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Samsung Galaxy S21 Plus vs Apple iPhone SE (2022)

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Samsung Galaxy S21 Plus vs Apple iPhone SE (2022)

73 out of 100
Samsung Galaxy S21 Plus
VS
67 out of 100
Apple iPhone SE (2022)
Samsung Galaxy S21 Plus
Apple iPhone SE (2022)

Here we compared two smartphones: the 6.7-inch Samsung Galaxy S21 Plus (with Exynos 2100) that was released on January 14, 2021, against the Apple iPhone SE (2022), which is powered by Apple A15 Bionic and came out 14 months after. On this page, you will find tests, full specs, strengths, and weaknesses of each of the devices.

  1. Differences
  2. Review
  3. Specs
  4. Benchmarks
  5. Battery life
  6. Camera
  7. Comments

Key differences

An overview of the main advantages of each smartphone
Reasons to consider the Samsung Galaxy S21 Plus
  • Comes with 2782 mAh larger battery capacity: 4800 vs 2018 mAh
  • Thinner bezels – 22.9% more screen real estate
  • Has a 2 inches larger screen size
  • Higher display refresh rate – 120 Hz
  • Has 2x more RAM: 8GB versus 4GB
  • Shows 19% longer battery life (30:26 vs 25:39 hours)
  • Better camera quality (According to DxOMark rating)
  • Delivers 36% higher peak brightness (888 against 652 nits)
  • The rear camera has a 1.1x optical zoom
  • Waterproof body (IP68 classification)
  • Slow-motion recording at 960FPS
  • Uses a faster type of memory: LPDDR5 2750 MHz
  • Has an ultra-wide angle camera lens
Reasons to consider the Apple iPhone SE (2022)
  • 40% better performance in AnTuTu Benchmark (1171K versus 839K)
  • Apple releases software updates and supports their phones a few years longer than Samsung
  • The phone is 1-year and 2-months newer
  • Better grip in hands – the body is 8.3 mm narrower
  • 57% faster in single-core GeekBench 6 test: 2247 and 1429 points
  • Weighs 56 grams less

Review

Evaluation of Samsung Galaxy S21 Plus and Apple iPhone SE (2022) 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
Phone:
Galaxy S21 Plus
vs
iPhone SE (2022)

Display

Type Dynamic AMOLED IPS LCD
Size 6.7 inches 4.7 inches
Resolution 1080 x 2400 pixels 750 x 1334 pixels
Aspect ratio 20:9 16:9
PPI 394 ppi 326 ppi
Refresh rate 120 Hz 60 Hz
Adaptive refresh rate No No
Max rated brightness 1300 nits 625 nits
HDR support Yes, HDR10+ Yes, Dolby Vision
Screen protection Gorilla Glass Victus Tempered glass
Screen-to-body ratio 88.3% 65.4%
Display features - DCI-P3
- Always-On Display 		- DCI-P3
Display tests
RGB color space 98.9% 99.9%
PWM 240 Hz -
Response time 6.2 ms 38 ms
Contrast ∞ Infinity 1655:1
Peak brightness test (auto)

Design and build

Height 161.5 mm (6.36 inches) 138.4 mm (5.45 inches)
Width 75.6 mm (2.98 inches) 67.3 mm (2.65 inches)
Thickness 7.8 mm (0.31 inches) 7.3 mm (0.29 inches)
Weight 200 g (7.05 oz) 144 g (5.08 oz)
Waterproof IP68 IP67
Rear material Glass Glass
Frame material Metal Metal
Colors Black, Silver, Gold, Red, Purple White, Black, Red
Fingerprint scanner Yes, in-display Yes, in-button
Screen-to-body ratio

