Samsung Galaxy S21 FE 5G vs OnePlus 9

Compared 2 smartphones : Samsung Galaxy S21 FE 5G Manufactured in January, 2022, with display 6.4 with chipsetQualcomm Snapdragon 888, vs OnePlus 9, Manufactured in March, 2021 with chipsetQualcomm Snapdragon 888 5G. Below are specs, tests, pros and cons for each device

Key Differences

Device key advantages
Reasons to choose Samsung Galaxy S21 FE 5G
  • Higher pixel density: 403ppi
  • Lighter design: 177g vs 192g
  • Supports newer USB: 3.2 vs 3.1
Reasons to choose OnePlus 9
  • Larger display: 6.55in
  • Newer Bluetooth version: 5.2 vs 5
  • Supports DisplayPort

Versions

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

Review

Key Specs Samsung Galaxy S21 FE 5G and OnePlus 9
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
Smartphones:
vs

Display

Display quality comparison
Type Dynamic AMOLED AMOLED
Size 6.4 in 6.55 in
Resolution 1080x2340 pixels 1080x2400 pixels
Aspect ratio 19.5:9 20:9
Pixel density 403 ppi 402 ppi
Refresh rate 120 Hz 120 Hz
Adaptive refresh rate No Yes
Max brightness 800 nits 500 nits
HDR support Yes HDR10+ Yes HDR10+
Screen-to-body ratio 86.7 % 87.3 %
Features - DCI-P3
- Always-On Display
- DCI-P3
- Always-On Display
- DC dimming
Display test
Peak brightness (auto)
Samsung Galaxy S21 FE 5G
785 nits
OnePlus 9
818 nits
sRGB gamut97 %98.9 %
PWM (Flicker)247 Hz323 Hz
Response time6 ms13 ms
Contrast∞ Infinite∞ Infinite

Design & Build

Design and ergonomics comparison
Height 155.7 mm (6.13 in) 160 mm (6.3 in)
Width 74.5 mm (2.93 in) 74.2 mm (2.92 in)
Thickness 7.9 mm (0.31 in) 8.7 mm (0.34 in)
Weight 177 g (6.24 oz) 192 g (6.77 oz)
Water resistance IP68 No
Back panel Plastic Glass
Frame Metal Plastic
Colors - White
- Gray
- Green
- Purple
- Black
- Blue
- Purple
Fingerprint sensor Yes In-Display Yes In-Display
Screen-to-body ratio
Samsung Galaxy S21 FE 5G
86.7 %
OnePlus 9
87.3 %

Performance

Testing Samsung Galaxy S21 FE 5G and OnePlus 9 In benchmarks
Processor
Chipset Qualcomm Snapdragon 888 Qualcomm Snapdragon 888 5G
Max Frequency 2840 MHz 2840 MHz
CPU Cores 8 (1 + 3 + 4) 8 (1 + 3 + 4)
Architecture - 4/1.8 (Kryo 680 Silver (Cortex-A55))
- 3/2.42 (Kryo 680 Gold (Cortex-A78))
- 1/2.84 (Kryo 680 Prime (Cortex-X1))
- 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 Samsung Samsung
Transistor Size 5 nm 5 nm
Neural Processor Hexagon 780 Hexagon 780
Graphics Adreno 660 Adreno 660
GPU Cores 1024 1024
GPU Frequency 840 MHz 840 MHz
FLOPS 1290.2 GFLOPS 1290.2 GFLOPS
GeekBench v6
Geekbench 6 (Single-Core)
Samsung Galaxy S21 FE 5G
1371
OnePlus 9
1489
Geekbench 6 (Multi-Core)
Samsung Galaxy S21 FE 5G
3396
OnePlus 9
3996
Geekbench 6 (Single-Core)13711489
Geekbench 6 (Multi-Core)33963996
AnTuTu 10
AnTuTu 10
Samsung Galaxy S21 FE 5G
894898
OnePlus 9
937505
CPU247848248662
GPU311997308723
Memory152639169685
UX182414210435
NanoReview Score894898937505
3DMark Wild Life
3DMark Wild Life
Samsung Galaxy S21 FE 5G
5704
OnePlus 9
5761
Max Surface Temp.39.1 °C48.8 °C
Stability69 %55 %
Graphics Test34 fps34 fps
Graphics Score57045761
PCMark 3.0
PCMark 3.0
Samsung Galaxy S21 FE 5G
12441
OnePlus 9
12032
Writing score1421615081
Web score1196011112
Video editing70496018
Data manipulation1019610751
NanoReview Score1244112032

Memory

RAM
RAM Size - 6 GB
- 8 GB
- 8 GB
- 12 GB
Memory Type LPDDR5 LPDDR5
Memory Frequency 3200 MHz 2750 MHz
Channels 4 4
Storage
Storage Capacity- 128 GB
- 256 GB
- 128 GB
- 256 GB
Storage TypeUFS 3.1UFS 3.1
Memory CardNoNo

Software

OS Android 12 (Upgradeable to Android 14) Android 11 (Upgradeable to Android 13)
OS Size 17.5 GB 35 GB
UI Skin One UI 6 OxygenOS 13

