Samsung Galaxy S21 vs Xiaomi Redmi Note 17 Pro Max

Compared 2 smartphones : Samsung Galaxy S21 Manufactured in February, 2021, with display 6.2 with chipsetSamsung Exynos 2100, vs Xiaomi Redmi Note 17 Pro Max, Manufactured in August, 2026 with chipsetQualcomm Snapdragon 6 Gen 5. Below are specs, tests, pros and cons for each device

Key Differences

Device key advantages
Reasons to choose Samsung Galaxy S21
  • Lighter design: 169g vs 229.5g
  • Supports newer USB: 3.2 vs 2
Reasons to choose Xiaomi Redmi Note 17 Pro Max
  • Larger display: 6.83in
  • Higher pixel density: 447ppi
  • Higher battery capacity: 10000mAh vs 4000mAh
  • Newer Bluetooth version: 6.0 vs 5
  • Infrared port
  • Includes charger

Versions

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

Review

Key Specs Samsung Galaxy S21 and Xiaomi Redmi Note 17 Pro 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.
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Function
Importance (Weight)
Display:
Camera:
Performance:
Gaming:
Battery:
Connectivity:
Higher weight means greater impact on NanoReview score.

Tests & specs

Specs & test comparison

Display

Display quality comparison
Type Dynamic AMOLED AMOLED
Size 6.2 in 6.83 in
Resolution 1080x2400 pixels 1280x2772 pixels
Aspect ratio 20:9 19.5:9
Pixel density 421 ppi 447 ppi
Refresh rate 120 Hz 120 Hz
Adaptive refresh rate Yes (48-120 Hz) Yes
Max brightness 800 nits 1060 nits
HDR support Yes HDR10+ Yes, Dolby Vision
Touch Sampling Rate n/a 240 Hz
Screen-to-body ratio 85.9 % 89.5 %
Features - DCI-P3
- Always-On Display
- DCI-P3
- DC dimming
Display test
Peak brightness (auto)
Samsung Galaxy S21
854 nits
Xiaomi Redmi Note 17 Pro Max
3446 nits
sRGB gamut99.5 %n/a
PWM (Flicker)240 Hzn/a
Response time5 msn/a
Contrast∞ Infiniten/a

Design & Build

Design and ergonomics comparison
Height 151.7 mm (5.97 in) 163.4 mm (6.43 in)
Width 71.2 mm (2.8 in) 78.3 mm (3.08 in)
Thickness 7.9 mm (0.31 in) 8.6 mm (0.34 in)
Weight 169 g (5.96 oz) 229.5 g (8.1 oz)
Water resistance IP68 IP68
Back panel Plastic n/a
Frame Metal Plastic
Colors - White
- Gray
- Pink
- Purple
- Black
- Blue
- Green
- Purple
Fingerprint sensor Yes In-Display Yes, In-Display
Screen-to-body ratio
Samsung Galaxy S21
85.9 %
Xiaomi Redmi Note 17 Pro Max
89.5 %

Performance

Testing Samsung Galaxy S21 and Xiaomi Redmi Note 17 Pro Max In benchmarks
Processor
Chipset Samsung Exynos 2100 Qualcomm Snapdragon 6 Gen 5
Max Frequency 2900 MHz 2600 MHz
CPU Cores 8 (1 + 3 + 4) 8 (4 + 4)
Architecture - 4/2.2 (Cortex-A55)
- 3/2.81 (Cortex-A78)
- 1/2.91 (Cortex-X1)
- 4/2 (Cortex-A55)
- 4/2.6 (Cortex-A78)
Process Samsung TSMC
Transistor Size 5 nm 4 nm
Neural Processor Yes Hexagon
Graphics Mali-G78 MP14 n/a
GPU Cores 896 n/a
GPU Frequency 854 MHz n/a
FLOPS 1530.4 GFLOPS n/a
GeekBench v6
Geekbench 6 (Single-Core)
Samsung Galaxy S21
1331
Xiaomi Redmi Note 17 Pro Max
1099
Geekbench 6 (Multi-Core)
Samsung Galaxy S21
3593
Xiaomi Redmi Note 17 Pro Max
3481
Geekbench 6 (Single-Core)13311099
Geekbench 6 (Multi-Core)35933481
AnTuTu 10
AnTuTu 10
Samsung Galaxy S21
903780
Xiaomi Redmi Note 17 Pro Max
1007140
CPU253391348694
GPU281676119297
Memory158352267736
UX210361271413
NanoReview Score9037801007140
3DMark Wild Life
3DMark Wild Life
Samsung Galaxy S21
5715
Xiaomi Redmi Note 17 Pro Max
n/a
Max Surface Temp.38.9 °Cn/a
Stability66 %n/a
Graphics Test34 fpsn/a
Graphics Score5715n/a
PCMark 3.0
PCMark 3.0
Samsung Galaxy S21
13123
Xiaomi Redmi Note 17 Pro Max
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 LPDDR5X
Memory Frequency 2750 MHz n/a
Channels 2 n/a
Storage
Storage Capacity- 128 GB
- 256 GB
128 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 HyperOS 3

