Samsung Galaxy A42 vs Samsung Galaxy S21 Specs Comparison

Availability

Officially announced
Sep 02, 2020	Jan 14, 2021
Prices (MSRP)
€340	$800

Design

Dimensions
6.47 x 2.99 x 0.34 inches 164.4 x 75.9 x 8.6 mm	5.97 x 2.80 x 0.31 inches 151.7 x 71.2 x 7.9 mm
Weight
6.81 oz / 193.0 g	6.03 oz / 171.0 g
Materials
	Back: Plastic Frame: Aluminum
Resistance
	Water, Dust; IP68
Biometrics
Optical in-screen fingerprint	2D Face unlock, Ultrasonic in-screen fingerprint
Keys
Right: Volume control, Lock/Unlock key	Right: Volume control, Lock/Unlock key
Colors
Prism Dot black, Prism Dot white, Prism Dot grey	Phantom pink, Violet, Gray, White

Display

Size
6.6-inch, 84.26% screen-to-body	6.2-inch, 86.06% screen-to-body
Type
Super AMOLED, 60Hz	Dynamic AMOLED, 120Hz, HDR, 1300 nits
Resolution
1600x720px, 20:9 ratio, 266 PPI	2400x1080px, 20:9 ratio, 424 PPI
Protection
	Corning Gorilla Glass Victus

PhoneArena Display Test

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

Learn more on our PhoneArena Display Test Results page.

Hardware

System chip
Snapdragon 750G SM7225 (8 nm)	Snapdragon 888 (5 nm)
Processor
Octa-core 2x2.2GHz Kryo 570 6x1.8GHz Kryo 570	Octa-core 1x2.84GHz Kryo 680 3x2.42GHz Kryo 680 4x1.80GHz Kryo 680
GPU
Adreno 619	Adreno 660
Memory
4GB (LPDDR4)/128GB	8GB (LPDDR5)/128GB (UFS 3.0) 8GB/256GB
Storage expansion
microSDXC up to 1000 GB	not expandable
OS
Android (12, 11, 10)	Android (13, 12, 11)

Battery

Type
5000 mAh	4000 mAh, Li - Polymer
Charging
Samsung Adaptive Fast 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	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
Quad camera	Triple camera
Main camera
48 MP (PDAF) Aperture size: F1.8 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
8 MP (Ultra-wide) Aperture size: F2.2	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
5 MP (Macro) Aperture size: F2.4	64 MP (Telephoto, OIS, PDAF) Aperture size: F2.0 Focal Length: 29 mm Sensor size: 1/1.7" Pixel size: 0.8 μm
Fourth camera
5 MP (Depth information) Aperture size: F2.4
Flash
LED	LED
Video recording
4K UHD (30 fps), 720p (480 fps)	8K UHD (24 fps), 4K UHD (60 fps), 1080p (240 fps), 720p (960 fps) OIS, HDR, Hyperlapse, Continuous autofocus, Video light, EIS
Front
20 MP (Autofocus)	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, Compass, 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, BeiDou, 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

Cellular

5G Bands
n1, n3, n5, n7, n8, n28, Sub-6	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, 17, 20, 28	1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 8, 12, 13, 14, 18, 19, 20, 25, 26, 28, 30, 66, 71
4G (TDD) Bands
38, 40, 41	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, HSDPA+ (4G) 42.2 Mbit/s, HSUPA 5.76 Mbit/s, UMTS
Dual SIM
Yes
SIM type
Nano SIM	Nano SIM

Regulatory Approval

FCC approval
Date approved: Apr 08, 2021 FCC ID value: A3LSMA426U	Date approved: Dec 08, 2020 FCC ID value: A3LSMG991U
Measured SAR
Head: 1.11 W/kg Body: 1.25 W/kg Simultaneous Transmission: 1.59 W/kg Wireless Router: 1.06 W/kg Phablet: 3.81 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 storage

Memory	256GB

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
Samsung Galaxy A42 Specs	Samsung Galaxy S21 Specs
PhoneArena Review
	Samsung Galaxy S21 Review
User Reviews
	Samsung Galaxy S21 User Reviews