Samsung Galaxy S21 5G vs Samsung Galaxy Note 20 5G Comparison and Differences
Smartphone 1
Samsung Galaxy S21 5G
Smartphone 2
Samsung Galaxy Note 20 5G
Smartphone 3
Differences between Samsung Galaxy S21 5G and Samsung Galaxy Note 20 5G - Which to Choose?
Reasons to consider the Samsung Galaxy S21 5G:
- Newer release date (2021 vs 2020).
- Better overall performance on Antutu benchmark score (Antutu 10 total score of 715197 vs Galaxy Note 20's Antutu 8 score of 528591).
- More advanced GPU options (Mali-G78 or Adreno 660 vs Mali-G77 or Adreno 650).
- Higher screen refresh rate options (120Hz vs the standard 60Hz on Note 20).
- Uses the newer Exynos 2100 (International) or Snapdragon 888 (USA/China) chipset.
- Corning Gorilla Glass Victus screen protection which is more advanced than Gorilla Glass 5.
- Slightly more compact and lighter design (169g vs 192g).
Reasons to consider the Samsung Galaxy Note 20 5G:
- Larger screen size (6.7 inches vs 6.2 inches of S21).
- Higher battery capacity (4300mAh vs 4000mAh).
- S-Pen stylus support with advanced features.
- Marginally higher MP count on the telephoto camera (64MP vs S21's 64MP with slightly different specifications).
- Higher DxOMark scores for movie, photo, and video capabilities.
Both devices have their unique selling points, with the S21 offering better performance and a more recent design, while the Note 20 provides a larger display and the productivity advantages of the S-Pen.
Samsung Galaxy S21 5G or Samsung Galaxy Note 20 5G Specs Comparison
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Common specs
| Brand and model | Samsung Galaxy S21 5G | Samsung Galaxy Note 20 5G | |
| Rating | (+0) | (+0) | |
| Release date | 2021, January 14 | 2020, August 05 | |
| Dimensions (HxWxD) | 151.7 x 71.2 x 7.9 mm | 5.97 x 5.97 x 2.8 in | 161.6 x 75.2 x 8.3 mm | 6.36 x 6.36 x 2.96 in | |
| Weight | 169 g | 5.96 oz | 192 g | 6.77 oz | |
| Body Build | Glass front (Gorilla Glass Victus), plastic back, aluminum frame | Glass front (Gorilla Glass 5), plastic back | |
| Case | buy from Amazon | buy from Amazon | |
| Colors | Phantom Gray, Phantom White, Phantom Violet, Phantom Pink | Mystic Green, Mystic Bronze, Mystic Gray, Mystic Red, Mystic Blue | |
| Battery | 4000 mAh, Li-Ion, non-removable | 4300 mAh, Non-removable Li-Ion | |
| Approximate price | $ 800 | 1000 EUR | |
| Check price | from Amazon | from Amazon |
Screen
| Technology | Dynamic AMOLED 2X | Super AMOLED Plus | |
| Touchscreen | capacitive touchscreen | capacitive touchscreen | |
| Display colors | 16M | 16M | |
| Screen size | 6.2" in | 6.7" in | |
| Screen area | 94.1 cm2 | 108.4 cm2 | |
| Screen format | 20:9 (height:width) | 20:9 (height:width) | |
| Screen to body ratio | 87.2% | 89.2% | |
| Screen resolution | 1080 x 2400 px | 1080 x 2400 px | |
| Screen PPI /points per inch/ | 421 PPI | 393 PPI | |
