Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra vs Samsung Galaxy S10 Plus

Compared 2 smartphones : Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra Manufactured in February, 2021, with display 6.8 with chipsetSamsung Exynos 2100, vs Samsung Galaxy S10 Plus, Manufactured in March, 2019 with chipsetSamsung Exynos 9 Octa 9820. Below are specs, tests, pros and cons for each device

Key Differences

Device key advantages
Reasons to choose Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra
  • Larger display: 6.8in
  • Higher refresh rate: 120Hz
  • Higher battery capacity: 5000mAh vs 4100mAh
  • Newer Bluetooth version: 5.2 vs 5
  • Supports newer USB: 3.2 vs 3.1
  • Built-in eSIM
Reasons to choose Samsung Galaxy S10 Plus
  • Higher pixel density: 522ppi
  • Lighter design: 175g vs 227g

Versions

Available versions and configurations
Memory Options - 12/128 GB
- 12/256 GB
- 12/512 GB
- 16/256 GB
- 16/512 GB
- 6/128 GB
- 8/128 GB
- 8/512 GB
- 12/1024 GB

Review

Key Specs Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra and Samsung Galaxy S10 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.
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

Display

Display quality comparison
Type Dynamic AMOLED Super AMOLED
Size 6.8 in 6.4 in
Resolution 1440x3200 pixels 1440x3040 pixels
Aspect ratio 20:9 19:9
Pixel density 515 ppi 522 ppi
Refresh rate 120 Hz 60 Hz
Adaptive refresh rate Yes (10-120 Hz) No
Max brightness 1500 nits 1200 nits
HDR support Yes HDR10+ Yes HDR10+
Screen-to-body ratio 89.5 % 87.6 %
Features - DCI-P3
- Always-On Display
- DCI-P3
- Always-On Display
Display test
Peak brightness (auto)
Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra
1019 nits
Samsung Galaxy S10 Plus
789 nits
sRGB gamutn/a96.5 %
PWM (Flicker)n/a235 Hz
Response timen/a4.8 ms
Contrastn/a∞ Infinite

Design & Build

Design and ergonomics comparison
Height 165.1 mm (6.5 in) 157.6 mm (6.2 in)
Width 75.6 mm (2.98 in) 74.1 mm (2.92 in)
Thickness 8.9 mm (0.35 in) 7.8 mm (0.31 in)
Weight 227 g (8.01 oz) 175 g (6.17 oz)
Water resistance IP68 IP68
Cooling system n/a Vapor chamber
Back panel Glass Glass
Frame Metal Metal
Colors - Black
- Silver
- Gray
- Blue
- Black
- Blue
- Green
- Red
Fingerprint sensor Yes In-Display Yes In-Display
Screen-to-body ratio
Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra
89.5 %
Samsung Galaxy S10 Plus
87.6 %

Performance

Testing Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra and Samsung Galaxy S10 Plus In benchmarks
Processor
Chipset Samsung Exynos 2100 Samsung Exynos 9 Octa 9820
Max Frequency 2900 MHz 2730 MHz
CPU Cores 8 (1 + 3 + 4) 8 (2 + 2 + 4)
Architecture - 4/2.2 (Cortex-A55)
- 3/2.81 (Cortex-A78)
- 1/2.91 (Cortex-X1)
- 4/1.95 (Cortex-A55)
- 2/2.31 (Cortex-A75)
- 2/2.73 (Mongoose M4)
Process Samsung Samsung
Transistor Size 5 nm 8 nm
Neural Processor Yes Yes
Graphics Mali-G78 MP14 Mali-G76 MP12
GPU Cores 896 432
GPU Frequency 854 MHz 720 MHz
FLOPS 1530.4 GFLOPS 607 GFLOPS
GeekBench v6
Geekbench 6 (Single-Core)
Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra
1449
Samsung Galaxy S10 Plus
947
Geekbench 6 (Multi-Core)
Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra
3892
Samsung Galaxy S10 Plus
2460
Geekbench 6 (Single-Core)1449947
Geekbench 6 (Multi-Core)38922460
AnTuTu 10
AnTuTu 10
Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra
843008
Samsung Galaxy S10 Plus
638195
CPU232358165023
GPU256356197322
Memory163007120939
UX191217154911
NanoReview Score843008638195
3DMark Wild Life
3DMark Wild Life
Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra
5221
Samsung Galaxy S10 Plus
3230
Max Surface Temp.40.8 °C42.5 °C
Stability69 %82 %
Graphics Test31 fps19 fps
Graphics Score52213230
PCMark 3.0
PCMark 3.0
Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra
n/a
Samsung Galaxy S10 Plus
8595
Writing scoren/a10100
Web scoren/a6612
Video editingn/a5772
Data manipulationn/a6847
NanoReview Scoren/a8595

Memory

RAM
RAM Size - 12 GB
- 16 GB
- 8 GB
- 12 GB
Memory Type LPDDR5 LPDDR4X
Memory Frequency 2750 MHz 2133 MHz
Channels 2 2
Storage
Storage Capacity- 128 GB
- 256 GB
- 512 GB
- 128 GB
- 1024 GB
Storage TypeUFS 3.1UFS 2.1
Memory CardNoMicroSD

