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

Samsung Galaxy S21 vs Apple iPhone 17e

65 out 100
Samsung Galaxy S21
VS
83 out 100
Apple iPhone 17e
Samsung Galaxy S21
Apple iPhone 17e

Compared 2 smartphones : Samsung Galaxy S21 Manufactured in February, 2021, with display 6.2 with chipsetSamsung Exynos 2100, vs Apple iPhone 17e, Manufactured in March, 2026with 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
  • Larger display: 6.2in
  • Higher refresh rate: 120Hz
  • Supports newer USB: 3.2 vs 2
  • Fingerprint scanner
Reasons to choose Apple iPhone 17e
  • Higher pixel density: 457ppi
  • Higher battery capacity: 4005mAh vs 4000mAh
  • Newer Bluetooth version: 5.3 vs 5

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 and Apple iPhone 17e
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
vs
Apple iPhone 17e

Display

Display quality comparison
Type Dynamic AMOLED OLED
Size 6.2 in 6.1 in
Resolution 1080x2400 pixels 1170x2532 pixels
Aspect ratio 20:9 19.5:9
Pixel density 421 ppi 457 ppi
Refresh rate 120 Hz 60 Hz
Adaptive refresh rate Yes (48-120 Hz) No
Max brightness 800 nits 800 nits
HDR support Yes HDR10+ Yes, Dolby Vision
Screen-to-body ratio 85.9 % 87.1 %
Features - DCI-P3
- Always-On Display		 DCI-P3
Display test
Peak brightness (auto)
Samsung Galaxy S21
854 nits
Apple iPhone 17e
827 nits
sRGB gamut99.5 %n/a
PWM (Flicker)240 Hzn/a
Response time5 msn/a
Contrast∞ Infiniten/a
Sources: NotebookCheck [Samsung Galaxy S21]

Design & Build

Design and ergonomics comparison
Height 151.7 mm (5.97 in) 146.7 mm (5.78 in)
Width 71.2 mm (2.8 in) 71.5 mm (2.81 in)
Thickness 7.9 mm (0.31 in) 7.8 mm (0.31 in)
Weight 169 g (5.96 oz) 169 g (5.96 oz)
Water resistance IP68 IP68
Back panel Plastic Glass
Frame Metal Metal
Colors - White
- Gray
- Pink
- Purple		 - White
- Black
- Pink
Fingerprint sensor Yes In-Display No
Screen-to-body ratio
Samsung Galaxy S21
85.9 %
Apple iPhone 17e
87.1 %

Performance

Testing Samsung Galaxy S21 and Apple iPhone 17e In benchmarks
Processor
Chipset Samsung Exynos 2100 Apple A19
Max Frequency 2900 MHz 4260 MHz
CPU Cores 8 (1 + 3 + 4) 6 (2 + 4)
Architecture - 4/2.2 (Cortex-A55)
- 3/2.81 (Cortex-A78)
- 1/2.91 (Cortex-X1)		 - 4/2.6 (Sawtooth)
- 2/4.26 (Everest)
Process Samsung TSMC
Transistor Size 5 nm 3 nm
Neural Processor Yes Neural Engine
Graphics Mali-G78 MP14 Apple A19 GPU
GPU Cores 896 640
GPU Frequency 854 MHz 1620 MHz
FLOPS 1530.4 GFLOPS 2073.6 GFLOPS
GeekBench v6
Geekbench 6 (Single-Core)
Samsung Galaxy S21
1331
Apple iPhone 17e
3610
Geekbench 6 (Multi-Core)
Samsung Galaxy S21
3593
Apple iPhone 17e
9207
Geekbench 6 (Single-Core)13313610
Geekbench 6 (Multi-Core)35939207
AnTuTu 10
AnTuTu 10
Samsung Galaxy S21
903780
Apple iPhone 17e
1951083
CPU253391706723
GPU281676674842
Memory158352212297
UX210361357221
NanoReview Score9037801951083
3DMark Wild Life
3DMark Wild Life
Samsung Galaxy S21
5715
Apple iPhone 17e
n/a
Max Surface Temp.38.9 °Cn/a
Stability66 %n/a
Graphics Test34 fpsn/a
Graphics Score5715n/a
Sources: 3DMark [Samsung Galaxy S21]
PCMark 3.0
PCMark 3.0
Samsung Galaxy S21
13123
Apple iPhone 17e
n/a
Writing score16101n/a
Web score11909n/a
Video editing7097n/a
Data manipulation10153n/a
NanoReview Score13123n/a

