Samsung Galaxy S21 FE 5G vs Realme 16 Pro Plus

Compared 2 smartphones : Samsung Galaxy S21 FE 5G Manufactured in January, 2022, with display 6.4 with chipsetQualcomm Snapdragon 888, vs Realme 16 Pro Plus, Manufactured in January, 2026 with chipsetQualcomm Snapdragon 7 Gen 4. Below are specs, tests, pros and cons for each device

Key Differences

Device key advantages
Reasons to choose Samsung Galaxy S21 FE 5G
  • Lighter design: 177g vs 198g
  • Supports newer USB: 3.2 vs 2
  • Supports Dolby Atmos
Reasons to choose Realme 16 Pro Plus
  • Larger display: 6.8in
  • Higher pixel density: 453ppi
  • Higher refresh rate: 144Hz
  • Higher battery capacity: 7000mAh vs 4500mAh
  • Newer Bluetooth version: 5.4 vs 5
  • Infrared port

Versions

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

Review

Key Specs Samsung Galaxy S21 FE 5G and Realme 16 Pro 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 Dynamic AMOLED OLED
Size 6.4 in 6.8 in
Resolution 1080x2340 pixels 1280x2800 pixels
Aspect ratio 19.5:9 19.5:9
Pixel density 403 ppi 453 ppi
Refresh rate 120 Hz 144 Hz
Adaptive refresh rate No Yes
Max brightness 800 nits 1800 nits
HDR support Yes HDR10+ Yes, HDR10+
Touch Sampling Rate n/a 240 Hz
Screen-to-body ratio 86.7 % 91.6 %
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
Realme 16 Pro Plus
n/a
sRGB gamut97 %n/a
PWM (Flicker)247 Hzn/a
Response time6 msn/a
Contrast∞ Infiniten/a

Design & Build

Design and ergonomics comparison
Height 155.7 mm (6.13 in) 162.5 mm (6.4 in)
Width 74.5 mm (2.93 in) 76.3 mm (3 in)
Thickness 7.9 mm (0.31 in) 8.1 mm (0.32 in)
Weight 177 g (6.24 oz) 198 g (6.98 oz)
Water resistance IP68 IP69
Back panel Plastic Eco Leather
Frame Metal Metal
Colors - White
- Gray
- Green
- Purple
- Gold
- Gray
- Pink
Fingerprint sensor Yes In-Display Yes, In-Display
Screen-to-body ratio
Samsung Galaxy S21 FE 5G
86.7 %
Realme 16 Pro Plus
91.6 %

Performance

Testing Samsung Galaxy S21 FE 5G and Realme 16 Pro Plus In benchmarks
Processor
Chipset Qualcomm Snapdragon 888 Qualcomm Snapdragon 7 Gen 4
Max Frequency 2840 MHz 2800 MHz
CPU Cores 8 (1 + 3 + 4) 8 (1 + 4 + 3)
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))
- 3/1.84 (Kryo Silver (Cortex-520))
- 4/2.4 (Kryo Gold (Cortex-720))
- 1/2.8 (Kryo Prime (Cortex-720))
Process Samsung TSMC
Transistor Size 5 nm 4 nm
Neural Processor Hexagon 780 Yes
Graphics Adreno 660 Adreno 722
GPU Cores 1024 512
GPU Frequency 840 MHz 1150 MHz
FLOPS 1290.2 GFLOPS 1177.6 GFLOPS
GeekBench v6
Geekbench 6 (Single-Core)
Samsung Galaxy S21 FE 5G
1371
Realme 16 Pro Plus
1374
Geekbench 6 (Multi-Core)
Samsung Galaxy S21 FE 5G
3396
Realme 16 Pro Plus
4363
Geekbench 6 (Single-Core)13711374
Geekbench 6 (Multi-Core)33964363
Geekbench Compute (GPU)n/a7820
AnTuTu 10
AnTuTu 10
Samsung Galaxy S21 FE 5G
894898
Realme 16 Pro Plus
1436204
CPU247848517565
GPU311997323371
Memory152639223419
UX182414371849
NanoReview Score8948981436204
3DMark Wild Life
3DMark Wild Life
Samsung Galaxy S21 FE 5G
5704
Realme 16 Pro Plus
n/a
Max Surface Temp.39.1 °Cn/a
Stability69 %n/a
Graphics Test34 fpsn/a
Graphics Score5704n/a
PCMark 3.0
PCMark 3.0
Samsung Galaxy S21 FE 5G
12441
Realme 16 Pro Plus
n/a
Writing score14216n/a
Web score11960n/a
Video editing7049n/a
Data manipulation10196n/a
NanoReview Score12441n/a

