Home News Phone Reviews Video

Samsung Galaxy S21 FE 5G vs OnePlus 9

Source： Date：

Samsung Galaxy S21 FE 5G vs OnePlus 9

71 out of 100
Samsung Galaxy S21 FE 5G
VS
69 out of 100
OnePlus 9
Samsung Galaxy S21 FE 5G
OnePlus 9

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 OnePlus 9, which is powered by Qualcomm Snapdragon 888 5G and came out 9 months before. 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 FE 5G
  • Waterproof body (IP68 classification)
  • The rear camera has a 3x optical zoom
  • Optical image stabilization
  • Slow-motion recording at 960FPS
  • 10% better performance in AnTuTu Benchmark (625K versus 568K)
  • Reverse charging feature
  • Weighs 15 grams less
  • The phone is 9-months newer
  • The front-facing camera can record video at 4K
Reasons to consider the OnePlus 9
  • Shows 8% longer battery life (28:34 vs 26:34 hours)
  • Newer Bluetooth version (v5.2)
  • Supports higher wattage charging (65W versus 25W)
  • 28% faster in single-core GeekBench 6 test: 1500 and 1174 points

Review

Evaluation of Samsung Galaxy S21 FE 5G and OnePlus 9 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

Value for money

Tests and specifications

Comparison table of technical specifications and tests
Phone:
Galaxy S21 FE 5G
vs
OnePlus 9

Display

Type Dynamic AMOLED AMOLED
Size 6.4 inches 6.55 inches
Resolution 1080 x 2340 pixels 1080 x 2400 pixels
Aspect ratio 20:9 20:9
PPI 401 ppi 402 ppi
Refresh rate 120 Hz 120 Hz
Adaptive refresh rate No Yes
Max rated brightness 420 nits 500 nits
Max rated brightness in HDR 1200 nits 1100 nits
HDR support Yes, HDR10+ Yes, HDR10+
Screen protection Gorilla Glass Victus Corning Gorilla Glass 5
Screen-to-body ratio 89.6% 87.6%
Display features - DCI-P3
- Always-On Display 		- DCI-P3
- Always-On Display
- DC Dimming
Display tests
RGB color space 97% 98.9%
PWM 247 Hz 323 Hz
Response time 6 ms 13 ms
Contrast ∞ Infinity ∞ Infinity
Peak brightness test (auto)
Galaxy S21 FE 5G
797 nits
OnePlus 9 +4%
827 nits

Design and build

Height 155.7 mm (6.13 inches) 160 mm (6.3 inches)
Width 74.5 mm (2.93 inches) 74.2 mm (2.92 inches)
Thickness 7.9 mm (0.31 inches) 8.7 mm (0.34 inches)
Weight 177 g (6.24 oz) 192 g (6.77 oz)
Waterproof IP68 No
Rear material Plastic Glass
Frame material Metal Plastic
Colors White, Gray, Green, Purple Black, Blue, Purple
Fingerprint scanner Yes, in-display Yes, in-display
Screen-to-body ratio

Performance

Tests of Samsung Galaxy S21 FE 5G and OnePlus 9 in the benchmarks
SoC
Chipset Qualcomm Snapdragon 888 Qualcomm Snapdragon 888 5G
Max clock 2840 MHz 2840 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 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 5 nanometers 5 nanometers
Graphics Adreno 660 Adreno 660
GPU shading units 1024 1024
GPU clock 792 MHz 840 MHz
FLOPS ~1622 GFLOPS ~1622 GFLOPS

Benchmarks

Geekbench 6 (Single-Core)
Geekbench 6 (Multi-Core)
AnTuTu Benchmark 10
CPU 140597 172607
GPU 209723 115432
Memory 134992 118133
UX 139479 160667
Total score 625671 568602
3DMark Wild Life Performance
Max surface temperature 39.1 °C 48.8 °C
Stability 69% 55%
Graphics test 34 FPS 34 FPS
Graphics score 5703 5761
PCMark 3.0
Web score 10889 10625
Video editing 7079 6059
Photo editing 28541 25728
Data manipulation 10075 11092
Writing score 14461 15632

