Home Phone comparison OnePlus Ace 5 and Samsung Galaxy S21 - Which is better?

OnePlus Ace 5 vs Samsung Galaxy S21

85 out 100
OnePlus Ace 5
VS
65 out 100
Samsung Galaxy S21
OnePlus Ace 5
Samsung Galaxy S21

Compared 2 smartphones : OnePlus Ace 5 Manufactured in December, 2024, with display 6.78 with chipsetQualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 3, vs Samsung Galaxy S21, Manufactured in February, 2021with chipsetSamsung Exynos 2100. Below are specs, tests, pros and cons for each device

  1. Differences
  2. Review
  3. Specs
  4. Benchmarks
  5. Battery Life
  6. Cameras
  7. Comments (0)

Key Differences

Device key advantages
Reasons to choose OnePlus Ace 5
  • Larger display: 6.78in
  • Higher pixel density: 450ppi
  • Higher battery capacity: 6415mAh vs 4000mAh
  • Newer Bluetooth version: 5.4 vs 5
  • Infrared port
  • Includes charger
Reasons to choose Samsung Galaxy S21
  • Lighter design: 169g vs 223g
  • 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
- 16/256 GB
- 16/512 GB
- 16/1024 GB		 - 8/128 GB
- 8/256 GB

Review

Key Specs OnePlus Ace 5 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:
OnePlus Ace 5
vs
Samsung Galaxy S21

Display

Display quality comparison
Type AMOLED Dynamic AMOLED
Size 6.78 in 6.2 in
Resolution 1264x2780 pixels 1080x2400 pixels
Aspect ratio 19.8:9 20:9
Pixel density 450 ppi 421 ppi
Refresh rate 120 Hz 120 Hz
Adaptive refresh rate Yes (1-120 Hz) Yes (48-120 Hz)
Max brightness 1800 nits 800 nits
HDR support Yes Dolby Vision Yes HDR10+
Touch Sampling Rate 360 Hz n/a
Screen-to-body ratio 91.2 % 85.9 %
Features - DCI-P3
- Always-On Display
- DC dimming		 - DCI-P3
- Always-On Display
Display test
Peak brightness (auto)
OnePlus Ace 5
n/a
Samsung Galaxy S21
854 nits
sRGB gamutn/a99.5 %
PWM (Flicker)n/a240 Hz
Response timen/a5 ms
Contrastn/a∞ Infinite
Sources: NotebookCheck [Samsung Galaxy S21]

Design & Build

Design and ergonomics comparison
Height 161.72 mm (6.37 in) 151.7 mm (5.97 in)
Width 75.77 mm (2.98 in) 71.2 mm (2.8 in)
Thickness 8.02 mm (0.32 in) 7.9 mm (0.31 in)
Weight 223 g (7.87 oz) 169 g (5.96 oz)
Water resistance IP65 IP68
Cooling system Vapor chamber n/a
Back panel Glass Plastic
Frame Metal Metal
Colors - Black
- Gray
- Purple		 - White
- Gray
- Pink
- Purple
Fingerprint sensor Yes In-Display Yes In-Display
Screen-to-body ratio
OnePlus Ace 5
91.2 %
Samsung Galaxy S21
85.9 %

