Nothing Phone (2) vs Samsung Galaxy S21 FE 5G

Compared 2 smartphones : Nothing Phone (2) Manufactured in July, 2023, with display 6.7 with chipsetQualcomm Snapdragon 8 Plus Gen 1, vs Samsung Galaxy S21 FE 5G, Manufactured in January, 2022with chipsetQualcomm Snapdragon 888. Below are specs, tests, pros and cons for each device

Key Differences

Device key advantages
Reasons to choose Nothing Phone (2)
  • Larger display: 6.7in
  • Higher battery capacity: 4700mAh vs 4500mAh
  • Newer Bluetooth version: 5.3 vs 5
Reasons to choose Samsung Galaxy S21 FE 5G
  • Higher pixel density: 403ppi
  • Lighter design: 177g vs 201.2g
  • Supports newer USB: 3.2 vs 2
  • Supports Dolby Atmos

Versions

Available versions and configurations
Memory Options - 8/128 GB
- 12/256 GB
- 12/512 GB
- 6/128 GB
- 6/256 GB
- 8/128 GB
- 8/256 GB

Review

Key Specs Nothing Phone (2) and Samsung Galaxy S21 FE 5G
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 AMOLED Dynamic AMOLED
Size 6.7 in 6.4 in
Resolution 1080x2412 pixels 1080x2340 pixels
Aspect ratio 20:9 19.5:9
Pixel density 394 ppi 403 ppi
Refresh rate 120 Hz 120 Hz
Adaptive refresh rate Yes (10-120 Hz) No
Max brightness 600 nits 800 nits
HDR support Yes HDR10+ Yes HDR10+
Touch Sampling Rate 360 Hz n/a
Screen-to-body ratio 87.5 % 86.7 %
Features - DCI-P3
- Always-On Display
- DC dimming
- DCI-P3
- Always-On Display
Display test
Peak brightness (auto)
Nothing Phone (2)
991 nits
Samsung Galaxy S21 FE 5G
785 nits
sRGB gamut98.3 %97 %
PWM (Flicker)90 Hz247 Hz
Response time1 ms6 ms
Contrast∞ Infinite∞ Infinite

Design & Build

Design and ergonomics comparison
Height 162.1 mm (6.38 in) 155.7 mm (6.13 in)
Width 76.4 mm (3.01 in) 74.5 mm (2.93 in)
Thickness 8.6 mm (0.34 in) 7.9 mm (0.31 in)
Weight 201.2 g (7.1 oz) 177 g (6.24 oz)
Water resistance IP54 IP68
Cooling system Vapor chamber n/a
Back panel Glass Plastic
Frame Metal Metal
Colors - White
- Gray
- White
- Gray
- Green
- Purple
Fingerprint sensor Yes In-Display Yes In-Display
Screen-to-body ratio
Nothing Phone (2)
87.5 %
Samsung Galaxy S21 FE 5G
86.7 %

Performance

Testing Nothing Phone (2) and Samsung Galaxy S21 FE 5G In benchmarks
Processor
Chipset Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Plus Gen 1 Qualcomm Snapdragon 888
Max Frequency 3200 MHz 2840 MHz
CPU Cores 8 (1 + 3 + 4) 8 (1 + 3 + 4)
Architecture - 4/2 (Cortex-A510)
- 3/2.75 (Cortex-A710)
- 1/3.2 (Cortex-X2)
- 4/1.8 (Kryo 680 Silver (Cortex-A55))
- 3/2.42 (Kryo 680 Gold (Cortex-A78))
- 1/2.84 (Kryo 680 Prime (Cortex-X1))
Process TSMC Samsung
Transistor Size 4 nm 5 nm
Neural Processor Hexagon Hexagon 780
Graphics Adreno 730 Adreno 660
GPU Cores 1024 1024
GPU Frequency 900 MHz 840 MHz
FLOPS 1843.2 GFLOPS 1290.2 GFLOPS
GeekBench v6
Geekbench 6 (Single-Core)
Nothing Phone (2)
1718
Samsung Galaxy S21 FE 5G
1371
Geekbench 6 (Multi-Core)
Nothing Phone (2)
4478
Samsung Galaxy S21 FE 5G
3396
Geekbench 6 (Single-Core)17181371
Geekbench 6 (Multi-Core)44783396
AnTuTu 10
AnTuTu 10
Nothing Phone (2)
1200612
Samsung Galaxy S21 FE 5G
894898
CPU348707247848
GPU385273311997
Memory207889152639
UX258743182414
NanoReview Score1200612894898
3DMark Wild Life
3DMark Wild Life
Nothing Phone (2)
n/a
Samsung Galaxy S21 FE 5G
5704
Max Surface Temp.n/a39.1 °C
Stabilityn/a69 %
Graphics Testn/a34 fps
Graphics Scoren/a5704
PCMark 3.0
PCMark 3.0
Nothing Phone (2)
n/a
Samsung Galaxy S21 FE 5G
12441
Writing scoren/a14216
Web scoren/a11960
Video editingn/a7049
Data manipulationn/a10196
NanoReview Scoren/a12441

