Samsung Galaxy S21 FE 5G vs Note 20
71
out of 100
VS
66
out of 100
Here we compared two flagship smartphones: the 6.4-inch Samsung Galaxy S21 FE 5G (with Qualcomm Snapdragon 888 ) that was released on January 4, 2022, against the Samsung Galaxy Note 20, which is powered by Exynos 990 and came out 17 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 S21 FE 5G
- Higher display refresh rate – 120 Hz
- Delivers 28% higher peak brightness (797 against 622 nits)
- Slow-motion recording at 960FPS
- The phone is 1-year and 5-months newer
- More energy-efficient CPU – Snapdragon 888
- Weighs 15 grams less
Reasons to consider the Samsung Galaxy Note 20
- Has a 0.3 inch larger screen size
- 15% better performance in AnTuTu Benchmark (718K versus 625K)
- Ready for eSIM technology
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
Scores with a red asterisk (
*
) are approximate and may change in the future as we gather more data.
Value for money
Tests and specifications
Comparison table of technical specifications and testsDisplay
| Type | Dynamic AMOLED | Super AMOLED |
| Size | 6.4 inches | 6.7 inches |
| Resolution | 1080 x 2340 pixels | 1080 x 2400 pixels |
| Aspect ratio | 20:9 | 20:9 |
| PPI | 401 ppi | 393 ppi |
| Refresh rate | 120 Hz | 60 Hz |
| Adaptive refresh rate | No | No |
| Max rated brightness | 420 nits | 600 nits |
| Max rated brightness in HDR | 1200 nits | - |
| HDR support | Yes, HDR10+ | Yes, HDR10+ |
| Screen protection | Gorilla Glass Victus | Corning Gorilla Glass 5 |
| Screen-to-body ratio | 89.6% | 89.2% |
| Display features |
- DCI-P3
- Always-On Display |
- DCI-P3
- Always-On Display |
| RGB color space | 97% | 99.9% |
| PWM | 247 Hz | 250 Hz |
| Response time | 6 ms | 6.4 ms |
| Contrast | ∞ Infinity | ∞ Infinity |
Peak brightness test (auto)
Design and build
| Height | 155.7 mm (6.13 inches) | 161.6 mm (6.36 inches) |
| Width | 74.5 mm (2.93 inches) | 75.2 mm (2.96 inches) |
| Thickness | 7.9 mm (0.31 inches) | 8.3 mm (0.33 inches) |
| Weight | 177 g (6.24 oz) | 192 g (6.77 oz) |
| Waterproof | IP68 | IP68 |
| Advanced cooling | - | Vapor chamber |
| Rear material | Plastic | Plastic |
| Frame material | Metal | Metal |
| Colors | White, Gray, Green, Purple | Black, Green, Brown |
| Fingerprint scanner | Yes, in-display | Yes, in-display |
Screen-to-body ratio
Performance
| Chipset | Qualcomm Snapdragon 888 | Samsung Exynos 990 |
| Max clock | 2840 MHz | 2730 MHz |
| CPU cores | 8 (1 + 3 + 4) | 8 (2 + 2 + 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 GHz: Cortex-A55
- 2 cores at 2.5 GHz: Cortex-A76 - 2 cores at 2.73 GHz: Exynos M5 |
| L3 cache | 4 MB | 2 MB |
| Lithography process | 5 nanometers | 7 nanometers |
| Graphics | Adreno 660 | Mali-G77 MP11 |
| GPU shading units | 1024 | 704 |
| GPU clock | 792 MHz | 550 MHz |
| FLOPS | ~1622 GFLOPS | ~1126 GFLOPS |
Benchmarks
Geekbench 6 (Single-Core)
Geekbench 6 (Multi-Core)
AnTuTu Benchmark 10
| CPU | 140597 | 214069 |
| GPU | 209723 | 202411 |
| Memory | 134992 | 134994 |
| UX | 139479 | 164236 |
| Total score | 625671 | 718109 |
3DMark Wild Life Performance
| Max surface temperature | 39.1 °C | 38.6 °C |
| Stability | 69% | 88% |
| Graphics test | 34 FPS | 25 FPS |
| Graphics score | 5703 | 4317 |
PCMark 3.0
| Web score | 10889 | 7804 |
| Video editing | 7079 | 5716 |
| Photo editing | 28541 | 29885 |
