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

Xiaomi 15 vs Samsung Galaxy S21

93 out 100
Xiaomi 15
VS
65 out 100
Samsung Galaxy S21
Xiaomi 15
Samsung Galaxy S21

Compared 2 smartphones : Xiaomi 15 Manufactured in October, 2024, with display 6.36 with chipsetQualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite, vs Samsung Galaxy S21, Manufactured in February, 2021 with chipsetSamsung Exynos 2100. 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 Xiaomi 15
  • Larger display: 6.36in
  • Higher pixel density: 460ppi
  • Higher battery capacity: 5400mAh vs 4000mAh
  • Newer Bluetooth version: 5.4 vs 5
  • Supports DisplayPort
  • Infrared port
  • Includes charger
Reasons to choose Samsung Galaxy S21
  • Lighter design: 169g vs 191g

Versions

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

Review

Key Specs Xiaomi 15 and Samsung Galaxy S21
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:
Xiaomi 15
vs
Samsung Galaxy S21

Display

Display quality comparison
Type AMOLED Dynamic AMOLED
Size 6.36 in 6.2 in
Resolution 1200x2670 pixels 1080x2400 pixels
Aspect ratio 20:9 20:9
Pixel density 460 ppi 421 ppi
Refresh rate 120 Hz 120 Hz
Adaptive refresh rate Yes (1-120 Hz) Yes (48-120 Hz)
Max brightness 1500 nits 800 nits
HDR support Yes Dolby Vision Yes HDR10+
Touch Sampling Rate 300 Hz n/a
Screen-to-body ratio 90.1 % 85.9 %
Features - DCI-P3
- Always-On Display
- DC dimming		 - DCI-P3
- Always-On Display
Display test
Peak brightness (auto)
Xiaomi 15
1508 nits
Samsung Galaxy S21
854 nits
sRGB gamut99.5 %99.5 %
PWM (Flicker)120 Hz240 Hz
Response time1 ms5 ms
Contrast∞ Infinite∞ Infinite
Sources: NotebookCheck [Xiaomi 15], [Samsung Galaxy S21]

Design & Build

Design and ergonomics comparison
Height 152.3 mm (6 in) 151.7 mm (5.97 in)
Width 71.2 mm (2.8 in) 71.2 mm (2.8 in)
Thickness 8.08 mm (0.32 in) 7.9 mm (0.31 in)
Weight 191 g (6.74 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
- Silver
- Green
- Purple		 - White
- Gray
- Pink
- Purple
Fingerprint sensor Yes In-Display Yes In-Display
Screen-to-body ratio
Xiaomi 15
90.1 %
Samsung Galaxy S21
85.9 %

Performance

Testing Xiaomi 15 and Samsung Galaxy S21 In benchmarks
Processor
Chipset Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite Samsung Exynos 2100
Max Frequency 4320 MHz 2900 MHz
CPU Cores 8 (2 + 6) 8 (1 + 3 + 4)
Architecture - 6/3.53 (Oryon (Phoenix M))
- 2/4.32 (Oryon (Phoenix L))		 - 4/2.2 (Cortex-A55)
- 3/2.81 (Cortex-A78)
- 1/2.91 (Cortex-X1)
Process TSMC Samsung
Transistor Size 3 nm 5 nm
Neural Processor Hexagon Yes
Graphics Adreno 830 Mali-G78 MP14
GPU Cores 1536 896
GPU Frequency 1100 MHz 854 MHz
FLOPS 3379.2 GFLOPS 1530.4 GFLOPS
GeekBench v6
Geekbench 6 (Single-Core)
Xiaomi 15
2934
Samsung Galaxy S21
1331
Geekbench 6 (Multi-Core)
Xiaomi 15
8762
Samsung Galaxy S21
3593
Geekbench 6 (Single-Core)29341331
Geekbench 6 (Multi-Core)87623593
Geekbench Compute (GPU)24507n/a
Sources: Geekbench v6 [Xiaomi 15]
AnTuTu 10
AnTuTu 10
Xiaomi 15
2620144
Samsung Galaxy S21
903780
CPU584725253391
GPU1142381281676
Memory519406158352
UX373632210361
NanoReview Score2620144903780
3DMark Wild Life
3DMark Wild Life
Xiaomi 15
20823
Samsung Galaxy S21
5715
Max Surface Temp.n/a38.9 °C
Stabilityn/a66 %
Graphics Testn/a34 fps
Graphics Scoren/a5715
Sources: 3DMark [Xiaomi 15], [Samsung Galaxy S21]
PCMark 3.0
PCMark 3.0
Xiaomi 15
18292
Samsung Galaxy S21
13123
Writing score2250816101
Web score1882611909
Video editing80607097
Data manipulation1460510153
NanoReview Score1829213123

Memory

RAM
RAM Size - 12 GB
- 16 GB		 8 GB
Memory Type LPDDR5X LPDDR5
Memory Frequency n/a 2750 MHz
Channels 2 2
Storage
Storage Capacity- 256 GB
- 512 GB
- 1024 GB		- 128 GB
- 256 GB
Storage TypeUFS 4.0UFS 3.1
Memory CardNoNo

