Samsung Galaxy S21 vs OnePlus 8T
Here we compared two flagship smartphones: the 6.2-inch Samsung Galaxy S21 (with Exynos 2100) that was released on January 14, 2021, against the OnePlus 8T, which is powered by Qualcomm Snapdragon 865 and came out 3 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 Samsung Galaxy S21
- Waterproof body (IP68 classification)
- Handles wireless charging up to 15W
- The rear camera has a 1.1x optical zoom
- Uses a faster type of memory: LPDDR5 2750 MHz
- Slow-motion recording at 960FPS
- The front-facing camera can record video at 4K
- Ready for eSIM technology
Reasons to consider the OnePlus 8T
- Shows 20% longer battery life (31:00 vs 25:44 hours)
- Newer Bluetooth version (v5.1)
- Supports higher wattage charging (65W versus 25W)
- Has a 0.35 inch larger screen size
- Comes with 500 mAh larger battery capacity: 4500 vs 4000 mAh
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 | Dynamic AMOLED | AMOLED |
| Size | 6.2 inches | 6.55 inches |
| Resolution | 1080 x 2400 pixels | 1080 x 2400 pixels |
| Aspect ratio | 20:9 | 20:9 |
| PPI | 421 ppi | 402 ppi |
| Refresh rate | 120 Hz | 120 Hz |
| Adaptive refresh rate | No | No |
| Max rated brightness | 800 nits | 760 nits |
| HDR support | Yes, HDR10+ | Yes, HDR10+ |
| Screen protection | Gorilla Glass Victus | Corning Gorilla Glass 5 |
| Screen-to-body ratio | 87.2% | 87% |
| Display features |
- DCI-P3
- Always-On Display |
- DCI-P3
- Always-On Display |
| RGB color space | 99.5% | 97.2% |
| PWM | 240 Hz | 458 Hz |
| Response time | 5 ms | 13 ms |
| Contrast | ∞ Infinity | ∞ Infinity |
Peak brightness test (auto)
Design and build
| Height | 151.7 mm (5.97 inches) | 160.7 mm (6.33 inches) |
| Width | 71.2 mm (2.8 inches) | 74.1 mm (2.92 inches) |
| Thickness | 7.9 mm (0.31 inches) | 8.4 mm (0.33 inches) |
| Weight | 169 g (5.96 oz) | 188 g (6.63 oz) |
| Waterproof | IP68 | No |
| Rear material | Plastic | Glass |
| Frame material | Metal | Metal |
| Colors | White, Gray, Pink, Purple | Silver, Green |
| Fingerprint scanner | Yes, in-display | Yes, in-display |
Screen-to-body ratio
Performance
| Chipset | Samsung Exynos 2100 | Qualcomm Snapdragon 865 |
| Max clock | 2900 MHz | 2840 MHz |
| CPU cores | 8 (1 + 3 + 4) | 8 (1 + 3 + 4) |
| Architecture |
- 4 cores at 2.2 GHz: Cortex-A55
- 3 cores at 2.81 GHz: Cortex-A78 - 1 core at 2.91 GHz: Cortex-X1 |
- 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 2.84 GHz: Kryo 585 Prime (Cortex-A77) |
| L3 cache | - | 4 MB |
| Lithography process | 5 nanometers | 7 nanometers |
| Graphics | Mali-G78 MP14 | Adreno 650 |
| GPU shading units | 896 | 1024 |
| GPU clock | 854 MHz | 587 MHz |
| FLOPS | ~1530.4 GFLOPS | ~1202.1 GFLOPS |
Benchmarks
Geekbench 6 (Single-Core)
Geekbench 6 (Multi-Core)
AnTuTu Benchmark 10
| CPU | 150223 | 237030 |
| GPU | 340353 | 194865 |
| Memory | 151885 | 138888 |
| UX | 158712 | 182856 |
| Total score | 806977 | 757632 |
3DMark Wild Life Performance
| Max surface temperature | 38.9 °C | 48.1 °C |
| Stability | 66% | 99% |
| Graphics test | 34 FPS | 23 FPS |
| Graphics score | 5714 | 3856 |
PCMark 3.0
| Web score | 12591 | 9564 |
| Video editing | 7113 | 5769 |
| Photo editing | 29385 | 28626 |
| Data manipulation | 10438 | 10007 |
| Writing score | 16561 | 14537 |
