Samsung Galaxy S21 series vs Galaxy S20 series – the upgrades detailed
Samsung introduced its Galaxy S21 lineup earlier this week – a vanilla Galaxy S21, a plus model that provides largely the same internals in a larger package and the Ultra that has a strong claim for the throne of the ultimate cameraphone. We already compared the three new phones, but now it’s time to look at the upgrades they bring over the outgoing Galaxy S20 family.
Samsung Galaxy S21 5G vs Samsung Galaxy S20 5G
What changed: The vanilla phone brings a brand new design and a flat screen, which may be an upgrade or a downgrade depending on where you stand. The new chipset should bring substantial performance upgrade, but the display saw its resolution dropped to 1080p. The panel has adaptive refresh rate though, so it should be way more power-efficient.
- Pros
- Faster chipset
- Lower starting price (€850 vs €999)
- 256GB storage option
- Stronger Gorilla Glass Victus protection
- Flat screen
- New design
- Cons
- Display downgraded from QHD+ to Full HD+
- Slightly wider and heavier
- No microSD slot
- No earphones or charger in retail box (in most markets)
- Plastic back
Samsung Galaxy S21+ 5G vs Samsung Galaxy S20+ 5G
What changed: The changes between the S20+ and S21+ are largely the same as those on the vanilla phones – you get the new look and color palette, the flat screen and the refreshed internals with the main cameras remaining unchanged. The S21+ drops the ToF sensor, but we doubt it will be dearly missed.
- Pros
- Bigger battery (4,800 mAh vs 4,500 mAh)
- Faster chipset
- 256 GB storage option
- Lower starting price (€1,050 vs €1,099)
- Stronger Gorilla Glass Victus protection
- Flat screen
- New design
- UWB support
- Cons
- Display downgraded from QHD+ to Full HD+
- No ToF camera
- Slightly wider and heavier
- No microSD slot
- No earphones or charger in retail box (in most markets)
Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra 5G vs Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra 5G
What changed: The Ultra member certainly got the most changes over its predecessor even if it retained the curved QHD+ screen. It’s now an adaptive refresh rate panel that goes down to 10Hz when you see static content.
Yet arguably the biggest upgrades are around the back where the single 5x telephoto unit of the S20 Ultra is replaced by a 3x and 10x units, largely increasing flexibility. The ultrawide camera gained autofocus, while the main sensor is a new design that should boost low-light performance further.
- Pros
- New 108MP sensor
- 10x optical zoom camera
- Second 3x telephoto camera
- Lower starting price (€1,250 vs €1,349)
- Stronger Gorilla Glass Victus protection
- Ultrawide cam with autofocus
- 4K@60 fps video recording with all cameras
- First Galaxy S smartphone with S Pen support
- Samsung’s first 1440p+ 120Hz display (10-120Hz), 1,500 nits
- Faster chipset and RAM
- New design, more color options
- Cons
- Fast charging downgraded from 45W to 25W
- Slightly heavier
- No microSD slot
- No earphones or charger in retail box (in most markets)
