Xiaomi 12 Pro vs Samsung Galaxy S21 FE 5G

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Xiaomi 12 Pro vs Samsung Galaxy S21 FE 5G

Here we compared two flagship smartphones: the 6.73-inch Xiaomi 12 Pro (with Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 1) that was released on December 28, 2021, against the Samsung Galaxy S21 FE 5G, which is powered by Qualcomm Snapdragon 888 . On this page, you will find tests, full specs, strengths, and weaknesses of each of the devices.

Key differences

An overview of the main advantages of each smartphone
Reasons to consider the Xiaomi 12 Pro
  • 86% better performance in AnTuTu Benchmark (1162K versus 625K)
  • Supports higher wattage charging (120W versus 25W)
  • Better camera quality (According to DxOMark rating)
  • 30% higher pixel density (521 vs 401 PPI)
  • Delivers 32% higher peak brightness (1055 against 797 nits)
  • Newer Bluetooth version (v5.2)
  • Has a 0.33 inch larger screen size
  • Slow-motion recording at 1920FPS
  • 40% faster in single-core GeekBench 6 test: 1642 and 1174 points
  • Has a built-in infrared port
Reasons to consider the Samsung Galaxy S21 FE 5G
  • Waterproof body (IP68 classification)
  • The rear camera has a 3x optical zoom
  • More recent OS version: Android 13 versus 12
  • Weighs 27 grams less
  • The front-facing camera can record video at 4K

Review

Evaluation of Xiaomi 12 Pro and Samsung Galaxy S21 FE 5G 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

Display

Type AMOLED Dynamic AMOLED
Size 6.73 inches 6.4 inches
Resolution 1440 x 3200 pixels 1080 x 2340 pixels
Aspect ratio 20:9 20:9
PPI 521 ppi 401 ppi
Refresh rate 120 Hz 120 Hz
Adaptive refresh rate Yes No
Max rated brightness 970 nits 420 nits
Max rated brightness in HDR 1500 nits 1200 nits
HDR support Yes, Dolby Vision Yes, HDR10+
Screen protection Gorilla Glass Victus Gorilla Glass Victus
Screen-to-body ratio 89.6% 89.6%
Display features - DCI-P3
- Always-On Display
- DC Dimming
- DCI-P3
- Always-On Display
Display tests
RGB color space 99.8% 97%
PWM 367 Hz 247 Hz
Response time 5 ms 6 ms
Contrast ∞ Infinity ∞ Infinity
Peak brightness test (auto)
1055 nits

Design and build

Height 163.6 mm (6.44 inches) 155.7 mm (6.13 inches)
Width 74.6 mm (2.94 inches) 74.5 mm (2.93 inches)
Thickness 8.66 mm (0.34 inches) 7.9 mm (0.31 inches)
Weight 204 g (7.2 oz) 177 g (6.24 oz)
Waterproof No IP68
Advanced cooling Vapor chamber -
Rear material Glass Plastic
Frame material Metal Metal
Colors Black, Blue, Green, Pink White, Gray, Green, Purple
Fingerprint scanner Yes, in-display Yes, in-display
Screen-to-body ratio

Performance

Tests of Xiaomi 12 Pro and Samsung Galaxy S21 FE 5G in the benchmarks
SoC
Chipset Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 Qualcomm Snapdragon 888
Max clock 3000 MHz 2840 MHz
CPU cores 8 (1 + 3 + 4) 8 (1 + 3 + 4)
Architecture - 4 cores at 1.8 GHz: Cortex-A510
- 3 cores at 2.5 GHz: Cortex-A710
- 1 core at 3 GHz: Cortex-X2
- 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 6 MB 4 MB
Lithography process 4 nanometers 5 nanometers
Graphics Adreno 730 Adreno 660
GPU shading units 1536 1024
GPU clock 818 MHz 792 MHz
FLOPS ~2512.8 GFLOPS ~1622 GFLOPS

