Huawei Honor Magic 5 vs Samsung Galaxy S21 Plus

Compared 2 smartphones : Huawei Honor Magic 5 Manufactured in March, 2023, with display 6.73 with chipsetQualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2, vs Samsung Galaxy S21 Plus, Manufactured in February, 2021with chipsetSamsung Exynos 2100. Below are specs, tests, pros and cons for each device

Key Differences

Device key advantages
Reasons to choose Huawei Honor Magic 5
  • Larger display: 6.73in
  • Higher pixel density: 439ppi
  • Lighter design: 191g vs 200g
  • Higher battery capacity: 5100mAh vs 4800mAh
  • Newer Bluetooth version: 5.2 vs 5
  • Infrared port
  • Includes charger
Reasons to choose Samsung Galaxy S21 Plus
  • Supports newer USB: 3.2 vs 2
  • Supports Dolby Atmos
  • Built-in eSIM

Versions

Available versions and configurations
Memory Options - 8/256 GB
- 12/256 GB
- 16/256 GB
- 16/512 GB
- 8/128 GB
- 8/256 GB

Review

Key Specs Huawei Honor Magic 5 and Samsung Galaxy S21 Plus
Display
Color accuracy, sharpness & brightness
Camera
Main & front camera tests
Performance
App & system performance
Games
3D gaming performance
Battery
Battery life, charging speed & type
Connectivity
Connectivity features
NanoReview Score
Overall score by NanoReview
Adjust each parameter’s importance to find the best match for you.
Customize your score
Function
Importance (Weight)
Display:
Camera:
Performance:
Gaming:
Battery:
Connectivity:
Higher weight means greater impact on NanoReview score.

Tests & specs

Specs & test comparison

Display

Display quality comparison
Type OLED Dynamic AMOLED
Size 6.73 in 6.7 in
Resolution 1224x2688 pixels 1080x2400 pixels
Aspect ratio 19.76:9 20:9
Pixel density 439 ppi 394 ppi
Refresh rate 120 Hz 120 Hz
Adaptive refresh rate Yes Yes (48-120 Hz)
Max brightness 600 nits 1300 nits
HDR support Yes HDR10+ Yes HDR10+
Screen-to-body ratio 90.5 % 88.7 %
Features - DCI-P3
- Always-On Display
- DC dimming
- DCI-P3
- Always-On Display
Display test
Peak brightness (auto)
Huawei Honor Magic 5
n/a
Samsung Galaxy S21 Plus
879 nits
sRGB gamutn/a98.9 %
PWM (Flicker)n/a240 Hz
Response timen/a6.2 ms
Contrastn/a∞ Infinite

Design & Build

Design and ergonomics comparison
Height 161.4 mm (6.35 in) 161.5 mm (6.36 in)
Width 75.5 mm (2.97 in) 75.6 mm (2.98 in)
Thickness 7.8 mm (0.31 in) 7.8 mm (0.31 in)
Weight 191 g (6.74 oz) 200 g (7.05 oz)
Water resistance No IP68
Back panel Glass Glass
Frame Metal Metal
Colors - Black
- Blue
- Black
- Silver
- Gold
- Red
- Purple
Fingerprint sensor Yes In-Display Yes In-Display
Screen-to-body ratio
Huawei Honor Magic 5
90.5 %
Samsung Galaxy S21 Plus
88.7 %

Performance

Testing Huawei Honor Magic 5 and Samsung Galaxy S21 Plus In benchmarks
Processor
Chipset Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 Samsung Exynos 2100
Max Frequency 3200 MHz 2840 MHz
CPU Cores 8 (1 + 2 + 2 + 3) 8 (1 + 3 + 4)
Architecture - 3/2 (Cortex-A510)
- 2/2.8 (Cortex-A710)
- 2/2.8 (Cortex-A715)
- 1/3.2 (Cortex-X3)
- 4/2.2 (Cortex-A55)
- 3/2.81 (Cortex-A78)
- 1/2.91 (Cortex-X1)
Process TSMC Samsung
Transistor Size 4 nm 5 nm
Neural Processor Hexagon Yes
Graphics Adreno 740 Mali-G78 MP14
GPU Cores 1536 896
GPU Frequency 680 MHz 854 MHz
FLOPS 2089 GFLOPS 1530.4 GFLOPS
GeekBench v6
Geekbench 6 (Single-Core)
Huawei Honor Magic 5
1946
Samsung Galaxy S21 Plus
1428
Geekbench 6 (Multi-Core)
Huawei Honor Magic 5
5043
Samsung Galaxy S21 Plus
3840
Geekbench 6 (Single-Core)19461428
Geekbench 6 (Multi-Core)50433840
AnTuTu 10
AnTuTu 10
Huawei Honor Magic 5
994058
Samsung Galaxy S21 Plus
919348
CPU272156262973
GPU287990294382
Memory211425147307
UX222487214686
NanoReview Score994058919348
3DMark Wild Life
3DMark Wild Life
Huawei Honor Magic 5
n/a
Samsung Galaxy S21 Plus
5538
Max Surface Temp.n/a41.5 °C
Stabilityn/a67 %
Graphics Testn/a33 fps
Graphics Scoren/a5538

Memory

RAM
RAM Size - 8 GB
- 12 GB
- 16 GB
8 GB
Memory Type LPDDR5 LPDDR5
Memory Frequency n/a 2750 MHz
Channels 4 2
Storage
Storage Capacity- 256 GB
- 512 GB
- 128 GB
- 256 GB
Storage TypeUFS 4.0UFS 3.1
Memory CardNoNo

