Samsung Galaxy S21 vs Huawei P40

Compared 2 smartphones : Samsung Galaxy S21 Manufactured in February, 2021, with display 6.2 with chipsetSamsung Exynos 2100, vs Huawei P40, Manufactured in March, 2020 with chipsetHiSilicon Kirin 990 5G. Below are specs, tests, pros and cons for each device

Key Differences

Device key advantages
Reasons to choose Samsung Galaxy S21
  • Larger display: 6.2in
  • Higher refresh rate: 120Hz
  • Lighter design: 169g vs 175g
  • Higher battery capacity: 4000mAh vs 3800mAh
  • Supports newer USB: 3.2 vs 3.1
Reasons to choose Huawei P40
  • Higher pixel density: 422ppi
  • Newer Bluetooth version: 5.1 vs 5
  • Infrared port

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 P40
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:
vs

Display

Display quality comparison
Type Dynamic AMOLED OLED
Size 6.2 in 6.1 in
Resolution 1080x2400 pixels 1080x2340 pixels
Aspect ratio 20:9 19.5:9
Pixel density 421 ppi 422 ppi
Refresh rate 120 Hz 60 Hz
Adaptive refresh rate Yes (48-120 Hz) No
Max brightness 800 nits 500 nits
HDR support Yes HDR10+ Yes HDR10
Screen-to-body ratio 85.9 % 86.3 %
Features - DCI-P3
- Always-On Display
- DCI-P3
- Always-On Display
- DC dimming
Display test
Peak brightness (auto)
Samsung Galaxy S21
854 nits
Huawei P40
586 nits
sRGB gamut99.5 %129.7 %
PWM (Flicker)240 Hz245 Hz
Response time5 ms7 ms
Contrast∞ Infinite∞ Infinite

Design & Build

Design and ergonomics comparison
Height 151.7 mm (5.97 in) 148.9 mm (5.86 in)
Width 71.2 mm (2.8 in) 71.1 mm (2.8 in)
Thickness 7.9 mm (0.31 in) 8.5 mm (0.33 in)
Weight 169 g (5.96 oz) 175 g (6.17 oz)
Water resistance IP68 IP53
Back panel Plastic Glass
Frame Metal Metal
Colors - White
- Gray
- Pink
- Purple
- Black
- Silver
Fingerprint sensor Yes In-Display Yes In-Display
Screen-to-body ratio
Samsung Galaxy S21
85.9 %
Huawei P40
86.3 %

Performance

Testing Samsung Galaxy S21 and Huawei P40 In benchmarks
Processor
Chipset Samsung Exynos 2100 HiSilicon Kirin 990 5G
Max Frequency 2900 MHz 2860 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)
- 2/2.36 (Cortex-A76)
- 2/2.86 (Cortex-A76)
Process Samsung TSMC
Transistor Size 5 nm 7 nm
Neural Processor Yes Da Vinci
Graphics Mali-G78 MP14 Mali-G76 MP16
GPU Cores 896 576
GPU Frequency 854 MHz 600 MHz
FLOPS 1530.4 GFLOPS 691.2 GFLOPS
GeekBench v6
Geekbench 6 (Single-Core)
Samsung Galaxy S21
1331
Huawei P40
1105
Geekbench 6 (Multi-Core)
Samsung Galaxy S21
3593
Huawei P40
3114
Geekbench 6 (Single-Core)13311105
Geekbench 6 (Multi-Core)35933114
AnTuTu 10
AnTuTu 10
Samsung Galaxy S21
903780
Huawei P40
714339
CPU253391223187
GPU281676212580
Memory158352140763
UX210361137809
NanoReview Score903780714339
3DMark Wild Life
3DMark Wild Life
Samsung Galaxy S21
5715
Huawei P40
3276
Max Surface Temp.38.9 °C44.1 °C
Stability66 %44 %
Graphics Test34 fps19 fps
Graphics Score57153276
PCMark 3.0
PCMark 3.0
Samsung Galaxy S21
13123
Huawei P40
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 LPDDR4X
Memory Frequency 2750 MHz 2133 MHz
Channels 2 2
Storage
Storage Capacity- 128 GB
- 256 GB
128 GB
Storage TypeUFS 3.1UFS 3.0
Memory CardNoNano Memory

