Huawei Nova 11 vs Samsung Galaxy S21 Plus

Compared 2 smartphones : Huawei Nova 11 Manufactured in April, 2023, with display 6.7 with chipsetQualcomm Snapdragon 778G, vs Samsung Galaxy S21 Plus, Manufactured in February, 2021 with chipsetSamsung Exynos 2100. Below are specs, tests, pros and cons for each device

Key Differences

Device key advantages
Reasons to choose Huawei Nova 11
  • Lighter design: 168g vs 200g
  • Newer Bluetooth version: 5.2 vs 5
  • Includes charger
Reasons to choose Samsung Galaxy S21 Plus
  • Higher pixel density: 394ppi
  • Higher battery capacity: 4800mAh vs 4500mAh
  • Supports newer USB: 3.2 vs 2
  • Supports Dolby Atmos
  • Built-in eSIM

Versions

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

Review

Key Specs Huawei Nova 11 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 6.7 in 6.7 in
Resolution 1084x2412 pixels 1080x2400 pixels
Aspect ratio 20:9 20:9
Pixel density 391 ppi 394 ppi
Refresh rate 120 Hz 120 Hz
Adaptive refresh rate No Yes (48-120 Hz)
Max brightness 950 nits 1300 nits
HDR support Yes HDR10 Yes HDR10+
Touch Sampling Rate 240 Hz n/a
Screen-to-body ratio 89.6 % 88.7 %
Features - DCI-P3
- Always-On Display
- DCI-P3
- Always-On Display
Display test
Peak brightness (auto)
Huawei Nova 11
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 161.29 mm (6.35 in) 161.5 mm (6.36 in)
Width 74.96 mm (2.95 in) 75.6 mm (2.98 in)
Thickness 6.88 mm (0.27 in) 7.8 mm (0.31 in)
Weight 168 g (5.93 oz) 200 g (7.05 oz)
Water resistance No IP68
Back panel Plastic Glass
Frame Plastic Metal
Colors - White
- Black
- Gold
- Green
- Black
- Silver
- Gold
- Red
- Purple
Fingerprint sensor Yes In-Display Yes In-Display
Screen-to-body ratio
Huawei Nova 11
89.6 %
Samsung Galaxy S21 Plus
88.7 %

Performance

Testing Huawei Nova 11 and Samsung Galaxy S21 Plus In benchmarks
Processor
Chipset Qualcomm Snapdragon 778G Samsung Exynos 2100
Max Frequency 2400 MHz 2840 MHz
CPU Cores 8 (1 + 3 + 4) 8 (1 + 3 + 4)
Architecture - 4/1.8 (Kryo 670 Silver (Cortex-A55))
- 3/2.4 (Kryo 670 Gold (Cortex-A78))
- 1/2.4 (Kryo 670 Prime (Cortex-A78))
- 4/2.2 (Cortex-A55)
- 3/2.81 (Cortex-A78)
- 1/2.91 (Cortex-X1)
Process TSMC Samsung
Transistor Size 6 nm 5 nm
Neural Processor Hexagon 770 Yes
Graphics Adreno 642 Mali-G78 MP14
GPU Cores 512 896
GPU Frequency 550 MHz 854 MHz
FLOPS 844 GFLOPS 1530.4 GFLOPS
GeekBench v6
Geekbench 6 (Single-Core)
Huawei Nova 11
1024
Samsung Galaxy S21 Plus
1428
Geekbench 6 (Multi-Core)
Huawei Nova 11
2941
Samsung Galaxy S21 Plus
3840
Geekbench 6 (Single-Core)10241428
Geekbench 6 (Multi-Core)29413840
AnTuTu 10
AnTuTu 10
Huawei Nova 11
588186
Samsung Galaxy S21 Plus
919348
CPU193840262973
GPU138782294382
Memory125724147307
UX129840214686
NanoReview Score588186919348
3DMark Wild Life
3DMark Wild Life
Huawei Nova 11
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 8 GB
Memory Type LPDDR4X LPDDR5
Memory Frequency 2133 MHz 2750 MHz
Channels 2 2
Storage
Storage Capacity- 128 GB
- 256 GB
- 512 GB
- 128 GB
- 256 GB
Storage TypeUFS 3.1UFS 3.1
Memory CardNoNo

