Samsung Galaxy S21 Plus vs Honor 90
73
out of 100
VS
77
out of 100
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 Honor 90, which is powered by Snapdragon 7 Gen 1 Accelerated Edition and came out 29 months after. 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 Plus
- Waterproof body (IP68 classification)
- Handles wireless charging up to 15W
- Optical image stabilization
- The rear camera has a 1.1x optical zoom
- Uses a faster type of memory: LPDDR5 2750 MHz
- 18% better performance in AnTuTu Benchmark (839K versus 713K)
- Stereo speakers
- Faster storage type - UFS 3.1 versus UFS 2.2
- Supports Dolby Atmos sound technology
- 27% faster in single-core GeekBench 6 test: 1429 and 1124 points
Reasons to consider the Honor 90
- Delivers 36% higher peak brightness (1206 against 888 nits)
- Newer Bluetooth version (v5.2)
- Supports higher wattage charging (66W versus 25W)
- The phone is 2-years and 5-months newer
- 10% higher pixel density (435 vs 394 PPI)
- Weighs 17 grams less
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
Scores with a red asterisk (
*
) are approximate and may change in the future as we gather more data.
Value for money
Tests and specifications
Comparison table of technical specifications and testsDisplay
| Type | Dynamic AMOLED | AMOLED |
| Size | 6.7 inches | 6.7 inches |
| Resolution | 1080 x 2400 pixels | 1200 x 2664 pixels |
| Aspect ratio | 20:9 | 19.98:9 |
| PPI | 394 ppi | 435 ppi |
| Refresh rate | 120 Hz | 120 Hz |
| Adaptive refresh rate | No | No |
| Max rated brightness | 1300 nits | 600 nits |
| Max rated brightness in HDR | - | 1600 nits |
| HDR support | Yes, HDR10+ | Yes, HDR10+ |
| Screen protection | Gorilla Glass Victus | Tempered glass |
| Screen-to-body ratio | 88.3% | 90.8% |
| Display features |
- DCI-P3
- Always-On Display |
- DCI-P3
- Always-On Display - DC Dimming |
| RGB color space | 98.9% | 99.7% |
| PWM | 240 Hz | 728 Hz |
| Response time | 6.2 ms | 1 ms |
| Contrast | ∞ Infinity | ∞ Infinity |
Peak brightness test (auto)
Design and build
| Height | 161.5 mm (6.36 inches) | 161.9 mm (6.37 inches) |
| Width | 75.6 mm (2.98 inches) | 74.1 mm (2.92 inches) |
| Thickness | 7.8 mm (0.31 inches) | 7.8 mm (0.31 inches) |
| Weight | 200 g (7.05 oz) | 183 g (6.46 oz) |
| Waterproof | IP68 | No |
| Rear material | Glass | Plastic |
| Frame material | Metal | Plastic |
| Colors | Black, Silver, Gold, Red, Purple | Black, Silver, Blue, Green |
| Fingerprint scanner | Yes, in-display | Yes, in-display |
Screen-to-body ratio
Performance
| Chipset | Samsung Exynos 2100 | Snapdragon 7 Gen 1 Accelerated Edition |
| Max clock | 2840 MHz | 2500 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: Cortex-A510
- 3 cores at 2.36 GHz: Cortex-A710 - 1 core at 2.4 GHz: Cortex-A710 |
| Lithography process | 5 nanometers | 4 nanometers |
| Graphics | Mali-G78 MP14 | Adreno 644 |
| GPU shading units | 896 | 768 |
| GPU clock | 854 MHz | 660 MHz |
| FLOPS | ~1530.4 GFLOPS | ~1013.8 GFLOPS |
Benchmarks
Geekbench 6 (Single-Core)
Geekbench 6 (Multi-Core)
AnTuTu Benchmark 10
| CPU | 244088 | 214987 |
| GPU | 269299 | 168077 |
| Memory | 159004 | 178183 |
| UX | 164833 | 146324 |
| Total score | 839148 | 713354 |
3DMark Wild Life Performance
| Max surface temperature | 41.5 °C | 51 °C |
