Samsung Galaxy S21 FE 5G vs S20 FE

Here we compared two flagship smartphones: the 6.4-inch Samsung Galaxy S21 FE 5G (with Qualcomm Snapdragon 888 ) that was released on January 4, 2022, against the Samsung Galaxy S20 FE, which is powered by Exynos 990 and came out 1 year and 4 months before. On this page, you will find tests, full specs, strengths, and weaknesses of each of the devices.

Select the amount of RAM to evaluate performance and value for money more precisely
Memory

Key differences

An overview of the main advantages of each smartphone
Reasons to consider the Samsung Galaxy S21 FE 5G
  • More recent OS version: Android 16 versus 13
  • 25% better performance in AnTuTu Benchmark (1138K versus 909K)
  • The phone is 1 year and 4 months newer
  • More energy-efficient CPU – Snapdragon 888
  • 20% faster in single-core GeekBench 6 test: 1481 and 1234 points
Reasons to consider the Samsung Galaxy S20 FE
  • Expandable storage via MicroSD card up to 1024GB

Review

Evaluation of Samsung Galaxy S21 FE 5G and S20 FE crucial features
Display
Screen quality, color accuracy, brightness
Camera
Photo and video recording quality
Performance
CPU and memory performance (apps, system)
Gaming
Capabilities for playing modern games
Battery
Battery life, charging type and speed
Connectivity
Networks, ports, data transmission
Scores with a red asterisk (*) are approximate and may change in the future as we gather more data.
DeviceFacts Score
Final comparison evaluation
Select your primary usage scenario to get a more accurate DeviceFacts Score
📱 Primary usage:

Value for money (Beta)

To get an accurate value-for-money index, update the default prices with actual prices from your country’s retailers (for the selected memory configs) and press the "Calculate" button.
Currency
6 / 128 GB
VS
6 / 128 GB
168.7
(Excellent)
Value Index
13.7
(Bad)

Tests and specifications

Comparison table of technical specifications and tests

Display

Type Dynamic AMOLED Super AMOLED
Size 6.4 inches 6.5 inches
Resolution 1080 x 2340 pixels 1080 x 2400 pixels
Aspect ratio 19.5:9 20:9
PPI 403 ppi 407 ppi
Refresh rate 120 Hz 120 Hz
Adaptive refresh rate No No
Max rated brightness 800 nits 740 nits
Max rated brightness in HDR 1200 nits -
HDR support Yes, HDR10+ Yes, HDR10+
Screen protection Gorilla Glass Victus Corning Gorilla Glass 3
Screen-to-body ratio 86.7% 85.8%
Display features - DCI-P3
- Always-On Display
- DCI-P3
- Always-On Display
Display tests
RGB color space 97% -
PWM 247 Hz -
Response time 6 ms -
Contrast ∞ Infinity -
Peak brightness test (auto)
Sources: NotebookCheck [3]

Design and build

Height 155.7 mm (6.13 inches) 159.8 mm (6.29 inches)
Width 74.5 mm (2.93 inches) 74.5 mm (2.93 inches)
Thickness 7.9 mm (0.31 inches) 8.4 mm (0.33 inches)
Weight 177 g (6.24 oz) 190 g (6.7 oz)
Waterproof IP68 IP68
Rear material Plastic Plastic
Frame material Metal Metal
Colors White, Gray, Green, Purple White, Blue, Green, Red, Orange, Purple
Fingerprint scanner Yes, in-display Yes, in-display
Screen-to-body ratio

Performance

Chipset specifications of Samsung Galaxy S21 FE 5G and Samsung Galaxy S20 FE
SoC
Chipset Qualcomm Snapdragon 888 Samsung Exynos 990
Max clock 2840 MHz 2730 MHz
CPU cores 8 (1 + 3 + 4) 8 (2 + 2 + 4)
Architecture - 4 cores at 1.8 GHz: Kryo 680 Silver (Cortex-A55)
- 3 cores at 2.42 GHz: Kryo 680 Gold (Cortex-A78)
- 1 core at 2.84 GHz: Kryo 680 Prime (Cortex-X1)
- 4 cores at 2 GHz: Cortex-A55
- 2 cores at 2.5 GHz: Cortex-A76
- 2 cores at 2.73 GHz: Exynos M5
L3 cache 4 MB 2 MB
Manufacturing Samsung Samsung
Lithography process 5 nanometers 7 nanometers
Neural processor (NPU) Hexagon 780 Yes
GPU
Graphics Adreno 660 Mali-G77 MP11
GPU shading units 768 352
GPU clock 840 MHz 832 MHz
FLOPS ~1290.2 GFLOPS ~585.7 GFLOPS