Performance

Tests of Samsung Galaxy S21 Plus and Apple iPhone SE (2022) in the benchmarks
SoC
Chipset Samsung Exynos 2100 Apple A15 Bionic
Max clock 2840 MHz 3223 MHz
CPU cores 8 (1 + 3 + 4) 6 (2 + 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 2.02 GHz: Blizzard
- 2 cores at 3.23 GHz: Avalanche
Lithography process 5 nanometers 5 nanometers
Graphics Mali-G78 MP14 Apple A15 GPU
GPU shading units 896 640
GPU clock 854 MHz 1338 MHz
FLOPS ~1530.4 GFLOPS ~1712.6 GFLOPS

Benchmarks

Geekbench 6 (Single-Core)
Geekbench 6 (Multi-Core)
AnTuTu Benchmark 10
CPU 244088 268130
GPU 269299 325843
Memory 159004 182253
UX 164833 388874
Total score 839148 1171074
3DMark Wild Life Performance
Max surface temperature 41.5 °C 46.2 °C
Stability 67% 72%
Graphics test 33 FPS 47 FPS
Graphics score 5538 7914

Memory

RAM
RAM size 8 GB 4 GB
Memory type LPDDR5 LPDDR4X
Memory clock 2750 MHz -
Channels 2 2
Storage
Storage size 128, 256 GB 64, 128, 256 GB
Storage type UFS 3.1 NVMe
Memory card No No

Software

Operating system Android 11 (Can be upgraded to Android 13) iOS 15.3 (Can be upgraded to iOS 17)
ROM One UI 5.1 -
OS size 27.2 GB 12 GB

Battery

Capacity 4800 mAh 2018 mAh
Max charge power 25 W 20 W
Battery type Li-Ion Li-Ion
Replaceable No No
Wireless charging Yes (15 W) Yes
Reverse charging Yes, (wireless) No
Fast charging Yes (54% in 30 min) Yes (61% in 30 min)
Full charging time 1:12 hr 1:18 hr
Battery life tests
Web browsing 09:17 hr 09:55 hr
Watching video 15:27 hr 08:38 hr
Gaming 05:07 hr 03:18 hr
Standby 101 hr 93 hr
General battery life

Camera

Specs and camera test of smartphones
Main camera
Matrix 12 megapixels 12 megapixels
Image resolution 4000 x 3000 4032 x 3024
Zoom Optical, 1.1x Digital
Flash Dual LED Quad 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) 240 FPS (1080p)
Angle of widest lens 120° -
Lenses 3 (12 MP + 64 MP + 12 MP) 1 (12 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
- 12 MP
- Aperture: f/1.8
- Pixel size: 1.22 micron
- 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)
-
Camera features - Bokeh mode
- Pro mode
- RAW support 		- Bokeh mode
- Pro mode
Samples Photo samples of Samsung Galaxy S21 Plus from DxOMark Photo samples of Apple iPhone SE (2022) from DxOMark
Selfie camera
Megapixels 10 megapixels 7 megapixels
Image resolution 3872 x 2592 3088 x 2320
Aperture f/2.2 f/2.2
Focal length 26 mm -
Pixel size 1.22 microns -
Sensor type Exmor-RS CMOS -
Sensor size 1/3.24" -
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 MiMO
- Wi-Fi Direct
- Wi-Fi Hotspot
- Wi-Fi Display
Bluetooth version 5 5
Bluetooth features LE, A2DP LE
USB type USB Type-C -
USB version 3.2 2
USB features - Charging
- USB-Storage mode
- USB-Host mode
- OTG 		- Charging
- USB-Storage mode
- OTG
GPS GPS, GLONASS, Beidou, Galileo GPS, GLONASS, Beidou, Galileo, QZSS
NFC * Yes Yes
Infrared port No No
Network
Number of SIM * 2 1
Type of SIM card Nano Nano
Multi SIM mode Standby -
eSIM support * Yes 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 Mid-range
Announced January 2021 March 2022
Release date February 2021 March 2022
SAR (head) 0.54 W/kg -
SAR (body) 1.33 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
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 Plus is definitely a better buy.

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