OnePlus 13 vs Samsung Galaxy S21

Compared 2 smartphones : OnePlus 13 Manufactured in January, 2025, with display 6.82 with chipsetQualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite, vs Samsung Galaxy S21, 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 OnePlus 13
  • Larger display: 6.82in
  • Higher pixel density: 510ppi
  • Higher battery capacity: 6000mAh vs 4000mAh
  • Newer Bluetooth version: 5.4 vs 5
  • Supports DisplayPort
  • Infrared port
  • Includes charger
Reasons to choose Samsung Galaxy S21
  • Lighter design: 169g vs 213g

Versions

Available versions and configurations
Memory Options - 12/256 GB
- 12/512 GB
- 16/512 GB
- 24/1024 GB
- 8/128 GB
- 8/256 GB

Review

Key Specs OnePlus 13 and Samsung Galaxy S21
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
Smartphones:
vs

Display

Display quality comparison
Type AMOLED Dynamic AMOLED
Size 6.82 in 6.2 in
Resolution 1440x3168 pixels 1080x2400 pixels
Aspect ratio 20:9 20:9
Pixel density 510 ppi 421 ppi
Refresh rate 120 Hz 120 Hz
Adaptive refresh rate Yes (1-120 Hz) Yes (48-120 Hz)
Max brightness 1600 nits 800 nits
HDR support Yes Dolby Vision Yes HDR10+
Screen-to-body ratio 90.1 % 85.9 %
Features - DCI-P3
- Always-On Display
- DC dimming
- DCI-P3
- Always-On Display
Display test
Peak brightness (auto)
OnePlus 13
1193 nits
Samsung Galaxy S21
854 nits
sRGB gamut99.6 %99.5 %
PWM (Flicker)120 Hz240 Hz
Response time2 ms5 ms
Contrast∞ Infinite∞ Infinite

Design & Build

Design and ergonomics comparison
Height 162.9 mm (6.41 in) 151.7 mm (5.97 in)
Width 76.5 mm (3.01 in) 71.2 mm (2.8 in)
Thickness 8.5 mm (0.33 in) 7.9 mm (0.31 in)
Weight 213 g (7.51 oz) 169 g (5.96 oz)
Water resistance IP69 IP68
Cooling system Vapor chamber n/a
Back panel Glass Plastic
Frame Metal Metal
Colors - White
- Black
- Blue
- White
- Gray
- Pink
- Purple
Fingerprint sensor Yes In-Display Yes In-Display
Screen-to-body ratio
OnePlus 13
90.1 %
Samsung Galaxy S21
85.9 %

Performance

Testing OnePlus 13 and Samsung Galaxy S21 In benchmarks
Processor
Chipset Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite Samsung Exynos 2100
Max Frequency 4320 MHz 2900 MHz
CPU Cores 8 (2 + 6) 8 (1 + 3 + 4)
Architecture - 6/3.53 (Oryon (Phoenix M))
- 2/4.32 (Oryon (Phoenix L))
- 4/2.2 (Cortex-A55)
- 3/2.81 (Cortex-A78)
- 1/2.91 (Cortex-X1)
Process TSMC Samsung
Transistor Size 3 nm 5 nm
Neural Processor Hexagon Yes
Graphics Adreno 830 Mali-G78 MP14
GPU Cores 1536 896
GPU Frequency 1100 MHz 854 MHz
FLOPS 3379.2 GFLOPS 1530.4 GFLOPS
GeekBench v6
Geekbench 6 (Single-Core)
OnePlus 13
2946
Samsung Galaxy S21
1331
Geekbench 6 (Multi-Core)
OnePlus 13
8999
Samsung Galaxy S21
3593
Geekbench 6 (Single-Core)29461331
Geekbench 6 (Multi-Core)89993593
Geekbench Compute (GPU)24179n/a
AnTuTu 10
AnTuTu 10
OnePlus 13
2840258
Samsung Galaxy S21
903780
CPU636212253391
GPU1240330281676
Memory533673158352
UX440043210361
NanoReview Score2840258903780
3DMark Wild Life
3DMark Wild Life
OnePlus 13
20587
Samsung Galaxy S21
5715
Max Surface Temp.47.8 °C38.9 °C
Stability81 %66 %
Graphics Test122 fps34 fps
Graphics Score205875715
PCMark 3.0
PCMark 3.0
OnePlus 13
16150
Samsung Galaxy S21
13123
Writing score2186416101
Web score1402811909
Video editing67417097
Data manipulation1658010153
NanoReview Score1615013123

Memory

RAM
RAM Size - 12 GB
- 16 GB
- 24 GB
8 GB
Memory Type LPDDR5X LPDDR5
Memory Frequency 5333 MHz 2750 MHz
Channels 2 2
Storage
Storage Capacity- 256 GB
- 512 GB
- 1024 GB
- 128 GB
- 256 GB
Storage TypeUFS 4.0UFS 3.1
Memory CardNoNo