| Screen protection | Corning Gorilla Glass Victus | Corning Gorilla Glass 5 | |
| Other specs | - Always-on display -120Hz -HDR10+ -1300 nits (peak) |
- HDR10+ -Always-on display |
|
| Screen protector | buy from Amazon | buy from Amazon |
Camera and Video
| Rear camera, main | 12 MP, Triple | 12 MP, Triple | |
| Camera specs | -12 MP, f/1.8, 26mm (wide), 1/1.76", 1.8µm, Dual Pixel PDAF, OIS -64 MP, f/2.0, 29mm (telephoto), 1/1.72", 0.8µm, PDAF, OIS, 1.1x optical zoom, 3x hybrid zoom -12 MP, f/2.2, 13mm, 120˚ (ultrawide), 1/2.55" 1.4µm, Super Steady video |
-12 MP, f/1.8, 26mm (wide), 1/1.76", 1.8µm, Dual Pixel PDAF, OIS -64 MP, f/2.0, 27mm (telephoto), 1/1.72", 0.8µm, PDAF, OIS, 3x hybrid zoom -12 MP, f/2.2, 120˚, 13mm (ultrawide), 1/2.55", 1.4µm |
|
| Functions | LED flash, auto-HDR, panorama | LED flash, auto-HDR, panorama | |
| Video | 8K@24fps, 4K@30/60fps, 1080p@30/60/240fps, 720p@960fps, HDR10+, stereo sound rec., gyro-EIS | 8K@24fps, 4K@30/60fps, 1080p@30/60/240fps, 720p@960fps, HDR10+, stereo sound rec., gyro-EIS & OIS | |
| DxOMark Main Score | 116 | 112 | |
| DxOMark Photo | 123 | 115 | |
| DxOMark Video | 93 | 97 | |
| Front camera, selfie | 10 MP, Single | 10 MP, Single | |
| Specifications | 10 MP, f/2.2, 26mm (wide), 1/3.24'', 1.22µm, Dual Pixel PDAF | 10 MP, f/2.2, 26mm (wide), 1/3.2'', 1.22µm, Dual Pixel PDAF | |
| Functions | Dual video call, Auto-HDR | Dual video call, Auto-HDR | |
| Video | 4K@30/60fps, 1080p@30fps | 4K@30/60fps, 1080p@30fps | |
| DxOMark Selfie Score | 98 | 100 | |
| DxOMark Photo | 100 | 103 | |
| DxOMark Video | 95 | 95 |
Performance
| Operating system - OS | Android 11, One UI 3.1 | Android 10, One UI 2.5 | |
| Chipset | - Exynos 2100 (5 nm) - Qualcomm SM8350 Snapdragon 888 (5 nm) - USA/China |
- Exynos 990 (7 nm+) - Qualcomm SM8250 Snapdragon 865+ (7 nm+) - USA |
|
| CPU | - Octa-core (1x2.9 GHz Cortex-X1 & 3x2.80 GHz Cortex-A78 & 4x2.2 GHz Cortex-A55) - International -Octa-core (1x2.84 GHz Kryo 680 & 3x2.42 GHz Kryo 680 & 4x1.80 GHz Kryo 680 - USA/China |
- Octa-core (2x2.73 GHz Mongoose M5 & 2x2.50 GHz Cortex-A76 & 4x2.0 GHz Cortex-A55) - Global -Octa-core (1x3.0 GHz Kryo 585 & 3x2.42 GHz Kryo 585 & 4x1.8 GHz Kryo 585) - USA |
|
| GPU | Mali-G78 MP14 - International Adreno 660 - USA/China |
Mali-G77 MP11 - Global Adreno 650 - USA |
|
| External memory | No | No | |
| Internal memory | 128GB 8GB RAM, 256GB 8GB RAM | 128GB 8GB RAM, 256GB 8GB RAM |
Benchmark
| Antutu 10 Total | 715197 | ||
| Antutu 10 CPU | 205401 | ||
| Antutu 10 GPU | 214138 | ||
| Antutu 10 Mem | 131954 | ||
| Antutu 10 UX | 205401 | ||
| Antutu 9 Total | 755368 | ||
| Antutu 8 Total | 601547 | 528591 | |
| GeekBench 6 Single Core | 988 | ||
| GeekBench 6 Multi Core | 2723 | ||
| GeekBench 6 OpenCL | 3034 | ||
| GeekBench 6 Vulkan | 3235 | ||
| GeekBench 5 Single Core | 945 | 783 | |
| GeekBench 5 Multi-Core | 3061 | 2564 |
Communication and Connectivity
