Xiaomi Redmi Note 10S vs Samsung Galaxy S21 FE 5G

Source: Date:

Xiaomi Redmi Note 10S vs Samsung Galaxy S21 FE 5G

Here we compared two smartphones: the 6.43-inch Xiaomi Redmi Note 10S (with MediaTek Helio G95) that was released on March 4, 2021, against the Samsung Galaxy S21 FE 5G, which is powered by Qualcomm Snapdragon 888 and came out 10 months after. 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 Redmi Note 10S
  • Expandable storage via MicroSD card up to 512GB
  • Comes with 500 mAh larger battery capacity: 5000 vs 4500 mAh
  • Includes a 3.5 mm headphone audio jack port
  • Has a built-in infrared port
Reasons to consider the Samsung Galaxy S21 FE 5G
  • The rear camera has a 3x optical zoom
  • Higher display refresh rate – 120 Hz
  • Better camera quality (According to DxOMark rating)
  • 52% better performance in AnTuTu Benchmark (625K versus 412K)
  • Handles wireless charging up to 15W
  • Optical image stabilization
  • Waterproof body (IP68 classification)
  • More energy-efficient CPU – Snapdragon 888
  • Uses a faster type of memory: LPDDR5 2750 MHz
  • Compatible with Wi-Fi 6 wireless networks
  • Delivers 14% higher peak brightness (797 against 700 nits)
  • Thinner bezels – 6.1% more screen real estate

Review

Evaluation of Xiaomi Redmi Note 10S 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
Scores with a red asterisk ( * ) are approximate and may change in the future as we gather more data.
NanoReview Score
Final comparison evaluation

Value for money

Tests and specifications

Comparison table of technical specifications and tests

Display

Type AMOLED Dynamic AMOLED
Size 6.43 inches 6.4 inches
Resolution 1080 x 2400 pixels 1080 x 2340 pixels
Aspect ratio 20:9 20:9
PPI 409 ppi 401 ppi
Refresh rate 60 Hz 120 Hz
Adaptive refresh rate No No
Max rated brightness 450 nits 420 nits
Max rated brightness in HDR 1100 nits 1200 nits
HDR support Yes, HDR10 Yes, HDR10+
Screen protection Corning Gorilla Glass 3 Gorilla Glass Victus
Screen-to-body ratio 83.5% 89.6%
Display features - DCI-P3
- Always-On Display
- DC Dimming
- DCI-P3
- Always-On Display
Display tests
RGB color space 91.6% 97%
PWM 250 Hz 247 Hz
Response time 4.4 ms 6 ms
Contrast ∞ Infinity ∞ Infinity
Peak brightness test (auto)

Design and build

Height 160.5 mm (6.32 inches) 155.7 mm (6.13 inches)
Width 74.5 mm (2.93 inches) 74.5 mm (2.93 inches)
Thickness 8.3 mm (0.33 inches) 7.9 mm (0.31 inches)
Weight 178.8 g (6.31 oz) 177 g (6.24 oz)
Waterproof IP53 IP68
Rear material Plastic Plastic
Frame material Plastic Metal
Colors White, Gray, Blue White, Gray, Green, Purple
Fingerprint scanner Yes, in-button Yes, in-display
Screen-to-body ratio

Performance

Tests of Xiaomi Redmi Note 10S and Samsung Galaxy S21 FE 5G in the benchmarks
SoC
Chipset MediaTek Helio G95 Qualcomm Snapdragon 888
Max clock 2050 MHz 2840 MHz
CPU cores 8 (2 + 6) 8 (1 + 3 + 4)
Architecture - 6 cores at 2 GHz: Cortex-A55
- 2 cores at 2.05 GHz: Cortex-A76
- 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
Lithography process 12 nanometers 5 nanometers
Graphics Mali-G76 MP4 Adreno 660
GPU shading units 144 1024
GPU clock 900 MHz 792 MHz
FLOPS ~259.2 GFLOPS ~1622 GFLOPS

Benchmarks

Geekbench 6 (Single-Core)
Geekbench 6 (Multi-Core)
AnTuTu Benchmark 10
CPU 116163 140597
GPU 104666 209723
Memory 88603 134992
UX 101936 139479
Total score 412654 625671
3DMark Wild Life Performance
Max surface temperature 41.2 °C 39.1 °C
Stability - 69%
Graphics test - 34 FPS
Graphics score - 5703
Web score - 10889
Video editing - 7079
Photo editing - 28541
Data manipulation - 10075
Writing score - 14461

