Huawei Nova 13 vs Samsung Galaxy S21 Plus

Compared 2 smartphones : Huawei Nova 13 Manufactured in October, 2024, with display 6.7 with chipsetHiSilicon Kirin 8000, 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 Nova 13
  • Higher pixel density: 395ppi
  • Lighter design: 195g vs 200g
  • Higher battery capacity: 5000mAh 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 - 12/256 GB
- 12/512 GB
- 12/1024 GB
- 8/128 GB
- 8/256 GB

Review

Key Specs Huawei Nova 13 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
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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 395 ppi 394 ppi
Refresh rate 120 Hz 120 Hz
Adaptive refresh rate Yes (30-120 Hz) Yes (48-120 Hz)
Max brightness 1150 nits 1300 nits
HDR support Yes HDR10+ Yes HDR10+
Touch Sampling Rate 300 Hz n/a
Screen-to-body ratio 89.1 % 88.7 %
Features - DCI-P3
- Always-On Display
- DC dimming
- DCI-P3
- Always-On Display
Display test
Peak brightness (auto)
Huawei Nova 13
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 75.3 mm (2.96 in) 75.6 mm (2.98 in)
Thickness 6.98 mm (0.27 in) 7.8 mm (0.31 in)
Weight 195 g (6.88 oz) 200 g (7.05 oz)
Water resistance Yes IP68
Back panel Glass Glass
Frame Plastic Metal
Colors - White
- Black
- Green
- Purple
- Black
- Silver
- Gold
- Red
- Purple
Fingerprint sensor Yes In-Display Yes In-Display
Screen-to-body ratio
Huawei Nova 13
89.1 %
Samsung Galaxy S21 Plus
88.7 %

Performance

Testing Huawei Nova 13 and Samsung Galaxy S21 Plus In benchmarks
Processor
Chipset HiSilicon Kirin 8000 Samsung Exynos 2100
Max Frequency 2400 MHz 2840 MHz
CPU Cores 8 (1 + 3 + 4) 8 (1 + 3 + 4)
Architecture - 4/1.84 (Cortex-A55)
- 3/2.19 (1xA77 L)
- 1/2.4 (1xA77 H)
- 4/2.2 (Cortex-A55)
- 3/2.81 (Cortex-A78)
- 1/2.91 (Cortex-X1)
Process SMIC Samsung
Transistor Size 7 nm 5 nm
Neural Processor Yes Yes
Graphics Mali-G610 MP4 Mali-G78 MP14
GPU Cores 256 896
GPU Frequency 864 MHz 854 MHz
FLOPS 442.3 GFLOPS 1530.4 GFLOPS
GeekBench v6
Geekbench 6 (Single-Core)
Huawei Nova 13
937
Samsung Galaxy S21 Plus
1428
Geekbench 6 (Multi-Core)
Huawei Nova 13
2598
Samsung Galaxy S21 Plus
3840
Geekbench 6 (Single-Core)9371428
Geekbench 6 (Multi-Core)25983840
Geekbench Compute (GPU)2298n/a
AnTuTu 10
AnTuTu 10
Huawei Nova 13
574704
Samsung Galaxy S21 Plus
919348
CPU178879262973
GPU118109294382
Memory128205147307
UX149511214686
NanoReview Score574704919348
3DMark Wild Life
3DMark Wild Life
Huawei Nova 13
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 12 GB 8 GB
Memory Type LPDDR4X LPDDR5
Memory Frequency 2133 MHz 2750 MHz
Channels 2 2
Storage
Storage Capacity- 256 GB
- 512 GB
- 1024 GB
- 128 GB
- 256 GB
Storage Typen/aUFS 3.1
Memory CardNoNo

Software

OS Android 14 Android 11 (Upgradeable to Android 14)
OS Size n/a 27.2 GB
UI Skin EMUI 14.2 One UI 6

Battery

Volume 5000 mAh 4800 mAh
Max Charging Power 100 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 0:36 h 1:12 h
Battery Life Test
Battery Life
Huawei Nova 13
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 480 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 length16 mm13 mm
Sensorn/aSony IMX563
Sensor sizen/a1/2.55
Pixel sizen/a1.4 μm
StabilizationDigitalDigital
Main camera DxOMark results
Photo quality
Huawei Nova 13
n/a
Samsung Galaxy S21 Plus
129
Video quality
Huawei Nova 13
n/a
Samsung Galaxy S21 Plus
137
Overall camera score
Huawei Nova 13
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 n/a 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 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
DisplayPort No n/a
GPS - GPS
- GLONASS
- Beidou
- Galileo
- QZSS
- NAVIC
- 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 categoryn/a24
5G SupportYesYes

Sound

Speakers Stereo Stereo
3.5 mm Jack No No
FM Radio No No
Dolby Atmos No Yes
Speaker Test
Max Volume
Huawei Nova 13
n/a
Samsung Galaxy S21 Plus
87.8 dB

Other

Class Mid-range Flagship
Announced October, 2024 yr January, 2021 yr
Release Date October, 2024 yr February, 2021 yr
Launch Price ($) 380 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 100 W n/a
* Attention! Config, frequencies, NFC, and other specs may vary by region.

Results

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