Home Phone comparison Samsung Galaxy S21 and Apple iPhone XS Max - Which is better?

Samsung Galaxy S21 vs Apple iPhone XS Max

65 out 100
Samsung Galaxy S21
VS
54 out 100
Apple iPhone XS Max
Samsung Galaxy S21
Apple iPhone XS Max

Compared 2 smartphones : Samsung Galaxy S21 Manufactured in February, 2021, with display 6.2 with chipsetSamsung Exynos 2100, vs Apple iPhone XS Max, Manufactured in September, 2018with chipsetApple A12 Bionic. 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
  • Higher refresh rate: 120Hz
  • Lighter design: 169g vs 208g
  • Higher battery capacity: 4000mAh vs 3174mAh
  • Supports newer USB: 3.2 vs 2
  • Fingerprint scanner
Reasons to choose Apple iPhone XS Max
  • Larger display: 6.5in
  • Higher pixel density: 456ppi

Versions

Available versions and configurations
Memory Options - 8/128 GB
- 8/256 GB		 - 4/64 GB
- 4/256 GB
- 4/512 GB

Review

Key Specs Samsung Galaxy S21 and Apple iPhone XS Max
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 XS Max

Display

Display quality comparison
Type Dynamic AMOLED OLED
Size 6.2 in 6.5 in
Resolution 1080x2400 pixels 1242x2688 pixels
Aspect ratio 20:9 19.4:9
Pixel density 421 ppi 456 ppi
Refresh rate 120 Hz 60 Hz
Adaptive refresh rate Yes (48-120 Hz) No
Max brightness 800 nits 625 nits
HDR support Yes HDR10+ Yes Dolby Vision
Touch Sampling Rate n/a 120 Hz
Screen-to-body ratio 85.9 % 85.4 %
Features - DCI-P3
- Always-On Display		 DCI-P3
Display test
Peak brightness (auto)
Samsung Galaxy S21
854 nits
Apple iPhone XS Max
657 nits
sRGB gamut99.5 %98.8 %
PWM (Flicker)240 Hz240 Hz
Response time5 ms11.2 ms
Contrast∞ Infinite∞ Infinite
Sources: NotebookCheck [Samsung Galaxy S21], [Apple iPhone XS Max]

Design & Build

Design and ergonomics comparison
Height 151.7 mm (5.97 in) 157.5 mm (6.2 in)
Width 71.2 mm (2.8 in) 77.4 mm (3.05 in)
Thickness 7.9 mm (0.31 in) 7.7 mm (0.3 in)
Weight 169 g (5.96 oz) 208 g (7.34 oz)
Water resistance IP68 IP68
Back panel Plastic Glass
Frame Metal Metal
Colors - White
- Gray
- Pink
- Purple		 - Silver
- Gold
- Gray
Fingerprint sensor Yes In-Display No
Screen-to-body ratio
Samsung Galaxy S21
85.9 %
Apple iPhone XS Max
85.4 %

Performance

Testing Samsung Galaxy S21 and Apple iPhone XS Max In benchmarks
Processor
Chipset Samsung Exynos 2100 Apple A12 Bionic
Max Frequency 2900 MHz 2490 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)		 - 4/1.6 (Tempest)
- 2/2.49 (Vortex)
Process Samsung TSMC
Transistor Size 5 nm 7 nm
Neural Processor Yes Neural Engine
Graphics Mali-G78 MP14 Apple A12 GPU
GPU Cores 896 256
GPU Frequency 854 MHz 1100 MHz
FLOPS 1530.4 GFLOPS 576 GFLOPS
GeekBench v6
Geekbench 6 (Single-Core)
Samsung Galaxy S21
1331
Apple iPhone XS Max
1310
Geekbench 6 (Multi-Core)
Samsung Galaxy S21
3593
Apple iPhone XS Max
3458
Geekbench 6 (Single-Core)13311310
Geekbench 6 (Multi-Core)35933458
AnTuTu 10
AnTuTu 10
Samsung Galaxy S21
903780
Apple iPhone XS Max
700191
CPU253391198067
GPU281676185355
Memory158352152138
UX210361164631
NanoReview Score903780700191
3DMark Wild Life
3DMark Wild Life
Samsung Galaxy S21
5715
Apple iPhone XS Max
5703
Max Surface Temp.38.9 °C45.2 °C
Stability66 %66 %
Graphics Test34 fps34 fps
Graphics Score57155703
Sources: 3DMark [Samsung Galaxy S21], [Apple iPhone XS Max]
PCMark 3.0
PCMark 3.0
Samsung Galaxy S21
13123
Apple iPhone XS Max
n/a
Writing score16101n/a
Web score11909n/a
Video editing7097n/a
Data manipulation10153n/a
NanoReview Score13123n/a

Memory

RAM
RAM Size 8 GB 4 GB
Memory Type LPDDR5 LPDDR4X
Memory Frequency 2750 MHz n/a
Channels 2 2
Storage
Storage Capacity- 128 GB
- 256 GB		- 64 GB
- 256 GB
- 512 GB
Storage TypeUFS 3.1NVMe
Memory CardNoNo

