Nothing Phone (2) vs Samsung Galaxy S21 Plus

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 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 Nothing Phone (2)
  • Newer Bluetooth version: 5.3 vs 5
Reasons to choose Samsung Galaxy S21 Plus
  • Lighter design: 200g vs 201.2g
  • Higher battery capacity: 4800mAh vs 4700mAh
  • Supports newer USB: 3.2 vs 2
  • Supports Dolby Atmos
  • Built-in eSIM

Versions

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

Review

Key Specs Nothing Phone (2) 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 AMOLED Dynamic AMOLED
Size 6.7 in 6.7 in
Resolution 1080x2412 pixels 1080x2400 pixels
Aspect ratio 20:9 20:9
Pixel density 394 ppi 394 ppi
Refresh rate 120 Hz 120 Hz
Adaptive refresh rate Yes (10-120 Hz) Yes (48-120 Hz)
Max brightness 600 nits 1300 nits
HDR support Yes HDR10+ Yes HDR10+
Touch Sampling Rate 360 Hz n/a
Screen-to-body ratio 87.5 % 88.7 %
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 Plus
879 nits
sRGB gamut98.3 %98.9 %
PWM (Flicker)90 Hz240 Hz
Response time1 ms6.2 ms
Contrast∞ Infinite∞ Infinite

Design & Build

Design and ergonomics comparison
Height 162.1 mm (6.38 in) 161.5 mm (6.36 in)
Width 76.4 mm (3.01 in) 75.6 mm (2.98 in)
Thickness 8.6 mm (0.34 in) 7.8 mm (0.31 in)
Weight 201.2 g (7.1 oz) 200 g (7.05 oz)
Water resistance IP54 IP68
Cooling system Vapor chamber n/a
Back panel Glass Glass
Frame Metal Metal
Colors - White
- Gray
- Black
- Silver
- Gold
- Red
- Purple
Fingerprint sensor Yes In-Display Yes In-Display
Screen-to-body ratio
Nothing Phone (2)
87.5 %
Samsung Galaxy S21 Plus
88.7 %

Performance

Testing Nothing Phone (2) and Samsung Galaxy S21 Plus In benchmarks
Processor
Chipset Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Plus Gen 1 Samsung Exynos 2100
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)
- 4/2.2 (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 730 Mali-G78 MP14
GPU Cores 1024 896
GPU Frequency 900 MHz 854 MHz
FLOPS 1843.2 GFLOPS 1530.4 GFLOPS
GeekBench v6
Geekbench 6 (Single-Core)
Nothing Phone (2)
1718
Samsung Galaxy S21 Plus
1428
Geekbench 6 (Multi-Core)
Nothing Phone (2)
4478
Samsung Galaxy S21 Plus
3840
Geekbench 6 (Single-Core)17181428
Geekbench 6 (Multi-Core)44783840
AnTuTu 10
AnTuTu 10
Nothing Phone (2)
1200612
Samsung Galaxy S21 Plus
919348
CPU348707262973
GPU385273294382
Memory207889147307
UX258743214686
NanoReview Score1200612919348
3DMark Wild Life
3DMark Wild Life
Nothing Phone (2)
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
8 GB
Memory Type LPDDR5 LPDDR5
Memory Frequency 3200 MHz 2750 MHz
Channels 4 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 (Upgradeable to Android 15) Android 11 (Upgradeable to Android 14)
OS Size 28 GB 27.2 GB
UI Skin Nothing OS 2.5 One UI 6

Battery

Volume 4700 mAh 4800 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 (54% in 30 min)
Full Charge Time 1:04 h 1:12 h
Battery Life Test
Battery Life
Nothing Phone (2)
23:16
Samsung Galaxy S21 Plus
20:53
Web Browsing10:12 h07:28 h
Video Playback16:37 h13:15 h
Games06:07 h05:04 h
Standby Mode91 h105 h

Main camera

Matrix 50 MP 12 MP
Photo resolution 8192x6144 pixels 4000x3000 pixels
Zoom Digital Optical, 1.1x
Flash LED Dual LED
Stabilization Optical 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 240 fps (1080p) 960 fps (720p)
Wide-angle lens 114 ° 120 °
Lenses count Standard: 50 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
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/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
Matrix50 MP12 MP
Aperturef/2.2f/2.2
Focal lengthn/a13 mm
SensorSamsung S5KJN1Sony IMX563
Sensor size1/2.761/2.55
Pixel size0.64 μm1.4 μm
StabilizationDigitalDigital
Main camera DxOMark results
Photo quality
Nothing Phone (2)
n/a
Samsung Galaxy S21 Plus
129
Video quality
Nothing Phone (2)
n/a
Samsung Galaxy S21 Plus
137
Overall camera score
Nothing Phone (2)
n/a
Samsung Galaxy S21 Plus
133
Bokehn/a70
Previewn/a72
Zoomn/a126

Front camera

Matrix 32 MP 10 MP
Photo resolution 6528x4896 pixels 3872x2592 pixels
Aperture f/2.5 f/2.2
Focal length n/a 26 mm
Sensor Sony IMX615 Sony IMX374
Sensor size 1/2.74 1/3.24
Pixel size 0.8 μm 1.22 μm
Autofocus No Phase autofocus (Dual Pixel)
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, 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
- 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 *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 No Yes
Speaker Test
Max Volume
Nothing Phone (2)
81.9 dB
Samsung Galaxy S21 Plus
87.8 dB

Other

Class Flagship Flagship
Announced July, 2023 yr January, 2021 yr
Release Date July, 2023 yr February, 2021 yr
Launch Price ($) 599 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 No 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.

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Total Votes: 1

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