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Samsung Galaxy S21 vs Galaxy A03

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Samsung Galaxy S21 vs Galaxy A03

70 out of 100
Samsung Galaxy S21
VS
49 out of 100
Samsung Galaxy A03
Samsung Galaxy S21
Samsung Galaxy A03

Here we compared two smartphones: the 6.2-inch Samsung Galaxy S21 (with Exynos 2100) that was released on January 14, 2021, against the Samsung Galaxy A03, which is powered by Unisoc T606 and came out 11 months after. On this page, you will find tests, full specs, strengths, and weaknesses of each of the devices.

  1. Differences
  2. Review
  3. Specs
  4. Benchmarks
  5. Battery life
  6. Camera
  7. Comments

Key differences

An overview of the main advantages of each smartphone
Reasons to consider the Samsung Galaxy S21
  • Waterproof body (IP68 classification)
  • 3.9x better performance in AnTuTu Benchmark (806K versus 206K)
  • Higher display refresh rate – 120 Hz
  • Delivers 105% higher peak brightness (864 against 422 nits)
  • 56% higher pixel density (421 vs 270 PPI)
  • Modern USB Type-C port
  • Handles wireless charging up to 15W
  • Optical image stabilization
  • The rear camera has a 1.1x optical zoom
  • Slow-motion recording at 960FPS
  • Ability to record video in 4K resolution
  • Fingerprint scanner
  • More energy-efficient CPU – Exynos 2100
Reasons to consider the Samsung Galaxy A03
  • Comes with 1000 mAh larger battery capacity: 5000 vs 4000 mAh
  • Expandable storage via MicroSD card up to 1024GB
  • Has a 0.3 inch larger screen size
  • The phone is 11-months newer
  • Includes a 3.5 mm headphone audio jack port

Review

Evaluation of Samsung Galaxy S21 and Galaxy A03 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
Scores with a red asterisk ( * ) are approximate and may change in the future as we gather more data.
NanoReview Score
Final comparison evaluation

Value for money

Tests and specifications

Comparison table of technical specifications and tests
Phone:
Galaxy S21
vs
Galaxy A03

Display

Type Dynamic AMOLED PLS TFT
Size 6.2 inches 6.5 inches
Resolution 1080 x 2400 pixels 720 x 1600 pixels
Aspect ratio 20:9 20:9
PPI 421 ppi 270 ppi
Refresh rate 120 Hz 60 Hz
Adaptive refresh rate No No
Max rated brightness 800 nits 400 nits
HDR support Yes, HDR10+ No
Screen protection Gorilla Glass Victus Tempered glass
Screen-to-body ratio 87.2% 81.8%
Display features - DCI-P3
- Always-On Display 		-
Display tests
RGB color space 99.5% 96%
PWM 240 Hz Not detected
Response time 5 ms 45 ms
Contrast ∞ Infinity 1641:1
Peak brightness test (auto)
Galaxy S21 +105%
864 nits
Galaxy A03
422 nits

Design and build

Height 151.7 mm (5.97 inches) 164.2 mm (6.46 inches)
Width 71.2 mm (2.8 inches) 75.9 mm (2.99 inches)
Thickness 7.9 mm (0.31 inches) 9.1 mm (0.36 inches)
Weight 169 g (5.96 oz) 196 g (6.91 oz)
Waterproof IP68 No
Rear material Plastic Plastic
Frame material Metal Plastic
Colors White, Gray, Pink, Purple Black, Blue, Red
Fingerprint scanner Yes, in-display No
Screen-to-body ratio

Performance

Tests of Samsung Galaxy S21 and Samsung Galaxy A03 in the benchmarks
SoC
Chipset Samsung Exynos 2100 Unisoc T606
Max clock 2900 MHz 1600 MHz
CPU cores 8 (1 + 3 + 4) 8 (2 + 6)
Architecture - 4 cores at 2.2 GHz: Cortex-A55
- 3 cores at 2.81 GHz: Cortex-A78
- 1 core at 2.91 GHz: Cortex-X1 		- 6 cores at 1.6 GHz: Cortex-A55
- 2 cores at 1.6 GHz: Cortex-A75
L3 cache - 1 MB
Lithography process 5 nanometers 12 nanometers
Graphics Mali-G78 MP14 Mali-G57 MP1
GPU shading units 896 64
GPU clock 854 MHz 650 MHz
FLOPS ~1530.4 GFLOPS ~83.2 GFLOPS

