Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra vs Apple iPhone 14 Pro

Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra Apple iPhone 14 Pro

Here we compared two flagship smartphones: the 6.8-inch Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra (with Exynos 2100) that was released on January 14 2021 against the Apple iPhone 14 Pro which is powered by Apple A16 Bionic and came out 20 months after. On this page you will find tests full specs strengths and weaknesses of each of the gadgets.

Differences
Review
Specs
Benchmarks
Battery life
Camera
Comments

Key differences

An overview of the main advantages of each smartphone Reasons to consider the Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra

The rear camera has a 10x optical zoom
Comes with 1800 mAh larger battery capacity: 5000 vs 3200 mAh
Has a 0.7 inch larger screen size
Fingerprint scanner
Slow-motion recording at 960FPS
Has 2 SIM card slots
12% higher pixel density (515 vs 460 PPI)

Reasons to consider the Apple iPhone 14 Pro

Better camera quality (According to DxOMark rating)
Delivers 75% higher peak brightness (1800 against 1030 nits)
Shows 16% longer battery life (36:11 vs 31:14 hours)
Newer Bluetooth version (v5.3)
Apple releases software updates and supports their phones a few years longer than Samsung
The phone is 1-year and 8-months newer
31% better performance in AnTuTu Benchmark (1000K versus 765K)
67% faster in single-core GeekBench 5 test: 1863 and 1114 points
Weighs 21 grams less

Review

Display Screen quality color accuracy brightness Galaxy S21 Ultra 92 iPhone 14 Pro 94 Performance CPU/GPU performance in apps and games Galaxy S21 Ultra 81 iPhone 14 Pro 91 Battery Battery life charging type and speed Galaxy S21 Ultra 83 iPhone 14 Pro 81 Camera Photo and video recording quality Galaxy S21 Ultra 86 iPhone 14 Pro 87 Connectivity Networks ports data transmission Galaxy S21 Ultra 95 iPhone 14 Pro 81 NanoReview score Final comparison evaluation Galaxy S21 Ultra 84 iPhone 14 Pro 88

Value for money

You can enter your local price of these phones (in USD or any other currency) and click on the "Calculate" button to see which one has a better value for money. Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra Price Apple iPhone 14 Pro Calculate

Tests and specifications

Comparison table of technical specifications and tests Phone: Galaxy S21 Ultra vs iPhone 14 Pro

Display

Type	Dynamic AMOLED	OLED
Size	6.8 inches	6.1 inches
Resolution	1440 x 3200 pixels	1179 x 2556 pixels
Aspect ratio	20:9	19.5:9
PPI	515 ppi	460 ppi
Refresh rate	120 Hz	120 Hz
Max rated brightness	1500 nits	1000 nits
Max rated brightness in HDR	-	1600 nits
HDR support	Yes HDR10+	Yes Dolby Vision
Screen protection	Gorilla Glass Victus	Ceramic Shield
Screen-to-body ratio	89.8%	87%
Display features	- DCI-P3 - Always-On Display	- DCI-P3 - Always-On Display

Display tests
RGB color space	-	99.8%
PWM	-	240 Hz
Response time	-	1 ms
Contrast	-	∞ Infinity

Peak brightness test (auto) Galaxy S21 Ultra 1030 nits iPhone 14 Pro +75% 1800 nits Sources: NotebookCheck [3] [4]

Design and build

Height	165.1 mm (6.5 inches)	147.5 mm (5.81 inches)
Width	75.6 mm (2.98 inches)	71.5 mm (2.81 inches)
Thickness	8.9 mm (0.35 inches)	7.85 mm (0.31 inches)
Weight	227 gramm (8.01 oz)	206 gramm (7.27 oz)
Waterproof	IP68	IP68
Rear material	Glass	Glass
Frame material	Metal	Metal
Colors	Black Silver Gray Blue	Black Silver Gold Purple
Fingerprint scanner	Yes in-display	No

Screen-to-body ratio Galaxy S21 Ultra +3% 89.8% iPhone 14 Pro 87%

Performance

Tests of Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra and Apple iPhone 14 Pro in the benchmarks

SoC
Chipset	Samsung Exynos 2100	Apple A16 Bionic
Max. clock	2840 MHz	3460 MHz
CPU cores	8 (1 + 3 + 4)	6 (2 + 4)
Architecture	- 4 cores at 2.2 GHz: Cortex-A55 - 3 cores at 2.8 GHz: Cortex-A78 - 1 core at 2.9 GHz: Cortex-X1	- 4 cores at 2.02 GHz: Sawtooth - 2 cores at 3.46 GHz: Everest
Lithography process	5 nanometers	4 nanometers
Graphics	Mali-G78 MP14	Apple GPU
GPU clock	760 MHz	-

Memory
RAM size	12 16 GB	6 GB
Memory type	LPDDR5	LPDDR5
Memory clock	2750 MHz	-
Channels	2	4

Storage
Storage size	128 256 512 GB	128 256 512 1024 GB
Storage type	UFS 3.1	NVMe
Memory card	No	No

Benchmarks

Geekbench 5 (Single-Core) Galaxy S21 Ultra 1114 iPhone 14 Pro +67% 1863 Geekbench 5 (Multi-Core) Galaxy S21 Ultra 3533 iPhone 14 Pro +52% 5355 AnTuTu Benchmark 9 Galaxy S21 Ultra 765800 iPhone 14 Pro +31% 1000693

CPU	198194	244651
GPU	290543	425909
Memory	132758	181638
UX	138398	146169
Total score	765800	1000693