Memory
| RAM size | 8 GB | 8, 12 GB |
| Memory type | LPDDR5 | LPDDR4X |
| Memory clock | 2750 MHz | 2133 MHz |
| Channels | 2 | 2 |
| Storage size | 128, 256 GB | 128, 256 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 | One UI 5.1 | OxygenOS 13 |
| OS size | 28.1 GB | 20 GB |
Battery
| Capacity | 4000 mAh | 4500 mAh |
| Max charge power | 25 W | 65 W |
| Battery type | Li-Ion | Li-Po |
| Replaceable | No | No |
| Wireless charging | Yes (15 W) | No |
| Reverse charging | Yes, (wireless) | No |
| Fast charging | Yes (55% in 50 min) | Yes (94% in 30 min) |
| Full charging time | 1:35 hr | 0:37 hr |
| Web browsing | 07:27 hr | 11:47 hr |
| Watching video | 12:26 hr | 13:43 hr |
| Gaming | 04:31 hr | 04:34 hr |
| Standby | 92 hr | 93 hr |
General battery life
Camera
| Matrix | 12 megapixels | 48 megapixels |
| Image resolution | 4000 x 3000 | 8000 x 6000 |
| Zoom | Optical, 1.1x | Digital |
| Flash | Dual LED | Dual 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 | 960 FPS (720p) | 480 FPS (720p) |
| Angle of widest lens | 120° | 123° |
| Lenses | 3 (12 MP + 64 MP + 12 MP) | 4 (48 MP + 16 MP + 5 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/1.7 - Focal length: 26 mm - Pixel size: 0.8 micron - Sensor: 1/2.25", Sony IMX586 (Exmor-RS CMOS) - Phase autofocus - Optical stabilization |
| Telephoto lens |
- 64 MP
- Aperture: f/2.0 - Focal length: 28 mm - Pixel size: 0.8 micron - Sensor: 1/1.72", Samsung Bright S5KGW2 (ISOCELL Plus CMOS) - Phase autofocus (Dual Pixel) - Optical stabilization |
- |
| Ultra-wide lens |
- 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) |
- 16 MP
- Aperture: f/2.2 - Focal length: 13 mm - Pixel size: 0.8 micron - Sensor: 1/2.0" (CMOS) - Phase autofocus |
| Macro lens | - |
- 5 MP
- Aperture: f/2.4 |
| Depth 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 from DxOMark | Photo samples of OnePlus 8T from DxOMark |
| Megapixels | 10 megapixels | 16 megapixels |
| Image resolution | 3872 x 2592 | 4920 x 3264 |
| Aperture | f/2.2 | f/2.0 |
| Focal length | 26 mm | - |
| Pixel size | 1.22 microns | 1 microns |
| Sensor type | CMOS | Exmor-RS CMOS |
| Sensor size | 1/3.24" | 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 | 5.1 |
| Bluetooth features | LE, A2DP | LE, A2DP |
| USB type | USB Type-C | USB Type-C |
| USB version | 3.2 | 3.1 |
| USB features |
- Charging
- USB-Storage mode - USB-Host mode - OTG |
- Charging
- USB-Storage mode - OTG |
| GPS | GPS, GLONASS, Beidou, Galileo | GPS, GLONASS, Beidou, Galileo, SBAS |
| NFC * | Yes | Yes |
| Infrared port | No | No |
| Number of SIM * | 2 | 2 |
| Type of SIM card | Nano | Nano |
| Multi SIM mode | Standby | Standby |
| eSIM support * | Yes | No |
| Hybrid slot | No | No |
| LTE Cat * | 24 | 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 2021 | October 2020 |
| Release date | February 2021 | October 2020 |
| SAR (head) | 0.46 W/kg | - |
| SAR (body) | 1.51 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 |
*
Disclaimer!
NFC, GSM network support, and some other specs can be different depending on the country.
Conclusion
If the performance, gaming, connectivity, and design are more important to you, then choose the Samsung Galaxy S21 . But if the battery life is more of a priority – go for the OnePlus 8T .