Xiaomi 13 vs Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra

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Xiaomi 13 vs Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra

88 out of 100
Xiaomi 13
VS
76 out of 100
Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra

Here we compared two flagship smartphones: the 6.36-inch Xiaomi 13 (with Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2) that was released on December 11, 2022, against the Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra, which is powered by Exynos 2100 and came out 24 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 Xiaomi 13
  • 87% better performance in AnTuTu Benchmark (1557K versus 833K)
  • Shows 23% longer battery life (38:16 vs 31:14 hours)
  • Better camera quality (According to DxOMark rating)
  • Newer Bluetooth version (v5.3)
  • Supports higher wattage charging (67W versus 25W)
  • Compatible with the latest Wi-Fi 7 wireless networks
  • The phone is 2-years newer
  • Delivers 23% higher peak brightness (1261 against 1023 nits)
  • Slow-motion recording at 1920FPS
  • Has a built-in infrared port
Reasons to consider the Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra
  • The rear camera has a 10x optical zoom
  • 24% higher pixel density (515 vs 414 PPI)
  • Has a 0.44 inch larger screen size
  • Comes with 500 mAh larger battery capacity: 5000 vs 4500 mAh
  • The front-facing camera can record video at 4K

Review

Evaluation of Xiaomi 13 and Samsung Galaxy 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 AMOLED Dynamic AMOLED
Size 6.36 inches 6.8 inches
Resolution 1080 x 2400 pixels 1440 x 3200 pixels
Aspect ratio 20:9 20:9
PPI 414 ppi 515 ppi
Refresh rate 120 Hz 120 Hz
Adaptive refresh rate No Yes
Max rated brightness 500 nits 1500 nits
Max rated brightness in HDR 1900 nits -
HDR support Yes, Dolby Vision Yes, HDR10+
Screen protection Corning Gorilla Glass 5 Gorilla Glass Victus
Screen-to-body ratio 89.4% 89.8%
Display features - DCI-P3
- Always-On Display
- DC Dimming
- DCI-P3
- Always-On Display
Display tests
RGB color space 98.6% -
PWM 488 Hz -
Response time 1 ms -
Contrast ∞ Infinity -
Peak brightness test (auto)
1261 nits

Design and build

Height 152.8 mm (6.02 inches) 165.1 mm (6.5 inches)
Width 71.5 mm (2.81 inches) 75.6 mm (2.98 inches)
Thickness 7.98 mm (0.31 inches) 8.9 mm (0.35 inches)
Weight 189 g (6.67 oz) 227 g (8.01 oz)
Waterproof IP68 IP68
Advanced cooling Vapor chamber -
Rear material Glass Glass
Frame material Metal Metal
Colors White, Black, Green Black, Silver, Gray, Blue
Fingerprint scanner Yes, in-display Yes, in-display
Screen-to-body ratio

Performance

Tests of Xiaomi 13 and Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra in the benchmarks
SoC
Chipset Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 Samsung Exynos 2100
Max clock 3200 MHz 2840 MHz
CPU cores 8 (1 + 2 + 2 + 3) 8 (1 + 3 + 4)
Architecture - 3 cores at 2 GHz: Cortex-A510
- 2 cores at 2.8 GHz: Cortex-A710
- 2 cores at 2.8 GHz: Cortex-A715
- 1 core at 3.2 GHz: Cortex-X3
- 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 8 MB -
Lithography process 4 nanometers 5 nanometers
Graphics Adreno 740 Mali-G78 MP14
GPU shading units 2560 896
GPU clock 680 MHz 854 MHz
FLOPS ~3481.6 GFLOPS ~1530.4 GFLOPS

Benchmarks

Geekbench 6 (Single-Core)
Geekbench 6 (Multi-Core)
AnTuTu Benchmark 10
CPU 383141 236566
GPU 606113 255535
Memory 288406 157504
UX 279599 183564
Total score 1557593 833650
3DMark Wild Life Performance
Max surface temperature 34.9 °C 40.8 °C
Stability 86% 69%
Graphics test 75 FPS 31 FPS
Graphics score 12647 5221

