Xiaomi Mi 11 vs Samsung Galaxy S21

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Xiaomi Mi 11 vs Samsung Galaxy S21

71 out of 100
Xiaomi Mi 11
VS
70 out of 100
Samsung Galaxy S21

Here we compared two flagship smartphones: the 6.81-inch Xiaomi Mi 11 (with Qualcomm Snapdragon 888 5G) that was released on December 28, 2020, against the Samsung Galaxy S21, which is powered by Exynos 2100. 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 Mi 11
  • Has a 0.61 inch larger screen size
  • Better camera quality (According to DxOMark rating)
  • Newer Bluetooth version (v5.2)
  • Supports higher wattage charging (55W versus 25W)
  • Comes with 600 mAh larger battery capacity: 4600 vs 4000 mAh
  • Delivers 8% higher peak brightness (931 against 864 nits)
  • 22% higher pixel density (515 vs 421 PPI)
  • Has a built-in infrared port
Reasons to consider the Samsung Galaxy S21
  • Waterproof body (IP68 classification)
  • The rear camera has a 1.1x optical zoom
  • Slow-motion recording at 960FPS
  • Supports Dolby Atmos sound technology
  • Weighs 27 grams less
  • The front-facing camera can record video at 4K
  • Ready for eSIM technology

Review

Evaluation of Xiaomi Mi 11 and Samsung Galaxy S21 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 6.81 inches 6.2 inches
Resolution 1440 x 3200 pixels 1080 x 2400 pixels
Aspect ratio 20:9 20:9
PPI 515 ppi 421 ppi
Refresh rate 120 Hz 120 Hz
Adaptive refresh rate No No
Max rated brightness 900 nits 800 nits
HDR support Yes, HDR10+ Yes, HDR10+
Screen protection Gorilla Glass Victus Gorilla Glass Victus
Screen-to-body ratio 91.4% 87.2%
Display features - DCI-P3
- Always-On Display
- DC Dimming
- DCI-P3
- Always-On Display
Display tests
RGB color space - 99.5%
PWM - 240 Hz
Response time - 5 ms
Contrast - ∞ Infinity
Peak brightness test (auto)
931 nits
864 nits

Design and build

Height 164.3 mm (6.47 inches) 151.7 mm (5.97 inches)
Width 74.6 mm (2.94 inches) 71.2 mm (2.8 inches)
Thickness 8.1 mm (0.32 inches) 7.9 mm (0.31 inches)
Weight 196 g (6.91 oz) 169 g (5.96 oz)
Waterproof No IP68
Rear material Glass Plastic
Frame material Metal Metal
Colors White, Black, Blue, Green, Purple White, Gray, Pink, Purple
Fingerprint scanner Yes, in-display Yes, in-display
Screen-to-body ratio
91.4%

Performance

Tests of Xiaomi Mi 11 and Samsung Galaxy S21 in the benchmarks
SoC
Chipset Qualcomm Snapdragon 888 5G Samsung Exynos 2100
Max clock 2840 MHz 2900 MHz
CPU cores 8 (1 + 3 + 4) 8 (1 + 3 + 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 2.2 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 5 nanometers 5 nanometers
Graphics Adreno 660 Mali-G78 MP14
GPU shading units 1024 896
GPU clock 840 MHz 854 MHz
FLOPS ~1622 GFLOPS ~1530.4 GFLOPS

Benchmarks

Geekbench 6 (Single-Core)
1440
Geekbench 6 (Multi-Core)
3859
AnTuTu Benchmark 10
878675
CPU 246540 150223
GPU 272062 340353
Memory 162285 151885
UX 191481 158712
Total score 878675 806977
3DMark Wild Life Performance
5037
5714
Max surface temperature - 38.9 °C
Stability 91% 66%
Graphics test 30 FPS 34 FPS
Graphics score 5037 5714
PCMark 3.0
12737
13558
Web score 11329 12591
Video editing 7611 7113
Photo editing 28453 29385
Data manipulation 9842 10438
Writing score 14880 16561

Memory

RAM
RAM size 8, 12 GB 8 GB
Memory type LPDDR5 LPDDR5
Memory clock 2750 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 11 (Can be upgraded to Android 13) Android 11 (Can be upgraded to Android 13)
ROM MIUI 14 One UI 5.1
OS size - 28.1 GB

Battery

Capacity 4600 mAh 4000 mAh
Max charge power 55 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 (83% in 30 min) Yes (55% in 50 min)
Full charging time 0:50 hr 1:35 hr
Battery life tests
Web browsing 07:45 hr 07:27 hr
Watching video 10:58 hr 12:26 hr
Gaming 03:56 hr 04:31 hr
Standby 98 hr 92 hr
General battery life
25:31 hr
25:44 hr

Camera

Specs and camera test of smartphones
Main camera
Matrix 108 megapixels 12 megapixels
Image resolution 12032 x 9204 4000 x 3000
Zoom Digital Optical, 1.1x
Flash LED Dual LED
Stabilization Optical Optical
8K video recording Up to 30FPS Up to 24FPS
4K video recording Up to 60FPS Up to 60FPS
1080p video recording Up to 60FPS Up to 60FPS
Slow motion 240 FPS (1080p) 960 FPS (720p)
Angle of widest lens 123° 120°
Lenses 3 (108 MP + 13 MP + 5 MP) 3 (12 MP + 64 MP + 12 MP)
Wide (main) lens - 108 MP
- Aperture: f/1.9
- Focal length: 26 mm
- Pixel size: 0.8 micron
- Sensor: 1/1.33", Samsung Bright S5KHMX (ISOCELL Plus CMOS)
- Phase autofocus
- 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 - - 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 - 13 MP
- Aperture: f/2.4
- Pixel size: 1.12 micron
- Sensor: 1/3.06", Omnivision OV13B10 (PureCel)
- 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
- Pixel size: 1.12 micron
- Sensor: 1/5", Samsung S5K5E9 (ISOCELL CMOS)
-
Camera features - Bokeh mode
- Pro mode
- RAW support
- Bokeh mode
- Pro mode
- RAW support
Samples Photo samples of Xiaomi Mi 11 from DxOMark Photo samples of Samsung Galaxy S21 from DxOMark
Selfie camera
Megapixels 20 megapixels 10 megapixels
Image resolution 5380 x 3620 3872 x 2592
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" 1/3.24"
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 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, A2DP 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, 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 Yes
Hybrid slot No No
LTE Cat * 24 24
5G support Yes Yes

Sound

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

Other

Category Flagship Flagship
Announced December 2020 January 2021
Release date January 2021 February 2021
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
- Hall-effect sensor
- 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 display and battery life are more important to you, then choose the Xiaomi Mi 11 . But if the gaming, connectivity, design, and sound are more of a priority – go for the Samsung Galaxy S21 .

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