Apple iPhone 12 vs Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra Specs Comparison

Availability

Officially announced
Oct 13, 2020	Jan 14, 2021
Prices (MSRP)
$829	$1200 | €1399

Design

Dimensions
5.78 x 2.81 x 0.29 inches (~0.35 inches with camera bump) 146.7 x 71.5 x 7.4 mm (~8.88 mm with camera bump)	6.50 x 2.98 x 0.35 inches (~0.37 inches with camera bump) 165.1 x 75.6 x 8.9 mm (~9.4 mm with camera bump)
Weight
5.78 oz (164.0 g)	8.04 oz (229.0 g)
Materials
Back: Glass Frame: Aluminum	Back: Glass (Corning Gorilla Glass Victus) Frame: Aluminum
Resistance
Water, Dust; IP68	Water, Dust; IP68
Biometrics
3D Face unlock	2D Face unlock, Ultrasonic in-screen fingerprint
Keys
Left: Volume control, Other; Right: Lock/Unlock key	Right: Volume control, Lock/Unlock key
Colors
Black, White, Red, Green, Blue, Purple	Phantom black, Silver

Display

Size
6.1-inch, 87.24% screen-to-body	6.8-inch, 89.33% screen-to-body
Type
OLED, 60Hz, HDR, 1200 nits	Dynamic AMOLED, 120Hz, HDR, 1500 nits
Resolution
2532x1170px, 19.5:9 ratio, 457 PPI	3200x1440px, 20:9 ratio, 516 PPI
Protection
Ceramic Shield	Corning Gorilla Glass Victus
Features
HDR support, Oleophobic coating, Scratch-resistant glass, Ambient light sensor, Proximity sensor

Hardware

System chip
Apple A14 Bionic (5 nm)	Snapdragon 888 SM8350 (5 nm)
Processor
Hexa-core 3100 MHz	Octa-core 1x2.84GHz Kryo 680 3x2.42GHz Kryo 680 4x1.80GHz Kryo 680
GPU
Yes	Adreno 660
Memory
4GB (LPDDR4)/64GB (NVMe) 4GB/128GB 4GB/256GB	12GB (LPDDR5)/128GB (UFS 3.1) 12GB/256GB 16GB/512GB
Storage expansion
not expandable	not expandable
OS
iOS (16.x, 15.x, 14.x)	Android (14, 13, 12, 11)

Battery

Type
2815 mAh, Li - Ion	5000 mAh, Li - Polymer
Charging
USB Power Delivery Qi wireless charging, MagSafe wireless charging	Qualcomm Quick Charge 2.0, USB Power Delivery, Samsung Adaptive Fast Charging Qi and Powermat wireless charging, Reverse wireless charging
Charge speed
Wireless: 15.0W	Wired: 25.0W Wireless: 15.0W

PhoneArena Battery Tests

Battery Life Estimate

4h 59min

Browsing

12h 33min

Video

6h 38min

Gaming

6h 46min

Battery Life Estimate

6h 15min

Browsing

14h 43min

Video

8h 52min

Gaming

8h 40min

Learn more on our PhoneArena Battery Test Results page

Camera

Rear
Dual camera	Quad camera
Main camera
12 MP (Sapphire crystal lens cover, OIS, PDAF) Aperture size: F1.6 Focal length: 26 mm	108 MP (OIS, Laser and PDAF) Aperture size: F1.8 Focal length: 24 mm Sensor size: 1/1.33" Pixel size: 0.8 μm
Second camera
12 MP (Ultra-wide, Sapphire crystal lens cover) Aperture size: F2.4 Focal Length: 13 mm	12 MP (Ultra-wide, PDAF) Aperture size: F2.2 Focal Length: 13 mm Sensor size: 1/2.55" Pixel size: 1.4 μm
Third camera
	10 MP (Telephoto, OIS, PDAF) Optical zoom: 3.0x Aperture size: F2.4 Focal Length: 70 mm Sensor size: 1/3.2" Pixel size: 1.22 μm
Fourth camera
	10 MP (Telephoto, Periscope, OIS, PDAF) Optical zoom: 3.0x Aperture size: F2.4 Focal Length: 70 mm Sensor size: 1/3.2" Pixel size: 1.22 μm
Flash
LED	LED
Video recording
4K UHD (60 fps), 1080p (240 fps) OIS, HDR, Time-lapse video, Continuous autofocus, Picture-taking during video recording	8K UHD (24 fps), 4K UHD (60 fps), 1080p (240 fps), 720p (960 fps) OIS, HDR, Hyperlapse, Video light, EIS
Front
12 MP (EIS, HDR, Slow-motion videos) Video capture: 4K UHD (60 fps)	40 MP (PDAF, HDR) Video capture: 4K UHD (60 fps)