Benchmarks

Geekbench 6 (Single-Core)
Geekbench 6 (Multi-Core)
AnTuTu Benchmark 10
1162829
CPU 310850 140597
GPU 404697 209723
Memory 206389 134992
UX 238519 139479
Total score 1162829 625671
3DMark Wild Life Performance
Max surface temperature 41.2 °C 39.1 °C
Stability 68% 69%
Graphics test 55 FPS 34 FPS
Graphics score 9302 5703
PCMark 3.0
Web score 11824 10889
Video editing 7637 7079
Photo editing 29183 28541
Data manipulation 9393 10075
Writing score 14790 14461

Memory

RAM
RAM size 8, 12 GB 6, 8 GB
Memory type LPDDR5 LPDDR5
Memory clock 3200 MHz 2750 MHz
Channels 2 2
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 Android 12 (Can be upgraded to Android 13)
ROM MIUI 13 One UI 5.0
OS size 26.5 GB 17.5 GB

Battery

Capacity 4600 mAh 4500 mAh
Max charge power 120 W 25 W
Battery type Li-Po Li-Ion
Replaceable No No
Wireless charging Yes (50 W) Yes (15 W)
Reverse charging Yes, (wireless) Yes, (wireless)
Fast charging Yes (50% in 8 min) Yes (51% in 30 min)
Full charging time 0:21 hr 1:15 hr
Battery life tests
Web browsing 08:57 hr 07:42 hr
Watching video 10:04 hr 13:05 hr
Gaming 05:05 hr 05:29 hr
Standby 89 hr 91 hr
General battery life
25:40 hr
26:34 hr

Camera

Specs and camera test of smartphones
Main camera
Matrix 50 megapixels 12 megapixels
Image resolution 8700 x 5800 4032 x 3024
Zoom Optical, 2x Optical, 3x
Flash Dual LED LED
Stabilization Optical Optical
8K video recording Up to 24FPS No
4K video recording Up to 60FPS Up to 60FPS
1080p video recording Up to 60FPS Up to 60FPS
Slow motion 1920 FPS (720p) 960 FPS (720p)
Angle of widest lens 115° 123°
Lenses 3 (50 MP + 50 MP + 50 MP) 3 (12 MP + 8 MP + 12 MP)
Wide (main) lens - 50 MP
- Aperture: f/1.9
- Focal length: 24 mm
- Pixel size: 1.22 micron
- Sensor: 1/1.28", Sony IMX707 (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 - 50 MP
- Aperture: f/1.9
- Focal length: 48 mm
- Pixel size: 0.64 micron
- Sensor: 1/2.76", Samsung JN1 (ISOCELL Plus CMOS)
- Phase autofocus
- 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 - 50 MP
- Aperture: f/2.2
- Focal length: 14 mm
- Pixel size: 0.64 micron
- Sensor: 1/2.76", Samsung JN1 (ISOCELL Plus CMOS)
- 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
- RAW support
- Bokeh mode
- Pro mode
- RAW support
Samples Photo samples of Xiaomi 12 Pro from DxOMark Photo samples of Samsung Galaxy S21 FE 5G from DxOMark
Selfie camera
Megapixels 32 megapixels 32 megapixels
Image resolution 6528 x 4896 6464 x 4864
Aperture f/2.5 f/2.2
Focal length 26 mm 26 mm
Pixel size 0.7 microns 0.8 microns
Sensor type CMOS Exmor-RS CMOS
Sensor size 1/3.14" 1/2.74"
Video resolution 1080p (Full HD) at 60 FPS 2160p (4K) at 60 FPS

DxOMark camera tests

Photo quality
Video quality
Generic camera score

Connectivity

Wi-Fi standard Wi-Fi 6E (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 5.2 5
Bluetooth features LE LE
USB type USB Type-C USB Type-C
USB version 2 3.2
USB features - Charging
- USB-Storage mode
- OTG
- Charging
- USB-Storage 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 No
Hybrid slot No No
LTE Cat * 20 19
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
84.2 dB
88.9 dB

Other

Category Flagship Flagship
Announced December 2021 January 2022
Release date December 2021 January 2022
SAR (head) - 0.95 W/kg
SAR (body) - 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
Bundled charger Yes, 120 W Not included
* 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 Xiaomi 12 Pro is definitely a better buy.

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