Home Phone comparison Samsung Galaxy S21 and Honor Magic 8 Pro Air - Which is better?

Samsung Galaxy S21 vs Honor Magic 8 Pro Air

65 out 100
Samsung Galaxy S21
VS
91 out 100
Honor Magic 8 Pro Air
Samsung Galaxy S21
Honor Magic 8 Pro Air

Compared 2 smartphones : Samsung Galaxy S21 Manufactured in February, 2021, with display 6.2 with chipsetSamsung Exynos 2100, vs Honor Magic 8 Pro Air, Manufactured in January, 2026 with chipsetMediaTek Dimensity 9500. 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
  • Supports newer USB: 3.2 vs 2
  • Supports Dolby Atmos
Reasons to choose Honor Magic 8 Pro Air
  • Larger display: 6.31in
  • Higher pixel density: 461ppi
  • Lighter design: 155g vs 169g
  • Higher battery capacity: 5500mAh vs 4000mAh
  • Newer Bluetooth version: 6.0 vs 5
  • Includes charger

Versions

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

Review

Key Specs Samsung Galaxy S21 and Honor Magic 8 Pro Air
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
Honor Magic 8 Pro Air

Display

Display quality comparison
Type Dynamic AMOLED OLED
Size 6.2 in 6.31 in
Resolution 1080x2400 pixels 1216x2640 pixels
Aspect ratio 20:9 19.5:9
Pixel density 421 ppi 461 ppi
Refresh rate 120 Hz 120 Hz
Adaptive refresh rate Yes (48-120 Hz) Yes (1-120 Hz)
Max brightness 800 nits 1800 nits
HDR support Yes HDR10+ Yes, Dolby Vision
Screen-to-body ratio 85.9 % 90.4 %
Features - DCI-P3
- Always-On Display		 - DCI-P3
- Always-On Display
- DC dimming
Display test
Peak brightness (auto)
Samsung Galaxy S21
854 nits
Honor Magic 8 Pro Air
n/a
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) 150.5 mm (5.93 in)
Width 71.2 mm (2.8 in) 71.9 mm (2.83 in)
Thickness 7.9 mm (0.31 in) 6.1 mm (0.24 in)
Weight 169 g (5.96 oz) 155 g (5.47 oz)
Water resistance IP68 IP69
Cooling system n/a Vapor chamber
Back panel Plastic n/a
Frame Metal Metal
Colors - White
- Gray
- Pink
- Purple		 - White
- Black
- Gold
- Orange
Fingerprint sensor Yes In-Display Yes, In-Display
Screen-to-body ratio
Samsung Galaxy S21
85.9 %
Honor Magic 8 Pro Air
90.4 %

Performance

Testing Samsung Galaxy S21 and Honor Magic 8 Pro Air In benchmarks
Processor
Chipset Samsung Exynos 2100 MediaTek Dimensity 9500
Max Frequency 2900 MHz 4210 MHz
CPU Cores 8 (1 + 3 + 4) 8 (1 + 3 + 4)
Architecture - 4/2.2 (Cortex-A55)
- 3/2.81 (Cortex-A78)
- 1/2.91 (Cortex-X1)		 - 4/2.7 (C1-Pro)
- 3/3.5 (C1-Premium)
- 1/4.21 (C1-Ultra)
Process Samsung TSMC
Transistor Size 5 nm 3 nm
Neural Processor Yes MediaTek NPU 990
Graphics Mali-G78 MP14 Mali-G1 Ultra MP12
GPU Cores 896 1536
GPU Frequency 854 MHz 1716 MHz
FLOPS 1530.4 GFLOPS 5271.5 GFLOPS
GeekBench v6
Geekbench 6 (Single-Core)
Samsung Galaxy S21
1331
Honor Magic 8 Pro Air
3366
Geekbench 6 (Multi-Core)
Samsung Galaxy S21
3593
Honor Magic 8 Pro Air
10603
Geekbench 6 (Single-Core)13313366
Geekbench 6 (Multi-Core)359310603
Geekbench Compute (GPU)n/a24660
Sources: Geekbench v6 [Honor Magic 8 Pro Air]
AnTuTu 10
AnTuTu 10
Samsung Galaxy S21
903780
Honor Magic 8 Pro Air
4290399
CPU2533911263745
GPU2816761443960
Memory158352494242
UX2103611088452
NanoReview Score9037804290399
3DMark Wild Life
3DMark Wild Life
Samsung Galaxy S21
5715
Honor Magic 8 Pro Air
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
Honor Magic 8 Pro Air
n/a
Writing score16101n/a
Web score11909n/a
Video editing7097n/a
Data manipulation10153n/a
NanoReview Score13123n/a

