Samsung Galaxy S21 vs. iPhone 12: Which phone wins?
Samsung Galaxy S21 vs. iPhone 12: Which phone wins?
In this Samsung Milky way S21 vs. iPhone 12 face up-off, nosotros pit these two phones against each other to run across which is the best. Despite the fact that the iPhone 13 is bachelor to buy, you might consider the iPhone 12 if you find a practiced deal on one. The iPhone 12 has already proven to be a strong contender, with its OLED display, powerful A14 Bionic processor, and camera upgrades.
Merely Samsung hasn't taking this i lying down with the release of its new Galaxy S21 flagships. The Milky way S21 is one of the best Android phones available right now, with the latest Snapdragon 888 CPU from Qualcomm, a gorgeous display with a high refresh charge per unit, and some of Samsung's all-time photographic camera offerings.
- The best phones right now: Where each phone ranks
- Galaxy S21 Ultra review: Samsung got it correct
- Plus: Samsung calls iPhone 12 a 'downgrade' — y'all exist the judge
This is a trigger-happy battle with both phones putting upwards strong performances. The ultimate winner truly comes down to which works best for you, Android or iOS. Either way you go, you're getting extremely capable phones here.
Where one phone does well, the other isn't far behind. Both are incredible devices — hither's how this Samsung Galaxy S21 vs. iPhone 12 face-off shakes out. (To encounter how the two telephone makers' larger phones compare, we too have a Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra vs. iPhone 12 Pro Max comparison.)
Samsung Galaxy S21 vs. iPhone 12: Specs
| Samsung Milky way S21 | iPhone 12 | |
| Starting price | $799 | $799 on contract, $829 unlocked |
| Screen size | 6.2-inch AMOLED (2400x1080) | six.1-inch OLED (2532x1170) |
| Refresh rate | 48Hz - 120Hz | 60Hz |
| CPU | Snapdragon 888 | A14 Bionic |
| RAM | 8GB | 4GB |
| Storage | 128GB, 256GB | 64GB, 128GB, 256GB |
| microSD | No | No |
| Rear cameras | 12MP (f/one.8) wide; 12MP (f/2.2) ultrawide; 64MP (f/2.0) telephoto 3x optical | 12MP (f/one.6) wide; 12MP (f/two.4) ultrawide |
| Forepart camera | 10MP (f/two.ii) | 12MP (f/two.two) |
| Water resistance | IP68 up to 1.5 m | IP68 upward to 6 yard |
| Bombardment size | iv,000 mAh | 2,815 mAh |
| Bombardment life | 09:53 (60Hz) / 06:31 (adaptive) | 08:25 |
| Size | 5.97 x ii.8 x 0.31 inches | 5.78 10 ii.81 x 0.29 inches |
| Weight | 5.96 ounces | 5.78 ounces |
Samsung Galaxy S21 vs. iPhone 12: Price
Samsung learned a hard lesson with last year's overpriced Milky way S20 series. For the S21 family, the company lowered prices past $200 across the board. The base model S21 starts at $799, with the S21 Plus coming in at $999, and the S21 Ultra a lofty $i,199.
Apple technically kicks things off lower than the Galaxy S21 with the iPhone 12 mini, which starts at $699. The iPhone 12 costs $799 on contract (or $829 unlocked). The iPhone 12 Pro and iPhone 12 Pro Max round out Apple'due south lineup, at $999 and $one,099, respectively.
The Galaxy S21 and iPhone 12 are cervix and neck in toll, as long as you buy the latter through a carrier — y'all pay an extra $xxx to get the iPhone 12 unlocked. Even so, the S21 starts at 128GB of storage while Apple opted to showtime the iPhone 12 at 64GB.
Based on this and the unlocked toll comparison, we think the S21 wins, as the storage disparity wipes out any price advantage Apple enjoys with the cheaper iPhone 12 mini option.
Winner: Milky way S21
Samsung Galaxy S21 vs. iPhone 12: Design
Looking at strict measurements, the Galaxy S21 and iPhone 12 are very similar in size and weight. The former measures 5.97 x 2.8 x 0.31 inches with a weight of 5.96 ounces. The iPhone 12, meanwhile is 5.78 x 2.81 10 0.29 inches and five.78 ounces. The differences are almost imperceptible in real globe use.
The Milky way S21's design is an iteration on the one we saw with the Milky way S20, just with some refinements. Similarly, the iPhone 12 looks a lot like its predecessors, except that Apple make up one's mind to forgo the rounded edges and apply precipitous corners instead. This won't exist to anybody's liking, and we are torn internally on whether nosotros like it or not. Some of my colleagues prefer the iPhone's apartment edges; I don't, but this comes down to personal preference.