Performance

Testing OnePlus Ace 5 and Samsung Galaxy S21 In benchmarks
Processor
Chipset Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 Samsung Exynos 2100
Max Frequency 3300 MHz 2900 MHz
CPU Cores 8 (1 + 3 + 2 + 2) 8 (1 + 3 + 4)
Architecture - 2/2.27 (Cortex-A520)
- 2/2.96 (Cortex-A720)
- 3/3.15 (Cortex-A720)
- 1/3.3 (Cortex-X4)		 - 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 750 Mali-G78 MP14
GPU Cores 1536 896
GPU Frequency 903 MHz 854 MHz
FLOPS 2774 GFLOPS 1530.4 GFLOPS
GeekBench v6
Geekbench 6 (Single-Core)
OnePlus Ace 5
2134
Samsung Galaxy S21
1331
Geekbench 6 (Multi-Core)
OnePlus Ace 5
6626
Samsung Galaxy S21
3593
Geekbench 6 (Single-Core)21341331
Geekbench 6 (Multi-Core)66263593
Geekbench Compute (GPU)16420n/a
Sources: Geekbench v6 [OnePlus Ace 5]
AnTuTu 10
AnTuTu 10
OnePlus Ace 5
2162199
Samsung Galaxy S21
903780
CPU474606253391
GPU881784281676
Memory439460158352
UX366349210361
NanoReview Score2162199903780
3DMark Wild Life
3DMark Wild Life
OnePlus Ace 5
n/a
Samsung Galaxy S21
5715
Max Surface Temp.n/a38.9 °C
Stabilityn/a66 %
Graphics Testn/a34 fps
Graphics Scoren/a5715
Sources: 3DMark [Samsung Galaxy S21]
PCMark 3.0
PCMark 3.0
OnePlus Ace 5
n/a
Samsung Galaxy S21
13123
Writing scoren/a16101
Web scoren/a11909
Video editingn/a7097
Data manipulationn/a10153
NanoReview Scoren/a13123

Memory

RAM
RAM Size - 12 GB
- 16 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 n/a 28.1 GB
UI Skin ColorOS 15 One UI 6.0

Battery

Volume 6415 mAh 4000 mAh
Max Charging Power 80 W 25 W
Battery Type Silicon Carbon (Si/C) Li-ion
Removable No No
Wireless Charging No Yes (15 W)
Reverse Charging No Yes (Wireless)
Fast Charging Yes (50% in 15 min) Yes (55% in 50 min)
Full Charge Time 0:44 h 1:35 h
Battery Life Test
Battery Life
OnePlus Ace 5
n/a
Samsung Galaxy S21
17:54
Web Browsingn/a06:01 h
Video Playbackn/a11:06 h
Gamesn/a04:21 h
Standby Moden/a95 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 112 ° 120 °
Lenses count Standard: 50 MP
Ultra-wide: 8 MP
Macro: 2 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/1.8f/1.8
Focal length24 mm26 mm
SensorSony IMX906Sony 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
Matrix8 MP12 MP
Aperturef/2.2f/2.2
Focal length16 mm13 mm
SensorOmnivision OV08D10Sony IMX563
Sensor size1/4.01/2.55
Pixel size1.12 μm1.4 μm
StabilizationDigitalDigital
Main camera DxOMark results
Photo quality
OnePlus Ace 5
n/a
Samsung Galaxy S21
129
Video quality
OnePlus Ace 5
n/a
Samsung Galaxy S21
137
Overall camera score
OnePlus Ace 5
n/a
Samsung Galaxy S21
133
Bokehn/a70
Previewn/a72
Zoomn/a126
Sources: DxOMark [Samsung Galaxy S21]

Front camera

Matrix 16 MP 10 MP
Photo resolution 4608x3456 pixels 3872x2592 pixels
Aperture f/2.4 f/2.2
Focal length 24 mm 26 mm
Sensor Samsung S5K3P9 Sony IMX374
Sensor size 1/3 1/3.24
Pixel size 1 μm 1.22 μm
Autofocus No Phase autofocus (Dual Pixel)
Stabilization Digital Digital
Video resolution 1080p (Full HD) at 30 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 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		 - 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 BandsGSM 850/900/1800MHzGSM 850, 900, 1800, 1900 MHz
3G BandsWCDMA 1/4/5/6/8/19WCDMA Band 1, 2, 4, 5, 8
LTE Bands*LTE (B1/B3/B4/B5/B8/B18/B19/B26/B28/B34/B38/B39/B40/B41/B42/B48/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 categoryn/a24
5G SupportYesYes

Sound

Speakers Stereo Stereo
3.5 mm Jack No No
FM Radio No No
Dolby Atmos n/a Yes
Speaker Test
Max Volume
OnePlus Ace 5
n/a
Samsung Galaxy S21
87 dB

Other

Class Flagship Flagship
Announced December, 2024 yr January, 2021 yr
Release Date December, 2024 yr February, 2021 yr
Launch Price ($) 315 800
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 Yes 80 W n/a
* Attention! Config, frequencies, NFC, and other specs may vary by region.

Results

After analyzing the data, we consider OnePlus Ace 5 the clear winner in this comparison.

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