Memory

RAM
RAM size 6, 8 GB 6, 8 GB
Memory type LPDDR4X LPDDR5
Memory clock 2133 MHz 2750 MHz
Channels 2 2
Storage
Storage size 64, 128 GB 128, 256 GB
Storage type UFS 2.2 UFS 3.1
Memory card MicroSD No
Memory card max size Up to 512 GB -

Software

Operating system Android 11 (Can be upgraded to Android 13) Android 12 (Can be upgraded to Android 13)
ROM MIUI 14 One UI 5.0
OS size 18 GB 17.5 GB

Battery

Capacity 5000 mAh 4500 mAh
Max charge power 33 W 25 W
Battery type Li-Po Li-Ion
Replaceable No No
Wireless charging No Yes (15 W)
Reverse charging Yes Yes, (wireless)
Fast charging Yes (50% in 35 min) Yes (51% in 30 min)
Full charging time 1:09 hr 1:15 hr
Battery life tests
Web browsing - 07:42 hr
Watching video - 13:05 hr
Gaming - 05:29 hr
Standby - 91 hr
General battery life

Camera

Specs and camera test of smartphones
Main camera
Matrix 64 megapixels 12 megapixels
Image resolution 9216 x 6912 4032 x 3024
Zoom Digital Optical, 3x
Flash LED LED
Stabilization Digital Optical
8K video recording No No
4K video recording Up to 30FPS Up to 60FPS
1080p video recording Up to 60FPS Up to 60FPS
Slow motion 960 FPS (720p) 960 FPS (720p)
Angle of widest lens 118° 123°
Lenses 4 (64 MP + 8 MP + 2 MP + 2 MP) 3 (12 MP + 8 MP + 12 MP)
Wide (main) lens - 64 MP
- Aperture: f/1.8
- Focal length: 26 mm
- Pixel size: 0.8 micron
- Sensor: 1/1.97", OmniVision OV64B (PureCel)
- Phase autofocus
- 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
Ultra-wide lens - 8 MP
- Aperture: f/2.2
- Focal length: 13 mm
- Pixel size: 1.14 micron
- Sensor: 1/4", Sony IMX355 (Exmor-RS 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)
Macro lens - 2 MP
- Aperture: f/2.4
- Sensor: 1/5", GalaxyCore GC02M1 (CMOS)
-
Depth lens - 2 MP
- Aperture: f/2.4
- Pixel size: 1.75 micron
-
Camera features - Bokeh mode
- Pro mode
- RAW support
- Bokeh mode
- Pro mode
- RAW support
Samples Photo samples of Xiaomi Redmi Note 10S from DxOMark Photo samples of Samsung Galaxy S21 FE 5G from DxOMark
Selfie camera
Megapixels 13 megapixels 32 megapixels
Image resolution 4290 x 2800 6464 x 4864
Aperture f/2.5 f/2.2
Focal length - 26 mm
Pixel size 1.12 microns 0.8 microns
Sensor type PureCel Exmor-RS CMOS
Sensor size 1/3.06" 1/2.74"
Video resolution 1080p (Full HD) at 30 FPS 2160p (4K) at 60 FPS

DxOMark camera tests

Photo quality
Video quality
Generic camera score

Connectivity

Wi-Fi standard Wi-Fi 5 (802.11 b/g/n/ac) Wi-Fi 6 (802.11 a/b/g/n/ac/ax)
Wi-Fi features - Dual Band
- 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, HID, A2DP 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, 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 * 12 19
5G support No Yes

Sound

Speakers Stereo Stereo
Headphone audio jack Yes No
FM radio Yes No
Dolby Atmos No Yes
Speakers test
Max loudness

Other

Category Mid-range Flagship
Announced March 2021 January 2022
Release date April 2021 January 2022
SAR (head) - 0.95 W/kg
SAR (body) - 1.48 W/kg
Sensors - 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

After analyzing all the data, we think that the Samsung Galaxy S21 FE 5G is definitely a better buy.

Scroll to Top