Memory

RAM
RAM Size - 8 GB
- 12 GB
- 6 GB
- 8 GB
Memory Type LPDDR5 LPDDR5
Memory Frequency 3200 MHz 3200 MHz
Channels 4 4
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 (Upgradeable to Android 15) Android 12 (Upgradeable to Android 14)
OS Size 28 GB 17.5 GB
UI Skin Nothing OS 2.5 One UI 6

Battery

Volume 4700 mAh 4500 mAh
Max Charging Power 45 W 25 W
Battery Type Li-Po Li-ion
Removable No No
Wireless Charging Yes (15 W) Yes (15 W)
Reverse Charging Yes (Wireless) Yes (Wireless)
Fast Charging Yes (62% in 30 min) Yes (51% in 30 min)
Full Charge Time 1:04 h 1:15 h
Battery Life Test
Battery Life
Nothing Phone (2)
23:16
Samsung Galaxy S21 FE 5G
18:37
Web Browsing10:12 h06:11 h
Video Playback16:37 h11:05 h
Games06:07 h04:48 h
Standby Mode91 h100 h

Main camera

Matrix 50 MP 12 MP
Photo resolution 8192x6144 pixels 4032x3024 pixels
Zoom Digital Optical, 3x
Flash LED LED
Stabilization Optical Optical
8K Recording No No
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 240 fps (1080p) 960 fps (720p)
Wide-angle lens 114 ° 123 °
Lenses count Standard: 50 MP
Ultra-wide: 50 MP
Standard: 12 MP
Telephoto: 8 MP
Ultra-wide: 12 MP
Features - Bokeh effect
- Pro mode
- Bokeh effect
- Pro mode
Main lens
Matrix50 MP12 MP
Aperturef/1.9f/1.8
Focal length24 mm26 mm
SensorSony IMX890Sony IMX555
Sensor size1/1.561/1.76
Pixel size1 μm1.8 μm
AutofocusPhase autofocusPhase autofocus (Dual Pixel)
StabilizationOpticalOptical
Telephoto
Matrixn/a8 MP
Aperturen/af/2.4
Focal lengthn/a76 mm
Sensorn/aHynix Hi847
Sensor sizen/a1/4.5
Pixel sizen/a1 μm
Stabilizationn/aOptical
Ultra-wide lens
Matrix50 MP12 MP
Aperturef/2.2f/2.2
Focal lengthn/a13 mm
SensorSamsung S5KJN1Sony IMX258
Sensor size1/2.761/3.0
Pixel size0.64 μm1.12 μm
StabilizationDigitalDigital
Main camera DxOMark results
Photo quality
Nothing Phone (2)
n/a
Samsung Galaxy S21 FE 5G
119
Video quality
Nothing Phone (2)
n/a
Samsung Galaxy S21 FE 5G
107
Overall camera score
Nothing Phone (2)
n/a
Samsung Galaxy S21 FE 5G
117

Front camera

Matrix 32 MP 32 MP
Photo resolution 6528x4896 pixels 6464x4864 pixels
Aperture f/2.5 f/2.2
Focal length n/a 26 mm
Sensor Sony IMX615 Sony IMX616
Sensor size 1/2.74 1/2.74
Pixel size 0.8 μm 0.8 μm
Autofocus No No
Stabilization Digital Digital
Video resolution 1080p (Full HD) at 60 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 5.3 5
Bluetooth features LE LE
USB type USB Type-C USB Type-C
USB version 2 3.2
USB features - Charging
- USB Storage Mode
- OTG
- Charging
- USB Storage Mode
- OTG
GPS - GPS
- GLONASS
- Galileo
- QZSS
- NAVIC
- 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 *NoNo
Hybrid SlotNoNo
2G Bandsn/aGSM GSM850, GSM900, DCS1800, PCS1900
3G Bandsn/aUMTS B1 (2100), B2 (1900), B4(AWS), B5(850), B8 (900)
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 category2019
5G SupportYesYes

Sound

Speakers Stereo Stereo
3.5 mm Jack No No
FM Radio No No
Dolby Atmos No Yes
Speaker Test
Max Volume
Nothing Phone (2)
81.9 dB
Samsung Galaxy S21 FE 5G
88.9 dB

Other

Class Flagship Flagship
Announced July, 2023 yr January, 2022 yr
Release Date July, 2023 yr January, 2022 yr
Launch Price ($) 599 790
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 No No
* Attention! Config, frequencies, NFC, and other specs may vary by region.

Results

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