Samsung's biggest change with the Milky way S21 blueprint is the Profile Cut camera housing, which aesthetically integrates its trio of cameras into the chassis of the phone. The S21 keeps the pigsty dial cutout for the front photographic camera in the brandish, which is hands ignored once you first using the phone. The iPhone 12'southward large notch heavily contrasts this.
The other major change in the iPhone 12'south blueprint is something you don't run into. There'southward a Ceramic Shield display that's designed to deliver four times the drop protection of previous iPhones. It holds up very well in real-world testing. Meanwhile the Galaxy S21 is prone to shatter on its first drib.
In the end, both phones are marvels of engineering science. Using them daily is a cakewalk. However, i terminal way that Apple edges ahead of Samsung is in water resistance. Both phones are IP68 rated, but the iPhone 12 tin can withstand h2o up to six meters for xxx minutes. The Galaxy S21 can survive at depths of 1.5 meters for 30 minutes.
Winner: iPhone 12
Samsung Galaxy S21 vs. iPhone 12: Display
You will not exist disappointed with the displays on either the Galaxy S21 or the iPhone 12. Both are OLED screens with punchy colors and deep blacks, and they have great effulgence ranges. From the casual observer'south perspective, the displays on either phone are pretty close to equal.
It's getting into the finer details where we come across some differences. First up, Samsung's half dozen.2-inch Dynamic AMOLED display, with its FHD resolution of 2400x1080, sports an adaptive refresh charge per unit that tin can range from 48Hz all the way up to 120Hz for ultra polish scrolling and gameplay (where supported). You tin likewise lock the S21's refresh rate at 60Hz if you desire to save on bombardment life.
The iPhone 12 packs a 6.i-inch Super Retina XDR OLED display with a slightly sharper 2532x1170 resolution. Apple didn't go for a high refresh rate for the iPhone 12 serial, so yous're stuck at 60Hz. While iOS feels buttery smooth already, Android at upwardly to 120 frames per 2nd is heaven. It's a difference that'south hard to unsee once you experience it.
For farther technical functioning, we look to the results each display earned in our lab testing. The Galaxy S21, in its Natural setting, delivers 102.7% of the sRGB colour spectrum and 77.4% of DCI-P3 with a Delta-E color accuracy score of 0.29. (The closer that final number is to cipher, the more accurate the colors.)
Meanwhile, the iPhone 12 delivers 114.5% of the sRGB space and 81.one% DCI-P3 with a Delta-E score of 0.29. So the iPhone'due south display is more colorful though the screens recreate colors with equal accuracy.
In terms of brightness, Samsung'due south phone outshines the iPhone 12. The Galaxy S21 can get up to 691 nits, while the iPhone 12 manages 569 nits at its highest setting in our low-cal meter tests.
While both phone displays are very, very practiced, Samsung wins here. Not only does the Galaxy S21 take that beautiful high refresh charge per unit, merely it gets noticeably brighter for outdoor use. Looking at them both side-by-side, y'all'd be hard-pressed to option 1 every bit better than the other, but nosotros prefer the S21.
Winner: Galaxy S21
Samsung Galaxy S21 vs. iPhone 12: Cameras
All iv iPhone 12 models are amongst the all-time camera phones that y'all tin can buy, regardless of whether yous opt for the dual rear lenses institute on the iPhone 12 mini and iPhone 12 or the triple camera setup of the iPhone 12 Pro phones. That'southward considering hardware but tells some of the story for Apple's mobile photography. The neural engine on Apple tree'southward A14 Bionic flake also delivers a lot of computational photography features that help every iPhone 12 produce superior shots.
For the Galaxy S21, Samsung kept the same photographic camera setup that we saw on the Galaxy S20 last yr — a 12MP principal shooter along with a 12MP ultrawide sensor and 64MP telephoto lens. That'southward not all. The S21 benefits from what Samsung calls Infinite Zoom, which can offering 30x zoom photos. Information technology'south remarkable in real-world utilize, though it'south more of a cool thing than something yous're probable to use regularly.
This Samsung Galaxy S21 vs. iPhone 12 boxing largely comes downward to the cameras, since the phones are adequately equal otherwise. And the phone with the all-time photographic camera depends heavily on what yous're doing.