Battery

Volume 4500 mAh 4500 mAh
Max Charging Power 25 W 65 W
Battery Type Li-ion Li-Po
Removable No No
Wireless Charging Yes (15 W) Yes (15 W)
Reverse Charging Yes (Wireless) No
Fast Charging Yes (51% in 30 min) Yes (100% in 29 min)
Full Charge Time 1:15 h 0:29 h
Battery Life Test
Battery Life
Samsung Galaxy S21 FE 5G
18:37
OnePlus 9
19:38
Web Browsing06:11 h07:52 h
Video Playback11:05 h11:44 h
Games04:48 h04:32 h
Standby Mode100 h96 h

Main camera

Matrix 12 MP 48 MP
Photo resolution 4032x3024 pixels 8000x6000 pixels
Zoom Optical, 3x Digital
Flash LED Dual LED
Stabilization Optical Digital
8K Recording No Yes (Up to 30 fps)
4K Recording Yes (Up to 60 fps) Yes (Up to 120 fps)
1080p Recording Yes (Up to 60 fps) Yes (Up to 60 fps)
Slow Motion 960 fps (720p) 240 fps (1080p)
Wide-angle lens 123 ° 140 °
Lenses count Standard: 12 MP
Telephoto: 8 MP
Ultra-wide: 12 MP
Standard: 48 MP
Ultra-wide: 50 MP
Monochrome: 2 MP
Features - Bokeh effect
- Pro mode
- Bokeh effect
- Pro mode
- RAW support
Main lens
Matrix12 MP48 MP
Aperturef/1.8f/1.8
Focal length26 mm23 mm
SensorSony IMX555Sony IMX689
Sensor size1/1.761/1.43
Pixel size1.8 μm1.12 μm
AutofocusPhase autofocus (Dual Pixel)Phase autofocus
StabilizationOpticalDigital
Telephoto
Matrix8 MPn/a
Aperturef/2.4n/a
Focal length76 mmn/a
SensorHynix Hi847n/a
Sensor size1/4.5n/a
Pixel size1 μmn/a
StabilizationOpticaln/a
Ultra-wide lens
Matrix12 MP50 MP
Aperturef/2.2f/2.2
Focal length13 mm14 mm
SensorSony IMX258Sony IMX766
Sensor size1/3.01/1.56
Pixel size1.12 μm1 μm
StabilizationDigitalDigital
Main camera DxOMark results
Photo quality
Samsung Galaxy S21 FE 5G
119
OnePlus 9
123
Video quality
Samsung Galaxy S21 FE 5G
107
OnePlus 9
104
Overall camera score
Samsung Galaxy S21 FE 5G
117
OnePlus 9
115

Front camera

Matrix 32 MP 16 MP
Photo resolution 6464x4864 pixels 4920x3264 pixels
Aperture f/2.2 f/2.0
Focal length 26 mm n/a
Sensor Sony IMX616 Sony IMX471
Sensor size 1/2.74 1/3.06
Pixel size 0.8 μm 1 μm
Autofocus No Phase autofocus
Stabilization Digital Digital
Video resolution 2160p (4K) at 60 fps 1080p (Full HD) at 30 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 Direct
- Wi-Fi Hotspot
- Wi-Fi Display
Bluetooth version 5 5.2
Bluetooth features LE LE, A2DP
USB type USB Type-C USB Type-C
USB version 3.2 3.1
USB features - Charging
- USB Storage Mode
- OTG
- Charging
- USB Storage Mode
- OTG
DisplayPort n/a Yes
GPS - GPS
- GLONASS
- Beidou
- Galileo
- GPS
- GLONASS
- Beidou
- Galileo
- SBAS
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 BandsGSM GSM850, GSM900, DCS1800, PCS1900GSM B2, 3, 5, 8
3G BandsUMTS B1 (2100), B2 (1900), B4(AWS), B5(850), B8 (900)WCDMA B1, 2, 4, 5, 8, 9, 19
LTE Bands*LTE (B1/B2/B3/B4/B5/B7/B8/B12/B13/B17/B18/B19/B20/B25/B26/B28/B32/B38/B39/B40/B41/B66)LTE (B1/B2/B3/B4/B5/B7/B8/B12/B13/B17/B18/B19/B20/B25/B26/B28/B30/B32/B38/B39/B40/B41/B46/B48/B66/B71)
LTE category1920
5G SupportYesYes

Sound

Speakers Stereo Stereo
3.5 mm Jack No No
FM Radio No No
Dolby Atmos Yes Yes
Speaker Test
Max Volume
Samsung Galaxy S21 FE 5G
88.9 dB
OnePlus 9
83 dB

Other

Class Flagship Flagship
Announced January, 2022 yr March, 2021 yr
Release Date January, 2022 yr March, 2021 yr
Launch Price ($) 790 730
Sensors - Hall Sensor
- Barometer
- Proximity Sensor
- Gyroscope
- Accelerometer
- Ambient Light Sensor
- Compass
- Fingerprint 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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