3DMark Wild Life Performance Galaxy S21 Ultra 5221 iPhone 14 Pro +89% 9856

Stability	69%	78%
Graphics test	31 FPS	59 FPS
Graphics score	5221	9856

AnTuTu 9 Rating Sources: 3DMark [3] [4] ▶️ Submit your AnTuTu result

Software

Operating system	Android 11 (Can be upgraded to Android 13)	iOS 16 (Can be upgraded to iOS 16.0.3)
ROM	One UI 5.0	-
OS size	26.4 GB	-

Battery

Specifications
Capacity	5000 mAh	3200 mAh
Charge power	25 W	23 W
Battery type	Li-Ion	Li-Ion
Replaceable	No	No
Wireless charging	Yes (15 W)	Yes (7.5 W)
Reverse charging	Yes (wireless)	No
Fast charging	Yes (54% in 30 min)	Yes (60% in 30 min)
Full charging time	1:11 hr	1:41 hr

Battery life tests
Web browsing	10:13 hr	12:35 hr
Watching video	15:32 hr	15:45 hr
Gaming	05:26 hr	06:02 hr
Standby	98 hr	120 hr

General battery life Galaxy S21 Ultra 31:14 hr iPhone 14 Pro +16% 36:11 hr Phone Battery Life Ranking

Camera

Specs and camera test of smartphones

Main camera
Matrix	108 megapixels	48 megapixels
Image resolution	12000 x 9000	8000 x 6000
Zoom	Optical 10x	Optical 3x
Flash	Dual LED	Dual LED
Stabilization	Optical	Optical
8K video recording	Up to 24FPS	No
4K video recording	Up to 60FPS	Up to 60FPS
1080p video recording	Up to 60FPS	Up to 60FPS
Slow motion	960 FPS (720p)	240 FPS (1080p)
Angle of widest lens	120°	120°
Lenses	4 (108 MP + 10 MP + 10 MP + 12 MP)	4 (48 MP + 12 MP + 12 MP + 0 MP)
Wide (main) lens	- 108 MP - Aperture: f/1.8 - Focal length: 26 mm - Pixel size: 0.8 micron - Sensor: 1/1.33" Samsung S5KHM3 (ISOCELL Plus CMOS) - Laser autofocus - Optical stabilization	- 48 MP - Aperture: f/1.8 - Focal length: 24 mm - Pixel size: 1.22 micron - Sensor: 1/1.28" - Phase autofocus (Dual Pixel) - Optical stabilization
Telephoto lens	- 10 MP - Aperture: f/4.9 - Focal length: 240 mm - Pixel size: 1.22 micron - Sensor: 1/2.65" Samsung S5K3J1 (ISOCELL CMOS) - Phase autofocus (Dual Pixel) - Optical stabilization	- 12 MP - Aperture: f/2.8 - Focal length: 77 mm - Sensor: 1/3.5" - Phase autofocus - Optical stabilization
Ultra-wide lens	- 12 MP - Aperture: f/2.2 - Focal length: 13 mm - Pixel size: 1.4 micron - Sensor: 1/2.55" Sony IMX563 (Exmor-RS CMOS) - Phase autofocus (Dual Pixel)	- 12 MP - Aperture: f/2.2 - Focal length: 13 mm - Pixel size: 1.4 micron - Sensor: 1/2.55" - Phase autofocus (Dual Pixel)
Depth lens	-	Yes
Camera features	- Bokeh mode - Pro mode - RAW support	- Bokeh mode - Pro mode - RAW support
Samples	Photo samples of Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra from DxOMark	Photo samples of Apple iPhone 14 Pro from DxOMark

Selfie camera
Megapixels	40 megapixels	12 megapixels
Image resolution	7864 x 5200	4032 x 3024
Aperture	f/2.2	f/1.9
Focal length	26 mm	23 mm
Pixel size	0.7 microns	-
Sensor type	ISOCELL CMOS	-
Sensor size	1/2.65"	1/3.6"
Video resolution	2160p (4K) at 60 FPS	2160p (4K) at 60 FPS

DxOMark camera tests

Photo quality Galaxy S21 Ultra 128 iPhone 14 Pro +12% 143 Video quality Galaxy S21 Ultra 98 iPhone 14 Pro +52% 149 Generic camera score Galaxy S21 Ultra 121 iPhone 14 Pro +21% 146

Connectivity

Wi-Fi standard	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	5.2	5.3
Bluetooth features	LE A2DP	LE
USB type	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 Galileo QZSS
NFC*	Yes	Yes
Infrared port	No	No

Network
Number of SIM*	2	1
Type of SIM card	Nano	Nano
Multi SIM mode	Standby	-
eSIM support*	Yes	Yes
Hybrid slot	No	No
LTE Cat*	24	20
5G support	Yes	Yes

Sound

Speakers	Stereo	Stereo
Headphone audio jack	No	No
FM radio	No	No
Dolby Atmos	Yes	Yes

Speakers test Max. loudness Galaxy S21 Ultra 88 dB iPhone 14 Pro +2% 89.5 dB

Other

Category	Flagship	Flagship
Announced	January 2021	September 2022
Release date	February 2021	September 2022
SAR (head)	0.71 W/kg	-
SAR (body)	1.58 W/kg	-
Sensors	- Hall-effect sensor - Barometer - Proximity sensor - Gyroscope - Accelerometer - Ambient light sensor - Compass - Fingerprint	- Barometer - Proximity sensor - Gyroscope - Accelerometer - Ambient light sensor - Compass - Face recognition sensor

*Disclaimer! NFC GSM network support and some other specs can be different depending on the country.

Conclusion

If the performance software and design are more important to you then choose the Apple iPhone 14 Pro. But if the connectivity is more of a priority – go for the Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra.

Cast your vote

So which phone would you choose? Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra 12 (75%) Apple iPhone 14 Pro 4 (25%) Vote Total votes: 16

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