Xiaomi Mi 11 Ultra vs Samsung Galaxy S20
Here we compared two flagship smartphones: the 6.81-inch Xiaomi Mi 11 Ultra (with Qualcomm Snapdragon 888) that was released on March 29, 2021, against the Samsung Galaxy S20, which is powered by Exynos 9 Octa 990 and came out 14 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 Mi 11 Ultra
- The rear camera has a 5x optical zoom
- Has a 0.61 inch larger screen size
- Comes with 1000 mAh larger battery capacity: 5000 vs 4000 mAh
- Newer Bluetooth version (v5.2)
- Supports higher wattage charging (67W versus 25W)
- 33% better performance in AnTuTu Benchmark (870K versus 652K)
- Delivers 15% higher peak brightness (946 against 821 nits)
- Slow-motion recording at 1920FPS
- The phone is 1-year and 2-months newer
- Has a built-in infrared port
Reasons to consider the Samsung Galaxy S20
- Expandable storage via MicroSD card up to 1000GB
- Weighs 71 grams less
- Better grip in hands – the body is 5.5 mm narrower
- The front-facing camera can record video at 4K
- 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
Value for money
Tests and specifications
Comparison table of technical specifications and testsDisplay
| Type | AMOLED | Dynamic AMOLED |
| Size | 6.81 inches | 6.2 inches |
| Resolution | 1440 x 3200 pixels | 1440 x 3200 pixels |
| Aspect ratio | 20:9 | 20:9 |
| PPI | 515 ppi | 563 ppi |
| Refresh rate | 120 Hz | 120 Hz |
| Adaptive refresh rate | Yes | No |
| Max rated brightness | 900 nits | 800 nits |
| Max rated brightness in HDR | 1500 nits | - |
| HDR support | Yes, HDR10+ | Yes, HDR10+ |
| Screen protection | Gorilla Glass Victus | Corning Gorilla Glass 6 |
| Screen-to-body ratio | 91.4% | 89.5% |
| Display features |
- DCI-P3
- Always-On Display - DC Dimming |
- DCI-P3
- Always-On Display |
| RGB color space | 99.8% | 99.8% |
| PWM | 510 Hz | 242 Hz |
| Response time | 2.8 ms | 8.5 ms |
| Contrast | ∞ Infinity | ∞ Infinity |
Peak brightness test (auto)
Design and build
| Height | 164.3 mm (6.47 inches) | 151.7 mm (5.97 inches) |
| Width | 74.6 mm (2.94 inches) | 69.1 mm (2.72 inches) |
| Thickness | 8.4 mm (0.33 inches) | 7.9 mm (0.31 inches) |
| Weight | 234 g (8.25 oz) | 163 g (5.75 oz) |
| Waterproof | IP68 | IP68 |
| Rear material | Ceramic | Glass |
| Frame material | Metal | Metal |
| Colors | White, Black | Gray, Blue, Red |
| Fingerprint scanner | Yes, in-display | Yes, in-display |
Screen-to-body ratio
Performance
| Chipset | Qualcomm Snapdragon 888 | Samsung Exynos 9 Octa 990 |
| Max clock | 2840 MHz | 2700 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 | 840 MHz | 550 MHz |
| FLOPS | ~1622 GFLOPS | ~1126 GFLOPS |
Benchmarks
Geekbench 6 (Single-Core)
Geekbench 6 (Multi-Core)
AnTuTu Benchmark 10
| CPU | 244189 | 185116 |
| GPU | 273667 | 195014 |
| Memory | 160572 | 144113 |
| UX | 189381 | 126679 |
| Total score | 870802 | 652761 |
3DMark Wild Life Performance
| Max surface temperature | 43.1 °C | 49.7 °C |
| Stability | 91% | 51% |
| Graphics test | 31 FPS | 25 FPS |
| Graphics score | 5297 | 4221 |
PCMark 3.0
| Web score | 10878 | 8843 |
| Video editing | 7592 | 6024 |
| Photo editing | 28536 | 30239 |
| Data manipulation | 9717 | 8544 |
| Writing score | 14678 | 11877 |
Memory
| RAM size | 8, 12 GB | 8 GB |
| Memory type | LPDDR5 | LPDDR5 |
| Memory clock | 2750 MHz | 3200 MHz |
| Channels | 2 | 2 |
| Storage size | 256, 512 GB | 128 GB |
| Storage type | UFS 3.1 | UFS 3.0 |
| Memory card | No | MicroSD |
| Memory card max size | - | Up to 1000 GB |
Software
| Operating system | Android 11 (Can be upgraded to Android 13) | Android 10.0 (Can be upgraded to Android 13) |