Software

OS Android 11 (Upgradeable to Android 14) iOS 12 (Upgradeable to iOS 18.3.2)
OS Size 28.1 GB 16 GB
UI Skin One UI 6.0 n/a

Battery

Volume 4000 mAh 3174 mAh
Max Charging Power 25 W 18 W
Battery Type Li-ion Li-ion
Removable No No
Wireless Charging Yes (15 W) Yes Qi (10 W)
Reverse Charging Yes (Wireless) No
Fast Charging Yes (55% in 50 min) Yes (50% in 30 min)
Full Charge Time 1:35 h 03:29 h
Battery Life Test
Battery Life
Samsung Galaxy S21
17:54
Apple iPhone XS Max
17:28
Web Browsing06:01 h06:43 h
Video Playback11:06 h10:28 h
Games04:21 h04:11 h
Standby Mode95 h87 h

Main camera

Matrix 12 MP 12 MP
Photo resolution 4000x3000 pixels 4032x3024 pixels
Zoom Optical, 1.1x Optical, 2x
Flash Dual LED Quad 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: 12 MP
Telephoto: 12 MP
Features - Bokeh effect
- Pro mode
- RAW support		 - Bokeh effect
- Pro mode
- RAW support
Main lens
Matrix12 MP12 MP
Aperturef/1.8f/1.8
Focal length26 mm28 mm
SensorSony IMX555Apple iSight X
Sensor size1/1.761/2.5
Pixel size1.8 μm1.4 μm
AutofocusPhase autofocus (Dual Pixel)Phase autofocus
StabilizationOpticalOptical
Telephoto
Matrix64 MP12 MP
Aperturef/2.0f/2.4
Focal length28 mm52 mm
SensorSamsung Bright S5KGW2n/a
Sensor size1/1.721/3.4
Pixel size0.8 μm1 μm
StabilizationOpticalOptical
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 XS Max
110
Video quality
Samsung Galaxy S21
137
Apple iPhone XS Max
96
Overall camera score
Samsung Galaxy S21
133
Apple iPhone XS Max
105
Bokeh70n/a
Preview72n/a
Zoom126n/a
Sources: DxOMark [Samsung Galaxy S21], [Apple iPhone XS Max]

Front camera

Matrix 10 MP 7 MP
Photo resolution 3872x2592 pixels 3088x2316 pixels
Aperture f/2.2 f/2.2
Focal length 26 mm 32 mm
Sensor Sony IMX374 BSI CMOS
Sensor size 1/3.24 n/a
Pixel size 1.22 μm n/a
Autofocus Phase autofocus (Dual Pixel) Phase autofocus (Dual Pixel)
Stabilization Digital Digital
Video resolution 2160p (4K) at 60 fps 1080p (Full HD) at 60 fps
TOF 3D sensor No No
Selfie camera DxOMark results
Photo quality
Samsung Galaxy S21
n/a
Apple iPhone XS Max
97
Video quality
Samsung Galaxy S21
n/a
Apple iPhone XS Max
119

Connectivity

Wi-Fi version Wi-Fi 6 (802.11 a/b/g/n/ac/ax) Wi-Fi 5 (802.11 a/b/g/n/ac)
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
Bluetooth features LE, A2DP SPP, PBAP/PAB, PAN, OPP, MAP, LE, HSP, HFP, HDP, GAP, GAVDP, DIP, AVRCP, A2DP
USB type USB Type-C No
USB version 3.2 2
USB features - Charging
- USB Storage Mode
- USB-Host mode
- OTG		 - Charging
- USB Storage Mode
- OTG
GPS - GPS
- GLONASS
- Beidou
- Galileo		 - GPS
- GLONASS
- Galileo
NFC* Yes Yes
Infrared Port No No
Connectivity
SIM Count*21
SIM TypeNanoNano
SIM ModeDual SIM Standbyn/a
eSIM Support *YesYes
Hybrid SlotNoNo
2G BandsGSM 850, 900, 1800, 1900 MHzGSM 850, GSM 900, GSM 1800, GSM 1900
3G BandsWCDMA Band 1, 2, 4, 5, 8HSDPA 850, HSDPA 900, HSDPA 1900, HSDPA 2100
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 (B700/B800/B850/B900/B1700/B1800/B1900/B2100/B2600)
LTE category2416
5G SupportYesNo

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
87 dB
Apple iPhone XS Max
77.2 dB

Other

Class Flagship Flagship
Announced January, 2021 yr September, 2018 yr
Release Date February, 2021 yr September, 2018 yr
Launch Price ($) 800 1100
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
* Attention! Config, frequencies, NFC, and other specs may vary by region.

Results

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

Survey

Which smartphone would you pick?
0 (0%)
0 (0%)
Total Votes: 0

User comments

Share your opinion or ask questions below