Samsung Galaxy S21 FE 5G vs OnePlus 7 Pro

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Samsung Galaxy S21 FE 5G vs OnePlus 7 Pro

Here we compared two flagship smartphones: the 6.4-inch Samsung Galaxy S21 FE 5G (with Qualcomm Snapdragon 888 ) that was released on January 4, 2022, against the OnePlus 7 Pro, which is powered by Qualcomm Snapdragon 855 and came out 32 months before. 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 S21 FE 5G
  • Waterproof body (IP68 classification)
  • Higher display refresh rate – 120 Hz
  • Handles wireless charging up to 15W
  • Delivers 29% higher peak brightness (797 against 617 nits)
  • Comes with 415 mAh larger battery capacity: 4500 vs 4085 mAh
  • Uses a faster type of memory: LPDDR5 2750 MHz
  • Compatible with Wi-Fi 6 wireless networks
  • More recent OS version: Android 13 versus 12
  • Slow-motion recording at 960FPS
  • The phone is 2-years and 8-months newer
Reasons to consider the OnePlus 7 Pro
  • 29% higher pixel density (516 vs 401 PPI)

Review

Evaluation of Samsung Galaxy S21 FE 5G and OnePlus 7 Pro 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 AMOLED
Size 6.4 inches 6.67 inches
Resolution 1080 x 2340 pixels 1440 x 3120 pixels
Aspect ratio 20:9 19.5:9
PPI 401 ppi 516 ppi
Refresh rate 120 Hz 90 Hz
Adaptive refresh rate No No
Max rated brightness 420 nits 616 nits
Max rated brightness in HDR 1200 nits -
HDR support Yes, HDR10+ Yes, HDR10+
Screen protection Gorilla Glass Victus Corning Gorilla Glass 5
Screen-to-body ratio 89.6% 88.1%
Display features - DCI-P3
- Always-On Display
- DCI-P3
- Always-On Display
- DC Dimming
Display tests
RGB color space 97% 99.8%
PWM 247 Hz 122 Hz
Response time 6 ms 6 ms
Contrast ∞ Infinity ∞ Infinity
Peak brightness test (auto)
797 nits

Design and build

Height 155.7 mm (6.13 inches) 162.6 mm (6.4 inches)
Width 74.5 mm (2.93 inches) 75.9 mm (2.99 inches)
Thickness 7.9 mm (0.31 inches) 8.8 mm (0.35 inches)
Weight 177 g (6.24 oz) 206 g (7.27 oz)
Waterproof IP68 IPX4
Rear material Plastic Glass
Frame material Metal Metal
Colors White, Gray, Green, Purple Gold, Gray, Blue
Fingerprint scanner Yes, in-display Yes, in-display
Screen-to-body ratio

Performance

Tests of Samsung Galaxy S21 FE 5G and OnePlus 7 Pro in the benchmarks
SoC
Chipset Qualcomm Snapdragon 888 Qualcomm Snapdragon 855
Max clock 2840 MHz 2840 MHz
CPU cores 8 (1 + 3 + 4) 8 (1 + 3 + 4)
Architecture - 4 cores at 1.8 GHz: Kryo 680 Silver (Cortex-A55)
- 3 cores at 2.42 GHz: Kryo 680 Gold (Cortex-A78)
- 1 core at 2.84 GHz: Kryo 680 Prime (Cortex-X1)
- 4 cores at 1.8 GHz: Cortex-A55 (Kryo 485 Silver)
- 3 cores at 2.42 GHz: Cortex-A76 (Kryo 485 Gold)
- 1 core at 2.84 GHz: Cortex-A76 (Kryo 485 Gold)
L3 cache 4 MB 2 MB
Lithography process 5 nanometers 7 nanometers
Graphics Adreno 660 Adreno 640
GPU shading units 1024 768
GPU clock 792 MHz 585 MHz
FLOPS ~1622 GFLOPS ~898.5 GFLOPS

Benchmarks

Geekbench 6 (Single-Core)
Geekbench 6 (Multi-Core)
AnTuTu Benchmark 10
CPU 140597 186914
GPU 209723 180260
Memory 134992 120120
UX 139479 146456
Total score 625671 634645
3DMark Wild Life Performance
Max surface temperature 39.1 °C 49.6 °C
Stability 69% 97%
Graphics test 34 FPS 12 FPS
Graphics score 5703 2115
PCMark 3.0
Web score 10889 7860
Video editing 7079 5801
Photo editing 28541 25335
Data manipulation 10075 9361
Writing score 14461 13618

