Home Phone comparison Samsung Galaxy S21 and Huawei Honor 20 - Which is better?

Samsung Galaxy S21 vs Huawei Honor 20

65 out 100
Samsung Galaxy S21
VS
46 out 100
Huawei Honor 20
Samsung Galaxy S21
Huawei Honor 20

Compared 2 smartphones : Samsung Galaxy S21 Manufactured in February, 2021, with display 6.2 with chipsetSamsung Exynos 2100, vs Huawei Honor 20, Manufactured in June, 2019 with chipsetHiSilicon Kirin 980. 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 pixel density: 421ppi
  • Higher refresh rate: 120Hz
  • Lighter design: 169g vs 174g
  • Higher battery capacity: 4000mAh vs 3750mAh
  • Supports newer USB: 3.2 vs 2
  • Supports Dolby Atmos
  • Built-in eSIM
Reasons to choose Huawei Honor 20
  • Larger display: 6.26in

Versions

Available versions and configurations
Memory Options - 8/128 GB
- 8/256 GB		 - 6/128 GB
- 8/128 GB
- 8/256 GB

Review

Key Specs Samsung Galaxy S21 and Huawei Honor 20
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
Huawei Honor 20

Display

Display quality comparison
Type Dynamic AMOLED IPS LCD
Size 6.2 in 6.26 in
Resolution 1080x2400 pixels 1080x2340 pixels
Aspect ratio 20:9 19.5:9
Pixel density 421 ppi 412 ppi
Refresh rate 120 Hz 60 Hz
Adaptive refresh rate Yes (48-120 Hz) No
Max brightness 800 nits 450 nits
HDR support Yes HDR10+ No
Screen-to-body ratio 85.9 % 84.3 %
Features - DCI-P3
- Always-On Display		 n/a
Display test
Peak brightness (auto)
Samsung Galaxy S21
854 nits
Huawei Honor 20
477 nits
sRGB gamut99.5 %98.6 %
PWM (Flicker)240 Hzn/a
Response time5 ms35.4 ms
Contrast∞ Infinite875:1
Sources: NotebookCheck [Samsung Galaxy S21], [Huawei Honor 20]

Design & Build

Design and ergonomics comparison
Height 151.7 mm (5.97 in) 154.25 mm (6.07 in)
Width 71.2 mm (2.8 in) 74 mm (2.91 in)
Thickness 7.9 mm (0.31 in) 7.9 mm (0.31 in)
Weight 169 g (5.96 oz) 174 g (6.14 oz)
Water resistance IP68 No
Back panel Plastic Glass
Frame Metal Metal
Colors - White
- Gray
- Pink
- Purple		 - White
- Black
- Blue
Fingerprint sensor Yes In-Display Yes In-Button
Screen-to-body ratio
Samsung Galaxy S21
85.9 %
Huawei Honor 20
84.3 %

Performance

Testing Samsung Galaxy S21 and Huawei Honor 20 In benchmarks
Processor
Chipset Samsung Exynos 2100 HiSilicon Kirin 980
Max Frequency 2900 MHz 2600 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)		 - 4/1.8 (Cortex-A55)
- 2/1.92 (Cortex-A76)
- 2/2.6 (Cortex-A76)
Process Samsung TSMC
Transistor Size 5 nm 7 nm
Neural Processor Yes Yes
Graphics Mali-G78 MP14 Mali-G76 MP10
GPU Cores 896 360
GPU Frequency 854 MHz 750 MHz
FLOPS 1530.4 GFLOPS 518.4 GFLOPS
GeekBench v6
Geekbench 6 (Single-Core)
Samsung Galaxy S21
1331
Huawei Honor 20
922
Geekbench 6 (Multi-Core)
Samsung Galaxy S21
3593
Huawei Honor 20
2317
Geekbench 6 (Single-Core)1331922
Geekbench 6 (Multi-Core)35932317
AnTuTu 10
AnTuTu 10
Samsung Galaxy S21
903780
Huawei Honor 20
589788
CPU253391186066
GPU281676158308
Memory158352117214
UX210361128200
NanoReview Score903780589788
3DMark Wild Life
3DMark Wild Life
Samsung Galaxy S21
5715
Huawei Honor 20
2479
Max Surface Temp.38.9 °C38.8 °C
Stability66 %47 %
Graphics Test34 fps14 fps
Graphics Score57152479
Sources: 3DMark [Samsung Galaxy S21], [Huawei Honor 20]
PCMark 3.0
PCMark 3.0
Samsung Galaxy S21
13123
Huawei Honor 20
8640
Writing score1610110844
Web score119096449
Video editing70975739
Data manipulation101537972
NanoReview Score131238640