Software

OS Android 11 (Upgradeable to Android 14) Android 10.0
OS Size 28.1 GB 13 GB
UI Skin One UI 6.0 EMUI 11

Battery

Volume 4000 mAh 3800 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) Yes
Fast Charging Yes (55% in 50 min) Yes (50% in 30 min)
Full Charge Time 1:35 h 1:30 h
Battery Life Test
Battery Life
Samsung Galaxy S21
17:54
Huawei P40
19:23
Web Browsing06:01 h07:55 h
Video Playback11:06 h12:38 h
Games04:21 h04:47 h
Standby Mode95 h87 h

Main camera

Matrix 12 MP 50 MP
Photo resolution 4000x3000 pixels 8192x6144 pixels
Zoom Optical, 1.1x Optical, 3x
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) 960 fps (720p)
Wide-angle lens 120 ° 120 °
Lenses count Standard: 12 MP
Telephoto: 64 MP
Ultra-wide: 12 MP
Standard: 50 MP
Telephoto: 8 MP
Ultra-wide: 16 MP
Features - Bokeh effect
- Pro mode
- RAW support
- Bokeh effect
- Pro mode
- RAW support
Main lens
Matrix12 MP50 MP
Aperturef/1.8f/1.9
Focal length26 mm23 mm
SensorSony IMX555Sony IMX700
Sensor size1/1.761/1.28
Pixel size1.8 μm1.22 μm
AutofocusPhase autofocus (Dual Pixel)Phase autofocus
StabilizationOpticalOptical
Telephoto
Matrix64 MP8 MP
Aperturef/2.0f/2.4
Focal length28 mm80 mm
SensorSamsung Bright S5KGW2n/a
Sensor size1/1.721/4
Pixel size0.8 μmn/a
StabilizationOpticalOptical
Ultra-wide lens
Matrix12 MP16 MP
Aperturef/2.2f/2.2
Focal length13 mm17 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
Huawei P40
n/a
Video quality
Samsung Galaxy S21
137
Huawei P40
n/a
Overall camera score
Samsung Galaxy S21
133
Huawei P40
n/a
Bokeh70n/a
Preview72n/a
Zoom126n/a

Front camera

Matrix 10 MP 32 MP
Photo resolution 3872x2592 pixels 6464x4864 pixels
Aperture f/2.2 f/2.0
Focal length 26 mm 26 mm
Sensor Sony IMX374 CMOS
Sensor size 1/3.24 1/2.8
Pixel size 1.22 μm 0.8 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 6 (802.11 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
- Wi-Fi Display
Bluetooth version 5 5.1
Bluetooth features LE, A2DP LE, 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
- QZSS
- NAVIC
NFC* Yes Yes
Infrared Port No Yes
Connectivity
SIM Count*22
SIM TypeNanoNano
SIM ModeDual SIM StandbyDual SIM Standby
eSIM Support *YesYes
Hybrid SlotNoYes
2G BandsGSM 850, 900, 1800, 1900 MHzGSM 2/3/5/8
3G BandsWCDMA Band 1, 2, 4, 5, 8WCDMA 1/2/4/5/6/8/19
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/B6/B7/B8/B9/B17/B18/B19/B20/B26/B28/B32)
LTE category2421
5G SupportYesYes

Sound

Speakers Stereo Mono
3.5 mm Jack No No
FM Radio No No
Dolby Atmos Yes Yes
Speaker Test
Max Volume
Samsung Galaxy S21
87 dB
Huawei P40
79.6 dB

Other

Class Flagship Flagship
Announced January, 2021 yr March, 2020 yr
Release Date February, 2021 yr March, 2020 yr
Launch Price ($) 800 680
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
- Face Sensor
- Fingerprint sensor
* Attention! Config, frequencies, NFC, and other specs may vary by region.

Results

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