Samsung Galaxy A9 (2018) vs Samsung Galaxy S21 Specs Comparison

Availability

Officially announced
Oct 11, 2018	Jan 14, 2021
Prices (MSRP)
	$800

Design

Dimensions
6.40 x 3.03 x 0.31 inches 162.5 x 77 x 7.8 mm	5.97 x 2.80 x 0.31 inches 151.7 x 71.2 x 7.9 mm
Weight
6.46 oz / 183.0 g	6.03 oz / 171.0 g
Materials
Back: Glass Frame: Metal	Back: Plastic Frame: Aluminum
Resistance
	Water, Dust; IP68
Biometrics
2D Face unlock, Fingerprint (touch)	2D Face unlock, Ultrasonic in-screen fingerprint
Keys
Left: Other; Right: Volume control, Lock/Unlock key; Back: Other	Right: Volume control, Lock/Unlock key
Colors
Caviar black, Lemonade blue, Bubblegum pink	Phantom pink, Violet, Gray, White

Display

Size
6.3-inch, 80.51% screen-to-body	6.2-inch, 86.06% screen-to-body
Type
Super AMOLED	Dynamic AMOLED, 120Hz, HDR, 1300 nits
Resolution
2220x1080px, 18.5:9 ratio, 392 PPI	2400x1080px, 20:9 ratio, 424 PPI
Protection
	Corning Gorilla Glass Victus

PhoneArena Display Test

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

Learn more on our PhoneArena Display Test Results page.

Hardware

System chip
Snapdragon 660 SDM660 (14 nm)	Snapdragon 888 (5 nm)
Processor
Octa-core 2200 MHz Kryo 260	Octa-core 1x2.84GHz Kryo 680 3x2.42GHz Kryo 680 4x1.80GHz Kryo 680
GPU
Adreno 512	Adreno 660
Memory
6GB (LPDDR4)/128GB	8GB (LPDDR5)/128GB (UFS 3.0) 8GB/256GB
Storage expansion
microSDXC up to 512 GB	not expandable
OS
Android (10, 9.0 Pie, 8.0 Oreo)	Android (13, 12, 11)

Battery

Type
3800 mAh, Li - Polymer	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: 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
24 MP (PDAF) Aperture size: F1.7 Focal length: 27 mm Sensor size: 1/2.8" Pixel size: 0.9 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: F2.4 Focal Length: 12 mm Sensor size: 1/4" Pixel size: 1.12 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
8 MP (Telephoto, Autofocus) Optical zoom: 2.0x Aperture size: F2.4 Focal Length: 52 mm Sensor size: 1/3.9" Pixel size: 1 μm	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: F2.2 Focal Length: 24 mm Sensor size: 1/5" Pixel size: 1.12 μm
Flash
LED	LED
Video recording
4K UHD (30 fps), 1080p (30 fps) Hyperlapse, Continuous autofocus, EIS, Video calling, Video sharing	8K UHD (24 fps), 4K UHD (60 fps), 1080p (240 fps), 720p (960 fps) OIS, HDR, Hyperlapse, Continuous autofocus, Video light, EIS
Front
24 MP 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, 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, Hall (for flip covers), 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	GPS, A-GPS, Glonass, Galileo, BeiDou, Cell ID, Wi-Fi positioning
Other
NFC, ANT+, VoIP, Tethering, Computer sync, OTA sync	NFC, ANT+

Multimedia

Headphones
3.5mm jack	No 3.5mm jack
Speakers
Earpiece, Loudspeaker	Earpiece, Multiple speakers
Features
Album art cover, Background playback	32-Bit DAC, Dolby Atmos, aptX, Dolby Digital, Dolby Digital Plus
Screen mirroring
Wireless screen share
Radio
FM

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, 20, 26, 28, 66	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 Cat 9 (450/50 Mbit/s), HSDPA+ (4G) 42.2 Mbit/s, HSUPA, UMTS	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: Oct 18, 2018 FCC ID value: A3LSMA920F	Date approved: Dec 08, 2020 FCC ID value: A3LSMG991U
Measured SAR
Head: 0.24 W/kg Body: 0.84 W/kg Simultaneous Transmission: 1.58 W/kg Wireless Router: 1.40 W/kg Phablet: 3.95 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

Dual SIM

Dual SIM	Yes

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

Discover more

Full Specs Samsung Galaxy A9 (2018) Specs PA Review Samsung Galaxy A9 (2018) Review

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