Memory

RAM
RAM size 6, 8 GB 6, 8, 12 GB
Memory type LPDDR5 LPDDR4X
Memory clock 2750 MHz 2133 MHz
Channels 2 2
Storage
Storage size 128, 256 GB 128, 256 GB
Storage type UFS 3.1 UFS 3.0
Memory card No No

Software

Operating system Android 12 (Can be upgraded to Android 13) Android 9.0 (Can be upgraded to Android 12)
ROM One UI 5.0 OxygenOS 12.1
OS size 17.5 GB 17 GB

Battery

Capacity 4500 mAh 4085 mAh
Max charge power 25 W 30 W
Battery type Li-Ion Li-Po
Replaceable No No
Wireless charging Yes (15 W) No
Reverse charging Yes, (wireless) No
Fast charging Yes (51% in 30 min) Yes, Warp Charge (50% in 20 min)
Full charging time 1:15 hr 1:20 hr
Battery life tests
Web browsing 07:42 hr 08:34 hr
Watching video 13:05 hr 11:21 hr
Gaming 05:29 hr 03:59 hr
Standby 91 hr 104 hr
General battery life

Camera

Specs and camera test of smartphones
Main camera
Matrix 12 megapixels 48 megapixels
Image resolution 4032 x 3024 8000 x 6000
Zoom Optical, 3x Optical, 3x
Flash LED Dual LED
Stabilization Optical Optical
8K video recording No No
4K video recording Up to 60FPS Up to 60FPS
1080p video recording Up to 60FPS Up to 240FPS
Slow motion 960 FPS (720p) 480 FPS (720p)
Angle of widest lens 123° 117°
Lenses 3 (12 MP + 8 MP + 12 MP) 3 (48 MP + 8 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
- 48 MP
- Aperture: f/1.6
- Focal length: 27 mm
- Pixel size: 0.8 micron
- Sensor: 1/2", Sony IMX586 (Exmor-RS CMOS)
- Phase autofocus
- Optical stabilization
Telephoto lens - 8 MP
- Aperture: f/2.4
- Focal length: 76 mm
- Pixel size: 1 micron
- Sensor: 1/4.5", Hynix Hi847 (CMOS)
- Phase autofocus
- Optical stabilization
- 8 MP
- Aperture: f/2.4
- Focal length: 78 mm
- Sensor: 1/3.4", Samsung S5K3M5 (ISOCELL CMOS)
- Phase autofocus
- Optical stabilization
Ultra-wide lens - 12 MP
- Aperture: f/2.2
- Focal length: 13 mm
- Pixel size: 1.12 micron
- Sensor: 1/3.0", Sony IMX258 (Exmor-RS CMOS)
- 16 MP
- Aperture: f/2.2
- Focal length: 13 mm
- Pixel size: 1 micron
- Sensor: 1/3.09", Sony IMX481 (BSI CMOS)
- Phase autofocus
Camera features - Bokeh mode
- Pro mode
- RAW support
- Bokeh mode
- Pro mode
- RAW support
Samples Photo samples of Samsung Galaxy S21 FE 5G from DxOMark Photo samples of OnePlus 7 Pro from DxOMark
Selfie camera
Megapixels 32 megapixels 16 megapixels
Image resolution 6464 x 4864 4608 x 3456
Aperture f/2.2 f/2.0
Focal length 26 mm 25 mm
Pixel size 0.8 microns 1 microns
Sensor type Exmor-RS CMOS Exmor-RS CMOS
Sensor size 1/2.74" 1/3.1"
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 Direct
- Wi-Fi Hotspot
Bluetooth version 5 5
Bluetooth features LE A2DP
USB type USB Type-C USB Type-C
USB version 3.2 3.1
USB features - Charging
- USB-Storage mode
- OTG
- Charging
- USB-Storage mode
- OTG
GPS GPS, GLONASS, Beidou, Galileo GPS, GLONASS, Beidou, Galileo
NFC * Yes Yes
Infrared port No No
Network
Number of SIM * 2 2
Type of SIM card Nano Nano
Multi SIM mode Standby Standby
eSIM support * No No
Hybrid slot No No
LTE Cat * 19 16
5G support Yes No

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 January 2022 May 2019
Release date January 2022 May 2019
SAR (head) 0.95 W/kg 1.199 W/kg
SAR (body) 1.48 W/kg 1.394 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 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 FE 5G is definitely a better buy.

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