Samsung Galaxy S23 vs Samsung Galaxy S21
75
out 100
VS
65
out 100
Compared 2 smartphones : Samsung Galaxy S23 Manufactured in February, 2023, with display 6.1 with chipsetSnapdragon 8 Gen 2 Mobile Platform for Galaxy, vs Samsung Galaxy S21, Manufactured in February, 2021with chipsetSamsung Exynos 2100. Below are specs, tests, pros and cons for each device
Key Differences
Reasons to choose Samsung Galaxy S23
- Higher pixel density: 425ppi
- Lighter design: 168g vs 169g
- Newer Bluetooth version: 5.3 vs 5
- Supports DisplayPort
Reasons to choose Samsung Galaxy S21
- Larger display: 6.2in
- Higher battery capacity: 4000mAh vs 3900mAh
Versions
| Memory Options | - 8/128 GB - 8/256 GB - 8/512 GB |
- 8/128 GB - 8/256 GB |
Review
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
Adjust each parameter’s importance to find the best match for you.
Tests & specs
Specs & test comparisonDisplay
| Type | Dynamic AMOLED | Dynamic AMOLED |
| Size | 6.1 in | 6.2 in |
| Resolution | 1080x2340 pixels | 1080x2400 pixels |
| Aspect ratio | 19.5:9 | 20:9 |
| Pixel density | 425 ppi | 421 ppi |
| Refresh rate | 120 Hz | 120 Hz |
| Adaptive refresh rate | Yes (24-120 Hz) | Yes (48-120 Hz) |
| Max brightness | 800 nits | 800 nits |
| HDR support | Yes HDR10+ | Yes HDR10+ |
| Screen-to-body ratio | 88 % | 85.9 % |
| Features | - DCI-P3 - Always-On Display |
- DCI-P3 - Always-On Display |
| sRGB gamut | 98.9 % | 99.5 % |
| PWM (Flicker) | 240 Hz | 240 Hz |
| Response time | 1 ms | 5 ms |
| Contrast | ∞ Infinite | ∞ Infinite |
Design & Build
| Height | 146.3 mm (5.76 in) | 151.7 mm (5.97 in) |
| Width | 70.9 mm (2.79 in) | 71.2 mm (2.8 in) |
| Thickness | 7.6 mm (0.3 in) | 7.9 mm (0.31 in) |
| Weight | 168 g (5.93 oz) | 169 g (5.96 oz) |
| Water resistance | IP68 | IP68 |
| Cooling system | Vapor chamber | n/a |
| Back panel | Glass | Plastic |
| Frame | Metal | Metal |
| Colors | - White - Black - Gray - Green - Purple - Yellow |
- White - Gray - Pink - Purple |
| Fingerprint sensor | Yes In-Display | Yes In-Display |
Screen-to-body ratio
Performance
| Chipset | Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 Mobile Platform for Galaxy | Samsung Exynos 2100 |
| Max Frequency | 3360 MHz | 2900 MHz |
| CPU Cores | 8 (1 + 2 + 2 + 3) | 8 (1 + 3 + 4) |
| Architecture | - 3/2 (Cortex-A510) - 2/2.8 (Cortex-A710) - 2/2.8 (Cortex-A715) - 1/3.2 (Cortex-X3) |
- 4/2.2 (Cortex-A55) - 3/2.81 (Cortex-A78) - 1/2.91 (Cortex-X1) |
| Process | TSMC | Samsung |
| Transistor Size | 4 nm | 5 nm |
| Neural Processor | Hexagon | Yes |
| Graphics | Adreno 740 | Mali-G78 MP14 |
| GPU Cores | 1536 | 896 |
| GPU Frequency | 719 MHz | 854 MHz |
| FLOPS | 2089 GFLOPS | 1530.4 GFLOPS |
| Geekbench 6 (Single-Core) | 1831 | 1331 |
| Geekbench 6 (Multi-Core) | 4914 | 3593 |
| Geekbench Compute (GPU) | 9422 | n/a |
| CPU | 380535 | 253391 |
| GPU | 598896 | 281676 |
| Memory | 273271 | 158352 |
| UX | 270109 | 210361 |
| NanoReview Score | 1522811 | 903780 |
| Max Surface Temp. | 34.3 °C | 38.9 °C |
| Stability | 60 % | 66 % |
| Graphics Test | 72 fps | 34 fps |
| Graphics Score | 12039 | 5715 |
| Writing score | 19330 | 16101 |
| Web score | 14262 | 11909 |
| Video editing | 7840 | 7097 |
| Data manipulation | 12674 | 10153 |
| NanoReview Score | 15602 | 13123 |
Memory
| RAM Size | 8 GB | 8 GB |
| Memory Type | LPDDR5X | LPDDR5 |
| Memory Frequency | n/a | 2750 MHz |
| Channels | 4 | 2 |
| Storage Capacity | - 128 GB - 256 GB - 512 GB | - 128 GB - 256 GB |
| Storage Type | UFS 4.0 | UFS 3.1 |
| Memory Card | No | No |
Software
| OS | Android 13 (Upgradeable to Android 14) | Android 11 (Upgradeable to Android 14) |
| OS Size | 29.7 GB | 28.1 GB |
| UI Skin | One UI 6.1 | One UI 6.0 |
Battery
| Volume | 3900 mAh | 4000 mAh |
| Max Charging Power | 25 W | 25 W |
| Battery Type | Li-ion | Li-ion |
| Removable | No | No |
| Wireless Charging | Yes (10 W) | Yes (15 W) |
| Reverse Charging | Yes (Wireless) | Yes (Wireless) |