Software

OS Android 11 (Upgradeable to Android 14) Android 9.0 (Upgradeable to Android 12)
OS Size 26.4 GB 46.5 GB
UI Skin One UI 6 One UI 4.0

Battery

Volume 5000 mAh 4100 mAh
Max Charging Power 25 W 15 W
Battery Type Li-ion Li-Po
Removable No No
Wireless Charging Yes (15 W) Yes Qi/PMA (15 W)
Reverse Charging Yes (Wireless) Yes (Wireless)
Fast Charging Yes (54% in 30 min) Yes Samsung Adaptive Fast Charge (50% in 30 min)
Full Charge Time 1:11 h 1:40 h
Battery Life Test
Battery Life
Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra
22:05
Samsung Galaxy S10 Plus
16:40
Web Browsing07:58 h05:58 h
Video Playback13:59 h11:15 h
Games05:14 h04:15 h
Standby Mode111 h80 h

Main camera

Matrix 108 MP 12 MP
Photo resolution 12000x9000 pixels 4000x3000 pixels
Zoom Optical, 10x Optical, 2x
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 240 fps)
Slow Motion 960 fps (720p) 960 fps (720p)
Wide-angle lens 120 ° 123 °
Lenses count Standard: 108 MP
Telephoto: 10 MP
Telephoto: 10 MP
Ultra-wide: 12 MP
Standard: 12 MP
Telephoto: 12 MP
Ultra-wide: 16 MP
Features - Bokeh effect
- Pro mode
- RAW support
- Bokeh effect
- Pro mode
- RAW support
Main lens
Matrix108 MP12 MP
Aperturef/1.8f/1.5 - 2.4
Focal length26 mm26 mm
SensorSamsung S5KHM3Samsung SAK2L4
Sensor size1/1.331/2.55
Pixel size0.8 μm1.4 μm
AutofocusLaser autofocusPhase autofocus
StabilizationOpticalOptical
Telephoto
Matrix10 MP12 MP
Aperturef/4.9f/2.4
Focal length240 mm52 mm
SensorSamsung S5K3J1Samsung S5K3M3
Sensor size1/2.651/3.6
Pixel size1.22 μm1 μm
StabilizationOpticalOptical
Ultra-wide lens
Matrix12 MP16 MP
Aperturef/2.2f/2.2
Focal length13 mm12 mm
SensorSony IMX563n/a
Sensor size1/2.551/3.1
Pixel size1.4 μm1 μm
StabilizationDigitalDigital
Main camera DxOMark results
Photo quality
Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra
121
Samsung Galaxy S10 Plus
114
Video quality
Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra
100
Samsung Galaxy S10 Plus
97
Overall camera score
Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra
115
Samsung Galaxy S10 Plus
109
Bokeh70n/a
Preview67n/a
Zoom106n/a

Front camera

Matrix 40 MP 10 MP
Photo resolution 7864x5200 pixels 4320x2432 pixels
Aperture f/2.2 f/1.9
Focal length 26 mm 26 mm
Sensor Samsung S5KGH1 Samsung S5K3J1
Sensor size 1/2.65 1/2.65
Pixel size 0.7 μm 1.22 μm
Autofocus Phase autofocus Phase autofocus (Dual Pixel)
Stabilization Digital Digital
Video resolution 2160p (4K) at 60 fps 2160p (4K) at 60 fps
TOF 3D sensor No No
Selfie camera DxOMark results
Photo quality
Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra
133
Samsung Galaxy S10 Plus
101
Video quality
Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra
140
Samsung Galaxy S10 Plus
88

Connectivity

Wi-Fi version Wi-Fi 6E (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
Bluetooth version 5.2 5
Bluetooth features LE, A2DP PBAP/PAB, PAN, OPP, MAP, LE, HSP, HID, HFP, DIP, AVRCP, A2DP
USB type USB Type-C USB Type-C
USB version 3.2 3.1
USB features - Charging
- USB Storage Mode
- USB-Host mode
- OTG
- Charging
- USB Storage Mode
- OTG
GPS - GPS
- GLONASS
- Beidou
- Galileo
- 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 *YesNo
Hybrid SlotNoYes
2G BandsGSM 850, 900, 1800, 1900 MHzGSM850, GSM900, DCS1800, PCS1900
3G BandsWCDMA Band 1, 2, 4, 5, 8B1 (2100), B2 (1900), B4(AWS), B5(850), B8 (900)
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/B32/B66)
LTE category2420
5G SupportYesNo

Sound

Speakers Stereo Stereo
3.5 mm Jack No Yes
FM Radio No No
Dolby Atmos Yes Yes
Speaker Test
Max Volume
Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra
88 dB
Samsung Galaxy S10 Plus
87.8 dB

Other

Class Flagship Flagship
Announced January, 2021 yr February, 2019 yr
Release Date February, 2021 yr March, 2019 yr
Launch Price ($) 1200 1000
Sensors - Hall Sensor
- Barometer
- Proximity Sensor
- Gyroscope
- Accelerometer
- Ambient Light Sensor
- Compass
- Fingerprint sensor
- Hall Sensor
- Barometer
- Proximity Sensor
- Gyroscope
- Accelerometer
- Ambient Light Sensor
- Compass
- Fingerprint sensor
* Attention! Config, frequencies, NFC, and other specs may vary by region.

Results

After analyzing the data, we consider Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra the clear winner in this comparison.

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