Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 2 vs S21 Ultra
Here we compared two flagship smartphones: the 7.6-inch Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 2 (with Qualcomm Snapdragon 865 Plus) that was released on August 5, 2020, against the Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra, which is powered by Exynos 2100 and came out 5 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 Z Fold 2
- Has a 0.8 inch larger screen size
Reasons to consider the Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra
- Waterproof body (IP68 classification)
- The rear camera has a 10x optical zoom
- Shows 23% longer battery life (31:14 vs 25:18 hours)
- 38% higher pixel density (515 vs 373 PPI)
- Delivers 42% higher peak brightness (1023 against 718 nits)
- Newer Bluetooth version (v5.2)
- Comes with 500 mAh larger battery capacity: 5000 vs 4500 mAh
- More recent OS version: Android 13 versus 12
- Has 2 SIM card slots
- Better grip in hands – the body is 52.6 mm narrower
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 | Dynamic AMOLED |
| Size | 7.6 inches | 6.8 inches |
| Resolution | 1768 x 2208 pixels | 1440 x 3200 pixels |
| Aspect ratio | 22.5:18 | 20:9 |
| PPI | 373 ppi | 515 ppi |
| Refresh rate | 120 Hz | 120 Hz |
| Adaptive refresh rate | Yes | Yes |
| Max rated brightness | 700 nits | 1500 nits |
| HDR support | Yes, HDR10+ | Yes, HDR10+ |
| Screen protection | Gorilla Glass Victus | Gorilla Glass Victus |
| Screen-to-body ratio | 89.1% | 89.8% |
| Display features |
- DCI-P3
- Always-On Display |
- DCI-P3
- Always-On Display |
| RGB color space | 99.9% | - |
| PWM | 219 Hz | - |
| Response time | 8 ms | - |
| Contrast | ∞ Infinity | - |
Peak brightness test (auto)
Design and build
| Height | 159.2 mm (6.27 inches) | 165.1 mm (6.5 inches) |
| Width | 128.2 mm (5.05 inches) | 75.6 mm (2.98 inches) |
| Thickness | 6.9 mm (0.27 inches) | 8.9 mm (0.35 inches) |
| Weight | 279 g (9.84 oz) | 227 g (8.01 oz) |
| Waterproof | No | IP68 |
| Rear material | Glass | Glass |
| Frame material | Metal | Metal |
| Colors | Black, Brown | Black, Silver, Gray, Blue |
| Fingerprint scanner | Yes, in-button | Yes, in-display |
Screen-to-body ratio
Performance
| Chipset | Qualcomm Snapdragon 865 Plus | Samsung Exynos 2100 |
| Max clock | 3100 MHz | 2840 MHz |
| CPU cores | 8 (1 + 3 + 4) | 8 (1 + 3 + 4) |
| Architecture |
- 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 3.1 GHz: Kryo 585 Prime (Cortex-A77) |
- 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 | 7 nanometers | 5 nanometers |
| Graphics | Adreno 650 | Mali-G78 MP14 |
| GPU shading units | 1024 | 896 |
| GPU clock | 670 MHz | 854 MHz |
| FLOPS | ~1372.1 GFLOPS | ~1530.4 GFLOPS |
Benchmarks
Geekbench 6 (Single-Core)
Geekbench 6 (Multi-Core)
AnTuTu Benchmark 10
| CPU | 221662 | 236566 |
| GPU | 240763 | 255535 |
| Memory | 144925 | 157504 |
| UX | 173027 | 183564 |
| Total score | 783404 | 833650 |
3DMark Wild Life Performance
| Max surface temperature | 42.9 °C | 40.8 °C |
| Stability | 82% | 69% |
| Graphics test | 25 FPS | 31 FPS |
| Graphics score | 4180 | 5221 |
PCMark 3.0
| Web score | 9943 | - |
| Video editing | 7171 | - |
| Photo editing | 29482 | - |
| Data manipulation | 9931 | - |
| Writing score | 12906 | - |
Memory
| RAM size | 12 GB | 12, 16 GB |
| Memory type | LPDDR5 | LPDDR5 |
| Memory clock | 2750 MHz | 2750 MHz |
| Channels | 4 | 2 |
| Storage size | 256 GB | 128, 256, 512 GB |
| Storage type | UFS 3.1 | UFS 3.1 |
| Memory card | No | No |
Software
| Operating system | Android 10 (Can be upgraded to Android 12) | Android 11 (Can be upgraded to Android 13) |
