Xiaomi 12X vs Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra
Here we compared two flagship smartphones: the 6.28-inch Xiaomi 12X (with Qualcomm Snapdragon 870) that was released on December 28, 2021, against the Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra, which is powered by Exynos 2100 and came out 12 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 Xiaomi 12X
- Shows 14% longer battery life (35:28 vs 31:14 hours)
- Supports higher wattage charging (67W versus 25W)
- The phone is 1-year newer
- Weighs 51 grams less
- Better grip in hands – the body is 5.7 mm narrower
- Has a built-in infrared port
Reasons to consider the Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra
- Waterproof body (IP68 classification)
- The rear camera has a 10x optical zoom
- Has a 0.52 inch larger screen size
- Handles wireless charging up to 15W
- Newer Bluetooth version (v5.2)
- Comes with 500 mAh larger battery capacity: 5000 vs 4500 mAh
- Delivers 10% higher peak brightness (1023 against 928 nits)
- 23% higher pixel density (515 vs 419 PPI)
- The front-facing camera can record video at 4K
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
Value for money
Tests and specifications
Comparison table of technical specifications and testsDisplay
| Type | AMOLED | Dynamic AMOLED |
| Size | 6.28 inches | 6.8 inches |
| Resolution | 1080 x 2400 pixels | 1440 x 3200 pixels |
| Aspect ratio | 20:9 | 20:9 |
| PPI | 419 ppi | 515 ppi |
| Refresh rate | 120 Hz | 120 Hz |
| Adaptive refresh rate | No | Yes |
| Max rated brightness | 500 nits | 1500 nits |
| Max rated brightness in HDR | 1100 nits | - |
| HDR support | Yes, HDR10+ | Yes, HDR10+ |
| Screen protection | Gorilla Glass Victus | Gorilla Glass Victus |
| Screen-to-body ratio | 89.2% | 89.8% |
| Display features |
- DCI-P3
- Always-On Display - DC Dimming |
- DCI-P3
- Always-On Display |
| RGB color space | 98.6% | - |
| PWM | 523 Hz | - |
| Response time | 1 ms | - |
| Contrast | ∞ Infinity | - |
Peak brightness test (auto)
Design and build
| Height | 152.7 mm (6.01 inches) | 165.1 mm (6.5 inches) |
| Width | 69.9 mm (2.75 inches) | 75.6 mm (2.98 inches) |
| Thickness | 8.16 mm (0.32 inches) | 8.9 mm (0.35 inches) |
| Weight | 176 g (6.21 oz) | 227 g (8.01 oz) |
| Waterproof | No | IP68 |
| Rear material | Glass | Glass |
| Frame material | Metal | Metal |
| Colors | Black, Blue, Pink | Black, Silver, Gray, Blue |
| Fingerprint scanner | Yes, in-display | Yes, in-display |
Screen-to-body ratio
Performance
| Chipset | Qualcomm Snapdragon 870 | Samsung Exynos 2100 |
| Max clock | 3200 MHz | 2840 MHz |
| CPU cores | 8 (1 + 3 + 4) | 8 (1 + 3 + 4) |
| Architecture |
- 4 cores at 1.8 GHz: Kryo 585 Silver (Cortex-A55)
- 3 cores at 2.42 GHz: Kryo 585 Gold (Cortex-A77) - 1 core at 3.2 GHz: Kryo 585 Prime (Cortex-A77) |
- 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 | - |
| Lithography process | 7 nanometers | 5 nanometers |
| Graphics | Adreno 650 | Mali-G78 MP14 |
| GPU shading units | 1024 | 896 |
| GPU clock | 670 MHz | 854 MHz |
| FLOPS | ~1372.1 GFLOPS | ~1530.4 GFLOPS |
Benchmarks
Geekbench 6 (Single-Core)
Geekbench 6 (Multi-Core)
AnTuTu Benchmark 10
| CPU | 230693 | 236566 |
| GPU | 219195 | 255535 |
| Memory | 151434 | 157504 |
| UX | 202860 | 183564 |
| Total score | 806981 | 833650 |
3DMark Wild Life Performance
| Max surface temperature | 37.6 °C | 40.8 °C |
| Stability | 98% | 69% |
| Graphics test | 25 FPS | 31 FPS |
| Graphics score | 4254 | 5221 |
Memory
| RAM size | 8, 12 GB | 12, 16 GB |
| Memory type | LPDDR5 | LPDDR5 |
| Memory clock | - | 2750 MHz |