Memory

RAM
RAM Size - 6 GB
- 8 GB
8 GB
Memory Type LPDDR5 LPDDR4X
Memory Frequency 3200 MHz 2133 MHz
Channels 4 2
Storage
Storage Capacity- 128 GB
- 256 GB
128 GB
Storage TypeUFS 3.1UFS 3.1
Memory CardNoNo

Software

OS Android 12 (Upgradeable to Android 14) Android 16
OS Size 17.5 GB n/a
UI Skin One UI 6 Realme UI 7.0

Battery

Volume 4500 mAh 7000 mAh
Max Charging Power 25 W 80 W
Battery Type Li-ion Li-ion
Removable No No
Wireless Charging Yes (15 W) No
Reverse Charging Yes (Wireless) No
Fast Charging Yes (51% in 30 min) Yes
Full Charge Time 1:15 h n/a
Battery Life Test
Battery Life
Samsung Galaxy S21 FE 5G
18:37
Realme 16 Pro Plus
n/a
Web Browsing06:11 hn/a
Video Playback11:05 hn/a
Games04:48 hn/a
Standby Mode100 hn/a

Main camera

Matrix 12 MP 200 MP
Photo resolution 4032x3024 pixels n/a
Zoom Optical, 3x Optical, 3.5x
Flash LED Dual LED
Stabilization Optical Optical
8K Recording No No
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 960 fps (720p) n/a
Wide-angle lens 123 ° 116 °
Lenses count Standard: 12 MP
Telephoto: 8 MP
Ultra-wide: 12 MP
Standard: 200 MP
Telephoto: 2.8 MP
Ultra-wide: 8 MP
Features - Bokeh effect
- Pro mode
- Bokeh effect
- Pro mode
Main lens
Matrix12 MP200 MP
Aperturef/1.8f/1.9
Focal length26 mm23 mm
SensorSony IMX555n/a
Sensor size1/1.761/1.56 (0.64)
Pixel size1.8 μm0.5 μm
AutofocusPhase autofocus (Dual Pixel)Phase autofocus (Dual Pixel)
StabilizationOpticalOptical
Telephoto
Matrix8 MP28 MP
Aperturef/2.4f/2.8
Focal length76 mmn/a
SensorHynix Hi8471/2.76
Sensor size1/4.5n/a
Pixel size1 μm0.64 μm
StabilizationOpticalOptical
Ultra-wide lens
Matrix12 MP8 MP
Aperturef/2.2n/a
Focal length13 mmn/a
SensorSony IMX258n/a
Sensor size1/3.01/4 (0.25)
Pixel size1.12 μm1.12 μm
StabilizationDigitalDigital
Main camera DxOMark results
Photo quality
Samsung Galaxy S21 FE 5G
119
Realme 16 Pro Plus
n/a
Video quality
Samsung Galaxy S21 FE 5G
107
Realme 16 Pro Plus
n/a
Overall camera score
Samsung Galaxy S21 FE 5G
117
Realme 16 Pro Plus
n/a

Front camera

Matrix 32 MP 50 MP
Photo resolution 6464x4864 pixels 8192x6144 pixels
Aperture f/2.2 f/2.4
Focal length 26 mm 23 mm
Sensor Sony IMX616 CMOS
Sensor size 1/2.74 1/2.88 (0.35)
Pixel size 0.8 μm 0.61 μm
Autofocus No n/a
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 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 5.4
Bluetooth features LE LE
USB type USB Type-C USB Type-C
USB version 3.2 2
USB features - Charging
- USB Storage Mode
- OTG
- Charging
- USB Storage Mode
- OTG
DisplayPort n/a No
GPS - GPS
- GLONASS
- Beidou
- Galileo
- GPS
- GLONASS
- Beidou
- Galileo
- QZSS
NFC* Yes No
Infrared Port No Yes
Connectivity
SIM Count*22
SIM TypeNanoNano
SIM ModeDual SIM StandbyDual SIM Standby
eSIM Support *NoNo
Hybrid SlotNoNo
2G BandsGSM GSM850, GSM900, DCS1800, PCS1900n/a
3G BandsUMTS B1 (2100), B2 (1900), B4(AWS), B5(850), B8 (900)n/a
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)n/a
LTE category19n/a
5G SupportYesYes

Sound

Speakers Stereo n/a
3.5 mm Jack No No
FM Radio No No
Dolby Atmos Yes n/a
Speaker Test
Max Volume
Samsung Galaxy S21 FE 5G
88.9 dB
Realme 16 Pro Plus
n/a

Other

Class Flagship Mid-range
Announced January, 2022 yr January, 2026 yr
Release Date January, 2022 yr January, 2026 yr
Launch Price ($) 790 n/a
Sensors - Hall Sensor
- Barometer
- Proximity Sensor
- Gyroscope
- Accelerometer
- Ambient Light Sensor
- Compass
- Fingerprint sensor
- 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

After analyzing the data, we consider Realme 16 Pro Plus the clear winner in this comparison.

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