Samsung Galaxy S21 vs Xiaomi Redmi Note 8 Pro

Compared 2 smartphones : Samsung Galaxy S21 Manufactured in February, 2021, with display 6.2 with chipsetSamsung Exynos 2100, vs Xiaomi Redmi Note 8 Pro, Manufactured in October, 2019 with chipsetMediaTek Helio G90T. Below are specs, tests, pros and cons for each device

Key Differences

Device key advantages
Reasons to choose Samsung Galaxy S21
  • Higher pixel density: 421ppi
  • Higher refresh rate: 120Hz
  • Lighter design: 169g vs 200g
  • Supports newer USB: 3.2 vs 2
  • Supports Dolby Atmos
  • Built-in eSIM
Reasons to choose Xiaomi Redmi Note 8 Pro
  • Larger display: 6.53in
  • Higher battery capacity: 4500mAh vs 4000mAh
  • Infrared port

Versions

Available versions and configurations
Memory Options - 8/128 GB
- 8/256 GB
- 4/64 GB
- 4/128 GB
- 6/64 GB
- 6/128 GB
- 8/128 GB
- 8/256 GB

Review

Key Specs Samsung Galaxy S21 and Xiaomi Redmi Note 8 Pro
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

Display

Display quality comparison
Type Dynamic AMOLED IPS LCD
Size 6.2 in 6.53 in
Resolution 1080x2400 pixels 1080x2340 pixels
Aspect ratio 20:9 19.5:9
Pixel density 421 ppi 395 ppi
Refresh rate 120 Hz 60 Hz
Adaptive refresh rate Yes (48-120 Hz) No
Max brightness 800 nits 640 nits
HDR support Yes HDR10+ Yes HDR10
Screen-to-body ratio 85.9 % 84.9 %
Features - DCI-P3
- Always-On Display
n/a
Display test
Peak brightness (auto)
Samsung Galaxy S21
854 nits
Xiaomi Redmi Note 8 Pro
637 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) 161.4 mm (6.35 in)
Width 71.2 mm (2.8 in) 76.4 mm (3.01 in)
Thickness 7.9 mm (0.31 in) 8.8 mm (0.35 in)
Weight 169 g (5.96 oz) 200 g (7.05 oz)
Water resistance IP68 IP52
Cooling system n/a Vapor chamber
Back panel Plastic Glass
Frame Metal Plastic
Colors - White
- Gray
- Pink
- Purple
- White
- Gray
- Blue
- Green
Fingerprint sensor Yes In-Display Yes rear
Screen-to-body ratio
Samsung Galaxy S21
85.9 %
Xiaomi Redmi Note 8 Pro
84.9 %

Performance

Testing Samsung Galaxy S21 and Xiaomi Redmi Note 8 Pro In benchmarks
Processor
Chipset Samsung Exynos 2100 MediaTek Helio G90T
Max Frequency 2900 MHz 2050 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)
- 6/2 (Cortex-A55)
- 2/2.05 (Cortex-A76)
Process Samsung TSMC
Transistor Size 5 nm 12 nm
Neural Processor Yes MediaTek APU 2.0
Graphics Mali-G78 MP14 Mali-G76 MP4
GPU Cores 896 144
GPU Frequency 854 MHz 800 MHz
FLOPS 1530.4 GFLOPS 230.4 GFLOPS
GeekBench v6
Geekbench 6 (Single-Core)
Samsung Galaxy S21
1331
Xiaomi Redmi Note 8 Pro
602
Geekbench 6 (Multi-Core)
Samsung Galaxy S21
3593
Xiaomi Redmi Note 8 Pro
1684
Geekbench 6 (Single-Core)1331602
Geekbench 6 (Multi-Core)35931684
AnTuTu 10
AnTuTu 10
Samsung Galaxy S21
903780
Xiaomi Redmi Note 8 Pro
368990
CPU253391120779
GPU28167678652
Memory15835272733
UX21036196826
NanoReview Score903780368990
3DMark Wild Life
3DMark Wild Life
Samsung Galaxy S21
5715
Xiaomi Redmi Note 8 Pro
1321
Max Surface Temp.38.9 °Cn/a
Stability66 %87 %
Graphics Test34 fps7 fps
Graphics Score57151321
PCMark 3.0
PCMark 3.0
Samsung Galaxy S21
13123
Xiaomi Redmi Note 8 Pro
8104
Writing score161018202
Web score119096022
Video editing70975662
Data manipulation101537000
NanoReview Score131238104

