Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 2 vs S21 Ultra

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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

An overview of the main advantages of each smartphone
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

Evaluation of Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 2 and S21 Ultra 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 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
Display tests
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

Tests of Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 2 and Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra in the benchmarks
SoC
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
Web score 9943 -
Video editing 7171 -
Photo editing 29482 -
Data manipulation 9931 -
Writing score 12906 -

Memory

RAM
RAM size 12 GB 12, 16 GB
Memory type LPDDR5 LPDDR5
Memory clock 2750 MHz 2750 MHz
Channels 4 2
Storage
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
Battery life tests
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

Specs and camera test of smartphones
Main 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
Selfie camera
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

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
Network
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.

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