Apple iPhone 8 vs Samsung Galaxy S21 Specs Comparison

Availability

Officially announced
Sep 12, 2017	Jan 14, 2021
Prices (MSRP)
$849	$800

Design

Dimensions
5.45 x 2.65 x 0.29 inches 138.4 x 67.3 x 7.3 mm	5.97 x 2.80 x 0.31 inches 151.7 x 71.2 x 7.9 mm
Weight
5.22 oz / 148.0 g	6.03 oz / 171.0 g
Materials
Back: Glass Frame: Aluminum	Back: Plastic Frame: Aluminum
Resistance
Water, Dust; IP67	Water, Dust; IP68
Biometrics
Fingerprint (touch)	2D Face unlock, Ultrasonic in-screen fingerprint
Keys
Left: Volume control, Other; Right: Lock/Unlock key	Right: Volume control, Lock/Unlock key
Colors
Gold, Silver, Red, Space gray	Phantom pink, Violet, Gray, White

Display

Size
4.7-inch, 65.34% screen-to-body	6.2-inch, 86.06% screen-to-body
Type
IPS LCD, 625 nits	Dynamic AMOLED, 120Hz, HDR, 1300 nits
Resolution
1334x750px, 16:9 ratio, 326 PPI	2400x1080px, 20:9 ratio, 424 PPI
Protection
	Corning Gorilla Glass Victus
Features
Pressure-sensitive, Oleophobic coating, Scratch-resistant glass, Ambient light sensor, Proximity sensor

PhoneArena Display Test

Bright Max (20% APL)
Untested	Untested
Bright Min
3 (Average)	1.2 (Good)

Learn more on our PhoneArena Display Test Results page.

Hardware

System chip
Apple A11 Bionic APL1W72 (10 nm)	Snapdragon 888 (5 nm)
Processor
Hexa-core 2390 MHz Monsoon and Mistral	Octa-core 1x2.84GHz Kryo 680 3x2.42GHz Kryo 680 4x1.80GHz Kryo 680
GPU
Apple 3-core GPU	Adreno 660
Memory
2GB (LPDDR4)/256GB 2GB/64GB 2GB/128GB	8GB (LPDDR5)/128GB (UFS 3.0) 8GB/256GB
Storage expansion
not expandable	not expandable
OS
iOS (15.x, 14.x, 13.x, 12.x, 11.x)	Android (13, 12, 11)

Battery

Type
1821 mAh, Li - Ion	4000 mAh, Li - Polymer
Charging
USB Power Delivery Qi 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: 15.0W Wireless: 7.5W	Wired: 25.0W Wireless: 15.0W

PhoneArena Battery Tests

Battery Life Estimate

Untested

Browsing

Untested

Video

Untested

Gaming

Untested

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
Single camera	Triple camera
Main camera
12 MP (Sapphire crystal lens cover, OIS, PDAF, CMOS image sensor, BSI sensor) Aperture size: F1.8 Focal length: 28 mm Sensor size: 1/3" Pixel size: 1.22 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, 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
Quad LED	LED
Video recording
4K UHD (60 fps), 1080p (240 fps) OIS, Time-lapse video, Continuous autofocus, Picture-taking during video recording, Video light	8K UHD (24 fps), 4K UHD (60 fps), 1080p (240 fps), 720p (960 fps) OIS, HDR, Hyperlapse, Continuous autofocus, Video light, EIS
Front
7 MP (HDR) Video capture: 1080p	10 MP (PDAF, HDR) Video capture: 4K UHD (60 fps)

Connectivity & Features

Bluetooth
5.0	5.0
WLAN
a,b,g,n,ac,dual-band MIMO, Hotspot 802.11 a, b, g, n, ac	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, Cell ID, Wi-Fi positioning	GPS, A-GPS, Glonass, Galileo, BeiDou, Cell ID, Wi-Fi positioning
Other
NFC, UMA (Wi-Fi Calling)	NFC, ANT+

Discover more

Full Specs Apple iPhone 8 Specs PA Review Apple iPhone 8 Review

Full Specs Samsung Galaxy S21 Specs PA Review Samsung Galaxy S21 Review

Multimedia

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

Cellular

5G Bands
	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, 17, 18, 19, 20, 25, 26, 28, 29, 30, 66	1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 8, 12, 13, 14, 18, 19, 20, 25, 26, 28, 30, 66, 71
4G (TDD) Bands
38, 39, 40, 41	38, 39, 40, 41, 46, 48
3G Bands
4, 5, 8	1, 2, 4, 5, 8
Data Speed
LTE-A Cat 12/13 (600/150 Mbit/s), HSDPA+ (4G) 42.2 Mbit/s, HSUPA 5.76 Mbit/s	LTE-A, HSDPA+ (4G) 42.2 Mbit/s, HSUPA 5.76 Mbit/s, UMTS
SIM type
Nano SIM	Nano SIM
HD Voice
Yes
VoLTE
Yes

Regulatory Approval

FCC approval
Date approved: Sep 12, 2017 FCC ID value: BCG-E3174A	Date approved: Dec 08, 2020 FCC ID value: A3LSMG991U
Measured SAR
Head: 1.09 W/kg Body: 1.09 W/kg Simultaneous Transmission: 1.59 W/kg Wireless Router: 1.09 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 64 GB storage

Memory	64GB
Prices (MSRP)	$699

with 256GB storage

Memory	256GB

A1863

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

with 128 GB storage

Memory	128GB