Benchmarks

Benchmark comparison of Samsung Galaxy S21 FE 5G and Samsung Galaxy S20 FE
Geekbench 6 (Single-Core)
Geekbench 6 (Multi-Core)
Compute Score (GPU)
Compute Score (GPU) 4514 -
Single-core score 1481 1234
Multi-core score 3173 3385
Sources: Geekbench [3], [4]
AnTuTu Benchmark 11
1138928
909679
CPU 415282 359475
GPU 207688 155594
Memory 174461 153878
UX 341497 240732
Total score 1138928 909679
Samples [17 tests] [11 tests]
3DMark Steel Nomad Light
Stability 71% 77%
Graphics test 3 FPS 2 FPS
Graphics score 390 247
3DMark Wild Life Extreme
Stability 68% 67%
Graphics test 9 FPS 6 FPS
Graphics score 1666 1061
Sources: 3DMark [5], [6]
PCMark 3.0
12896
Web score 13606 9860
Video editing 7043 6780
Photo editing 28743 29317
Data manipulation 10563 8978
Writing score 14216 10600

Recent User Tests

The latest benchmark tests that have been submitted by users
Samsung Galaxy S21 FE 5G
DateBenchmarkResult
📘 2026-08-08 -> AlicanTuTuAnTuTu 111198886
📘 2026-07-21 (Psycho0Dream)AnTuTu 111157836
📘 2026-07-06 (Puzatik)AnTuTu 111118460
📘 2026-05-10 -> AlicanTuTuAnTuTu 111197004
📘 2026-05-10 (Alican TuTu)AnTuTu 111197004
Samsung Galaxy S20 FE
DateBenchmarkResult
📘 2026-02-25 (Pearlescent)AnTuTu 11895369
📘 2026-02-16 (Naynay(guaranay))AnTuTu 11886994
📘 2026-01-31 (Victor)AnTuTu 11792094
📘 2026-01-19 (souzabrz)AnTuTu 111027276
📘 2026-01-16 (souzabrz)AnTuTu 111020628

Memory

RAM
RAM size 6 GB 6 GB
Memory type LPDDR5 LPDDR5
Memory clock 3200 MHz 2750 MHz
Channels 4 2
Storage
Storage size 128 GB 128 GB
Storage type UFS 3.1 UFS 3.1
Memory card No MicroSD
Memory card max size - Up to 1024 GB

Software

Operating system Android 12 (Can be upgraded to Android 16) Android 10 (Can be upgraded to Android 13)
ROM One UI 8.0 One UI 5.0
OS size 17.5 GB 24 GB
OS updates 4 years 2 years
Security updates 5 years 4 years

Battery

Capacity 4500 mAh 4500 mAh
Max charge power 25 W 25 W
Battery type Li-Ion Li-Po
Replaceable No No
Wireless charging Yes (15 W) Yes (15 W)
Reverse charging Yes, (wireless) Yes, (wireless)
Bypass charging No -
Fast charging Yes (51% in 30 min) Yes (50% in 45 min)
Full charging time 1:15 hr 1:35 hr
Battery life tests
Web browsing 06:11 hr -
Watching video 11:05 hr -
Gaming 04:48 hr -
Standby 100 hr -
General battery life