Connectivity & Features

Bluetooth
5.0	5.1
WLAN
a,b,g,n,ac,Wi-Fi 6,dual-band MIMO, Wi-Fi Direct, Hotspot 802.11 a, b, g, n, ac, ax	a,b,g,n,ac,Wi-Fi 6,dual-band MIMO, Wi-Fi Direct, Hotspot 802.11 a, b, g, n, ac, ax
USB
Lightning	Type-C, USB 3.2
Sensors
Accelerometer, Gyroscope, Compass, Barometer, Ambient light sensor, Proximity sensor	Accelerometer, Gyroscope, Compass, Hall (for flip covers), Barometer, Ambient light sensor, Proximity sensor
Hearing aid compatible
M3/T4	M3/T3
Location
GPS, A-GPS, Glonass, Galileo, BeiDou, QZSS, Cell ID, Wi-Fi positioning	GPS, A-GPS, Glonass, Galileo, BeiDou, Cell ID, Wi-Fi positioning
Other
NFC, UMA (Wi-Fi Calling)	NFC, ANT+

Multimedia

Headphones
No 3.5mm jack	No 3.5mm jack
Speakers
Earpiece, Multiple speakers	Earpiece, Multiple speakers
Features
Dolby Atmos	32-Bit DAC, Dolby Atmos, aptX, Dolby Digital, Dolby Digital Plus
Screen mirroring
Wireless screen share
Additional microphone(s)
Noise cancellation

Cellular

5G Bands
n1, n2, n3, n5, n7, n8, n12, n20, n25, n28, n38, n40, n41, n66, n71, n77, n78, n79, n260, n261, Sub-6, mmWave	n2, n5, n12, n25, n41, n66, n71, n77, n260, n261, SA, NSA, Sub-6, mmWave
4G (FDD) Bands
1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 8, 12, 14, 17, 18, 19, 20, 25, 26, 28, 29, 30, 32, 66, 71	1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 8, 12, 13, 14, 18, 19, 20, 25, 26, 28, 30, 66, 71
4G (TDD) Bands
34, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 46, 48	38, 39, 40, 41, 46, 48
3G Bands
1, 2, 4, 5, 8	1, 2, 4, 5, 8
Data Speed
LTE-A, HSDPA+ (4G) 42.2 Mbit/s, HSUPA 5.76 Mbit/s	LTE-A Pro Cat 20 (2000/150 Mbit/s)
Dual SIM
Yes
SIM type
Nano SIM, eSIM	Nano SIM
HD Voice
Yes
VoLTE
Yes

Regulatory Approval

FCC approval
	Date approved: Dec 22, 2020 FCC ID value: A3LSMG998U
Measured SAR
	Head: 0.77 W/kg Body: 1.02 W/kg Simultaneous Transmission: 1.59 W/kg Wireless Router: 1.16 W/kg Phablet: 3.15 W/kg

Alternative variants

with 128GB storage

Memory	128GB
Prices (MSRP)	$879

with 256GB storage

Memory	256GB
Colors	Phantom black
Prices (MSRP)	$1250

with 256GB storage

Memory	256GB
Prices (MSRP)	$979

with 512GB storage

Memory	16GB/512GB
Colors	Phantom black
Prices (MSRP)	$1380

for Europe

System chip	Samsung Exynos 2100 (5 nm)
Processor	Octa-core 1x2.91GHz Cortex-X1 3x2.81G​Hz Cortex-A78 4x2.2G​Hz Cortex-A55
GPU	Mali G78 MP14
Weight	8.01 oz (227.0 g)
5G Bands	SA, NSA, Sub-6
FCC approval	Date approved: Dec 22, 2020 FCC ID value: A3LSMG998B
Measured SAR	Head: 0.16 W/kg Body: 0.72 W/kg Simultaneous Transmission: 1.59 W/kg Wireless Router: 1.34 W/kg Phablet: 3.86 W/kg

Links

Full specifications
Apple iPhone 12 Specs	Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra Specs
PhoneArena Review
Apple iPhone 12 Review	Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra Review
User Reviews
Apple iPhone 12 User Reviews	Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra User Reviews