Vivo iQOO Z9 5G vs Samsung Galaxy S21 FE 5G

Compared 2 smartphones : Vivo iQOO Z9 5G Manufactured in March, 2024, with display 6.78 with chipsetQualcomm Snapdragon 7 Gen 3, vs Samsung Galaxy S21 FE 5G, Manufactured in January, 2022 with chipsetQualcomm Snapdragon 888. Below are specs, tests, pros and cons for each device

Key Differences

Device key advantages
Reasons to choose Vivo iQOO Z9 5G
  • Larger display: 6.78in
  • Higher pixel density: 452ppi
  • Higher refresh rate: 144Hz
  • Higher battery capacity: 6000mAh vs 4500mAh
  • Newer Bluetooth version: 5.4 vs 5
  • Infrared port
  • Includes charger
Reasons to choose Samsung Galaxy S21 FE 5G
  • Lighter design: 177g vs 194.6g
  • Supports newer USB: 3.2 vs 2
  • Supports Dolby Atmos

Versions

Available versions and configurations
Memory Options - 8/128 GB
- 8/256 GB
- 12/256 GB
- 6/128 GB
- 6/256 GB
- 8/128 GB
- 8/256 GB

Review

Key Specs Vivo iQOO Z9 5G and Samsung Galaxy S21 FE 5G
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 AMOLED Dynamic AMOLED
Size 6.78 in 6.4 in
Resolution 1260x2800 pixels 1080x2340 pixels
Aspect ratio 20:9 19.5:9
Pixel density 452 ppi 403 ppi
Refresh rate 144 Hz 120 Hz
Adaptive refresh rate Yes No
Max brightness 1200 nits 800 nits
HDR support Yes HDR10+ Yes HDR10+
Touch Sampling Rate 300 Hz n/a
Screen-to-body ratio 89.3 % 86.7 %
Features - DCI-P3
- Always-On Display
- DC dimming
- DCI-P3
- Always-On Display
Display test
Peak brightness (auto)
Vivo iQOO Z9 5G
n/a
Samsung Galaxy S21 FE 5G
785 nits
sRGB gamutn/a97 %
PWM (Flicker)n/a247 Hz
Response timen/a6 ms
Contrastn/a∞ Infinite

Design & Build

Design and ergonomics comparison
Height 163.72 mm (6.45 in) 155.7 mm (6.13 in)
Width 75.88 mm (2.99 in) 74.5 mm (2.93 in)
Thickness 7.98 mm (0.31 in) 7.9 mm (0.31 in)
Weight 194.6 g (6.86 oz) 177 g (6.24 oz)
Water resistance IP64 IP68
Back panel Plastic Plastic
Frame Plastic Metal
Colors - Black
- Green
- White
- Gray
- Green
- Purple
Fingerprint sensor Yes In-Display Yes In-Display
Screen-to-body ratio
Vivo iQOO Z9 5G
89.3 %
Samsung Galaxy S21 FE 5G
86.7 %

Performance

Testing Vivo iQOO Z9 5G and Samsung Galaxy S21 FE 5G In benchmarks
Processor
Chipset Qualcomm Snapdragon 7 Gen 3 Qualcomm Snapdragon 888
Max Frequency 2630 MHz 2840 MHz
CPU Cores 8 (2 + 6) 8 (1 + 3 + 4)
Architecture - 6/2 (Cortex-A510)
- 2/2.8 (Cortex-A715)
- 4/1.8 (Kryo 680 Silver (Cortex-A55))
- 3/2.42 (Kryo 680 Gold (Cortex-A78))
- 1/2.84 (Kryo 680 Prime (Cortex-X1))
Process TSMC Samsung
Transistor Size 4 nm 5 nm
Neural Processor MediaTek APU 650 Hexagon 780
Graphics Mali-G610 MP4 Adreno 660
GPU Cores 256 1024
GPU Frequency 1130 MHz 840 MHz
FLOPS 578.6 GFLOPS 1290.2 GFLOPS
GeekBench v6
Geekbench 6 (Single-Core)
Vivo iQOO Z9 5G
1191
Samsung Galaxy S21 FE 5G
1371
Geekbench 6 (Multi-Core)
Vivo iQOO Z9 5G
3209
Samsung Galaxy S21 FE 5G
3396
Geekbench 6 (Single-Core)11911371
Geekbench 6 (Multi-Core)32093396
Geekbench Compute (GPU)4184n/a
AnTuTu 10
AnTuTu 10
Vivo iQOO Z9 5G
712380
Samsung Galaxy S21 FE 5G
894898
CPU239086247848
GPU175677311997
Memory118258152639
UX179359182414
NanoReview Score712380894898
3DMark Wild Life
3DMark Wild Life
Vivo iQOO Z9 5G
n/a
Samsung Galaxy S21 FE 5G
5704
Max Surface Temp.n/a39.1 °C
Stabilityn/a69 %
Graphics Testn/a34 fps
Graphics Scoren/a5704
PCMark 3.0
PCMark 3.0
Vivo iQOO Z9 5G
n/a
Samsung Galaxy S21 FE 5G
12441
Writing scoren/a14216
Web scoren/a11960
Video editingn/a7049
Data manipulationn/a10196
NanoReview Scoren/a12441