Software

OS Android 15 Android 11 (Upgradeable to Android 14)
OS Size 21 GB 28.1 GB
UI Skin HyperOS 2.0 One UI 6.0

Battery

Volume 5400 mAh 4000 mAh
Max Charging Power 90 W 25 W
Battery Type Silicon Carbon (Si/C) Li-ion
Removable No No
Wireless Charging Yes (50 W) Yes (15 W)
Reverse Charging Yes (Wireless) Yes (Wireless)
Fast Charging Yes (83% in 30 min) Yes (55% in 50 min)
Full Charge Time 0:45 h 1:35 h
Battery Life Test
Battery Life
Xiaomi 15
31:54
Samsung Galaxy S21
17:54
Web Browsing13:20 h06:01 h
Video Playback19:22 h11:06 h
Games07:10 h04:21 h
Standby Mode150 h95 h

Main camera

Matrix 50 MP 12 MP
Photo resolution 8192x6144 pixels 4000x3000 pixels
Zoom Optical, 2.6x Optical, 1.1x
Flash Dual LED Dual LED
Stabilization Optical Optical
8K Recording Yes (Up to 30 fps) Up to 24FPS
4K Recording Yes (Up to 120 fps) Yes (Up to 60 fps)
1080p Recording Yes (Up to 60 fps) Yes (Up to 60 fps)
Slow Motion 1920 fps (720p) 960 fps (720p)
Wide-angle lens 115 ° 120 °
Lenses count Standard: 50 MP
Telephoto: 50 MP
Ultra-wide: 50 MP		 Standard: 12 MP
Telephoto: 64 MP
Ultra-wide: 12 MP
Features - Bokeh effect
- Pro mode
- RAW support		 - Bokeh effect
- Pro mode
- RAW support
Main lens
Matrix50 MP12 MP
Aperturef/1.6f/1.8
Focal length23 mm26 mm
SensorOmniVision OVX9000 Light Fusion 900Sony IMX555
Sensor size1/1.311/1.76
Pixel size1.2 μm1.8 μm
AutofocusLaser autofocusPhase autofocus (Dual Pixel)
StabilizationOpticalOptical
Telephoto
Matrix50 MP64 MP
Aperturef/2.0f/2.0
Focal length60 mm28 mm
SensorSamsung S5KJN5Samsung Bright S5KGW2
Sensor size1/2.761/1.72
Pixel size0.64 μm0.8 μm
StabilizationOpticalOptical
Ultra-wide lens
Matrix50 MP12 MP
Aperturef/2.2f/2.2
Focal length14 mm13 mm
SensorSamsung S5KJN1Sony IMX563
Sensor size1/2.761/2.55
Pixel size0.64 μm1.4 μm
StabilizationDigitalDigital
Main camera DxOMark results
Photo quality
Xiaomi 15
150
Samsung Galaxy S21
129
Video quality
Xiaomi 15
133
Samsung Galaxy S21
137
Overall camera score
Xiaomi 15
147
Samsung Galaxy S21
133
Bokeh7570
Preview8772
Zoom152126
Sources: DxOMark [Xiaomi 15], [Samsung Galaxy S21]

Front camera

Matrix 32 MP 10 MP
Photo resolution 6528x4896 pixels 3872x2592 pixels
Aperture f/2.0 f/2.2
Focal length 22 mm 26 mm
Sensor Omnivision OV32B Sony IMX374
Sensor size 1/3.14 1/3.24
Pixel size 0.7 μm 1.22 μm
Autofocus No 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 7 (802.11 a/b/g/n/ac/ax/be) 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, 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 n/a
GPS - GPS
- GLONASS
- Beidou
- Galileo
- QZSS
- NAVIC		 - GPS
- GLONASS
- Beidou
- Galileo
NFC* Yes Yes
Infrared Port Yes No
Connectivity
SIM Count*22
SIM TypeNanoNano
SIM ModeDual SIM StandbyDual SIM Standby
eSIM Support *YesYes
Hybrid SlotNoNo
2G BandsGSM B2/B3/B5/B8GSM 850, 900, 1800, 1900 MHz
3G BandsWCDMA B1/B2/B4/B5/B6/B8/B19WCDMA Band 1, 2, 4, 5, 8
LTE Bands*LTE (B1/B2/B3/B4/B5/B7/B8/B12/B17/B18/B19/B20/B26/B28/B34/B38/B39/B40/B41/B42/B48/B66)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/a24
5G SupportYesYes

Sound

Speakers Stereo Stereo
3.5 mm Jack No No
FM Radio No No
Dolby Atmos Yes Yes
Speaker Test
Max Volume
Xiaomi 15
91.3 dB
Samsung Galaxy S21
87 dB

Other

Class Flagship Flagship
Announced October, 2024 yr January, 2021 yr
Release Date October, 2024 yr February, 2021 yr
Launch Price ($) 757 800
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 90 W n/a
* Attention! Config, frequencies, NFC, and other specs may vary by region.

Results

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

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