Memory

RAM
RAM size 8, 12 GB 12, 16 GB
Memory type LPDDR5X LPDDR5
Memory clock - 2750 MHz
Channels 4 2
Storage
Storage size 128, 256, 512 GB 128, 256, 512 GB
Storage type UFS 4.0 UFS 3.1
Memory card No No

Software

Operating system Android 13 Android 11 (Can be upgraded to Android 13)
ROM MIUI 14 One UI 5.1
OS size 31.5 GB 26.4 GB

Battery

Capacity 4500 mAh 5000 mAh
Max charge power 67 W 25 W
Battery type Li-Po Li-Ion
Replaceable No No
Wireless charging Yes (50 W) Yes (15 W)
Reverse charging Yes Yes, (wireless)
Fast charging Yes (83% in 30 min) Yes (54% in 30 min)
Full charging time 0:42 hr 1:11 hr
Battery life tests
Web browsing 13:21 hr 10:13 hr
Watching video 15:01 hr 15:32 hr
Gaming 06:32 hr 05:26 hr
Standby 136 hr 98 hr
General battery life
38:16 hr

Camera

Specs and camera test of smartphones
Main camera
Matrix 50 megapixels 108 megapixels
Image resolution 8192 x 6144 12000 x 9000
Zoom Optical, 3.2x Optical, 10x
Flash Dual LED Dual LED
Stabilization Optical Optical
8K video recording Up to 24FPS Up to 24FPS
4K video recording Up to 60FPS Up to 60FPS
1080p video recording Up to 60FPS Up to 60FPS
Slow motion 1920 FPS (1080p) 960 FPS (720p)
Angle of widest lens 120° 120°
Lenses 3 (50 MP + 10 MP + 12 MP) 4 (108 MP + 10 MP + 10 MP + 12 MP)
Wide (main) lens - 50 MP
- Aperture: f/1.8
- Focal length: 23 mm
- Pixel size: 1 micron
- Sensor: 1/1.49", Sony IMX800 (Exmor-RS CMOS)
- Phase autofocus
- 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 - 10 MP
- Aperture: f/2.0
- Focal length: 75 mm
- Pixel size: 1 micron
- Sensor: 1/3.75", Samsung S5K3K1 (ISOCELL 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
- Focal length: 15 mm
- Pixel size: 1.12 micron
- Sensor: 1/3.06", Omnivision OV13B10 (PureCel)
- 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
- Bokeh mode
- Pro mode
- RAW support
Samples Photo samples of Xiaomi 13 from DxOMark Photo samples of Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra from DxOMark
Selfie camera
Megapixels 32 megapixels 40 megapixels
Image resolution 6528 x 4896 7864 x 5200
Aperture f/2.0 f/2.2
Focal length 22 mm 26 mm
Pixel size 0.7 microns 0.7 microns
Sensor type PureCel ISOCELL CMOS
Sensor size 1/3.14" 1/2.65"
Video resolution 1080p (Full HD) at 30 FPS 2160p (4K) at 60 FPS

DxOMark camera tests

Photo quality
Video quality
Generic camera score

Connectivity

Wi-Fi standard Wi-Fi 7 (802.11 a/b/g/n/ac/ax/be) Wi-Fi 6E (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 5.3 5.2
Bluetooth features LE LE, A2DP
USB type USB Type-C USB Type-C
USB version 2 3.2
USB features - Charging
- USB-Storage mode
- OTG
- Charging
- USB-Storage mode
- USB-Host mode
- OTG
GPS GPS, GLONASS, Beidou, Galileo, QZSS, NAVIC GPS, GLONASS, Beidou, Galileo
NFC * Yes Yes
Infrared port Yes No
Network
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 * 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 December 2022 January 2021
Release date December 2022 February 2021
SAR (head) - 0.71 W/kg
SAR (body) - 1.58 W/kg
Sensors - Barometer
- Proximity sensor
- Gyroscope
- Accelerometer
- Ambient light sensor
- Compass
- Fingerprint
- Hall-effect sensor
- Barometer
- Proximity sensor
- Gyroscope
- Accelerometer
- Ambient light sensor
- Compass
- Fingerprint
Bundled charger Yes, 67 W -
* 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 Xiaomi 13 is definitely a better buy.

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