Samsung Galaxy S25 Plus vs S21 FE 5G
85
out of 100
VS
58
out of 100
Here we compared two flagship smartphones: the 6.7-inch Samsung Galaxy S25 Plus (with Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite) that was released on January 22, 2025, against the Samsung Galaxy S21 FE 5G, which is powered by Qualcomm Snapdragon 888 and came out 3 years and 1 month 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
Key differences
Reasons to consider the Samsung Galaxy S25 Plus
- 2.8x better performance in AnTuTu Benchmark (3219K versus 1138K)
- Shows 51% longer battery life (28:09 vs 18:37 hours)
- Has 2x more RAM: 12GB versus 6GB
- Delivers 82% higher peak brightness (1437 against 790 nits)
- 27% higher pixel density (513 vs 403 PPI)
- Newer Bluetooth version (v5.4)
- Has a 0.3 inch larger screen size
- Compatible with Wi-Fi 7 wireless networks
- More recent OS version: Android 17 versus 16
- The phone is 3 years and 1 month newer
- Supports higher wattage charging (45W versus 25W)
- Thinner bezels – 5% more screen real estate
Reasons to consider the Samsung Galaxy S21 FE 5G
- Slow-motion recording at 960FPS
- Has 2 SIM card slots
Review
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.
Select your primary usage scenario to get a more accurate DeviceFacts Score
Value for money (Beta)
Tests and specifications
Comparison table of technical specifications and testsDisplay
| Type | Dynamic AMOLED | Dynamic AMOLED |
| Size | 6.7 inches | 6.4 inches |
| Resolution | 1440 x 3120 pixels | 1080 x 2340 pixels |
| Aspect ratio | 19.5:9 | 19.5:9 |
| PPI | 513 ppi | 403 ppi |
| Refresh rate | 120 Hz | 120 Hz |
| Adaptive refresh rate | Yes (1-120 Hz) | No |
| Max rated brightness | - | 800 nits |
| Max rated brightness in HDR | 2600 nits | 1200 nits |
| HDR support | Yes, HDR10+ | Yes, HDR10+ |
| Touch sampling rate | 240 Hz | - |
| Screen protection | Gorilla Glass Victus 2 | Gorilla Glass Victus |
| Screen-to-body ratio | 91.7% | 86.7% |
| Display features | - DCI-P3 - Always-On Display |
- DCI-P3 - Always-On Display |
| RGB color space | 96.8% | 97% |
| PWM | 240 Hz | 247 Hz |
| Response time | 1 ms | 6 ms |
| Contrast | ∞ Infinity | ∞ Infinity |
Screen space comparison
Galaxy S25 Plus
6.7″ (19.5:9 ratio) = 17.1 in2
Galaxy S21 FE 5G
6.4″ (19.5:9 ratio) = 15.6 in2
~9% more screen space
Peak brightness test (auto)
Design and build
| Height | 158.4 mm (6.24 inches) | 155.7 mm (6.13 inches) |
| Width | 75.8 mm (2.98 inches) | 74.5 mm (2.93 inches) |
| Thickness | 7.3 mm (0.29 inches) | 7.9 mm (0.31 inches) |
| Weight | 190 g (6.7 oz) | 177 g (6.24 oz) |
| Waterproof | IP68 | IP68 |
| Advanced cooling | Vapor chamber | - |
| Rear material | Glass | Plastic |
| Frame material | Metal | Metal |
| Colors | Black, Silver, Gray, Blue, Green, Pink | White, Gray, Green, Purple |
| Fingerprint scanner | Yes, in-display | Yes, in-display |
| Repairability | Good (3.23/5) | - |
| Drop resistance | Excellent (A) · 270 drops | - |
Screen-to-body ratio
Performance
| Chipset | Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite | Qualcomm Snapdragon 888 |
| Max clock | 4470 MHz | 2840 MHz |
| CPU cores | 8 (2 + 6) | 8 (1 + 3 + 4) |
| Architecture | - 6 cores at 3.53 GHz: Oryon (Phoenix M) - 2 cores at 4.32 GHz: Oryon (Phoenix L) |
- 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) |