Software

OS Android 13 Android 11 (Upgradeable to Android 14)
OS Size n/a 27.2 GB
UI Skin Magic UI 7.1 One UI 6

Battery

Volume 5100 mAh 4800 mAh
Max Charging Power 66 W 25 W
Battery Type Li-Po Li-ion
Removable No No
Wireless Charging No Yes (15 W)
Reverse Charging Yes Yes (Wireless)
Fast Charging Yes (50% in 16 min) Yes (54% in 30 min)
Full Charge Time 0:48 h 1:12 h
Battery Life Test
Battery Life
Huawei Honor Magic 5
n/a
Samsung Galaxy S21 Plus
20:53
Web Browsingn/a07:28 h
Video Playbackn/a13:15 h
Gamesn/a05:04 h
Standby Moden/a105 h

Main camera

Matrix 54 MP 12 MP
Photo resolution 8768x6144 pixels 4000x3000 pixels
Zoom Optical, 2.5x Optical, 1.1x
Flash Dual LED Dual LED
Stabilization Digital Optical
8K Recording No Up to 24FPS
4K Recording Yes (Up to 60 fps) Yes (Up to 60 fps)
1080p Recording Yes (Up to 60 fps) Yes (Up to 60 fps)
Slow Motion n/a 960 fps (720p)
Wide-angle lens 122 ° 120 °
Lenses count Standard: 54 MP
Telephoto: 32 MP
Ultra-wide: 50 MP
Standard: 12 MP
Telephoto: 64 MP
Ultra-wide: 12 MP
Features - Bokeh effect
- Pro mode
- Bokeh effect
- Pro mode
- RAW support
Main lens
Matrix54 MP12 MP
Aperturef/1.9f/1.8
Focal lengthn/a26 mm
SensorSony IMX800Sony IMX555
Sensor size1/1.491/1.76
Pixel sizen/a1.8 μm
AutofocusPhase autofocusPhase autofocus (Dual Pixel)
StabilizationDigitalOptical
Telephoto
Matrix32 MP64 MP
Aperturef/2.4f/2.0
Focal lengthn/a28 mm
Sensorn/aSamsung Bright S5KGW2
Sensor sizen/a1/1.72
Pixel sizen/a0.8 μm
StabilizationOpticalOptical
Ultra-wide lens
Matrix50 MP12 MP
Aperturef/2.0f/2.2
Focal length13 mm13 mm
Sensorn/aSony IMX563
Sensor size1/2.51/2.55
Pixel sizen/a1.4 μm
StabilizationDigitalDigital
Main camera DxOMark results
Photo quality
Huawei Honor Magic 5
n/a
Samsung Galaxy S21 Plus
129
Video quality
Huawei Honor Magic 5
n/a
Samsung Galaxy S21 Plus
137
Overall camera score
Huawei Honor Magic 5
n/a
Samsung Galaxy S21 Plus
133
Bokehn/a70
Previewn/a72
Zoomn/a126

Front camera

Matrix 12 MP 10 MP
Photo resolution 4096x3072 pixels 3872x2592 pixels
Aperture n/a f/2.2
Focal length n/a 26 mm
Sensor n/a Sony IMX374
Sensor size n/a 1/3.24
Pixel size n/a 1.22 μm
Autofocus n/a Phase autofocus (Dual Pixel)
Stabilization n/a Digital
Video resolution 2160p (4K) at 60 fps 2160p (4K) at 60 fps
TOF 3D sensor No No

Connectivity

Wi-Fi version Wi-Fi 6E (802.11 a/b/g/n/ac/ax/be) 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 5.2 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
- GPS
- GLONASS
- Beidou
- Galileo
NFC* Yes Yes
Infrared Port Yes No
Connectivity
SIM Count*22
SIM TypeNanoNano
SIM ModeDual SIM StandbyDual SIM Standby
eSIM Support *NoYes
Hybrid SlotNoNo
2G Bandsn/aGSM 850, 900, 1800, 1900 MHz
3G Bandsn/aWCDMA Band 1, 2, 4, 5, 8
LTE Bands*n/aLTE (B1/B2/B3/B4/B5/B7/B8/B12/B13/B17/B18/B19/B20/B25/B26/B28/B32/B38/B39/B40/B41/B66)
LTE category2024
5G SupportYesYes

Sound

Speakers Stereo Stereo
3.5 mm Jack No No
FM Radio No No
Dolby Atmos n/a Yes
Speaker Test
Max Volume
Huawei Honor Magic 5
n/a
Samsung Galaxy S21 Plus
87.8 dB

Other

Class Flagship Flagship
Announced February, 2023 yr January, 2021 yr
Release Date March, 2023 yr February, 2021 yr
Launch Price ($) 900 1000
Sensors - Proximity Sensor
- Gyroscope
- Accelerometer
- Ambient Light Sensor
- Compass
- Fingerprint sensor
- Hall Sensor
- Barometer
- Proximity Sensor
- Gyroscope
- Accelerometer
- Ambient Light Sensor
- Compass
- Fingerprint sensor
Charger Included Yes 66 W n/a
* Attention! Config, frequencies, NFC, and other specs may vary by region.

Results

No clear favorite identified yet; updates may follow as new data arrives.

Survey

Which smartphone would you pick?
0 (0%)
0 (0%)
Total Votes: 0

User comments

Share your opinion or ask questions below