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Samsung Galaxy S21 Plus vs Google Pixel 5

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Samsung Galaxy S21 Plus vs Google Pixel 5

73 out of 100
Samsung Galaxy S21 Plus
VS
61 out of 100
Google Pixel 5
Samsung Galaxy S21 Plus
Google Pixel 5

Here we compared two flagship smartphones: the 6.7-inch Samsung Galaxy S21 Plus (with Exynos 2100) that was released on January 14, 2021, against the Google Pixel 5, which is powered by Qualcomm Snapdragon 765G and came out 3 months before. 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 (1)

Key differences

An overview of the main advantages of each smartphone
Reasons to consider the Samsung Galaxy S21 Plus
  • 2x better performance in AnTuTu Benchmark (839K versus 420K)
  • Has a 0.7 inch larger screen size
  • Comes with 720 mAh larger battery capacity: 4800 vs 4080 mAh
  • Higher display refresh rate – 120 Hz
  • Delivers 26% higher peak brightness (888 against 702 nits)
  • The rear camera has a 1.1x optical zoom
  • Slow-motion recording at 960FPS
  • Uses a faster type of memory: LPDDR5 2750 MHz
  • Compatible with Wi-Fi 6 wireless networks
  • Has 2 SIM card slots
  • The front-facing camera can record video at 4K
Reasons to consider the Google Pixel 5
  • 10% higher pixel density (432 vs 394 PPI)
  • Weighs 49 grams less
  • Better grip in hands – the body is 5.2 mm narrower

Review

Evaluation of Samsung Galaxy S21 Plus and Google Pixel 5 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
Pixel 5

Display

Type Dynamic AMOLED OLED
Size 6.7 inches 6 inches
Resolution 1080 x 2400 pixels 1080 x 2340 pixels
Aspect ratio 20:9 19.5:9
PPI 394 ppi 432 ppi
Refresh rate 120 Hz 90 Hz
Adaptive refresh rate No No
Max rated brightness 1300 nits 700 nits
HDR support Yes, HDR10+ Yes, HDR10+
Screen protection Gorilla Glass Victus Corning Gorilla Glass 6
Screen-to-body ratio 88.3% 85.9%
Display features - DCI-P3
- Always-On Display 		- Always-On Display
Display tests
RGB color space 98.9% 97.4%
PWM 240 Hz 367 Hz
Response time 6.2 ms 5 ms
Contrast ∞ Infinity ∞ Infinity
Peak brightness test (auto)
Galaxy S21 Plus +26%
888 nits
Pixel 5
702 nits

Design and build

Height 161.5 mm (6.36 inches) 144.7 mm (5.7 inches)
Width 75.6 mm (2.98 inches) 70.4 mm (2.77 inches)
Thickness 7.8 mm (0.31 inches) 8 mm (0.31 inches)
Weight 200 g (7.05 oz) 151 g (5.33 oz)
Waterproof IP68 IP68
Rear material Glass Metal
Frame material Metal Metal
Colors Black, Silver, Gold, Red, Purple Black, Green
Fingerprint scanner Yes, in-display Yes, rear
Screen-to-body ratio

Performance

Tests of Samsung Galaxy S21 Plus and Google Pixel 5 in the benchmarks
SoC
Chipset Samsung Exynos 2100 Qualcomm Snapdragon 765G
Max clock 2840 MHz 2400 MHz
CPU cores 8 (1 + 3 + 4) 8 (1 + 1 + 6)
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 		- 6 cores at 1.8 GHz: Kryo 475 Silver (Cortex-A55)
- 1 core at 2.2 GHz: Kryo 475 Gold (Cortex-A76)
- 1 core at 2.4 GHz: Kryo 475 Prime (Cortex-A76)
Lithography process 5 nanometers 7 nanometers
Graphics Mali-G78 MP14 Adreno 620
GPU shading units 896 384
GPU clock 854 MHz 750 MHz
FLOPS ~1530.4 GFLOPS ~576 GFLOPS

Benchmarks

Geekbench 6 (Single-Core)
Geekbench 6 (Multi-Core)
AnTuTu Benchmark 10
Galaxy S21 Plus +100%
839148
Pixel 5
420377
CPU 244088 132677
GPU 269299 89779
Memory 159004 90554
UX 164833 106168
Total score 839148 420377
3DMark Wild Life Performance
Max surface temperature 41.5 °C 38.6 °C
Stability 67% 89%
Graphics test 33 FPS 6 FPS
Graphics score 5538 1084

Memory

RAM
RAM size 8 GB 8 GB
Memory type LPDDR5 LPDDR4X
Memory clock 2750 MHz 2133 MHz
Channels 2 2
Storage
Storage size 128, 256 GB 128 GB
Storage type UFS 3.1 UFS 2.1
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 Stock Android
OS size 27.2 GB 16.6 GB

Battery

Capacity 4800 mAh 4080 mAh
Max charge power 25 W 18 W
Battery type Li-Ion Li-Po
Replaceable No No
Wireless charging Yes (15 W) Yes (12 W)
Reverse charging Yes, (wireless) Yes
Fast charging Yes (54% in 30 min) Yes (30% in 30 min)
Full charging time 1:12 hr 1:45 hr
Battery life tests
Web browsing 09:17 hr 10:13 hr
Watching video 15:27 hr 15:02 hr
Gaming 05:07 hr 05:39 hr
Standby 101 hr 104 hr
General battery life
Galaxy S21 Plus
30:26 hr
Pixel 5 +4%
31:36 hr

Camera

Specs and camera test of smartphones
Main camera
Matrix 12 megapixels 12.2 megapixels
Image resolution 4000 x 3000 4290 x 2800
Zoom Optical, 1.1x Digital
Flash Dual LED 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° 107°
Lenses 3 (12 MP + 64 MP + 12 MP) 2 (12.2 MP + 16 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
- 12.2 MP
- Aperture: f/1.7
- Focal length: 27 mm
- Sensor: 1/2.55", Sony IMX363 (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 - 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: 24 mm
- Pixel size: 1 micron
Camera features - Bokeh mode
- Pro mode
- RAW support 		- Bokeh mode
- Pro mode
- RAW support
Samples Photo samples of Samsung Galaxy S21 Plus from DxOMark Photo samples of Google Pixel 5 from DxOMark
Selfie camera
Megapixels 10 megapixels 8 megapixels
Image resolution 3872 x 2592 3264 x 2448
Aperture f/2.2 f/2.0
Focal length 26 mm 24 mm
Pixel size 1.22 microns 1.12 microns
Sensor type Exmor-RS CMOS CMOS
Sensor size 1/3.24" 1/4.0"
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 5 (802.11 a/b/g/n/ac)
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, 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
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 Standby
eSIM support * Yes Yes
Hybrid slot No No
LTE Cat * 24 15
5G support Yes Yes

Sound

Speakers Stereo Stereo
Headphone audio jack No No
FM radio No No
Dolby Atmos Yes No
Speakers test
Max loudness
Galaxy S21 Plus
87.8 dB
Pixel 5 +5%
91.9 dB

Other

Category Flagship Flagship
Announced January 2021 September 2020
Release date February 2021 October 2020
SAR (head) 0.54 W/kg 0.96 W/kg
SAR (body) 1.33 W/kg 1.39 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

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

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