Benchmarks

Geekbench 6 (Single-Core)
Geekbench 6 (Multi-Core)
AnTuTu Benchmark 10
Galaxy S21 +290%
806977
Galaxy A03
206902
CPU 150223 75655
GPU 340353 25987
Memory 151885 49741
UX 158712 54622
Total score 806977 206902
3DMark Wild Life Performance
Max surface temperature 38.9 °C 43.2 °C
Stability 66% 97%
Graphics test 34 FPS 2 FPS
Graphics score 5714 407
PCMark 3.0
Galaxy S21 +102%
13558
Galaxy A03
6720
Web score 12591 5985
Video editing 7113 3936
Photo editing 29385 13761
Data manipulation 10438 5461
Writing score 16561 8396

Memory

RAM
RAM size 8 GB 3, 4 GB
Memory type LPDDR5 LPDDR4X
Memory clock 2750 MHz -
Channels 2 2
Storage
Storage size 128, 256 GB 32, 64, 128 GB
Storage type UFS 3.1 eMMC 5.1
Memory card No MicroSD
Memory card max size - Up to 1024 GB

Software

Operating system Android 11 (Can be upgraded to Android 13) Android 11 (Can be upgraded to Android 13)
ROM One UI 5.1 One UI Core 5.0
OS size 28.1 GB 13.5 GB

Battery

Capacity 4000 mAh 5000 mAh
Max charge power 25 W 15 W
Battery type Li-Ion Li-Ion
Replaceable No No
Wireless charging Yes (15 W) No
Reverse charging Yes, (wireless) No
Fast charging Yes (55% in 50 min) Yes (20% in 40 min)
Full charging time 1:35 hr 3:35 hr
Battery life tests
Web browsing 07:27 hr -
Watching video 12:26 hr -
Gaming 04:31 hr -
Standby 92 hr -
General battery life

Camera

Specs and camera test of smartphones
Main camera
Matrix 12 megapixels 48 megapixels
Image resolution 4000 x 3000 8000 x 6000
Zoom Optical, 1.1x Digital
Flash Dual LED LED
Stabilization Optical Digital
8K video recording Up to 24FPS No
4K video recording Up to 60FPS No
1080p video recording Up to 60FPS Up to 30FPS
Slow motion 960 FPS (720p) No
Angle of widest lens 120° -
Lenses 3 (12 MP + 64 MP + 12 MP) 2 (48 MP + 2 MP)
Wide (main) lens - 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
- 48 MP
- Aperture: f/1.8
- Phase autofocus
Telephoto lens - 64 MP
- Aperture: f/2.0
- Focal length: 28 mm
- Pixel size: 0.8 micron
- Sensor: 1/1.72", Samsung Bright S5KGW2 (ISOCELL Plus 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 IMX563 (Exmor-RS CMOS)
- Phase autofocus (Dual Pixel)
-
Depth lens - - 2 MP
- Aperture: f/2.4
Camera features - Bokeh mode
- Pro mode
- RAW support 		- Bokeh mode
Samples Photo samples of Samsung Galaxy S21 from DxOMark -
Selfie camera
Megapixels 10 megapixels 5 megapixels
Image resolution 3872 x 2592 2560 x 1960
Aperture f/2.2 f/2.2
Focal length 26 mm -
Pixel size 1.22 microns -
Sensor type 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 6 (802.11 a/b/g/n/ac/ax) Wi-Fi 5 (802.11 b/g/n/ac)
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 5
Bluetooth features LE, A2DP LE, A2DP
USB type USB Type-C Micro USB
USB version 3.2 2
USB features - Charging
- USB-Storage mode
- USB-Host mode
- OTG 		- Charging
- USB-Storage mode
GPS GPS, GLONASS, Beidou, Galileo GPS, GLONASS, Beidou, Galileo, QZSS
NFC * Yes No
Infrared port No No
Network
Number of SIM * 2 2
Type of SIM card Nano Nano
Multi SIM mode Standby Standby
eSIM support * Yes No
Hybrid slot No No
LTE Cat * 24 4
5G support Yes No

Sound

Speakers Stereo Mono
Headphone audio jack No Yes
FM radio No -
Dolby Atmos Yes Yes
Speakers test
Max loudness
Galaxy S21 +6%
87 dB
Galaxy A03
81.9 dB

Other

Category Flagship Budget
Announced January 2021 November 2021
Release date February 2021 January 2022
SAR (head) 0.46 W/kg -
SAR (body) 1.51 W/kg -
Sensors - Hall-effect sensor
- Barometer
- Proximity sensor
- Gyroscope
- Accelerometer
- Ambient light sensor
- Compass
- Fingerprint 		- Proximity sensor
- Accelerometer
- Ambient light sensor
Bundled charger - Yes, 0 W
* 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 is definitely a better buy.

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