Software

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

Battery

Volume 4500 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 13 min) Yes (54% in 30 min)
Full Charge Time 0:32 h 1:12 h
Battery Life Test
Battery Life
Huawei Nova 11
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 50 MP 12 MP
Photo resolution 8192x6144 pixels 4000x3000 pixels
Zoom Digital Optical, 1.1x
Flash LED Dual LED
Stabilization Digital Optical
8K Recording No Up to 24FPS
4K Recording Yes (Up to 30 fps) Yes (Up to 60 fps)
1080p Recording Yes (Up to 60 fps) Yes (Up to 60 fps)
Slow Motion 960 fps (720p) 960 fps (720p)
Wide-angle lens 112 ° 120 °
Lenses count Standard: 50 MP
Ultra-wide: 8 MP
Standard: 12 MP
Telephoto: 64 MP
Ultra-wide: 12 MP
Features - Bokeh effect
- Pro mode
- Bokeh effect
- Pro mode
- RAW support
Main lens
Matrix50 MP12 MP
Aperturef/1.9f/1.8
Focal lengthn/a26 mm
Sensorn/aSony IMX555
Sensor sizen/a1/1.76
Pixel sizen/a1.8 μm
AutofocusPhase autofocusPhase autofocus (Dual Pixel)
StabilizationDigitalOptical
Telephoto
Matrixn/a64 MP
Aperturen/af/2.0
Focal lengthn/a28 mm
Sensorn/aSamsung Bright S5KGW2
Sensor sizen/a1/1.72
Pixel sizen/a0.8 μm
Stabilizationn/aOptical
Ultra-wide lens
Matrix8 MP12 MP
Aperturef/2.2f/2.2
Focal lengthn/a13 mm
Sensorn/aSony IMX563
Sensor sizen/a1/2.55
Pixel sizen/a1.4 μm
StabilizationDigitalDigital
Main camera DxOMark results
Photo quality
Huawei Nova 11
n/a
Samsung Galaxy S21 Plus
129
Video quality
Huawei Nova 11
n/a
Samsung Galaxy S21 Plus
137
Overall camera score
Huawei Nova 11
n/a
Samsung Galaxy S21 Plus
133
Bokehn/a70
Previewn/a72
Zoomn/a126

Front camera

Matrix 60 MP 10 MP
Photo resolution 8960x6720 pixels 3872x2592 pixels
Aperture f/2.4 f/2.2
Focal length 17 mm 26 mm
Sensor Omnivision OV60A Sony IMX374
Sensor size 1/2.8 1/3.24
Pixel size 0.61 μm 1.22 μm
Autofocus No Phase autofocus (Dual Pixel)
Stabilization Digital Digital
Video resolution 2160p (4K) at 30 fps 2160p (4K) at 60 fps
TOF 3D sensor No No

Connectivity

Wi-Fi version 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 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 No No
Connectivity
SIM Count*22
SIM TypeNanoNano
SIM ModeDual SIM StandbyDual SIM Standby
eSIM Support *NoYes
Hybrid SlotNoNo
2G BandsGSM Bands 2/3/5/8 (850/900/1800/1900 MHz)GSM 850, 900, 1800, 1900 MHz
3G BandsWCDMA Bands 1/2/4/5/6/8/19WCDMA Band 1, 2, 4, 5, 8
LTE Bands*LTE (B/B1/B2/B3/B4/B5/B7/B8/B12/B13/B17/B18/B19/B20/B26/B28/B38/B40/B41/B66)LTE (B1/B2/B3/B4/B5/B7/B8/B12/B13/B17/B18/B19/B20/B25/B26/B28/B32/B38/B39/B40/B41/B66)
LTE category1824
5G SupportNoYes

Sound

Speakers Stereo Stereo
3.5 mm Jack No No
FM Radio No No
Dolby Atmos No Yes
Speaker Test
Max Volume
Huawei Nova 11
n/a
Samsung Galaxy S21 Plus
87.8 dB

Other

Class Mid-range Flagship
Announced April, 2023 yr January, 2021 yr
Release Date April, 2023 yr February, 2021 yr
Launch Price ($) 399 1000
Sensors - 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