Xiaomi 12T Pro vs Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra

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Xiaomi 12T Pro vs Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra

Here we compared two flagship smartphones: the 6.67-inch Xiaomi 12T Pro (with Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Plus Gen 1) that was released on October 4, 2022, against the Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra, which is powered by Exynos 2100 and came out 21 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 12T Pro
  • 56% better performance in AnTuTu Benchmark (1298K versus 833K)
  • Supports higher wattage charging (120W versus 25W)
  • Better camera quality (According to DxOMark rating)
  • Slow-motion recording at 1920FPS
  • The phone is 1-year and 9-months newer
  • 16% faster in single-core GeekBench 6 test: 1688 and 1458 points
  • Weighs 22 grams less
  • Has a built-in infrared port
Reasons to consider the Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra
  • The rear camera has a 10x optical zoom
  • Handles wireless charging up to 15W
  • Waterproof body (IP68 classification)
  • Delivers 12% higher peak brightness (1023 against 917 nits)
  • 15% higher pixel density (515 vs 446 PPI)
  • Reverse charging feature
  • The front-facing camera can record video at 4K

Review

Evaluation of Xiaomi 12T Pro 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 6.67 inches 6.8 inches
Resolution 1220 x 2712 pixels 1440 x 3200 pixels
Aspect ratio 20:9 20:9
PPI 446 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 900 nits -
HDR support Yes, Dolby Vision Yes, HDR10+
Screen protection Corning Gorilla Glass 5 Gorilla Glass Victus
Screen-to-body ratio 86.7% 89.8%
Display features - DCI-P3
- Always-On Display
- DC Dimming
- DCI-P3
- Always-On Display
Display tests
RGB color space 98.2% -
PWM 120 Hz -
Response time 1 ms -
Contrast ∞ Infinity -
Peak brightness test (auto)
917 nits
1023 nits

Design and build

Height 163.1 mm (6.42 inches) 165.1 mm (6.5 inches)
Width 75.9 mm (2.99 inches) 75.6 mm (2.98 inches)
Thickness 8.6 mm (0.34 inches) 8.9 mm (0.35 inches)
Weight 205 g (7.23 oz) 227 g (8.01 oz)
Waterproof IP53 IP68
Rear material Glass Glass
Frame material Plastic Metal
Colors Black, Silver, Blue Black, Silver, Gray, Blue
Fingerprint scanner Yes, in-display Yes, in-display
Screen-to-body ratio

Performance

Tests of Xiaomi 12T Pro and Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra in the benchmarks
SoC
Chipset Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Plus Gen 1 Samsung Exynos 2100
Max clock 3190 MHz 2840 MHz
CPU cores 8 (1 + 3 + 4) 8 (1 + 3 + 4)
Architecture - 4 cores at 2 GHz: Cortex-A510
- 3 cores at 2.75 GHz: Cortex-A710
- 1 core at 3.2 GHz: Cortex-X2
- 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 6 MB -
Lithography process 4 nanometers 5 nanometers
Graphics Adreno 730 Mali-G78 MP14
GPU shading units 1536 896
GPU clock 900 MHz 854 MHz
FLOPS ~2764.8 GFLOPS ~1530.4 GFLOPS

Benchmarks

Geekbench 6 (Single-Core)
Geekbench 6 (Multi-Core)
AnTuTu Benchmark 10
1298320
CPU 358421 236566
GPU 474848 255535
Memory 214129 157504
UX 247384 183564
Total score 1298320 833650
3DMark Wild Life Performance
Max surface temperature 35.5 °C 40.8 °C
Stability - 69%
Graphics test - 31 FPS
Graphics score - 5221

Memory

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

Software

Operating system Android 12 (Can be upgraded to Android 13) Android 11 (Can be upgraded to Android 13)
ROM MIUI 14 One UI 5.1
OS size 33 GB 26.4 GB

Battery

Capacity 5000 mAh 5000 mAh
Max charge power 120 W 25 W
Battery type Li-Po Li-Ion
Replaceable No No
Wireless charging No Yes (15 W)
Reverse charging No Yes, (wireless)
Fast charging Yes (50% in 7 min) Yes (54% in 30 min)
Full charging time 0:23 hr 1:11 hr
Battery life tests
Web browsing 12:04 hr 10:13 hr
Watching video 15:07 hr 15:32 hr
Gaming 05:32 hr 05:26 hr
Standby 93 hr 98 hr
General battery life
32:24 hr

Camera

Specs and camera test of smartphones
Main camera
Matrix 200 megapixels 108 megapixels
Image resolution - 12000 x 9000
Zoom Digital 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 (720p) 960 FPS (720p)
Angle of widest lens 120° 120°
Lenses 3 (200 MP + 8 MP + 2 MP) 4 (108 MP + 10 MP + 10 MP + 12 MP)
Wide (main) lens - 200 MP
- Aperture: f/1.7
- Focal length: 23 mm
- Pixel size: 0.64 micron
- Sensor: 1/1.22", Samsung HP1 (ISOCELL Plus 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/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 - 8 MP
- Aperture: f/2.2
- Pixel size: 1.12 micron
- Sensor: 1/4", Samsung S5K4H7 (ISOCELL 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)
Macro lens - 2 MP
- Aperture: f/2.4
-
Camera features - Bokeh mode
- Pro mode
- RAW support
- Bokeh mode
- Pro mode
- RAW support
Samples Photo samples of Xiaomi 12T Pro from DxOMark Photo samples of Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra from DxOMark
Selfie camera
Megapixels 20 megapixels 40 megapixels
Image resolution - 7864 x 5200
Aperture f/2.2 f/2.2
Focal length - 26 mm
Pixel size 0.8 microns 0.7 microns
Sensor type Exmor-RS CMOS ISOCELL CMOS
Sensor size 1/3.47" 1/2.65"
Video resolution 1080p (Full HD) at 60 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 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 5.2 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 October 2022 January 2021
Release date October 2022 February 2021
SAR (head) 1 W/kg 0.71 W/kg
SAR (body) 1 W/kg 1.58 W/kg
Sensors - 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, 120 W -
* Disclaimer! NFC, GSM network support, and some other specs can be different depending on the country.

Conclusion

If the performance, gaming, and battery life are more important to you, then choose the Xiaomi 12T Pro . But if the connectivity and design are more of a priority – go for the Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra .

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