Memory

RAM
RAM Size - 8 GB
- 12 GB
- 6 GB
- 8 GB
Memory Type LPDDR4X LPDDR5
Memory Frequency 2133 MHz 3200 MHz
Channels 2 4
Storage
Storage Capacity- 128 GB
- 256 GB
- 128 GB
- 256 GB
Storage TypeUFS 2.2UFS 3.1
Memory CardNoNo

Software

OS Android 14 Android 12 (Upgradeable to Android 14)
OS Size n/a 17.5 GB
UI Skin Funtouch OS 14 One UI 6

Battery

Volume 6000 mAh 4500 mAh
Max Charging Power 80 W 25 W
Battery Type Silicon Carbon (Si/C) Li-ion
Removable No No
Wireless Charging No Yes (15 W)
Reverse Charging No Yes (Wireless)
Fast Charging Yes (50% in 17 min) Yes (51% in 30 min)
Full Charge Time 0:39 h 1:15 h
Battery Life Test
Battery Life
Vivo iQOO Z9 5G
n/a
Samsung Galaxy S21 FE 5G
18:37
Web Browsingn/a06:11 h
Video Playbackn/a11:05 h
Gamesn/a04:48 h
Standby Moden/a100 h

Main camera

Matrix 50 MP 12 MP
Photo resolution 8192x6144 pixels 4032x3024 pixels
Zoom Digital Optical, 3x
Flash LED LED
Stabilization Digital Optical
8K Recording No No
4K Recording Yes (Up to 30 fps) Yes (Up to 60 fps)
1080p Recording Yes (Up to 60 fps) Yes (Up to 60 fps)
Slow Motion n/a 960 fps (720p)
Wide-angle lens n/a 123 °
Lenses count Standard: 50 MP
Depth: 2 MP
Standard: 12 MP
Telephoto: 8 MP
Ultra-wide: 12 MP
Features - Bokeh effect
- Pro mode
- Bokeh effect
- Pro mode
Main lens
Matrix50 MP12 MP
Aperturef/1.8f/1.8
Focal length26 mm26 mm
SensorSony IMX882Sony IMX555
Sensor size1/21/1.76
Pixel size0.7 μm1.8 μm
AutofocusPhase autofocusPhase autofocus (Dual Pixel)
StabilizationDigitalOptical
Telephoto
Matrixn/a8 MP
Aperturen/af/2.4
Focal lengthn/a76 mm
Sensorn/aHynix Hi847
Sensor sizen/a1/4.5
Pixel sizen/a1 μm
Stabilizationn/aOptical
Ultra-wide lens
Matrixn/a12 MP
Aperturen/af/2.2
Focal lengthn/a13 mm
Sensorn/aSony IMX258
Sensor sizen/a1/3.0
Pixel sizen/a1.12 μm
Stabilizationn/aDigital
Main camera DxOMark results
Photo quality
Vivo iQOO Z9 5G
n/a
Samsung Galaxy S21 FE 5G
119
Video quality
Vivo iQOO Z9 5G
n/a
Samsung Galaxy S21 FE 5G
107
Overall camera score
Vivo iQOO Z9 5G
n/a
Samsung Galaxy S21 FE 5G
117

Front camera

Matrix 16 MP 32 MP
Photo resolution n/a 6464x4864 pixels
Aperture f/2.0 f/2.2
Focal length n/a 26 mm
Sensor Samsung S5K3P9 Sony IMX616
Sensor size 1/3.1 1/2.74
Pixel size 1 μm 0.8 μm
Autofocus No No
Stabilization Digital Digital
Video resolution 1080p (Full HD) at 30 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 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 5.4 5
Bluetooth features LE LE
USB type USB Type-C USB Type-C
USB version 2 3.2
USB features - Charging
- USB Storage Mode
- OTG
- Charging
- USB Storage Mode
- OTG
DisplayPort No n/a
GPS - GPS
- GLONASS
- Beidou
- Galileo
- QZSS
- GPS
- GLONASS
- Beidou
- Galileo
NFC* Varies by region Yes
Infrared Port Yes No
Connectivity
SIM Count*22
SIM TypeNanoNano
SIM ModeDual SIM StandbyDual SIM Standby
eSIM Support *NoNo
Hybrid SlotYesNo
2G BandsGSM 850/900/1800 MHzGSM GSM850, GSM900, DCS1800, PCS1900
3G BandsWCDMA B1/B5/B8UMTS B1 (2100), B2 (1900), B4(AWS), B5(850), B8 (900)
LTE Bands*LTE (B1/B3/B5/B8/B28/B28B)LTE (B1/B2/B3/B4/B5/B7/B8/B12/B13/B17/B18/B19/B20/B25/B26/B28/B32/B38/B39/B40/B41/B66)
LTE categoryn/a19
5G SupportYesYes

Sound

Speakers Stereo Stereo
3.5 mm Jack No No
FM Radio No No
Dolby Atmos n/a Yes
Speaker Test
Max Volume
Vivo iQOO Z9 5G
n/a
Samsung Galaxy S21 FE 5G
88.9 dB

Other

Class Mid-range Flagship
Announced March, 2024 yr January, 2022 yr
Release Date March, 2024 yr January, 2022 yr
Launch Price ($) n/a 790
Sensors - 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 Yes 80 W No
* Attention! Config, frequencies, NFC, and other specs may vary by region.

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