Battery

Volume 4000 mAh 10000 mAh
Max Charging Power 25 W 100 W
Battery Type Li-ion Silicon Carbon (Si/C)
Removable No No
Wireless Charging Yes (15 W) No
Reverse Charging Yes (Wireless) Yes
Fast Charging Yes (55% in 50 min) Yes (57% in 30 min)
Full Charge Time 1:35 h 1:01 h
Battery Life Test
Battery Life
Samsung Galaxy S21
17:54
Xiaomi Redmi Note 17 Pro Max
49:44
Web Browsing06:01 h20:44 h
Video Playback11:06 h33:14 h
Games04:21 h09:29 h
Standby Mode95 h223 h

Main camera

Matrix 12 MP 50 MP
Photo resolution 4000x3000 pixels 8160x6120 pixels
Zoom Optical, 1.1x Digital
Flash Dual LED LED
Stabilization Optical Optical
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) n/a
Wide-angle lens 120 ° 120 °
Lenses count Standard: 12 MP
Telephoto: 64 MP
Ultra-wide: 12 MP
Standard: 50 MP
Ultra-wide: 8 MP
Features - Bokeh effect
- Pro mode
- RAW support
- Bokeh effect
- Pro mode
Main lens
Matrix12 MP50 MP
Aperturef/1.8f/1.5
Focal length26 mm26 mm
SensorSony IMX555Samsung S5KJN5
Sensor size1/1.761/2.76 (0.36)
Pixel size1.8 μm0.8 μm
AutofocusPhase autofocus (Dual Pixel)Phase autofocus
StabilizationOpticalOptical
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 MP8 MP
Aperturef/2.2f/2.2
Focal length13 mm15 mm
SensorSony IMX563n/a
Sensor size1/2.551/4.0 (0.25)
Pixel size1.4 μm1.12 μm
StabilizationDigitalNo
Main camera DxOMark results
Photo quality
Samsung Galaxy S21
129
Xiaomi Redmi Note 17 Pro Max
n/a
Video quality
Samsung Galaxy S21
137
Xiaomi Redmi Note 17 Pro Max
n/a
Overall camera score
Samsung Galaxy S21
133
Xiaomi Redmi Note 17 Pro Max
n/a
Bokeh70n/a
Preview72n/a
Zoom126n/a

Front camera

Matrix 10 MP 32 MP
Photo resolution 3872x2592 pixels n/a
Aperture f/2.2 f/2.2
Focal length 26 mm n/a
Sensor Sony IMX374 CMOS
Sensor size 1/3.24 n/a
Pixel size 1.22 μm 0.61 μm
Autofocus Phase autofocus (Dual Pixel) No
Stabilization Digital Digital
Video resolution 2160p (4K) at 60 fps 2160p (4K) 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 6 (802.11 a/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 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
DisplayPort n/a No
GPS - GPS
- GLONASS
- Beidou
- Galileo
- GPS
- GLONASS
- Beidou
- Galileo
NFC* Yes Varies by region
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 Yes
Speaker Test
Max Volume
Samsung Galaxy S21
87 dB
Xiaomi Redmi Note 17 Pro Max
n/a

Other

Class Flagship Mid-range
Announced January, 2021 yr August, 2026 yr
Release Date February, 2021 yr August, 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
- Fingerprint sensor
Charger Included n/a Yes, 100 W
* Attention! Config, frequencies, NFC, and other specs may vary by region.

Results

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