Starting off with max zoom photos, you can see the Milky way S21'southward full 30x zoom is usable, if a bit noisy. Scaling dorsum to 10x, you can conspicuously make out details on the apartment building, with even the shingles on the roof visible.
The iPhone's 12 max zoom, powered entirely past software, is conspicuously inferior to the S21'southward zoom photos. Not only practice y'all not get every bit close to the subject, but it's horribly blurred, despite my best attempts to stabilize my hand. A ton of detail is lost, especially in the foreground.
Heading outside, I snapped a quick picture show of my street after we got a bunch of snow (for Virginia anyhow). Each telephone took a very different approach to this scene, equally y'all tin encounter.
The bush in the foreground of the Galaxy S21 shot is a vibrant light-green, almost too vibrant. The blueish Mazda off to the left is brighter than it really is, and that burn down hydrant in the background is very blood-red. However, you can conspicuously make out the individual bricks on the townhouse across the street. And the heaven is true to life, since it was a grey, clouded day.
The iPhone 12 is noticeably different, darker in some ways. The bush that the S21 made then verdant is much more somber in this image. The Mazda off to the left is a much darker blueish, much closer to existent life. The fire hydrant, while still quite red, is a tiny bit more muted. But with those bricks on the townhouse, it's harder to make out each one individually, versus how clear they were in the S21's shot.
Since the 24-hour interval was overcast, I call up the iPhone comes out on elevation in this. This image is much, much closer to what my eyes saw. The S21 was just too vivid.
Moving onto an indoor shot, this is a statuette of Merida with plenty of pocket-size details in her dress and paintwork. First up is the Galaxy S21. In this scene, the camera warmed everything upward, giving my wall a faint reddish tint. The blue of her dress is flat and her hair is more orange than it is in existent life. And the candle off to the right is way too much of a warm yellow.
And and so in that location is the iPhone 12's shot. Correct off the bat, you tin tell that things are bit cooler than the S21's version. The wall in the background is truer to form, Merida's pilus is that deep, peppery red, and the light-green on her skirt looks richer. The iPhone 12 as well captures the shadows on the wall better, and the candle on the right is much more accurate. The iPhone 12 is the obvious winner.
A difficult photo of my cat in her true cat tree challenged both phones. The difficulty hither is that there was a lot of light streaming in from the window and the cat, who is already more often than not black, is in the shadow of her true cat house with her face away from the light. The phones had to juggle giving enough exposure to run into her while not bravado out the background.
With the Galaxy S21's photo, you can run into clear details in the groundwork through the sheer curtain and the scene itself is warm and true to life. You can make out my cat's olfactory organ, her ears, and minor $.25 of her white mask without having to strain your eyes.
For the iPhone 12, immediately, you'll notice the blown-out background. Yous probably can't fifty-fifty tell that there's a window there, let alone visible details beyond the sheer curtain. The epitome itself is very absurd, making the white of my true cat'due south fur and whiskers a bit more brilliant than they actually are. The Galaxy S21 wins this one.
For portrait style, I took a photo of the keyboard I use well-nigh ofttimes. It features a radiating RGB pattern with white pudding keycaps and a black plate. The Galaxy S21's portrait shot is pretty skilful, capturing plenty of detail, even if it feels a tad overexposed.
The iPhone 12, meanwhile, was pretty aggressive with blur radius, but it captured the colors of my keyboard and deskmat beautifully. Information technology's hard to label one as the winner here, so we'll telephone call it a draw.
Testing out the night modes on both phones, you tin can come across the results to a higher place. Both phones did very well making the number plate legible and capturing details of the lite bulb inside its fixture. The iPhone 12 fabricated things noticeably brighter than the Galaxy S21'south shot. Otherwise, I'd accept to give information technology to the iPhone 12 if pressed, but both shots piece of work very well.
Finally, selfies. The Milky way S21 captures the ruddiness of my face and deeper red undertones in my beard better. Even though the dominicus had me squinting a bit, you tin see the blue of my eyes backside my spectacles.
At that place'due south evidence of face smoothing here, but information technology's not too heavy-handed. Finally, the orange border on the Psycho Bunny logo on my shirt is true to life in the Milky way S21 self-portrait, a sort of darker salmon color.
This is the all-time selfie that the iPhone 12 put out. The sun was off to my correct (left from the photographic camera's perspective) and that blew out that side of my face up. My hoodie looks brighter than it is in existent life (it'due south a medium-night grayness) and my beard is much darker than the S21's selfie. The blue of my shirt is also a tad too bright in the iPhone 12's shot.
