Motorola Moto G9 Play vs Samsung Galaxy S21 Specs Comparison

Availability

Officially announced
Aug 24, 2020	Jan 14, 2021
Prices (MSRP)
€170	$800

Design

Dimensions
6.50 x 2.98 x 0.36 inches 165.21 x 75.73 x 9.18 mm	5.97 x 2.80 x 0.31 inches 151.7 x 71.2 x 7.9 mm
Weight
7.05 oz / 200.0 g	6.03 oz / 171.0 g
Materials
Back: Plastic Frame: Plastic	Back: Plastic Frame: Aluminum
Resistance
Splash	Water, Dust; IP68
Biometrics
2D Face unlock, Fingerprint (touch)	2D Face unlock, Ultrasonic in-screen fingerprint
Keys
Right: Volume control, Lock/Unlock key	Right: Volume control, Lock/Unlock key
Colors
Forest green, Sapphire blue	Phantom pink, Violet, Gray, White

Display

Size
6.5-inch, 81.63% screen-to-body	6.2-inch, 86.06% screen-to-body
Type
IPS LCD	Dynamic AMOLED, 120Hz, HDR, 1300 nits
Resolution
1600x720px, 20:9 ratio, 270 PPI	2400x1080px, 20:9 ratio, 424 PPI
Protection
	Corning Gorilla Glass Victus

PhoneArena Display Test

Bright Max (20% APL)
Untested	Untested
Bright Min
3.2 (Poor)	1.2 (Good)

Learn more on our PhoneArena Display Test Results page.

Hardware

System chip
Snapdragon 662 SM6115 (11 nm)	Snapdragon 888 (5 nm)
Processor
Octa-core 2000 MHz Kryo 260	Octa-core 1x2.84GHz Kryo 680 3x2.42GHz Kryo 680 4x1.80GHz Kryo 680
GPU
Adreno 610	Adreno 660
Memory
4GB/64GB 4GB/128GB	8GB (LPDDR5)/128GB (UFS 3.0) 8GB/256GB
Storage expansion
microSDXC up to 512 GB	not expandable
OS
Android (10)	Android (13, 12, 11)

Battery

Type
5000 mAh	4000 mAh, Li - Polymer
Charging
Motorola TurboPowe	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	Wired: 25.0W Wireless: 15.0W

PhoneArena Battery Tests

Battery Life Estimate

Untested

Browsing

Untested

Video

10h 58min

Gaming

6h 24min

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 (PDAF) Aperture size: F1.7 Sensor size: 1/1.7" Pixel size: 0.8 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
2 MP (Macro) Aperture size: F2.4 Pixel size: 1.75 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
2 MP (Depth information) Aperture size: F2.4 Pixel size: 1.75 μm	64 MP (Telephoto, OIS, PDAF) Aperture size: F2.0 Focal Length: 29 mm Sensor size: 1/1.7" Pixel size: 0.8 μm
Flash
LED	LED
Video recording
1080p (60 fps) Time-lapse video, Hyperlapse	8K UHD (24 fps), 4K UHD (60 fps), 1080p (240 fps), 720p (960 fps) OIS, HDR, Hyperlapse, Continuous autofocus, Video light, EIS
Front
8 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 Wi-Fi Direct, 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
Type-C, USB 2.0	Type-C, USB 3.2
Sensors
Accelerometer, Gyroscope, Ambient light sensor, Proximity sensor	Accelerometer, Gyroscope, Compass, Hall (for flip covers), Barometer, Ambient light sensor, Proximity sensor
Hearing aid compatible
	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	NFC, ANT+

Multimedia

Headphones
3.5mm jack	No 3.5mm jack
Speakers
Earpiece, Loudspeaker	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, 14, 18, 19, 20, 25, 26, 28, 30, 66, 71
4G (TDD) Bands
	38, 39, 40, 41, 46, 48
3G Bands
	1, 2, 4, 5, 8
Data Speed
LTE-A, 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

Regulatory Approval

FCC approval
	Date approved: Dec 08, 2020 FCC ID value: A3LSMG991U
Measured SAR
	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 128GB storage

Memory	128GB

with 256GB storage

Memory	256GB

Dual SIM

Dual SIM	Yes

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

Discover more

Full Specs Motorola Moto G9 Play Specs PA Review Motorola Moto G9 Play Review

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