Main camera

Matrix 12 megapixels 12 megapixels
Image resolution 4032 x 3024 4032 x 3024
Zoom Optical, 3x Optical, 3x
Flash LED Dual LED
Stabilization Optical Optical
8K video recording No No
4K video recording Up to 60FPS Up to 60FPS
1080p video recording Up to 60FPS Up to 60FPS
Slow motion 960 FPS (720p) 960 FPS (720p)
Angle of widest lens 123° 123°
Lenses 1) Standard: 12 MP
2) Telephoto: 8 MP
3) Ultrawide: 12 MP
1) Standard: 12 MP
2) Telephoto: 8 MP
3) Ultrawide: 12 MP
Camera features - Bokeh mode
- Pro mode
- Bokeh mode
- Pro mode
- RAW support
Standard lens
Image resolution 12 MP 12 MP
Aperture f/1.8 f/1.8
Focal length 26 mm 26 mm
Sensor Sony IMX555 Samsung S5K2LD
Sensor size 1/1.76" (≈ 0.57 inch) 1/1.76" (≈ 0.57 inch)
Pixel size 1.8 micron 1.8 micron
Autofocus Phase autofocus (Dual Pixel) Phase autofocus (Dual Pixel)
Stabilization Optical Optical
Telephoto lens
Image resolution 8 MP 8 MP
Aperture f/2.4 f/2.4
Focal length 76 mm 76 mm
Sensor Hynix Hi847 Hynix HI-847
Sensor size 1/4.5" (≈ 0.22 inch) 1/4.5" (≈ 0.22 inch)
Pixel size 1 micron 1 micron
Stabilization Optical Optical
Ultra-wide lens
Image resolution 12 MP 12 MP
Aperture f/2.2 f/2.2
Focal length 13 mm 13 mm
Sensor Sony IMX258 -
Sensor size 1/3.0" (≈ 0.33 inch) 1/3.0" (≈ 0.33 inch)
Pixel size 1.12 micron 1.12 micron
Stabilization Digital Digital

DxOMark main camera tests

Photo quality
Video quality
Generic main camera score
Samples Photo samples of Samsung Galaxy S21 FE 5G from DxOMark Photo samples of Samsung Galaxy S20 FE from DxOMark

Selfie camera

Megapixels 32 megapixels 32 megapixels
Image resolution 6464 x 4864 6528 x 4896
Aperture f/2.2 f/2.0
Focal length 26 mm 26 mm
Sensor Sony IMX616 CMOS
Sensor size 1/2.74" (≈ 0.36 inch) 1/2.74" (≈ 0.36 inch)
Pixel size 0.8 micron 0.8 micron
Autofocus No Phase autofocus
Stabilization Digital Digital
Video resolution 2160p (4K) at 60 FPS 2160p (4K) at 60 FPS
Depth sensor (TOF 3D) No No

Connectivity

Wi-Fi standard 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 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
- OTG
GPS GPS, GLONASS, Beidou, Galileo GPS, GLONASS, Beidou, Galileo
NFC* Yes Yes
Infrared port No No
Network
Number of SIM* 2 2
Type of SIM card Nano Nano
Multi SIM mode Standby Standby
eSIM support* No No
Hybrid slot No Yes
LTE Cat* 19 19
5G support Yes No

Sound

Speakers Stereo Stereo
Headphone audio jack No No
FM radio No No
Dolby Atmos Yes Yes
Speakers test
Max loudness

Other

Category Flagship Flagship
Announced January 2022 September 2020
Release date January 2022 October 2020
Launch price (MSRP) $790 $700
Successor - Samsung Galaxy S25 FE -
SAR (head) 0.95 W/kg 0.341 W/kg
SAR (body) 1.48 W/kg 1.447 W/kg
Sensors - Hall-effect sensor
- Barometer
- Proximity sensor
- Gyroscope
- Accelerometer
- Ambient light sensor
- Compass
- Fingerprint
- Hall-effect sensor
- Proximity sensor
- Gyroscope
- Accelerometer
- Ambient light sensor
- Compass
- Fingerprint
Bundled charger Not included Yes, 15 W
*Disclaimer! NFC, GSM network support, and some other specs can be different depending on the country.

Conclusion

These smartphones have a lot in common, but we would recommend the Samsung Galaxy S21 FE 5G. It has a better performance, gaming, battery life, and software.

Cast your vote

So, which phone would you choose?
710 (42.2%)
973 (57.8%)
Total votes: 1683

User opinions

You can share your opinion or ask a question in the comments below
🌐 Register your profile and become part of DeviceFacts community!
Avatar
Mickey D February 6, 2023 at 06:30 AM
S20 FE is the better value because of the better battery life and it has the micro-SD card slot. S21 FE is not enough of an improvement.
+31 Reply