Home Phone comparison Samsung Galaxy S21 Plus and Apple iPhone 17 - Which is better?

Samsung Galaxy S21 Plus vs Apple iPhone 17

67 out 100
Samsung Galaxy S21 Plus
VS
92 out 100
Apple iPhone 17
Samsung Galaxy S21 Plus
Apple iPhone 17

Compared 2 smartphones : Samsung Galaxy S21 Plus Manufactured in February, 2021, with display 6.7 with chipsetSamsung Exynos 2100, vs Apple iPhone 17, Manufactured in September, 2025with chipsetApple A19. 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 Samsung Galaxy S21 Plus
  • Larger display: 6.7in
  • Higher battery capacity: 4800mAh vs 3692mAh
  • Supports newer USB: 3.2 vs 2
  • Fingerprint scanner
Reasons to choose Apple iPhone 17
  • Higher pixel density: 460ppi
  • Lighter design: 177g vs 200g
  • Newer Bluetooth version: 6.0 vs 5
  • Supports DisplayPort

Versions

Available versions and configurations
Memory Options - 8/128 GB
- 8/256 GB		 - 8/256 GB
- 8/512 GB

Review

Key Specs Samsung Galaxy S21 Plus and Apple iPhone 17
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:
Samsung Galaxy S21 Plus
vs
Apple iPhone 17

Display

Display quality comparison
Type Dynamic AMOLED OLED
Size 6.7 in 6.3 in
Resolution 1080x2400 pixels 1206x2622 pixels
Aspect ratio 20:9 19.5:9
Pixel density 394 ppi 460 ppi
Refresh rate 120 Hz 120 Hz
Adaptive refresh rate Yes (48-120 Hz) Yes
Max brightness 1300 nits 3000 nits
HDR support Yes HDR10+ Yes, Dolby Vision
Screen-to-body ratio 88.7 % 91.1 %
Features - DCI-P3
- Always-On Display		 - DCI-P3
- Always-On Display
Display test
Peak brightness (auto)
Samsung Galaxy S21 Plus
879 nits
Apple iPhone 17
n/a
sRGB gamut98.9 %n/a
PWM (Flicker)240 Hzn/a
Response time6.2 msn/a
Contrast∞ Infiniten/a
Sources: NotebookCheck [Samsung Galaxy S21 Plus]

Design & Build

Design and ergonomics comparison
Height 161.5 mm (6.36 in) 149.6 mm (5.89 in)
Width 75.6 mm (2.98 in) 71.5 mm (2.81 in)
Thickness 7.8 mm (0.31 in) 8 mm (0.31 in)
Weight 200 g (7.05 oz) 177 g (6.24 oz)
Water resistance IP68 IP68
Back panel Glass Glass
Frame Metal Metal
Colors - Black
- Silver
- Gold
- Red
- Purple		 - White
- Black
- Blue
- Green
- Purple
Fingerprint sensor Yes In-Display No
Screen-to-body ratio
Samsung Galaxy S21 Plus
88.7 %
Apple iPhone 17
91.1 %

Performance

Testing Samsung Galaxy S21 Plus and Apple iPhone 17 In benchmarks
Processor
Chipset Samsung Exynos 2100 Apple A19
Max Frequency 2840 MHz 4100 MHz
CPU Cores 8 (1 + 3 + 4) n/a
Architecture - 4/2.2 (Cortex-A55)
- 3/2.81 (Cortex-A78)
- 1/2.91 (Cortex-X1)		 n/a
Process Samsung n/a
Transistor Size 5 nm n/a
Neural Processor Yes n/a
Graphics Mali-G78 MP14 n/a
GPU Cores 896 n/a
GPU Frequency 854 MHz n/a
FLOPS 1530.4 GFLOPS n/a
GeekBench v6
Geekbench 6 (Single-Core)
Samsung Galaxy S21 Plus
1428
Apple iPhone 17
3720
Geekbench 6 (Multi-Core)
Samsung Galaxy S21 Plus
3840
Apple iPhone 17
10589
Geekbench 6 (Single-Core)14283720
Geekbench 6 (Multi-Core)384010589
AnTuTu 10
AnTuTu 10
Samsung Galaxy S21 Plus
919348
Apple iPhone 17
2116678
CPU262973510193
GPU294382792974
Memory147307367866
UX214686445645
NanoReview Score9193482116678
3DMark Wild Life
3DMark Wild Life
Samsung Galaxy S21 Plus
5538
Apple iPhone 17
n/a
Max Surface Temp.41.5 °Cn/a
Stability67 %n/a
Graphics Test33 fpsn/a
Graphics Score5538n/a
Sources: 3DMark [Samsung Galaxy S21 Plus]

Memory

RAM
RAM Size 8 GB 8 GB
Memory Type LPDDR5 LPDDR5X
Memory Frequency 2750 MHz n/a
Channels 2 4
Storage
Storage Capacity- 128 GB
- 256 GB		256 GB
Storage TypeUFS 3.1NVMe
Memory CardNoNo

Software

OS Android 11 (Upgradeable to Android 14) iOS 26
OS Size 27.2 GB n/a
UI Skin One UI 6 n/a

