Home Phone comparison Samsung Galaxy S21 and OnePlus 15 - Which is better?

Samsung Galaxy S21 vs OnePlus 15

65 out 100
Samsung Galaxy S21
VS
91 out 100
OnePlus 15
Samsung Galaxy S21
OnePlus 15

Compared 2 smartphones : Samsung Galaxy S21 Manufactured in February, 2021, with display 6.2 with chipsetSamsung Exynos 2100, vs OnePlus 15, Manufactured in October, 2025with chipsetQualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5. 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
  • Lighter design: 169g vs 211g
  • Supports Dolby Atmos
Reasons to choose OnePlus 15
  • Larger display: 6.78in
  • Higher pixel density: 450ppi
  • Higher refresh rate: 165Hz
  • Higher battery capacity: 7300mAh vs 4000mAh
  • Newer Bluetooth version: 6.0 vs 5
  • Supports DisplayPort
  • Infrared port
  • Includes charger

Versions

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

Review

Key Specs Samsung Galaxy S21 and OnePlus 15
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
OnePlus 15

Display

Display quality comparison
Type Dynamic AMOLED AMOLED
Size 6.2 in 6.78 in
Resolution 1080x2400 pixels 1272x2772 pixels
Aspect ratio 20:9 19.5:9
Pixel density 421 ppi 450 ppi
Refresh rate 120 Hz 165 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 % 91.2 %
Features - DCI-P3
- Always-On Display		 - DCI-P3
- Always-On Display
- DC dimming
Display test
Peak brightness (auto)
Samsung Galaxy S21
854 nits
OnePlus 15
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) 161.4 mm (6.35 in)
Width 71.2 mm (2.8 in) 76.7 mm (3.02 in)
Thickness 7.9 mm (0.31 in) 8.1 mm (0.32 in)
Weight 169 g (5.96 oz) 211 g (7.44 oz)
Water resistance IP68 IP69
Cooling system n/a Vapor chamber
Back panel Plastic Glass
Frame Metal Metal
Colors - White
- Gray
- Pink
- Purple		 - Black
- Gold
- Purple
Fingerprint sensor Yes In-Display Yes, In-Display
Screen-to-body ratio
Samsung Galaxy S21
85.9 %
OnePlus 15
91.2 %

Performance

Testing Samsung Galaxy S21 and OnePlus 15 In benchmarks
Processor
Chipset Samsung Exynos 2100 Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5
Max Frequency 2900 MHz 4600 MHz
CPU Cores 8 (1 + 3 + 4) 8 (2 + 6)
Architecture - 4/2.2 (Cortex-A55)
- 3/2.81 (Cortex-A78)
- 1/2.91 (Cortex-X1)		 6/3.63 ()
Process Samsung TSMC
Transistor Size 5 nm 3 nm
Neural Processor Yes Hexagon
Graphics Mali-G78 MP14 Adreno 840
GPU Cores 896 1536
GPU Frequency 854 MHz 1200 MHz
FLOPS 1530.4 GFLOPS 3686.4 GFLOPS
GeekBench v6
Geekbench 6 (Single-Core)
Samsung Galaxy S21
1331
OnePlus 15
3726
Geekbench 6 (Multi-Core)
Samsung Galaxy S21
3593
OnePlus 15
11199
Geekbench 6 (Single-Core)13313726
Geekbench 6 (Multi-Core)359311199
Geekbench Compute (GPU)n/a27829
Sources: Geekbench v6 [OnePlus 15]
AnTuTu 10
AnTuTu 10
Samsung Galaxy S21
903780
OnePlus 15
3434737
CPU253391968935
GPU2816761235307
Memory158352489823
UX210361740672
NanoReview Score9037803434737
3DMark Wild Life
3DMark Wild Life
Samsung Galaxy S21
5715
OnePlus 15
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
OnePlus 15
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 5300 MHz
Channels 2 4
Storage
Storage Capacity- 128 GB
- 256 GB		256 GB
Storage TypeUFS 3.1UFS 4.1
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 OxygenOS 16

Battery

Volume 4000 mAh 7300 mAh
Max Charging Power 25 W 120 W
Battery Type Li-ion Silicon Carbon (Si/C)
Removable No No
Wireless Charging Yes (15 W) Yes (50 W)
Reverse Charging Yes (Wireless) Yes, (Wireless)
Fast Charging Yes (55% in 50 min) Yes (50% in 15 min)
Full Charge Time 1:35 h 0:43 h
Battery Life Test
Battery Life
Samsung Galaxy S21
17:54
OnePlus 15
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, 3.5x
Flash Dual LED Dual LED
Stabilization Optical Optical
8K Recording Up to 24FPS Yes (Up to 30 fps)
4K Recording Yes (Up to 60 fps) Yes (Up to 120 fps)
1080p Recording Yes (Up to 60 fps) Yes (Up to 60 fps)
Slow Motion 960 fps (720p) n/a
Wide-angle lens 120 ° 116 °
Lenses count Standard: 12 MP
Telephoto: 64 MP
Ultra-wide: 12 MP		 Standard: 50 MP
Telephoto: 50 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/1.8
Focal length26 mm24 mm
SensorSony IMX555Sony LYTIA-T808
Sensor size1/1.761/1.56
Pixel size1.8 μm1 μm
AutofocusPhase autofocus (Dual Pixel)Phase autofocus
StabilizationOpticalOptical
Telephoto
Matrix64 MP50 MP
Aperturef/2.0f/2.8
Focal length28 mm85 mm
SensorSamsung Bright S5KGW2Samsung S5KJN5
Sensor size1/1.721/2.76
Pixel size0.8 μm0.64 μm
StabilizationOpticalOptical
Ultra-wide lens
Matrix12 MP50 MP
Aperturef/2.2f/2.0
Focal length13 mm15 mm
SensorSony IMX563Samsung S5KJN5
Sensor size1/2.551/2.76
Pixel size1.4 μm0.64 μm
StabilizationDigitalDigital
Main camera DxOMark results
Photo quality
Samsung Galaxy S21
129
OnePlus 15
n/a
Video quality
Samsung Galaxy S21
137
OnePlus 15
n/a
Overall camera score
Samsung Galaxy S21
133
OnePlus 15
n/a
Bokeh70n/a
Preview72n/a
Zoom126n/a
Sources: DxOMark [Samsung Galaxy S21]

Front camera

Matrix 10 MP 32 MP
Photo resolution 3872x2592 pixels 6560x4928 pixels
Aperture f/2.2 f/2.4
Focal length 26 mm 21 mm
Sensor Sony IMX374 Sony IMX615
Sensor size 1/3.24 1/2.74
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 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 3.2
USB features - Charging
- USB Storage Mode
- USB-Host mode
- OTG		 - Charging
- USB Storage Mode
- OTG
DisplayPort n/a Yes
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 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
OnePlus 15
n/a

Other

Class Flagship Flagship
Announced January, 2021 yr October, 2025 yr
Release Date February, 2021 yr October, 2025 yr
Launch Price ($) 800 n/a
MSRP ($) n/a 899
Sensors - Hall Sensor
- Barometer
- Proximity Sensor
- Gyroscope
- Accelerometer
- Ambient Light Sensor
- Compass
- Fingerprint sensor		 - Proximity Sensor
- Gyroscope
- Accelerometer
- Ambient Light Sensor
- Compass
- Fingerprint sensor
Charger Included n/a Yes, 120 W
* Attention! Config, frequencies, NFC, and other specs may vary by region.

Results

After analyzing the data, we consider OnePlus 15 the clear winner in this comparison.

Survey

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Total Votes: 1

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