Memory

RAM
RAM size 6, 8 GB 8, 12 GB
Memory type LPDDR5 LPDDR5
Memory clock 2750 MHz 2750 MHz
Channels 2 4
Storage
Storage size 128, 256 GB 128, 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 11 (Can be upgraded to Android 13)
ROM One UI 5.0 OxygenOS 13
OS size 17.5 GB 35 GB

Battery

Capacity 4500 mAh 4500 mAh
Max charge power 25 W 65 W
Battery type Li-Ion Li-Po
Replaceable No No
Wireless charging Yes (15 W) Yes (15 W)
Reverse charging Yes, (wireless) No
Fast charging Yes (51% in 30 min) Yes (100% in 29 min)
Full charging time 1:15 hr 0:29 hr
Battery life tests
Web browsing 07:42 hr 10:27 hr
Watching video 13:05 hr 12:25 hr
Gaming 05:29 hr 04:06 hr
Standby 91 hr 92 hr
General battery life
Galaxy S21 FE 5G
26:34 hr
OnePlus 9 +8%
28:34 hr

Camera

Specs and camera test of smartphones
Main camera
Matrix 12 megapixels 48 megapixels
Image resolution 4032 x 3024 8000 x 6000
Zoom Optical, 3x Digital
Flash LED Dual LED
Stabilization Optical Digital
8K video recording No Up to 30FPS
4K video recording Up to 60FPS Up to 120FPS
1080p video recording Up to 60FPS Up to 60FPS
Slow motion 960 FPS (720p) 240 FPS (1080p)
Angle of widest lens 123° 140°
Lenses 3 (12 MP + 8 MP + 12 MP) 3 (48 MP + 50 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
- Focal length: 23 mm
- Pixel size: 1.12 micron
- Sensor: 1/1.43", Sony IMX689 (Exmor-RS CMOS)
- Phase autofocus
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)
- 50 MP
- Aperture: f/2.2
- Focal length: 14 mm
- Pixel size: 1 micron
- Sensor: 1/1.56", Sony IMX766 (Exmor-RS CMOS)
- Phase autofocus
Monochrome lens - - 2 MP
- Aperture: f/2.4
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 OnePlus 9 from DxOMark
Selfie camera
Megapixels 32 megapixels 16 megapixels
Image resolution 6464 x 4864 4920 x 3264
Aperture f/2.2 f/2.0
Focal length 26 mm -
Pixel size 0.8 microns 1 microns
Sensor type Exmor-RS CMOS Exmor-RS CMOS
Sensor size 1/2.74" 1/3.06"
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 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 Direct
- Wi-Fi Hotspot
- Wi-Fi Display
Bluetooth version 5 5.2
Bluetooth features LE LE, A2DP
USB type USB Type-C USB Type-C
USB version 3.2 3.1
USB features - Charging
- USB-Storage mode
- OTG 		- Charging
- USB-Storage mode
- OTG
GPS GPS, GLONASS, Beidou, Galileo GPS, GLONASS, Beidou, Galileo, SBAS
NFC * Yes Yes
Infrared port No No
Network
Number of SIM * 2 2
Type of SIM card Nano Nano
Multi SIM mode Standby Standby
eSIM support * No No
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 March 2021
Release date January 2022 March 2021
SAR (head) 0.95 W/kg -
SAR (body) 1.48 W/kg -
Sensors - Hall-effect sensor
- Barometer
- Proximity sensor
- Gyroscope
- Accelerometer
- Ambient light sensor
- Compass
- Fingerprint 		- 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 camera, gaming, and design are more important to you, then choose the Samsung Galaxy S21 FE 5G . But if the performance and battery life are more of a priority – go for the OnePlus 9 .

Related recommendations
Scroll to Top