| Fast Charging | Yes (57% in 30 min) | Yes (55% in 50 min) |
| Full Charge Time | 1:16 h | 1:35 h |
| Web Browsing | 08:12 h | 06:01 h |
| Video Playback | 13:41 h | 11:06 h |
| Games | 05:20 h | 04:21 h |
| Standby Mode | 109 h | 95 h |
Main camera
| Matrix | 50 MP | 12 MP |
| Photo resolution | 8160x6120 pixels | 4000x3000 pixels |
| Zoom | Optical, 3x | Optical, 1.1x |
| Flash | LED | Dual LED |
| Stabilization | Optical | Optical |
| 8K Recording | Yes (Up to 30 fps) | Up to 24FPS |
| 4K Recording | Yes (Up to 60 fps) | Yes (Up to 60 fps) |
| 1080p Recording | Yes (Up to 120 fps) | Yes (Up to 60 fps) |
| Slow Motion | 960 fps (1080p) | 960 fps (720p) |
| Wide-angle lens | 120 ° | 120 ° |
| Lenses count | Standard: 50 MP Telephoto: 10 MP Ultra-wide: 12 MP |
Standard: 12 MP Telephoto: 64 MP Ultra-wide: 12 MP |
| Features | - Bokeh effect - Pro mode - RAW support |
- Bokeh effect - Pro mode - RAW support |
| Matrix | 50 MP | 12 MP |
| Aperture | f/1.8 | f/1.8 |
| Focal length | 23 mm | 26 mm |
| Sensor | Samsung S5KGN3 | Sony IMX555 |
| Sensor size | 1/1.57 | 1/1.76 |
| Pixel size | 1 μm | 1.8 μm |
| Autofocus | Phase autofocus (Dual Pixel) | Phase autofocus (Dual Pixel) |
| Stabilization | Optical | Optical |
| Matrix | 10 MP | 64 MP |
| Aperture | f/2.4 | f/2.0 |
| Focal length | 70 mm | 28 mm |
| Sensor | Samsung S5K3K1 | Samsung Bright S5KGW2 |
| Sensor size | 1/3.94 | 1/1.72 |
| Pixel size | 1 μm | 0.8 μm |
| Stabilization | Optical | Optical |
| Matrix | 12 MP | 12 MP |
| Aperture | f/2.2 | f/2.2 |
| Focal length | 13 mm | 13 mm |
| Sensor | Sony IMX564 | Sony IMX563 |
| Sensor size | 1/2.55 | 1/2.55 |
| Pixel size | 1.4 μm | 1.4 μm |
| Stabilization | Digital | Digital |
| Bokeh | 70 | 70 |
| Preview | 72 | 72 |
| Zoom | 126 | 126 |
Front camera
| Matrix | 12 MP | 10 MP |
| Photo resolution | 4000x3000 pixels | 3872x2592 pixels |
| Aperture | f/2.2 | f/2.2 |
| Focal length | 26 mm | 26 mm |
| Sensor | Samsung S5K3LU | Sony IMX374 |
| Sensor size | 1/3.24 | 1/3.24 |
| Pixel size | 1.12 μm | 1.22 μm |
| Autofocus | Phase autofocus (Dual Pixel) | Phase autofocus (Dual Pixel) |
| 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 6E (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 MiMO - Wi-Fi Direct - Wi-Fi Hotspot - Wi-Fi Display |
| Bluetooth version | 5.3 | 5 |
| Bluetooth features | LE | LE, A2DP |
| USB type | USB Type-C | USB Type-C |
| USB version | 3.2 | 3.2 |
| USB features | - Charging - USB Storage Mode - OTG |
- Charging - USB Storage Mode - USB-Host mode - OTG |
| DisplayPort | Yes DP 1.2 | n/a |
| GPS | - GPS - GLONASS - Beidou - Galileo - QZSS |
- GPS - GLONASS - Beidou - Galileo |
| NFC* | Yes | Yes |
| Infrared Port | No | No |
| SIM Count* | 1 | 2 |
| SIM Type | Nano | Nano |
| SIM Mode | Dual SIM Standby | Dual SIM Standby |
| eSIM Support * | Yes | Yes |
| Hybrid Slot | No | No |
| 2G Bands | GSM 850/1700/1900/2100Mhz | GSM 850, 900, 1800, 1900 MHz |
| 3G Bands | UMTS 6/5/8/34 | WCDMA Band 1, 2, 4, 5, 8 |
| LTE Bands* | LTE (B/B1/B2/B3/B4/B5/B7/B8/B12/B13/B16/B17/B18/B19/B20/B25/B27/B28/B29/B30/B38/B39/B40/B41/B66/B71) | LTE (B1/B2/B3/B4/B5/B7/B8/B12/B13/B17/B18/B19/B20/B25/B26/B28/B32/B38/B39/B40/B41/B66) |
| LTE category | 20 | 24 |
| 5G Support | Yes | Yes |
Sound
| Speakers | Stereo | Stereo |
| 3.5 mm Jack | No | No |
| FM Radio | No | No |
| Dolby Atmos | Yes | Yes |
Other
| Class | Flagship | Flagship |
| Announced | February, 2023 yr | January, 2021 yr |
| Release Date | February, 2023 yr | February, 2021 yr |
| Launch Price ($) | 799 | 800 |
| 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 - Fingerprint sensor |
| Charger Included | No | n/a |
Note
Samsung Galaxy S23:
The 128GB version uses slower UFS 3.1 memory, while the 256GB and 512GB models have UFS 4.0.
*
Attention!
Config, frequencies, NFC, and other specs may vary by region.
Results
After analyzing the data, we consider Samsung Galaxy S23 the clear winner in this comparison.
Survey
Total Votes: 2