| ROM | One UI 4.1.1 | One UI 5.1 |
| OS size | 35.4 GB | 26.4 GB |
Battery
| Capacity | 4500 mAh | 5000 mAh |
| Max charge power | 25 W | 25 W |
| Battery type | Li-Po | Li-Ion |
| Replaceable | No | No |
| Wireless charging | Yes (11 W) | Yes (15 W) |
| Reverse charging | Yes, (wireless) | Yes, (wireless) |
| Fast charging | Yes (30% in 30 min) | Yes (54% in 30 min) |
| Full charging time | 1:55 hr | 1:11 hr |
| Web browsing | 08:02 hr | 10:13 hr |
| Watching video | 10:45 hr | 15:32 hr |
| Gaming | 04:29 hr | 05:26 hr |
| Standby | 92 hr | 98 hr |
General battery life
Camera
| Matrix | 12 megapixels | 108 megapixels |
| Image resolution | 4000 x 3000 | 12000 x 9000 |
| Zoom | Optical, 2x | Optical, 10x |
| Flash | Dual LED | Dual LED |
| Stabilization | Optical | Optical |
| 8K video recording | No | Up to 24FPS |
| 4K video recording | Up to 60FPS | Up to 60FPS |
| 1080p video recording | Up to 60FPS | Up to 60FPS |
| Slow motion | 960 FPS (720p) | 960 FPS (720p) |
| Angle of widest lens | 123° | 120° |
| Lenses | 3 (12 MP + 12 MP + 12 MP) | 4 (108 MP + 10 MP + 10 MP + 12 MP) |
| Wide (main) lens |
- 12 MP
- Aperture: f/1.8 - Focal length: 26 mm - Pixel size: 1.8 micron - Sensor: 1/1.76", Samsung S5K2LD (ISOCELL CMOS) - Phase autofocus (Dual Pixel) - Optical stabilization |
- 108 MP
- Aperture: f/1.8 - Focal length: 26 mm - Pixel size: 0.8 micron - Sensor: 1/1.33", Samsung S5KHM3 (ISOCELL Plus CMOS) - Laser autofocus - Optical stabilization |
| Telephoto lens |
- 12 MP
- Aperture: f/2.4 - Focal length: 52 mm - Pixel size: 1 micron - Sensor: 1/3.6" (CMOS) - Phase autofocus - Optical stabilization |
- 10 MP
- Aperture: f/4.9 - Focal length: 240 mm - Pixel size: 1.22 micron - Sensor: 1/2.65", Samsung S5K3J1 (ISOCELL CMOS) - Phase autofocus (Dual Pixel) - Optical stabilization |
| Ultra-wide lens |
- 12 MP
- Aperture: f/2.2 - Pixel size: 1.12 micron - Sensor: 1/3.1" (CMOS) |
- 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 - RAW support |
| Samples | - | Photo samples of Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra from DxOMark |
| Megapixels | 10 megapixels | 40 megapixels |
| Image resolution | 3648 x 2736 | 7864 x 5200 |
| Aperture | f/2.2 | f/2.2 |
| Focal length | 26 mm | 26 mm |
| Pixel size | 1.22 microns | 0.7 microns |
| Sensor type | CMOS | ISOCELL CMOS |
| Sensor size | 1/3.2" | 1/2.65" |
| Video resolution | 2160p (4K) at 30 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 6E (802.11 a/b/g/n/ac/ax) |
| Wi-Fi features |
- Dual Band
- 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 | 5.1 | 5.2 |
| Bluetooth features | PBAP/PAB, PAN, OPP, MAP, LE, HSP, HID, HFP, DIP, AVRCP, A2DP | LE, A2DP |
| USB type | USB Type-C | USB Type-C |
| USB version | 3.2 | 3.2 |
| USB features |
- Charging
- USB-Storage mode - OTG |
- Charging
- USB-Storage mode - USB-Host mode - OTG |
| GPS | GPS, GLONASS, Beidou, Galileo | GPS, GLONASS, Beidou, Galileo |
| NFC * | Yes | Yes |
| Infrared port | No | No |
| Number of SIM * | 1 | 2 |
| Type of SIM card | Nano | Nano |
| Multi SIM mode | Standby | Standby |
| eSIM support * | Yes | Yes |
| Hybrid slot | No | No |
| LTE Cat * | 20 | 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 | Flagship |
| Announced | August 2020 | January 2021 |
| Release date | September 2020 | February 2021 |
| SAR (head) | 0.291 W/kg | 0.71 W/kg |
| SAR (body) | 1.453 W/kg | 1.58 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
After analyzing all the data, we think that the Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra is definitely a better buy.