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 26.3
OS Size 28.1 GB n/a
UI Skin One UI 6.0 n/a

Battery

Volume 4000 mAh 4005 mAh
Max Charging Power 25 W 25 W
Battery Type Li-ion Li-ion
Removable No No
Wireless Charging Yes (15 W) Yes (15 W)
Reverse Charging Yes (Wireless) n/a
Fast Charging Yes (55% in 50 min) Yes (59% in 30 min)
Full Charge Time 1:35 h 1:34 h
Battery Life Test
Battery Life
Samsung Galaxy S21
17:54
Apple iPhone 17e
28:10
Web Browsing06:01 h11:40 h
Video Playback11:06 h16:33 h
Games04:21 h06:37 h
Standby Mode95 h135 h

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 ° n/a
Lenses count Standard: 12 MP
Telephoto: 64 MP
Ultra-wide: 12 MP		 Standard: 48 MP
Features - Bokeh effect
- Pro mode
- RAW support		 Bokeh effect
Main lens
Matrix12 MP48 MP
Aperturef/1.8f/1.6
Focal length26 mm26 mm
SensorSony IMX555n/a
Sensor size1/1.761/2.55 (0.39)
Pixel size1.8 μm0.7 μm
AutofocusPhase autofocus (Dual Pixel)Phase autofocus
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 MPn/a
Aperturef/2.2n/a
Focal length13 mmn/a
SensorSony IMX563n/a
Sensor size1/2.55n/a
Pixel size1.4 μmn/a
StabilizationDigitaln/a
Main camera DxOMark results
Photo quality
Samsung Galaxy S21
129
Apple iPhone 17e
n/a
Video quality
Samsung Galaxy S21
137
Apple iPhone 17e
n/a
Overall camera score
Samsung Galaxy S21
133
Apple iPhone 17e
n/a
Bokeh70n/a
Preview72n/a
Zoom126n/a
Sources: DxOMark [Samsung Galaxy S21]

Front camera

Matrix 10 MP 12 MP
Photo resolution 3872x2592 pixels 4032x3024 pixels
Aperture f/2.2 f/1.9
Focal length 26 mm 23 mm
Sensor Sony IMX374 CMOS
Sensor size 1/3.24 1/3.6 (0.28)
Pixel size 1.22 μm 1 μm
Autofocus Phase autofocus (Dual Pixel) Phase autofocus
Stabilization Digital Digital
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 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 5.3
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 No
GPS - GPS
- GLONASS
- Beidou
- Galileo		 - GPS
- GLONASS
- Beidou
- Galileo
- QZSS
- NAVIC
NFC* Yes Yes
Infrared Port No No
Connectivity
SIM Count*21
SIM TypeNanoNano
SIM ModeDual SIM StandbyDual SIM Standby
eSIM Support *YesYes
Hybrid SlotNoNo
2G BandsGSM 850, 900, 1800, 1900 MHzGSM/EDGE 850, 900, 1800, 1900 MHz
3G BandsWCDMA Band 1, 2, 4, 5, 8UMTS/HSPA+ 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/B34/B38/B39/B40/B41/B42/B48/B53/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
87 dB
Apple iPhone 17e
n/a

Other

Class Flagship Mid-range
Announced January, 2021 yr March, 2026 yr
Release Date February, 2021 yr March, 2026 yr
Launch Price ($) 800 n/a
MSRP ($) n/a 599
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 17e the clear winner in this comparison.

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