Samsung Galaxy A56 5G vs Samsung Galaxy S21 Plus

Compared 2 smartphones : Samsung Galaxy A56 5G Manufactured in March, 2025, with display 6.7 with chipsetSamsung Exynos 1580, 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 Samsung Galaxy A56 5G
  • Lighter design: 198g vs 200g
  • Higher battery capacity: 5000mAh vs 4800mAh
  • Newer Bluetooth version: 5.3 vs 5
Reasons to choose Samsung Galaxy S21 Plus
  • Higher pixel density: 394ppi
  • Supports newer USB: 3.2 vs 2

Versions

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

Review

Key Specs Samsung Galaxy A56 5G 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.
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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 Super AMOLED Dynamic AMOLED
Size 6.7 in 6.7 in
Resolution 1080x2340 pixels 1080x2400 pixels
Aspect ratio 19.5:9 20:9
Pixel density 385 ppi 394 ppi
Refresh rate 120 Hz 120 Hz
Adaptive refresh rate Yes Yes (48-120 Hz)
Max brightness 1200 nits 1300 nits
HDR support Yes HDR10+ Yes HDR10+
Screen-to-body ratio 87.6 % 88.7 %
Features - DCI-P3
- Always-On Display
- DCI-P3
- Always-On Display
Display test
Peak brightness (auto)
Samsung Galaxy A56 5G
1214 nits
Samsung Galaxy S21 Plus
879 nits
sRGB gamut99.1 %98.9 %
PWM (Flicker)120 Hz240 Hz
Response time1 ms6.2 ms
Contrast∞ Infinite∞ Infinite

Design & Build

Design and ergonomics comparison
Height 162.2 mm (6.39 in) 161.5 mm (6.36 in)
Width 77.5 mm (3.05 in) 75.6 mm (2.98 in)
Thickness 7.4 mm (0.29 in) 7.8 mm (0.31 in)
Weight 198 g (6.98 oz) 200 g (7.05 oz)
Water resistance IP67 IP68
Cooling system Vapor chamber n/a
Back panel Glass Glass
Frame Metal Metal
Colors - Black
- Gray
- Green
- Pink
- Black
- Silver
- Gold
- Red
- Purple
Fingerprint sensor Yes In-Display Yes In-Display
Screen-to-body ratio
Samsung Galaxy A56 5G
87.6 %
Samsung Galaxy S21 Plus
88.7 %

Performance

Testing Samsung Galaxy A56 5G and Samsung Galaxy S21 Plus In benchmarks
Processor
Chipset Samsung Exynos 1580 Samsung Exynos 2100
Max Frequency 2900 MHz 2840 MHz
CPU Cores 8 (1 + 3 + 4) 8 (1 + 3 + 4)
Architecture - 4/1.95 (Cortex-A520)
- 3/2.6 (Cortex-A720)
- 1/2.9 (Cortex-A720)
- 4/2.2 (Cortex-A55)
- 3/2.81 (Cortex-A78)
- 1/2.91 (Cortex-X1)
Process Samsung Samsung
Transistor Size 4 nm 5 nm
Neural Processor Yes Yes
Graphics Samsung Xclipse 540 Mali-G78 MP14
GPU Cores 256 896
GPU Frequency 1300 MHz 854 MHz
FLOPS 1331.2 GFLOPS 1530.4 GFLOPS
GeekBench v6
Geekbench 6 (Single-Core)
Samsung Galaxy A56 5G
1364
Samsung Galaxy S21 Plus
1428
Geekbench 6 (Multi-Core)
Samsung Galaxy A56 5G
3899
Samsung Galaxy S21 Plus
3840
Geekbench 6 (Single-Core)13641428
Geekbench 6 (Multi-Core)38993840
Geekbench Compute (GPU)6816n/a
AnTuTu 10
AnTuTu 10
Samsung Galaxy A56 5G
906997
Samsung Galaxy S21 Plus
919348
CPU289519262973
GPU265302294382
Memory156294147307
UX195882214686
NanoReview Score906997919348
3DMark Wild Life
3DMark Wild Life
Samsung Galaxy A56 5G
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 6 GB 8 GB
Memory Type LPDDR5 LPDDR5
Memory Frequency 3200 MHz 2750 MHz
Channels 4 2
Storage
Storage Capacity128 GB- 128 GB
- 256 GB
Storage TypeUFS 3.1UFS 3.1
Memory CardNoNo

Software

OS Android 15 Android 11 (Upgradeable to Android 14)
OS Size 21.5 GB 27.2 GB
UI Skin One UI 7.0 One UI 6

Battery

Volume 5000 mAh 4800 mAh
Max Charging Power 45 W 25 W
Battery Type Li-ion Li-ion
Removable No No
Wireless Charging No Yes (15 W)
Reverse Charging No Yes (Wireless)
Fast Charging Yes (65% in 30 min) Yes (54% in 30 min)
Full Charge Time 1:13 h 1:12 h
Battery Life Test
Battery Life
Samsung Galaxy A56 5G
28:42
Samsung Galaxy S21 Plus
20:53
Web Browsing11:28 h07:28 h
Video Playback19:50 h13:15 h
Games04:53 h05:04 h
Standby Mode131 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 30 fps) Yes (Up to 60 fps)
1080p Recording Yes (Up to 60 fps) Yes (Up to 60 fps)
Slow Motion 240 fps (720p) 960 fps (720p)
Wide-angle lens 123 ° 120 °
Lenses count Standard: 50 MP
Ultra-wide: 12 MP
Macro: 5 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 lengthn/a26 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
Matrix12 MP12 MP
Aperturef/2.2f/2.2
Focal lengthn/a13 mm
SensorSony IMX258Sony IMX563
Sensor size1/3.061/2.55
Pixel size1.12 μm1.4 μm
StabilizationDigitalDigital
Main camera DxOMark results
Photo quality
Samsung Galaxy A56 5G
n/a
Samsung Galaxy S21 Plus
129
Video quality
Samsung Galaxy A56 5G
n/a
Samsung Galaxy S21 Plus
137
Overall camera score
Samsung Galaxy A56 5G
n/a
Samsung Galaxy S21 Plus
133
Bokehn/a70
Previewn/a72
Zoomn/a126

Front camera

Matrix 12 MP 10 MP
Photo resolution n/a 3872x2592 pixels
Aperture f/2.2 f/2.2
Focal length n/a 26 mm
Sensor Samsung S5K3LC Sony IMX374
Sensor size n/a 1/3.24
Pixel size n/a 1.22 μm
Autofocus No 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 5.3 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
DisplayPort No n/a
GPS - GPS
- GLONASS
- Beidou
- Galileo
- QZSS
- 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 *YesYes
Hybrid SlotNoNo
2G BandsGSM850, GSM900, DCS1800, PCS1900GSM 850, 900, 1800, 1900 MHz
3G BandsUMTS B1(2100), B2(1900), B4(AWS), B5(850), B8(900)WCDMA Band 1, 2, 4, 5, 8
LTE Bands*LTE (B1/B2/B3/B4/B5/B7/B8/B12/B13/B17/B20/B25/B26/B28/B38/B40/B41/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 n/a Stereo
3.5 mm Jack No No
FM Radio No No
Dolby Atmos Yes Yes
Speaker Test
Max Volume
Samsung Galaxy A56 5G
87.7 dB
Samsung Galaxy S21 Plus
87.8 dB

Other

Class Mid-range Flagship
Announced March, 2025 yr January, 2021 yr
Release Date March, 2025 yr February, 2021 yr
Launch Price ($) n/a 1000
MSRP ($) 499 n/a
Sensors - 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

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