Xiaomi 12T vs Samsung Galaxy S21
75
out of 100
VS
70
out of 100
Here we compared two flagship smartphones: the 6.67-inch Xiaomi 12T (with MediaTek Dimensity 8100 Ultra) that was released on October 4, 2022, against the Samsung Galaxy S21, 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
Reasons to consider the Xiaomi 12T
- Comes with 1000 mAh larger battery capacity: 5000 vs 4000 mAh
- Supports higher wattage charging (120W versus 25W)
- Shows 22% longer battery life (31:26 vs 25:44 hours)
- Newer Bluetooth version (v5.3)
- Has a 0.47 inch larger screen size
- Delivers 11% higher peak brightness (961 against 864 nits)
- The phone is 1-year and 9-months newer
- Has a built-in infrared port
Reasons to consider the Samsung Galaxy S21
- Handles wireless charging up to 15W
- Waterproof body (IP68 classification)
- The rear camera has a 1.1x optical zoom
- Reverse charging feature
- Weighs 33 grams less
- The front-facing camera can record video at 4K
- Ready for eSIM technology
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 | AMOLED | Dynamic AMOLED |
| Size | 6.67 inches | 6.2 inches |
| Resolution | 1220 x 2712 pixels | 1080 x 2400 pixels |
| Aspect ratio | 20:9 | 20:9 |
| PPI | 446 ppi | 421 ppi |
| Refresh rate | 120 Hz | 120 Hz |
| Adaptive refresh rate | No | No |
| Max rated brightness | 500 nits | 800 nits |
| Max rated brightness in HDR | 900 nits | - |
| HDR support | Yes, HDR10+ | Yes, HDR10+ |
| Screen protection | Corning Gorilla Glass 5 | Gorilla Glass Victus |
| Screen-to-body ratio | 86.7% | 87.2% |
| Display features |
- DCI-P3
- Always-On Display - DC Dimming |
- DCI-P3
- Always-On Display |
| RGB color space | 99.8% | 99.5% |
| PWM | 120 Hz | 240 Hz |
| Response time | 1 ms | 5 ms |
| Contrast | ∞ Infinity | ∞ Infinity |
Peak brightness test (auto)
Design and build
| Height | 163.1 mm (6.42 inches) | 151.7 mm (5.97 inches) |
| Width | 75.9 mm (2.99 inches) | 71.2 mm (2.8 inches) |
| Thickness | 8.6 mm (0.34 inches) | 7.9 mm (0.31 inches) |
| Weight | 202 g (7.13 oz) | 169 g (5.96 oz) |
| Waterproof | IP53 | IP68 |
| Rear material | Glass | Plastic |
| Frame material | Plastic | Metal |
| Colors | Black, Silver, Blue | White, Gray, Pink, Purple |
| Fingerprint scanner | Yes, in-display | Yes, in-display |
Screen-to-body ratio
Performance
| Chipset | MediaTek Dimensity 8100 Ultra | Samsung Exynos 2100 |
| Max clock | 2850 MHz | 2900 MHz |
| CPU cores | 8 (4 + 4) | 8 (1 + 3 + 4) |
| Architecture |
- 4 cores at 2 GHz: Cortex-A55
- 4 cores at 2.85 GHz: Cortex-A78 |
- 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 | 5 nanometers | 5 nanometers |
| Graphics | Mali-G610 MP6 | Mali-G78 MP14 |
| GPU shading units | - | 896 |
| GPU clock | 860 MHz | 854 MHz |
| FLOPS | ~1309 GFLOPS | ~1530.4 GFLOPS |
Benchmarks
Geekbench 6 (Single-Core)
Geekbench 6 (Multi-Core)
AnTuTu Benchmark 10
| CPU | 261543 | 150223 |
| GPU | 203940 | 340353 |
| Memory | 181754 | 151885 |
| UX | 197371 | 158712 |
| Total score | 846817 | 806977 |
3DMark Wild Life Performance
| Max surface temperature | 35.7 °C | 38.9 °C |
| Stability | 99% | 66% |
| Graphics test | 35 FPS | 34 FPS |
| Graphics score | 5860 | 5714 |
PCMark 3.0
| Web score | 10713 | 12591 |
| Video editing | 6825 | 7113 |
| Photo editing | 22254 | 29385 |
| Data manipulation | 9441 | 10438 |
| Writing score | 16398 | 16561 |
Memory
| RAM size | 8 GB | 8 GB |
| Memory type | LPDDR5 | LPDDR5 |
| Memory clock | - | 2750 MHz |
| Channels | 4 | 2 |
| Storage size | 128, 256 GB | 128, 256 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 | 25.5 GB | 28.1 GB |
Battery
| Capacity | 5000 mAh | 4000 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 (55% in 50 min) |
| Full charging time | 0:23 hr | 1:35 hr |
| Web browsing | 11:33 hr | 07:27 hr |
| Watching video | 13:36 hr | 12:26 hr |
| Gaming | 05:00 hr | 04:31 hr |
| Standby | 99 hr | 92 hr |
General battery life
Camera
| Matrix | 108 megapixels | 12 megapixels |
| Image resolution | 12032 x 9204 | 4000 x 3000 |
| Zoom | Digital | Optical, 1.1x |
| Flash | Dual LED | Dual LED |
| Stabilization | Optical | Optical |
| 8K video recording | No | Up to 24FPS |
| 4K video recording | Up to 30FPS | Up to 60FPS |
| 1080p video recording | Up to 60FPS | Up to 60FPS |
| Slow motion | 960 FPS (720p) | 960 FPS (720p) |
| Angle of widest lens | 120° | 120° |
| Lenses | 3 (108 MP + 8 MP + 2 MP) | 3 (12 MP + 64 MP + 12 MP) |
| Wide (main) lens |
- 108 MP
- Aperture: f/1.7 - Focal length: 24 mm - Pixel size: 0.64 micron - Sensor: 1/1.67", Samsung ISOCELL HM6 (ISOCELL Plus CMOS) - Phase autofocus - Optical stabilization |
- 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 |
| Telephoto lens | - |
- 64 MP
- Aperture: f/2.0 - Focal length: 28 mm - Pixel size: 0.8 micron - Sensor: 1/1.72", Samsung Bright S5KGW2 (ISOCELL Plus 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 |
- Bokeh mode
- Pro mode - RAW support |
| Samples | Photo samples of Xiaomi 12T from DxOMark | Photo samples of Samsung Galaxy S21 from DxOMark |
| Megapixels | 20 megapixels | 10 megapixels |
| Image resolution | - | 3872 x 2592 |
| Aperture | f/2.2 | f/2.2 |
| Focal length | 26 mm | 26 mm |
| Pixel size | - | 1.22 microns |
| Sensor type | Exmor-RS CMOS | CMOS |
| Sensor size | 1/3.47" | 1/3.24" |
| 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 6 (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 |
| 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 |
| Number of SIM * | 2 | 2 |
| Type of SIM card | Nano | Nano |
| Multi SIM mode | Standby | Standby |
| eSIM support * | No | Yes |
| Hybrid slot | No | No |
| LTE Cat * | 18 | 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) | 0.99 W/kg | 0.46 W/kg |
| SAR (body) | 0.99 W/kg | 1.51 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 display, battery life, and design are more important to you, then choose the Xiaomi 12T . But if the gaming and connectivity are more of a priority – go for the Samsung Galaxy S21 .