| Stability | 67% | - |
| Graphics test | 33 FPS | - |
| Graphics score | 5538 | - |
Memory
| RAM size | 8 GB | 8, 12, 16 GB |
| Memory type | LPDDR5 | LPDDR4X |
| Memory clock | 2750 MHz | 2133 MHz |
| Channels | 2 | 2 |
| Storage size | 128, 256 GB | 256, 512 GB |
| Storage type | UFS 3.1 | UFS 2.2 |
| Memory card | No | No |
Software
| Operating system | Android 11 (Can be upgraded to Android 13) | Android 13 |
| ROM | One UI 5.1 | MagicOS 7.1 |
| OS size | 27.2 GB | 23 GB |
Battery
| Capacity | 4800 mAh | 5000 mAh |
| Max charge power | 25 W | 66 W |
| Battery type | Li-Ion | Li-Po |
| Replaceable | No | No |
| Wireless charging | Yes (15 W) | No |
| Reverse charging | Yes, (wireless) | Yes |
| Fast charging | Yes (54% in 30 min) | Yes (20% in 5 min) |
| Full charging time | 1:12 hr | 0:55 hr |
| Web browsing | 09:17 hr | - |
| Watching video | 15:27 hr | - |
| Gaming | 05:07 hr | - |
| Standby | 101 hr | - |
General battery life
Camera
| Matrix | 12 megapixels | 200 megapixels |
| Image resolution | 4000 x 3000 | 16256 x 12192 |
| Zoom | Optical, 1.1x | Digital |
| Flash | Dual LED | Dual LED |
| Stabilization | Optical | Digital |
| 8K video recording | Up to 24FPS | No |
| 4K video recording | Up to 60FPS | Up to 30FPS |
| 1080p video recording | Up to 60FPS | Up to 60FPS |
| Slow motion | 960 FPS (720p) | 960 FPS (720p) |
| Angle of widest lens | 120° | 112° |
| Lenses | 3 (12 MP + 64 MP + 12 MP) | 3 (200 MP + 12 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 |
- 200 MP
- Aperture: f/1.9 - Pixel size: 0.56 micron - Sensor: 1/1.4", Samsung ISOCELL HP3 (ISOCELL CMOS) - Phase autofocus |
| 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) |
- 12 MP
- Aperture: f/2.2 - Pixel size: 1.12 micron |
| Depth lens | - |
- 2 MP
- Aperture: f/2.4 |
| Camera features |
- Bokeh mode
- Pro mode - RAW support |
- Bokeh mode
- Pro mode |
| Samples | Photo samples of Samsung Galaxy S21 Plus from DxOMark | - |
| Megapixels | 10 megapixels | 50 megapixels |
| Image resolution | 3872 x 2592 | 8160 x 6112 |
| Aperture | 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 | 2160p (4K) 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 | 5.2 |
| Bluetooth features | LE, A2DP | LE |
| USB type | USB Type-C | 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 |
| 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 | Yes |
| Hybrid slot | No | No |
| LTE Cat * | 24 | 18 |
| 5G support | Yes | Yes |
Sound
| Speakers | Stereo | Mono |
| Headphone audio jack | No | No |
| FM radio | No | No |
| Dolby Atmos | Yes | No |
Speakers test
Max loudness
Other
| Category | Flagship | Mid-range |
| Announced | January 2021 | May 2023 |
| Release date | February 2021 | June 2023 |
| 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 |
- Proximity sensor
- Gyroscope - Accelerometer - Ambient light sensor - Compass - Fingerprint |
| Bundled charger | - | Yes, 66 W |
*
Disclaimer!
NFC, GSM network support, and some other specs can be different depending on the country.
Conclusion
If the display, camera, and battery life are more important to you, then choose the Honor 90 . But if the performance, gaming, connectivity, design, and sound are more of a priority – go for the Samsung Galaxy S21 Plus .