Battery

Volume 4800 mAh 3692 mAh
Max Charging Power 25 W 30 W
Battery Type Li-ion Li-ion
Removable No No
Wireless Charging Yes (15 W) Yes (25 W)
Reverse Charging Yes (Wireless) Yes
Fast Charging Yes (54% in 30 min) Yes (50% in 30 min)
Full Charge Time 1:12 h n/a
Battery Life Test
Battery Life
Samsung Galaxy S21 Plus
20:53
Apple iPhone 17
n/a
Web Browsing07:28 hn/a
Video Playback13:15 hn/a
Games05:04 hn/a
Standby Mode105 hn/a

Main camera

Matrix 12 MP 48 MP
Photo resolution 4000x3000 pixels 8064x6048 pixels
Zoom Optical, 1.1x Digital
Flash Dual LED Dual LED
Stabilization Optical Optical
8K Recording Up to 24FPS 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) 240 fps (1080p)
Wide-angle lens 120 ° 120 °
Lenses count Standard: 12 MP
Telephoto: 64 MP
Ultra-wide: 12 MP		 Standard: 48 MP
Ultra-wide: 48 MP
Features - Bokeh effect
- Pro mode
- RAW support		 - Bokeh effect
- Pro mode
- RAW support
Main lens
Matrix12 MP48 MP
Aperturef/1.8f/1.6
Focal length26 mm26 mm
SensorSony IMX555n/a
Sensor size1/1.761/1.56
Pixel size1.8 μm1 μm
AutofocusPhase autofocus (Dual Pixel)Phase autofocus (Dual Pixel)
StabilizationOpticalOptical
Telephoto
Matrix64 MPn/a
Aperturef/2.0n/a
Focal length28 mmn/a
SensorSamsung Bright S5KGW2n/a
Sensor size1/1.72n/a
Pixel size0.8 μmn/a
StabilizationOpticaln/a
Ultra-wide lens
Matrix12 MP48 MP
Aperturef/2.2f/2.2
Focal length13 mm13 mm
SensorSony IMX563n/a
Sensor size1/2.551/2.55
Pixel size1.4 μm0.7 μm
StabilizationDigitalDigital
Main camera DxOMark results
Photo quality
Samsung Galaxy S21 Plus
129
Apple iPhone 17
n/a
Video quality
Samsung Galaxy S21 Plus
137
Apple iPhone 17
n/a
Overall camera score
Samsung Galaxy S21 Plus
133
Apple iPhone 17
n/a
Bokeh70n/a
Preview72n/a
Zoom126n/a
Sources: DxOMark [Samsung Galaxy S21 Plus]

Front camera

Matrix 10 MP 18 MP
Photo resolution 3872x2592 pixels n/a
Aperture f/2.2 f/1.9
Focal length 26 mm 23 mm
Sensor Sony IMX374 n/a
Sensor size 1/3.24 n/a
Pixel size 1.22 μm 1.12 μm
Autofocus Phase autofocus (Dual Pixel) Phase autofocus
Stabilization Digital Optical
Video resolution 2160p (4K) at 60 fps 2160p (4K) at 60 fps
TOF 3D sensor No Yes

Connectivity

Wi-Fi version Wi-Fi 6 (802.11 a/b/g/n/ac/ax) Wi-Fi 7 (802.11 a/b/g/n/ac/ax/be)
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 6.0
Bluetooth features LE, A2DP LE
USB type USB Type-C USB Type-C
USB version 3.2 2
USB features - Charging
- USB Storage Mode
- USB-Host mode
- OTG		 - Charging
- USB Storage Mode
- OTG
DisplayPort n/a Yes
GPS - GPS
- GLONASS
- Beidou
- Galileo		 - GPS
- GLONASS
- Beidou
- Galileo
- QZSS
- NAVIC
NFC* Yes Yes
Infrared Port No No
Connectivity
SIM Count*2n/a
SIM TypeNanoeSIM
SIM ModeDual SIM StandbyDual SIM Standby
eSIM Support *YesYes
Hybrid SlotNoNo
2G BandsGSM 850, 900, 1800, 1900 MHzn/a
3G BandsWCDMA Band 1, 2, 4, 5, 8UMTS/HSPA+/DC-HSDPA 850, 900, 1700/2100, 1900, 2100 MHz
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/B14/B17/B18/B19/B20/B25/B26/B28/B29/B30/B32/B66/B71)
LTE category24n/a
5G SupportYesYes

Sound

Speakers Stereo n/a
3.5 mm Jack No No
FM Radio No No
Dolby Atmos Yes Yes
Speaker Test
Max Volume
Samsung Galaxy S21 Plus
87.8 dB
Apple iPhone 17
n/a

Other

Class Flagship Flagship
Announced January, 2021 yr September, 2025 yr
Release Date February, 2021 yr September, 2025 yr
Launch Price ($) 1000 n/a
MSRP ($) n/a 799
Sensors - Hall Sensor
- Barometer
- Proximity Sensor
- Gyroscope
- Accelerometer
- Ambient Light Sensor
- Compass
- Fingerprint sensor		 - Barometer
- Proximity Sensor
- Gyroscope
- Accelerometer
- Ambient Light Sensor
- Compass
- Face Sensor
Charger Included n/a No
* Attention! Config, frequencies, NFC, and other specs may vary by region.

Results

After analyzing the data, we consider Apple iPhone 17 the clear winner in this comparison.

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