mi is the best. Within 10 years they beat samsung and apple in many country. And now they are defeating samsung in tv industry and are building their own car.
+9 Reply
Avatar
dev January 27, 2022 at 06:59 AM
you think you know nothing about tech Samsung has 24 percent market share and is 1st place while Xiaomi is 2nd and apple is 3rd and Samsung TVs are way better than mi TVs and Samsung makes the screen for Xiaomi TVs and mobiles I'm not a hater of Xiaomi my cousin uses a mi11 ultra and it's a good phone and has more performance power than the s21 ultra but the camera and battery software Samsung is better I know because I use the s21 ultra.
+3 Reply
Avatar
Farooq Khan July 19, 2021 at 01:28 AM
I just heard from many reviewers that xiaomi just killed Samsung. But please explain how if xiaomi is using Samsung's camera sensor
+33 Reply
Avatar
Jas August 29, 2021 at 01:58 PM
So what? If samsung use their own camera sensor they can provide their phone in cheaper price. But mi provides lower price even though they are using dedicated camera sensor.
+2 Reply
Avatar
dev January 27, 2022 at 07:06 AM
Jas, Xiaomi uses Samsung's screen camera everything so if Samsung is not there neither is Xiaomi.
+1 Reply
Avatar
Miguel lopes July 6, 2021 at 07:24 PM
Nessa comparação em específico eu achei que tava faltando informações então resolvi ver em outros sites e até fui no sites das próprias fabricantes da Samsung e da xiaomi e depois de pensar achei o mi11 ultra melhor o que me atraia ao s21 ultra era o zoom de 100x mas o mi11 ultra tem de 120x tudo bem que o s21 ultra tem zoom de 10x óptico e o mi11 ultra tem de 5x óptico mas para mim 5x é suficiente
+5 Reply
Avatar
Jayed AL Sabit April 26, 2021 at 01:19 PM
Well, to all those saying that the Mi 11 Ultra is better, there is something called 'Software optimization' and camera in which the Mi 11 Ultra barely competes with the Samsung. So it's pretty much safe to say that the S21 Ultra is an overall better value than the Mi 11 Ultra considering that the S21 Ultra can be found cheaper nowadays!!
+40 Reply
Avatar
Aadit Kar May 10, 2021 at 02:24 PM
You're correct bro. Hardware isn't the only thing , in software xiaomi is nowhere around Samsung.
+15 Reply
Avatar
Olama June 25, 2021 at 03:18 PM
I think most people will pick Samsung base on performance and durability
+10 Reply
Avatar
Jas August 29, 2021 at 01:59 PM
Try using miui software it's far better than oneui i have tried both and i can say clearly that miui has more features and it looks beautiful.
+4 Reply
Avatar
Jas August 29, 2021 at 02:00 PM
Aadit Kar, It's not true miui was the first os used in any Android even samsung has used it 10 years back.
+2 Reply
Avatar
Jas August 29, 2021 at 02:01 PM
Olama, Man you didn't even saw which phone has better performance
+2 Reply
Avatar
dev January 27, 2022 at 07:10 AM
Jas, seems you have never used a mi device miui is the worst os i have ever seen and onui is wayyyyy beter
+1 Reply
Avatar
dadash February 4, 2022 at 04:20 PM
Jas, miui It has many bugs and regiments, one ui It is more stable and receives updates sooner, so Samsung is always better than Xiaomi, Xiaomi is not worth another year
0 Reply
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