| SIM card | Single SIM (Nano-SIM and/or eSIM)Dual SIM (Nano-SIM and/or eSIM, dual stand-by) | Single SIM (Nano-SIM and/or eSIM)Hybrid Dual SIM (Nano-SIM, dual stand-by) | |
| Network | GSM / CDMA / HSPA / EVDO / LTE / 5G | GSM / CDMA / HSPA / EVDO / LTE / 5G | |
| Bands | -2G - GSM 850 / 900 / 1800 / 1900 - SIM 1 & SIM 2 (Dual SIM model only) CDMA 800 / 1900 & TD-SCDMA -3G - HSDPA 850 / 900 / 1700(AWS) / 1900 / 2100 CDMA2000 1xEV-DO -4G - LTE -5G - SA/NSA/Sub6/mmWave |
-2G - GSM 850 / 900 / 1800 / 1900 - SIM 1 & SIM 2 (dual-SIM model only) CDMA 800 / 1900 -3G - HSDPA 850 / 900 / 1700(AWS) / 1900 / 2100 CDMA2000 1xEV-DO -4G - LTE -5G - SA/NSA/Sub6/mmWave |
|
| Speed | HSPA 42.2/5.76 Mbps, LTE-A (CA), 5G | HSPA 42.2/5.76 Mbps, LTE-A (7CA) Cat20 2000/200 Mbps, 5G | |
| GPRS | Yes | Yes | |
| Edge | Yes | Yes | |
| Wi-Fi | Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac/6, dual-band, Wi-Fi Direct, hotspot | Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac/6, dual-band, Wi-Fi Direct, hotspot | |
| GPS | Yes, with A-GPS, GLONASS, BDS, GALILEO | Yes, with A-GPS, GLONASS, BDS, GALILEO | |
| NFC | Yes | Yes | |
| USB | USB Type-C 3.2, USB On-The-Go | 3.2, Type-C 1.0 reversible connector, USB On-The-Go | |
| Bluetooth | 5.0, A2DP, LE | 5.0, A2DP, LE, aptX | |
| Harmful irradiation |
SAR - 0.74 W/kg (head) 1.08 W/kg (body) SAR EU - 0.46 W/kg (head) 1.51 W/kg (body) |
SAR - 0.95 W/kg (head) 0.72 W/kg (body) SAR EU - 0.68 W/kg (head) 1.37 W/kg (body) |
Music and Audio
| Radio | FM radio (Snapdragon only) | FM radio (market dependent) | |
| Headphone jack | No | No | |
| Others | - 32-bit/384kHz audio -Tuned by AKG |
- 32-bit/384kHz audio -Tuned by AKG |
Other features
| Sensors | - Fingerprint (under display, ultrasonic), accelerometer, gyro, proximity, compass, barometer | - Fingerprint (under display, ultrasonic), accelerometer, gyro, proximity, compass, barometer | |
| Other extras |
- Samsung DeX, Samsung Wireless DeX (desktop experience support) -ANT+ -Bixby natural language commands and dictation - Fast charging 25W -USB Power Delivery 3.0 -Fast Qi/PMA wireless charging 15W -Reverse wireless charging 4.5W - Samsung Pay (Visa, MasterCard certified) -IP68 dust/water resistant (up to 1.5m for 30 mins) |
- Samsung Wireless DeX (desktop experience support) -ANT+ -Bixby natural language commands and dictation - Fast charging 25W -USB Power Delivery 3.0 -Fast Qi/PMA wireless charging 15W -Reverse wireless charging 4.5W - Samsung Pay (Visa, MasterCard certified) -IP68 dust/water resistant (up to 1.5m for 30 mins) -Stylus, 26ms latency (Bluetooth integration, accelerometer, gyro) |
|
| Versions |
- Versions: SM-G991B, SM-G991B/DS (International); SM-G991U (USA); SM-G991U1 (USA unlocked); SM-G991W (Canada); SM-G991N (Korea); SM-G9910 (China) |
Reviews and Opinions on Samsung Galaxy S21 5G and Samsung Galaxy Note 20 5G
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