Memory

RAM
RAM Size 8 GB 6 GB
Memory Type LPDDR5 LPDDR4X
Memory Frequency 2750 MHz 2133 MHz
Channels 2 2
Storage
Storage Capacity- 128 GB
- 256 GB		- 128 GB
- 256 GB
Storage TypeUFS 3.1UFS 2.1
Memory CardNoNo

Software

OS Android 11 (Upgradeable to Android 14) Android 9.0 (Upgradeable to Android 10)
OS Size 28.1 GB 12 GB
UI Skin One UI 6.0 Magic 4.0

Battery

Volume 4000 mAh 3750 mAh
Max Charging Power 25 W 225 W
Battery Type Li-ion Li-Po
Removable No No
Wireless Charging Yes (15 W) No
Reverse Charging Yes (Wireless) No
Fast Charging Yes (55% in 50 min) Yes (50% in 30 min)
Full Charge Time 1:35 h 1:25 h
Battery Life Test
Battery Life
Samsung Galaxy S21
17:54
Huawei Honor 20
18:53
Web Browsing06:01 h07:07 h
Video Playback11:06 h10:33 h
Games04:21 h04:21 h
Standby Mode95 h99 h

Main camera

Matrix 12 MP 48 MP
Photo resolution 4000x3000 pixels 8000x6000 pixels
Zoom Optical, 1.1x Digital
Flash Dual LED LED
Stabilization Optical Digital
8K Recording Up to 24FPS No
4K Recording Yes (Up to 60 fps) Yes (Up to 30 fps)
1080p Recording Yes (Up to 60 fps) Yes (Up to 60 fps)
Slow Motion 960 fps (720p) 960 fps (720p)
Wide-angle lens 120 ° 117 °
Lenses count Standard: 12 MP
Telephoto: 64 MP
Ultra-wide: 12 MP		 Standard: 48 MP
Ultra-wide: 16 MP
Macro: 2 MP
Depth: 2 MP
Features - Bokeh effect
- Pro mode
- RAW support		 - Bokeh effect
- Pro mode
- RAW support
Main lens
Matrix12 MP48 MP
Aperturef/1.8f/1.8
Focal length26 mm28 mm
SensorSony IMX555Sony IMX586
Sensor size1/1.761/2
Pixel size1.8 μm0.8 μm
AutofocusPhase autofocus (Dual Pixel)Phase autofocus
StabilizationOpticalDigital
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 MP16 MP
Aperturef/2.2f/2.2
Focal length13 mm13 mm
SensorSony IMX563n/a
Sensor size1/2.551/3.1
Pixel size1.4 μmn/a
StabilizationDigitalDigital
Main camera DxOMark results
Photo quality
Samsung Galaxy S21
129
Huawei Honor 20
n/a
Video quality
Samsung Galaxy S21
137
Huawei Honor 20
n/a
Overall camera score
Samsung Galaxy S21
133
Huawei Honor 20
n/a
Bokeh70n/a
Preview72n/a
Zoom126n/a
Sources: DxOMark [Samsung Galaxy S21]

Front camera

Matrix 10 MP 32 MP
Photo resolution 3872x2592 pixels 6528x4896 pixels
Aperture f/2.2 f/2.0
Focal length 26 mm 25 mm
Sensor Sony IMX374 BSI CMOS
Sensor size 1/3.24 1/2.8
Pixel size 1.22 μm 0.8 μm
Autofocus Phase autofocus (Dual Pixel) No
Stabilization Digital Digital
Video resolution 2160p (4K) at 60 fps 1080p (Full HD) at 30 fps
TOF 3D sensor No No

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 Direct
- Wi-Fi Hotspot
Bluetooth version 5 5
Bluetooth features LE, A2DP LE, A2DP
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
NFC* Yes Yes
Infrared Port No No
Connectivity
SIM Count*22
SIM TypeNanoNano
SIM ModeDual SIM StandbyDual SIM Standby
eSIM Support *YesNo
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 (B800/B900/B1800/B2100/B2300/B2500/B2600)
LTE category2421
5G SupportYesNo

Sound

Speakers Stereo Mono
3.5 mm Jack No No
FM Radio No No
Dolby Atmos Yes No
Speaker Test
Max Volume
Samsung Galaxy S21
87 dB
Huawei Honor 20
81 dB

Other

Class Flagship Flagship
Announced January, 2021 yr May, 2019 yr
Release Date February, 2021 yr June, 2019 yr
Launch Price ($) 800 500
Sensors - Hall Sensor
- Barometer
- Proximity Sensor
- Gyroscope
- Accelerometer
- Ambient Light Sensor
- Compass
- Fingerprint sensor		 - 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 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