| L3 cache | 8 MB | 4 MB |
| Manufacturing | TSMC | Samsung |
| Lithography process | 3 nanometers | 5 nanometers |
| Neural processor (NPU) | Hexagon | Hexagon 780 |
| Graphics | Adreno 830 | Adreno 660 |
| GPU shading units | 1536 | 768 |
| GPU clock | 1100 MHz | 840 MHz |
| FLOPS | ~3379.2 GFLOPS | ~1290.2 GFLOPS |
Benchmarks
Geekbench 6 (Single-Core)
Geekbench 6 (Multi-Core)
Compute Score (GPU)
| Compute Score (GPU) | 21631 | 4514 |
| Single-core score | 3028 | 1481 |
| Multi-core score | 9654 | 3173 |
AnTuTu Benchmark 11
| CPU | 1009577 | 415282 |
| GPU | 1202068 | 207688 |
| Memory | 373296 | 174461 |
| UX | 634747 | 341497 |
| Total score | 3219688 | 1138928 |
| Samples | [36 tests] | [17 tests] |
3DMark Steel Nomad Light
| Stability | 61% | 71% |
| Graphics test | 17 FPS | 3 FPS |
| Graphics score | 2272 | 390 |
3DMark Solar Bay
| Graphics test | 39 FPS | - |
| Section 1 | 50 FPS | - |
| Section 2 | 37 FPS | - |
| Section 3 | 29 FPS | - |
| Graphics score | 10175 | - |
3DMark Wild Life Extreme
| Stability | 56% | 68% |
| Graphics test | 33 FPS | 9 FPS |
| Graphics score | 5597 | 1666 |
PCMark 3.0
| Web score | 21677 | 13606 |
| Video editing | 8628 | 7043 |
| Photo editing | 34949 | 28743 |
| Data manipulation | 17435 | 10563 |
| Writing score | 26579 | 14216 |
AnTuTu 11 Ranking List (#78th place)
Recent User Tests
Samsung Galaxy S25 Plus
| Date | Benchmark | Result |
|---|---|---|
| 📘 2026-10-13 (souzabrz) | AnTuTu 12 | 3649256 |
| 📘 2026-09-28 (Projeto_11) | AnTuTu 12 | 3618549 |
| 📘 2026-09-25 (Ramirez) | AnTuTu 12 | 3484313 |
| 📘 2026-07-27 (souzabrz) | AnTuTu 11 | 3395746 |
| 📘 2026-07-05 (Maxim) | AnTuTu 11 | 3236095 |
Samsung Galaxy S21 FE 5G
| Date | Benchmark | Result |
|---|---|---|
| 📘 2026-08-08 -> AlicanTuTu | AnTuTu 11 | 1198886 |
| 📘 2026-07-21 (Psycho0Dream) | AnTuTu 11 | 1157836 |
| 📘 2026-07-06 (Puzatik) | AnTuTu 11 | 1118460 |
| 📘 2026-05-10 -> AlicanTuTu | AnTuTu 11 | 1197004 |
| 📘 2026-05-10 (Alican TuTu) | AnTuTu 11 | 1197004 |
Memory
| RAM size | 12 GB | 6 GB |
| Memory type | LPDDR5X | LPDDR5 |
| Memory clock | 5300 MHz | 3200 MHz |
| Channels | 4 | 4 |
| Storage size | 256 GB | 128 GB |
| Storage type | UFS 4.0 | UFS 3.1 |
| Memory card | No | No |
Software
| Operating system | Android 15 (Can be upgraded to Android 17) | Android 12 (Can be upgraded to Android 16) |
| ROM | One UI 9.0 | One UI 8.0 |
| OS size | 29.1 GB | 17.5 GB |
| OS updates | 7 years | 4 years |
| Security updates | 7 years | 5 years |
Battery
| Capacity | 4900 mAh | 4500 mAh |
| Max charge power | 45 W | 25 W |
| Battery type | Li-Ion | Li-Ion |
| Replaceable | No | No |
| Wireless charging | Yes (15 W) | Yes (15 W) |
| Reverse charging | Yes, (wireless) | Yes, (wireless) |
| Bypass charging | Yes | No |
| Fast charging | Yes (75% in 30 min) | Yes (51% in 30 min) |
| Full charging time | 0:59 hr | 1:15 hr |
| Battery cycles | 2000 cycles | - |
| Web browsing | 10:20 hr | 06:11 hr |
| Watching video | 18:29 hr | 11:05 hr |
| Gaming | 06:19 hr | 04:48 hr |
| Standby | 137 hr | 100 hr |
General battery life
Smartphones With Long Battery Life (#88th place)
Main camera
| Matrix | 50 megapixels | 12 megapixels |
| Image resolution | 8160 x 6120 | 4032 x 3024 |
| Zoom | Optical, 3x | Optical, 3x |
| Flash | LED | LED |
| Stabilization | Optical | Optical |