| Data manipulation | 10075 | 7954 |
| Writing score | 14461 | 11968 |
Memory
| RAM size | 6, 8 GB | 8 GB |
| Memory type | LPDDR5 | LPDDR5 |
| Memory clock | 2750 MHz | 2400 MHz |
| Channels | 2 | 2 |
| Storage size | 128, 256 GB | 256 GB |
| Storage type | UFS 3.1 | UFS 3.1 |
| Memory card | No | No |
Software
| Operating system | Android 12 (Can be upgraded to Android 13) | Android 10 (Can be upgraded to Android 13) |
| ROM | One UI 5.0 | One UI 5.0 |
| OS size | 17.5 GB | 35 GB |
Battery
| Capacity | 4500 mAh | 4300 mAh |
| Max charge power | 25 W | 25 W |
| Battery type | Li-Ion | Li-Ion |
| Replaceable | No | No |
| Wireless charging | Yes (15 W) | Yes (15 W) |
| Reverse charging | Yes, (wireless) | Yes, (wireless) |
| Fast charging | Yes (51% in 30 min) | Yes (50% in 30 min) |
| Full charging time | 1:15 hr | 1:05 hr |
| Web browsing | 07:42 hr | - |
| Watching video | 13:05 hr | - |
| Gaming | 05:29 hr | - |
| Standby | 91 hr | - |
General battery life
Camera
| Matrix | 12 megapixels | 12 megapixels |
| Image resolution | 4032 x 3024 | 4000 x 3000 |
| Zoom | Optical, 3x | Optical, 3x |
| Flash | LED | Dual LED |
| Stabilization | Optical | Optical |
| 8K video recording | No | Up to 24FPS |
| 4K video recording | Up to 60FPS | Up to 60FPS |
| 1080p video recording | Up to 60FPS | Up to 240FPS |
| Slow motion | 960 FPS (720p) | 240 FPS (1080p) |
| Angle of widest lens | 123° | 120° |
| Lenses | 3 (12 MP + 8 MP + 12 MP) | 3 (12 MP + 64 MP + 12 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 |
- 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 |
- 64 MP
- Aperture: f/2.0 - Focal length: 27 mm - Pixel size: 0.8 micron - Sensor: 1/1.72", Samsung Bright S5KGW2 (ISOCELL Plus 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) |
- 12 MP
- Aperture: f/2.2 - Pixel size: 1.4 micron - Sensor: 1/2.55", Samsung S5K2LA (ISOCELL CMOS) - Phase autofocus |
| Camera features |
- Bokeh mode
- Pro mode - RAW support |
- Bokeh mode
- Pro mode - RAW support |
| Samples | Photo samples of Samsung Galaxy S21 FE 5G from DxOMark | Photo samples of Samsung Galaxy Note 20 from DxOMark |
| Megapixels | 32 megapixels | 10 megapixels |
| Image resolution | 6464 x 4864 | 3872 x 2592 |
| Aperture | f/2.2 | f/2.2 |
| Focal length | 26 mm | 26 mm |
| Pixel size | 0.8 microns | 1.22 microns |
| Sensor type | Exmor-RS CMOS | CMOS |
| Sensor size | 1/2.74" | 1/3.2" |
| 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 6 (802.11 a/b/g/n/ac/ax) | Wi-Fi 6 (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 | 5 |
| 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 |
| GPS | GPS, GLONASS, Beidou, Galileo | GPS, GLONASS, Beidou, Galileo, NAVIC |
| 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 | Yes |
| Hybrid slot | No | No |
| LTE Cat * | 19 | 20 |
| 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 | January 2022 | August 2020 |
| Release date | January 2022 | August 2020 |
| SAR (head) | 0.95 W/kg | 0.359 W/kg |
| SAR (body) | 1.48 W/kg | 1.366 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 | - |
*
Disclaimer!
NFC, GSM network support, and some other specs can be different depending on the country.
Conclusion
If the display, camera, gaming, and design are more important to you, then choose the Samsung Galaxy S21 FE 5G . But if the battery life is more of a priority – go for the Samsung Galaxy Note 20 .