Memory

RAM
RAM Size 8 GB - 4 GB
- 6 GB
- 8 GB
Memory Type LPDDR5 LPDDR4X
Memory Frequency 2750 MHz 2133 MHz
Channels 2 2
Storage
Storage Capacity- 128 GB
- 256 GB
- 64 GB
- 128 GB
- 256 GB
Storage TypeUFS 3.1UFS 2.1
Memory CardNoMicroSD

Software

OS Android 11 (Upgradeable to Android 14) Android 9.0 (Upgradeable to Android 11)
OS Size 28.1 GB 10.3 GB
UI Skin One UI 6.0 MIUI 12.5

Battery

Volume 4000 mAh 4500 mAh
Max Charging Power 25 W 18 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 (30% in 30 min)
Full Charge Time 1:35 h 2:00 h
Battery Life Test
Battery Life
Samsung Galaxy S21
17:54
Xiaomi Redmi Note 8 Pro
21:15
Web Browsing06:01 h07:29 h
Video Playback11:06 h12:01 h
Games04:21 h05:02 h
Standby Mode95 h115 h

Main camera

Matrix 12 MP 64 MP
Photo resolution 4000x3000 pixels 9000x7000 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 ° 120 °
Lenses count Standard: 12 MP
Telephoto: 64 MP
Ultra-wide: 12 MP
Standard: 64 MP
Ultra-wide: 8 MP
Macro: 2 MP
Depth: 2 MP
Features - Bokeh effect
- Pro mode
- RAW support
- Bokeh effect
- Pro mode
Main lens
Matrix12 MP64 MP
Aperturef/1.8f/1.9
Focal length26 mm26 mm
SensorSony IMX555Samsung S5KGW1
Sensor size1/1.761/1.7
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 MP8 MP
Aperturef/2.2f/2.2
Focal length13 mm13 mm
SensorSony IMX563n/a
Sensor size1/2.551/4
Pixel size1.4 μm1.12 μm
StabilizationDigitalDigital
Main camera DxOMark results
Photo quality
Samsung Galaxy S21
129
Xiaomi Redmi Note 8 Pro
87
Video quality
Samsung Galaxy S21
137
Xiaomi Redmi Note 8 Pro
78
Overall camera score
Samsung Galaxy S21
133
Xiaomi Redmi Note 8 Pro
84
Bokeh70n/a
Preview72n/a
Zoom126n/a

Front camera

Matrix 10 MP 20 MP
Photo resolution 3872x2592 pixels 5184x3880 pixels
Aperture f/2.2 f/2.0
Focal length 26 mm n/a
Sensor Sony IMX374 Samsung S5K3T1
Sensor size 1/3.24 1/3.1
Pixel size 1.22 μm 0.9 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
- Wi-Fi Display
Bluetooth version 5 5
Bluetooth features LE, A2DP LE, HID, 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 Yes
Connectivity
SIM Count*22
SIM TypeNanoNano
SIM ModeDual SIM StandbyDual SIM Standby
eSIM Support *YesNo
Hybrid SlotNoYes
2G BandsGSM 850, 900, 1800, 1900 MHzGSM 850 / 900 / 1800 / 1900 - SIM 1 & SIM 2
3G BandsWCDMA Band 1, 2, 4, 5, 8HSDPA 850 / 900 / 1900 / 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 (B1/B3/B5/B7/B8/B40/B41)
LTE category2412
5G SupportYesNo

Sound

Speakers Stereo Mono
3.5 mm Jack No Yes
FM Radio No Yes
Dolby Atmos Yes No
Speaker Test
Max Volume
Samsung Galaxy S21
87 dB
Xiaomi Redmi Note 8 Pro
82.2 dB

Other

Class Flagship Mid-range
Announced January, 2021 yr August, 2019 yr
Release Date February, 2021 yr October, 2019 yr
Launch Price ($) 800 220
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.

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