Personally, I prefer the S21'due south photograph over the iPhone 12, and it's the 1 I'd choose were I to post to social media.
In other words, camera functioning depends heavily on shots you lot like to take. The Galaxy S21 excels at zoom shots and portrait photos, while the iPhone handles colors and composition well. Information technology'due south a category, that'southward too shut to telephone call overall.
Winner: Draw
Samsung Galaxy S21 vs. iPhone 12: Performance
Ane expanse where the Galaxy S21 has trouble topping the iPhone 12 is raw operation. Simply put, the A14 Bionic flake inside the latest iPhones is the best-performing mobile processor we've tested in a telephone, setting a high bar for whatever other chipset to articulate.
Inside the S21, y'all'll find 8GB of RAM and Qualcomm's Snapdragon 888. Qualcomm says that the Snapdragon 888 can deliver a 25% boost in overall operation over the Snapdragon 865; similarly, the Adreno 660 GPU should improve the speed of graphics rendering past 35% over the previous chipset.
In our criterion testing, though, the S21 can't lucifer the iPhone 12. For instance, Apple tree's A14 Bionic in the iPhone 12 scored an impressive multicore score of 3,859 in Geekbench v. The S21, meanwhile, topped out at three,302. In our Adobe Premiere Rush test, where a 4K video is transcoded to 1080p, the Galaxy S21 completed the test in 1 minute and 3 seconds. The iPhone did the same job in a blistering 26 seconds.
Benchmarks provide a clue to overall performance, but they don't tell the full story. Using both phones together, there's hardly any noticeable difference in performance (non accounting for the smoother brandish on the S21). Neither phone is a slouch, but the iPhone 12 packs more of a dial.
Winner: iPhone 12
Samsung Galaxy S21 vs. iPhone 12: 5G
While nosotros'd have to spend a long flow of time testing 5G performance, we did pit the Galaxy S21 against the iPhone 12 on low-ring Verizon 5G. The results were equally underwhelming, simply they were too surprising. In our Galaxy S21 Ultra vs iPhone 12 Pro Max face up off, Samsung's phone handily beat the iPhone in 5G speed across AT&T and T-Mobile.
For our testing, nosotros did five dry runs and five recorded tests in Ookla'southward SpeedTest app. Both phones were held in the aforementioned hand in the aforementioned position. Both reported a full signal and they used the same Verizon SIM.
The iPhone came out alee with a hateful download speed of 12.74 Mbps and the Galaxy S21 trailed with a mean download speed of x.34 Mbps. Again, neither speed is impressive — which is more of a annotate on the state of 5G these days — but it was interesting to come across the iPhone 12 barely beat the S21, when the S21 Ultra proved so much faster than Apple's comparable device.
Winner: iPhone 12
Samsung Galaxy S21 vs. iPhone 12: Bombardment and charging
As with 4G earlier it, early 5G tech has proven to be difficult on batteries. That's non surprising. iPhones usually fare pretty well in battery tests, only with the iPhone 12 series, all models but the 12 Pro Max saw disappointing results. By no means unusable, the iPhone 12, with its 2,815 mAh battery, is so-so in daily life — use it lightly and you'll be fine, but push it too hard and you'll be looking for a charger.
In the Tom's Guide battery test, where devices are left to endlessly load webpages on a mobile broadband connexion (5G in this case), the boilerplate is effectually 10 hours. This is considered skillful and some phones exceed that. That said, the iPhone 12 clocked a mere 8 hours and 25 minutes. The Milky way S21 with its 60Hz mode enabled scored 9 hours and 53 minutes; that time brutal to a disappointing six.five hours with adaptive mode on.
The Samsung Galaxy S21 has the leg upwardly here. Yes, it has a physically larger battery at iv,000 mAh, but Samsung has had a couple of generations of 5G tech now to go things right. The iPhone 12 is Apple's beginning 5G lineup, so some growing pains are inevitable.
In a surprise motility, Samsung followed one of Apple's more controversial decisions with the iPhone 12. Just like Apple'southward phones, the new Galaxy S21 phones ship without a charger, which Apple says is friendlier to the surroundings. You even so get USB cables included, and so you lot tin buy fast charging bricks separately. Apple tree and Samsung are more than happy to supply you lot with one, for a fee.
Finally, we test to meet how fast each phone can accuse from empty. In 30 minutes, the Milky way S21 hit 55% while the iPhone 12 reached 31% in the same amount of time. It'south worth noting that our lab used the wireless MagSafe charger on a 20W power brick for the iPhone 12's accuse exam, whereas the S21 used a 25W charger.