Memory

RAM
RAM Size 8 GB 12 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 3.1n/a
Memory CardNoNo

Software

OS Android 11 (Upgradeable to Android 14) Android 16
OS Size 28.1 GB n/a
UI Skin One UI 6.0 MagicOS 10

Battery

Volume 4000 mAh 5500 mAh
Max Charging Power 25 W 80 W
Battery Type Li-ion Silicon Carbon (Si/C)
Removable No No
Wireless Charging Yes (15 W) Yes (50 W)
Reverse Charging Yes (Wireless) n/a
Fast Charging Yes (55% in 50 min) Yes
Full Charge Time 1:35 h n/a
Battery Life Test
Battery Life
Samsung Galaxy S21
17:54
Honor Magic 8 Pro Air
n/a
Web Browsing06:01 hn/a
Video Playback11:06 hn/a
Games04:21 hn/a
Standby Mode95 hn/a

Main camera

Matrix 12 MP 50 MP
Photo resolution 4000x3000 pixels 8192x6144 pixels
Zoom Optical, 1.1x Optical, 3.2x
Flash Dual LED 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 ° 112 °
Lenses count Standard: 12 MP
Telephoto: 64 MP
Ultra-wide: 12 MP		 Standard: 50 MP
Telephoto: 64 MP
Ultra-wide: 50 MP
Features - Bokeh effect
- Pro mode
- RAW support		 - Bokeh effect
- Pro mode
- RAW support
Main lens
Matrix12 MP50 MP
Aperturef/1.8f/1.6
Focal length26 mm23 mm
SensorSony IMX555n/a
Sensor size1/1.761/1.3 (0.77)
Pixel size1.8 μm1.2 μm
AutofocusPhase autofocus (Dual Pixel)Laser autofocus
StabilizationOpticalOptical
Telephoto
Matrix64 MP64 MP
Aperturef/2.0f/2.6
Focal length28 mm74 mm
SensorSamsung Bright S5KGW2n/a
Sensor size1/1.721/1.2 (0.83)
Pixel size0.8 μmn/a
StabilizationOpticalOptical
Ultra-wide lens
Matrix12 MP50 MP
Aperturef/2.2f/2.2
Focal length13 mm16 mm
SensorSony IMX563n/a
Sensor size1/2.55n/a
Pixel size1.4 μmn/a
StabilizationDigitalDigital
Main camera DxOMark results
Photo quality
Samsung Galaxy S21
129
Honor Magic 8 Pro Air
n/a
Video quality
Samsung Galaxy S21
137
Honor Magic 8 Pro Air
n/a
Overall camera score
Samsung Galaxy S21
133
Honor Magic 8 Pro Air
n/a
Bokeh70n/a
Preview72n/a
Zoom126n/a
Sources: DxOMark [Samsung Galaxy S21]

Front camera

Matrix 10 MP 50 MP
Photo resolution 3872x2592 pixels 8192x6144 pixels
Aperture f/2.2 f/2.0
Focal length 26 mm 21 mm
Sensor Sony IMX374 n/a
Sensor size 1/3.24 1/2.93 (0.34)
Pixel size 1.22 μm 0.6 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 No

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
GPS - GPS
- GLONASS
- Beidou
- Galileo		 - GPS
- GLONASS
- Beidou
- Galileo
- QZSS
- NAVIC
NFC* Yes Yes
Infrared Port No No
Connectivity
SIM Count*22
SIM TypeNanoNano
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, 8n/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 category24n/a
5G SupportYesYes

Sound

Speakers Stereo n/a
3.5 mm Jack No No
FM Radio No No
Dolby Atmos Yes No
Speaker Test
Max Volume
Samsung Galaxy S21
87 dB
Honor Magic 8 Pro Air
n/a

Other

Class Flagship Flagship
Announced January, 2021 yr January, 2026 yr
Release Date February, 2021 yr January, 2026 yr
Launch Price ($) 800 n/a
Sensors - Hall Sensor
- Barometer
- Proximity Sensor
- Gyroscope
- Accelerometer
- Ambient Light Sensor
- Compass
- Fingerprint sensor		 - Proximity Sensor
- Gyroscope
- Accelerometer
- Ambient Light Sensor
- Compass
- Face Sensor
- Fingerprint sensor
Charger Included n/a Yes, 80 W
* Attention! Config, frequencies, NFC, and other specs may vary by region.

Results

After analyzing the data, we consider Honor Magic 8 Pro Air the clear winner in this comparison.

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