| 8K video recording | Up to 30FPS | No |
| 4K video recording | Up to 60FPS | Up to 60FPS |
| 1080p video recording | Up to 60FPS | Up to 60FPS |
| Slow motion | 240 FPS (1080p) | 960 FPS (720p) |
| Angle of widest lens | 120° | 123° |
| Lenses | 1) Standard: 50 MP 2) Telephoto: 10 MP 3) Ultrawide: 12 MP |
1) Standard: 12 MP 2) Telephoto: 8 MP 3) Ultrawide: 12 MP |
| Camera features | - Bokeh mode - Pro mode - RAW support |
- Bokeh mode - Pro mode |
| Image resolution | 50 MP | 12 MP |
| Aperture | f/1.8 | f/1.8 |
| Focal length | 24 mm | 26 mm |
| Sensor | Samsung ISOCELL S5KGN3 | Sony IMX555 |
| Sensor size | 1/1.56" (≈ 0.64 inch) | 1/1.76" (≈ 0.57 inch) |
| Pixel size | 1 micron | 1.8 micron |
| Autofocus | Phase autofocus (Dual Pixel) | Phase autofocus (Dual Pixel) |
| Stabilization | Optical | Optical |
| Image resolution | 10 MP | 8 MP |
| Aperture | f/2.4 | f/2.4 |
| Focal length | 67 mm | 76 mm |
| Sensor | Samsung ISOCELL S5K3K1 | Hynix Hi847 |
| Sensor size | 1/3.94" (≈ 0.25 inch) | 1/4.5" (≈ 0.22 inch) |
| Pixel size | 1 micron | 1 micron |
| Stabilization | Optical | Optical |
| Image resolution | 12 MP | 12 MP |
| Aperture | f/2.2 | f/2.2 |
| Focal length | 13 mm | 13 mm |
| Sensor | Sony IMX564 | Sony IMX258 |
| Sensor size | 1/2.55" (≈ 0.39 inch) | 1/3.0" (≈ 0.33 inch) |
| Pixel size | 1.4 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 |
Selfie camera
| Megapixels | 12 megapixels | 32 megapixels |
| Image resolution | 4000 x 3000 | 6464 x 4864 |
| Aperture | f/2.2 | f/2.2 |
| Focal length | 26 mm | 26 mm |
| Sensor | Samsung S5K3LU | Sony IMX616 |
| Sensor size | 1/3.2" (≈ 0.31 inch) | 1/2.74" (≈ 0.36 inch) |
| Pixel size | 1.12 micron | 0.8 micron |
| Autofocus | Phase autofocus | No |
| 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 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 |
| 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 |
| DisplayPort | Yes, DP 1.2 | - |
| GPS | GPS, GLONASS, Beidou, Galileo, QZSS | GPS, GLONASS, Beidou, Galileo |
| NFC* | Yes | Yes |
| Infrared port | No | No |
| Number of SIM* | 1 | 2 |
| Type of SIM card | Nano | Nano |
| Multi SIM mode | Standby | Standby |
| eSIM support* | Yes | No |
| Hybrid slot | No | No |
| LTE Cat* | - | 19 |
| 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
Other
| Category | Flagship | Flagship |
| Announced | January 2025 | January 2022 |
| Release date | February 2025 | January 2022 |
| Launch price (MSRP) | $999 | $790 |
| Successor | - | - Samsung Galaxy S25 FE |
| SAR (head) | 1.26 W/kg | 0.95 W/kg |
| SAR (body) | 1.26 W/kg | 1.48 W/kg |
| Sensors | - Hall-effect sensor - Barometer - Proximity sensor - Gyroscope - Accelerometer - Ambient light sensor - Compass - Fingerprint |
- Hall-effect sensor - Barometer - Proximity sensor - Gyroscope - Accelerometer - Ambient light sensor - Compass - Fingerprint |
| Bundled charger | Not included | Not included |
Further details
Notes on Galaxy S25 Plus:
- You can connect up to 2 eSIMs. The international model has 2 physical SIM slots, while the U.S. model has only one.
*Disclaimer! NFC, GSM network support, and some other specs can be different depending on the country.
Conclusion
After analyzing all the data, we think that the Samsung Galaxy S25 Plus is definitely a better buy.
Cast your vote
Total votes: 26