Winner: Milky way S21
Samsung Galaxy S21 vs. iPhone 12: Software and special features
The Milky way S21 ships with Android 11 pre-installed, only futurity updates will exist touch-and-go. Samsung has launched a new policy to support its devices with 3 major Android updates, but those commonly lag behind Google's releases past several months. Previous Galaxy flagships were deadening to get Android 11, for case, fifty-fifty though Google put out the update in September 2020. That doesn't leave me with much confidence well-nigh the speed with which the Milky way S21 will become Android 12.
iPhone users don't accept that issue, of course, since iOS updates are bachelor at the aforementioned time for everyone. That means the iPhone 12 runs the latest iOS 14 software, and when iOS fifteen comes out this autumn, information technology will piece of work with each iPhone 12 model.
With the Milky way S21, Samsung debuted OneUI 3.1. It continues Samsung'due south commitment to providing a more mature, cohesive software feel that rivals what Google and OnePlus offer. The three.1 update adds some new features, like Google Discover integration on the home screen, Google Dwelling house device controls, Duo integration in the stock telephone app, and besides much more to list here. The S21 benefits profoundly from these.
The iPhone 12, meanwhile, uses iOS fourteen, the best version of Apple tree's mobile Bone yet. The company has loosened things up a bit, letting y'all choose your own default browser and email client. You can likewise shove all of your apps into the new App Library, which is like in some ways to Android'southward long-standing app drawer. Everything just feels sleeker this time around. And iOS 15 has some huge changes coming, like changes to notifications, several core app overhauls, and more.
Nosotros recommend checking out our iOS vs Android confront off if you're on the fence well-nigh which mobile OS will be better for you lot. Both are uncommonly good at several things, so it comes down to personal preference, though the availability of iOS updates gives the iPhone the border by a whisker.
Winner: iPhone 12
Galaxy S21 vs. iPhone 12: What about the iPhone xiii and Galaxy S22?
We now accept to talk near the iPhone 13. The newest iPhones pack several key upgrades, possibly including a 120Hz refresh rate display (on the Pro models), ultrawide photographic camera improvements, and even a smaller notch. There are also enhancements to the camera capabilities, like Photgraphic Styles and Cinematic mode.
These upgrades make the iPhone 13 an even more than serious competitor to the Milky way S21, peculiarly when it comes to the new A15 Bionic'due south performance.
But earlier we become to the Galaxy S22, there'south still the Galaxy Z Flip three. This foldable starts at $999 and packs a lot of what makes the Milky way S21 dandy into a foldable package. Only information technology suffers from terrible battery life and lacks a telephoto lens, and then arroyo it carefully.
Milky way S21 vs. iPhone 12: Overall winner
| Galaxy S21 | iPhone 12 | |
| Price (10 points) | 8 | 7 |
| Pattern (ten points) | 8 | nine |
| Display (fifteen points) | 15 | xiv |
| Cameras (20 points) | eighteen | 18 |
| Performance (15 points) | eleven | 15 |
| 5G (v points) | two | three |
| Battery and charging (fifteen points) | 12 | 9 |
| Software and special features (10 points) | nine | ten |
| Overall (100 points) | 83 | 85 |
It'southward truly a very, very shut race. The iPhone 12 just barely eeks out a victory over the Galaxy S21 and information technology could fifty-fifty exist down to myriad variables. Both phones are incredible and you cannot go wrong with either. Merely i can be "the all-time," though, and that's Apple tree's telephone in this Samsung Galaxy S21 vs. iPhone 12 showdown.
Both phones cost the same, but you get more storage with the S21 in commutation for a polycarbonate back. The S21's display is slightly better thanks to the higher refresh charge per unit, and it's more than reliable in the battery section, if you're willing to lock the display at 60Hz.
The iPhone 12, meanwhile, excels in performance and its over-the-top water resistance. It also beat out the S21 in some of our photographic camera tests, though it also fell backside in other shots.
Ultimately, which phone actually ends up existence better for yous comes down to whether you prefer Android or iOS. Both the Galaxy S21 and iPhone 12 have awesome cameras, great displays, and 5G support. They're also very pocketable, besides. If yous're similar me and tin live with either OS, and so you take a really tough choice to brand.
- More than: How to remap the Bixby button on Samsung Galaxy S21
Source: https://www.tomsguide.com/news/samsung-galaxy-s21-vs-iphone-12-which-phone-wins
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