Apple iPhone 16 vs Samsung Galaxy S21 Specs Comparison

Availability

Officially announced
Sep 09, 2024	Jan 14, 2021
Prices (MSRP)
$799 | €949	$800

Design

Dimensions
5.81 x 2.82 x 0.31 inches (~0.44 inches with camera bump) 147.6 x 71.6 x 7.8 mm (~11.2 mm with camera bump)	5.97 x 2.80 x 0.31 inches 151.7 x 71.2 x 7.9 mm
Weight
6.00 oz (170.0 g)	6.03 oz (171.0 g)
Materials
Back: Glass Frame: Aluminum	Back: Plastic 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, Other	Right: Volume control, Lock/Unlock key
Colors
Black, White, Pink, Teal, Ultramarine	Phantom pink, Violet, Gray, White

Display

Size
6.1-inch, 86.38% screen-to-body	6.2-inch, 86.06% screen-to-body
Type
OLED, 60Hz, HDR, 2000 nits	Dynamic AMOLED, 120Hz, HDR, 1300 nits
Resolution
2556x1179px, 19.5:9 ratio, 461 PPI	2400x1080px, 20:9 ratio, 424 PPI
Protection
Ceramic Shield	Corning Gorilla Glass Victus
Features
Super Retina XDR, HDR support, Oleophobic coating, Scratch-resistant glass, Ambient light sensor, Proximity sensor

Hardware

System chip
Apple A18 (3 nm)	Snapdragon 888 (5 nm)
Processor
Hexa-core 2x4.04GHz 4x2.20G​Hz	Octa-core 1x2.84GHz Kryo 680 3x2.42GHz Kryo 680 4x1.80GHz Kryo 680
GPU
Apple 5-core GPU	Adreno 660
Memory
8GB (LPDDR5)/128GB (NVMe) 8GB/256GB 8GB/512GB	8GB (LPDDR5)/128GB (UFS 3.0) 8GB/256GB
Storage expansion
not expandable	not expandable
OS
iOS (18.x)	Android (13, 12, 11)

Battery

Type
3561 mAh, Li - Ion	4000 mAh, Li - Polymer
Charging
Fast charging Qi2 wireless charging, Reverse wired 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
Wired: 20.0W Wireless: 25.0W	Wired: 25.0W Wireless: 15.0W

PhoneArena Battery Tests

Battery Life Estimate

6h 21min

Browsing

16h 48min

Video

7h 30min

Gaming

9h 52min

Battery Life Estimate

4h 28min

Browsing

7h 47min

Video

7h 36min

Gaming

7h 9min

Learn more on our PhoneArena Battery Test Results page

Camera

Rear
Dual camera	Triple camera
Main camera
48 MP (Sensor-shift OIS, PDAF) Sensor name: Sony IMX904 Aperture size: F1.6 Focal length: 26 mm Sensor size: 1/1.56" Pixel size: 1.0 μm	12 MP (OIS, PDAF) Aperture size: F1.8 Focal length: 26 mm Sensor size: 1/1.76" Pixel size: 1.8 μm
Second camera
12 MP (Ultra-wide, PDAF) Sensor name: Sony IMX633 Aperture size: F2.2 Focal Length: 13 mm Pixel size: 0.7 μm	12 MP (Ultra-wide, Autofocus) Aperture size: F2.2 Focal Length: 13 mm Sensor size: 1/2.55" Pixel size: 1.4 μm
Third camera
	64 MP (Telephoto, OIS, PDAF) Aperture size: F2.0 Focal Length: 29 mm Sensor size: 1/1.7" Pixel size: 0.8 μm
Flash
Dual LED	LED
Video recording
4K UHD (60 fps), 1080p (240 fps) OIS, HDR, Dolby Vision HDR, Cinematic mode	8K UHD (24 fps), 4K UHD (60 fps), 1080p (240 fps), 720p (960 fps) OIS, HDR, Hyperlapse, Continuous autofocus, Video light, EIS
Front
12 MP (Time-of-Flight (ToF), Autofocus, HDR) Video capture: 4K UHD (60 fps)	10 MP (PDAF, HDR) Video capture: 4K UHD (60 fps)

PhoneArena Camera Tests

149

Overall

154

Photo

143

Video

N/A

Overall

N/A

Photo

N/A

Video

Learn more on our PhoneArena Camera Test Results page

Connectivity & Features

Bluetooth
5.3	5.0
WLAN
a,b,g,n,ac,Wi-Fi 6,Wi-Fi 6E,Wi-Fi 7 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
Type-C, USB 2.0	Type-C, USB 3.2
Sensors
Accelerometer, Gyroscope, Compass, Barometer, Emergency SOS via satellite (SMS sending/receiving), 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, Cell ID, Wi-Fi positioning	GPS, A-GPS, Glonass, Galileo, BeiDou, Cell ID, Wi-Fi positioning
Other
NFC, Ultra Wideband (UWB)	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

Cellular

5G Bands
n1, n2, n3, n5, n7, n8, n12, n14, n20, n25, n28, n29, n30, n38, n40, n41, n48, n66, n70, n71, n75, n77, n78, n79, n258, n260, n261, SA, NSA, 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, 13, 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 Pro Cat 18 (1200/150 Mbit/s), HSDPA+ (4G) 42.2 Mbit/s	LTE-A, HSDPA+ (4G) 42.2 Mbit/s, HSUPA 5.76 Mbit/s, UMTS
SIM type
eSIM	Nano SIM
HD Voice
Yes
VoLTE
Yes

Regulatory Approval

FCC approval
Date approved: Sep 09, 2024 FCC ID value: BCG-E8688A	Date approved: Dec 08, 2020 FCC ID value: A3LSMG991U
Measured SAR
Head: 0.96 W/kg Body: 0.96 W/kg Simultaneous Transmission: 1.52 W/kg	Head: 0.36 W/kg Body: 1.08 W/kg Simultaneous Transmission: 3.96 W/kg Wireless Router: 1.09 W/kg Phablet: 2.49 W/kg

Alternative variants

With 256GB internal storage

Memory	256GB
Prices (MSRP)	$999

with 256GB storage

Memory	256GB

With 512GB internal storage

Memory	512GB
Prices (MSRP)	$1199

for Europe

System chip	Samsung Exynos 2100 (5 nm)
Processor	Octa-core 2900 MHz 1x2.91GHz Cortex-X1 3x2.81G​Hz Cortex-A78 4x2.2G​Hz Cortex-A55
GPU	Mali G78 MP14
Weight	5.96 oz (169.0 g)
5G Bands	SA, NSA, Sub-6
FCC approval	Date approved: Dec 18, 2020 FCC ID value: A3LSMG991B
Measured SAR	Head: 0.42 W/kg Body: 0.94 W/kg Simultaneous Transmission: 3.96 W/kg Wireless Router: 1.34 W/kg Phablet: 2.37 W/kg

Links

Full specifications
Apple iPhone 16 Specs	Samsung Galaxy S21 Specs
PhoneArena Review
Apple iPhone 16 Review	Samsung Galaxy S21 Review
User Reviews
	Samsung Galaxy S21 User Reviews