Software

OS Android 15 Android 11 (Upgradeable to Android 14)
OS Size 54 GB 28.1 GB
UI Skin OxygenOS 15 One UI 6.0

Battery

Volume 6000 mAh 4000 mAh
Max Charging Power 100 W 25 W
Battery Type Silicon Carbon (Si/C) Li-ion
Removable No No
Wireless Charging Yes (50 W) Yes (15 W)
Reverse Charging Yes (Wireless) Yes (Wireless)
Fast Charging Yes (55% in 15 min) Yes (55% in 50 min)
Full Charge Time 0:35 h 1:35 h
Battery Life Test
Battery Life
OnePlus 13
31:17
Samsung Galaxy S21
17:54
Web Browsing13:42 h06:01 h
Video Playback23:46 h11:06 h
Games06:05 h04:21 h
Standby Mode120 h95 h

Main camera

Matrix 50 MP 12 MP
Photo resolution 8192x6144 pixels 4000x3000 pixels
Zoom Optical, 3x Optical, 1.1x
Flash Dual LED Dual LED
Stabilization Optical Optical
8K Recording Yes (Up to 30 fps) 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 120 ° 120 °
Lenses count Standard: 50 MP
Telephoto: 50 MP
Ultra-wide: 50 MP
Standard: 12 MP
Telephoto: 64 MP
Ultra-wide: 12 MP
Features - Bokeh effect
- Pro mode
- RAW support
- Bokeh effect
- Pro mode
- RAW support
Main lens
Matrix50 MP12 MP
Aperturef/1.6f/1.8
Focal length23 mm26 mm
SensorSony LYTIA-808Sony IMX555
Sensor size1/1.41/1.76
Pixel size1.12 μm1.8 μm
AutofocusPhase autofocusPhase autofocus (Dual Pixel)
StabilizationOpticalOptical
Telephoto
Matrix50 MP64 MP
Aperturef/2.6f/2.0
Focal length73 mm28 mm
SensorSony LYT-600Samsung Bright S5KGW2
Sensor size1/1.951/1.72
Pixel size0.8 μm0.8 μm
StabilizationOpticalOptical
Ultra-wide lens
Matrix50 MP12 MP
Aperturef/2.0f/2.2
Focal length15 mm13 mm
SensorSamsung S5KJN5Sony IMX563
Sensor size1/2.751/2.55
Pixel size0.64 μm1.4 μm
StabilizationDigitalDigital
Main camera DxOMark results
Photo quality
OnePlus 13
n/a
Samsung Galaxy S21
129
Video quality
OnePlus 13
n/a
Samsung Galaxy S21
137
Overall camera score
OnePlus 13
n/a
Samsung Galaxy S21
133
Bokehn/a70
Previewn/a72
Zoomn/a126

Front camera

Matrix 32 MP 10 MP
Photo resolution n/a 3872x2592 pixels
Aperture f/2.4 f/2.2
Focal length 21 mm 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 2160p (4K) at 60 fps 2160p (4K) at 60 fps
TOF 3D sensor No No

Connectivity

Wi-Fi version Wi-Fi 7 (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 5.4 5
Bluetooth features LE LE, A2DP
USB type USB Type-C USB Type-C
USB version 3.2 3.2
USB features - Charging
- USB Storage Mode
- OTG
- Charging
- USB Storage Mode
- USB-Host mode
- OTG
DisplayPort Yes 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 *YesYes
Hybrid SlotNoNo
2G BandsGSM 850/900/1800/1900MHzGSM 850, 900, 1800, 1900 MHz
3G BandsWCDMA 1/2/4/5/6/8/19WCDMA Band 1, 2, 4, 5, 8
LTE Bands*LTE (B1/B2/B3/B4/B5/B7/B8/B12/B13/B17/B18/B19/B20/B25/B26/B28/B30/B32/B66/B71)LTE (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 Yes Yes
Speaker Test
Max Volume
OnePlus 13
91.8 dB
Samsung Galaxy S21
87 dB

Other

Class Flagship Flagship
Announced October, 2024 yr January, 2021 yr
Release Date January, 2025 yr February, 2021 yr
Launch Price ($) 899 800
Sensors - Hall Sensor
- Barometer
- 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 100 W n/a

Note

OnePlus 13:

The "Arctic Dawn" and "Black Eclipse" models are 8.5 thick and weigh 213g, while "Midnight Ocean" is 8.9 and 210g. The Chinese and Indian versions do not support eSIM.

* Attention! Config, frequencies, NFC, and other specs may vary by region.

Results

After analyzing the data, we consider OnePlus 13 the clear winner in this comparison.

Survey

Which smartphone would you pick?
1 (100%)
0 (0%)
Total Votes: 1

User comments

Share your opinion or ask questions below