| Channels | 2 | 2 |
| Storage size | 128, 256 GB | 128, 256, 512 GB |
| Storage type | UFS 3.1 | UFS 3.1 |
| Memory card | No | No |
Software
| Operating system | Android 11 (Can be upgraded to Android 13) | Android 11 (Can be upgraded to Android 13) |
| ROM | MIUI 14 | One UI 5.1 |
| OS size | 29.3 GB | 26.4 GB |
Battery
| Capacity | 4500 mAh | 5000 mAh |
| Max charge power | 67 W | 25 W |
| Battery type | Li-Po | Li-Ion |
| Replaceable | No | No |
| Wireless charging | No | Yes (15 W) |
| Reverse charging | No | Yes, (wireless) |
| Fast charging | Yes (78% in 30 min) | Yes (54% in 30 min) |
| Full charging time | 0:48 hr | 1:11 hr |
| Web browsing | 13:05 hr | 10:13 hr |
| Watching video | 16:44 hr | 15:32 hr |
| Gaming | 05:31 hr | 05:26 hr |
| Standby | 104 hr | 98 hr |
General battery life
Camera
| Matrix | 50 megapixels | 108 megapixels |
| Image resolution | 8700 x 5800 | 12000 x 9000 |
| Zoom | Digital | 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 | 960 FPS (720p) | 960 FPS (720p) |
| Angle of widest lens | 123° | 120° |
| Lenses | 3 (50 MP + 13 MP + 5 MP) | 4 (108 MP + 10 MP + 10 MP + 12 MP) |
| Wide (main) lens |
- 50 MP
- Aperture: f/1.9 - Focal length: 26 mm - Pixel size: 1 micron - Sensor: 1/1.56", Sony IMX766 (Exmor-RS CMOS) - Phase autofocus (Dual Pixel) - Optical stabilization |
- 108 MP
- Aperture: f/1.8 - Focal length: 26 mm - Pixel size: 0.8 micron - Sensor: 1/1.33", Samsung S5KHM3 (ISOCELL Plus CMOS) - Laser autofocus - Optical stabilization |
| Telephoto lens | - |
- 10 MP
- Aperture: f/4.9 - Focal length: 240 mm - Pixel size: 1.22 micron - Sensor: 1/2.65", Samsung S5K3J1 (ISOCELL CMOS) - Phase autofocus (Dual Pixel) - Optical stabilization |
| Ultra-wide lens |
- 13 MP
- Aperture: f/2.4 - Pixel size: 1.12 micron - Sensor: 1/3.06", OmniVision OV13B10 (CMOS) |
- 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) |
| Macro lens |
- 5 MP
- Aperture: f/2.4 - Focal length: 50 mm - Pixel size: 1.12 micron - Phase autofocus - Optical stabilization |
- |
| Camera features |
- Bokeh mode
- Pro mode |
- Bokeh mode
- Pro mode - RAW support |
| Samples | - | Photo samples of Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra from DxOMark |
| Megapixels | 32 megapixels | 40 megapixels |
| Image resolution | 6528 x 4896 | 7864 x 5200 |
| Aperture | f/2.4 | f/2.2 |
| Focal length | 26 mm | 26 mm |
| Pixel size | 0.7 microns | 0.7 microns |
| Sensor type | CMOS | ISOCELL CMOS |
| Sensor size | 1/3" | 1/2.65" |
| 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 6 (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 | 5.1 | 5.2 |
| Bluetooth features | LE | 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, NAVIC | GPS, GLONASS, Beidou, Galileo |
| NFC * | Depends on the region | Yes |
| Infrared port | Yes | No |
| Number of SIM * | 2 | 2 |
| Type of SIM card | Nano | Nano |
| Multi SIM mode | Standby | Standby |
| eSIM support * | - | Yes |
| Hybrid slot | No | No |
| LTE Cat * | - | 24 |
| 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 | December 2021 | January 2021 |
| Release date | December 2021 | February 2021 |
| SAR (head) | - | 0.71 W/kg |
| SAR (body) | - | 1.58 W/kg |
| Sensors |
- 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, 67 W | - |
*
Disclaimer!
NFC, GSM network support, and some other specs can be different depending on the country.
Conclusion
If the camera, performance, gaming, connectivity, and design are more important to you, then choose the Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra . But if the battery life is more of a priority – go for the Xiaomi 12X .