| ROM | MIUI 13 | One UI 4.1 |
| OS size | 31 GB | 20.1 GB |
Battery
| Capacity | 5000 mAh | 4000 mAh |
| Max charge power | 67 W | 25 W |
| Battery type | Li-Po | Li-Ion |
| Replaceable | No | No |
| Wireless charging | Yes (67 W) | Yes (15 W) |
| Reverse charging | Yes, (wireless) | Yes, (wireless) |
| Fast charging | Yes (90% in 30 min) | Yes (100% in 75 min) |
| Full charging time | 0:37 hr | 1:15 hr |
| Web browsing | 08:00 hr | 08:40 hr |
| Watching video | 12:44 hr | 10:04 hr |
| Gaming | 04:23 hr | 04:15 hr |
| Standby | 79 hr | 83 hr |
General battery life
Camera
| Matrix | 50 megapixels | 12 megapixels |
| Image resolution | 8700 x 5800 | 4000 x 3000 |
| Zoom | Optical, 5x | Optical, 1.1x |
| Flash | Dual LED | 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 | 1920 FPS (1080p) | 960 FPS (720p) |
| Angle of widest lens | 128° | 120° |
| Lenses | 3 (50 MP + 48 MP + 48 MP) | 3 (12 MP + 64 MP + 12 MP) |
| Wide (main) lens |
- 50 MP
- Aperture: f/2.0 - Focal length: 24 mm - Pixel size: 1.4 micron - Sensor: 1/1.12", Samsung GN2 (ISOCELL Plus CMOS) - Laser autofocus - Optical stabilization |
- 12 MP
- Aperture: f/1.8 - Focal length: 26 mm - Pixel size: 1.8 micron - Sensor: 1/1.76", Samsung S5K2LD (ISOCELL CMOS) - Phase autofocus (Dual Pixel) - Optical stabilization |
| Telephoto lens |
- 48 MP
- Aperture: f/4.1 - Focal length: 120 mm - Pixel size: 0.8 micron - Sensor: 1/2", Sony IMX586 (Exmor-RS CMOS) - Phase autofocus - Optical stabilization |
- 64 MP
- Aperture: f/2.0 - Pixel size: 0.8 micron - Sensor: 1/1.72", Samsung Bright S5KGW2 (ISOCELL CMOS) - Phase autofocus - Optical stabilization |
| Ultra-wide lens |
- 48 MP
- Aperture: f/2.2 - Focal length: 12 mm - Pixel size: 0.8 micron - Sensor: 1/2", Sony IMX586 (Exmor-RS CMOS) - Phase autofocus |
- 12 MP
- Aperture: f/2.2 - Focal length: 13 mm - Pixel size: 1.4 micron - Sensor: 1/2.55", Samsung S5K2LA (ISOCELL CMOS) |
| Camera features |
- Bokeh mode
- Pro mode - RAW support |
- Bokeh mode
- Pro mode - RAW support |
| Samples | Photo samples of Xiaomi Mi 11 Ultra from DxOMark | - |
| Megapixels | 20 megapixels | 10 megapixels |
| Image resolution | 5380 x 3620 | 2592 x 3872 |
| Aperture | f/2.3 | f/2.2 |
| Focal length | 27 mm | 26 mm |
| Pixel size | 0.8 microns | 1.22 microns |
| Sensor type | ISOCELL CMOS | CMOS |
| Sensor size | 1/3.4" | 1/3.2" |
| 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 b/g/n/ac/ax) |
| Wi-Fi features |
- Dual Band
- Wi-Fi MiMO - Wi-Fi Direct - Wi-Fi Hotspot - Wi-Fi Display |
- Wi-Fi Direct
- Wi-Fi Hotspot - Wi-Fi Display |
| Bluetooth version | 5.2 | 5 |
| Bluetooth features | LE, A2DP | LE, A2DP |
| USB type | USB Type-C | USB Type-C |
| USB version | 2 | 3.1 |
| 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 |
| Number of SIM * | 2 | 2 |
| Type of SIM card | Nano | Nano |
| Multi SIM mode | Standby | Standby |
| eSIM support * | No | Yes |
| Hybrid slot | No | Yes |
| LTE Cat * | 24 | 22 |
| 5G support | Yes | No |
Sound
| Speakers | Stereo | Stereo |
| Headphone audio jack | No | No |
| FM radio | No | No |
| Dolby Atmos | - | Yes |
Speakers test
Max loudness
Other
| Category | Flagship | Flagship |
| Announced | March 2021 | February 2020 |
| Release date | April 2021 | March 2020 |
| SAR (head) | - | 0.28 W/kg |
| SAR (body) | - | 1.52 W/kg |
| Sensors |
- Hall-effect sensor
- Barometer - Proximity sensor - Gyroscope - Accelerometer - Ambient light sensor - Compass - Fingerprint |
- Barometer
- Proximity sensor - Gyroscope - Accelerometer - Compass - Fingerprint |
*
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 Mi 11 Ultra is definitely a better buy.