Samsung Galaxy S8 vs Samsung Galaxy S21+ Specs Comparison

Availability

Officially announced
Mar 29, 2017	Jan 14, 2021
Prices (MSRP)
	$1000

Design

Dimensions
5.86 x 2.68 x 0.31 inches 148.9 x 68.1 x 8.0 mm	6.35 x 2.98 x 0.31 inches 161.5 x 75.6 x 7.8 mm
Weight
5.47 oz (155.0 g)	7.13 oz (202.0 g)
Materials
Back: Glass (Corning Gorilla Glass 5) Frame: Aluminum	Back: Glass (Corning Gorilla Glass Victus) Frame: Aluminum
Resistance
Water, Dust; IP68	Water, Dust; IP68
Biometrics
Iris scanner, 2D Face unlock, 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
Midnight black, Orchid gray, Arctic silver, Coral blue, Maple gold, Rose pink, Burgundy red	Phantom silver, Black, Violet

Display

Size
5.8-inch, 84.26% screen-to-body	6.7-inch, 88.63% screen-to-body
Type
Super AMOLED, HDR	Dynamic AMOLED, 120Hz, HDR, 1300 nits
Resolution
2960x1440px, 18.5:9 ratio, 570 PPI	2400x1080px, 20:9 ratio, 393 PPI
Protection
Corning Gorilla Glass 5	Corning Gorilla Glass Victus

Hardware

System chip
Snapdragon 835 MSM8998 (10 nm)	Snapdragon 888 (5 nm)
Processor
Octa-core 2350 MHz Kryo 280	Octa-core 1x2.84GHz Kryo 680 3x2.42GHz Kryo 680 4x1.80GHz Kryo 680
GPU
Adreno 540	Adreno 660
Memory
4GB (LPDDR4)/64GB	8GB (LPDDR5)/128GB (UFS 3.0) 8GB/256GB
Storage expansion
microSDXC up to 256 GB	not expandable
OS
Android (9.0 Pie, 8.0 Oreo, 7.0 Nougat)	Android (13, 12, 11)

Battery

Type
3000 mAh, Li - Ion	4800 mAh, Li - Polymer
Charging
Qualcomm Quick Charge 2.0 Qi and Powermat 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: 25.0W Wireless: 15.0W

PhoneArena Battery Tests

Battery Life Estimate

Untested

Browsing

Untested

Video

Untested

Gaming

Untested

Battery Life Estimate

5h 26min

Browsing

10h 50min

Video

8h 27min

Gaming

8h 36min

Learn more on our PhoneArena Battery Test Results page

Camera

Rear
Single camera	Triple camera
Main camera
12 MP (OIS, PDAF) Aperture size: F1.7 Focal length: 26 mm Sensor size: 1/2.55" Pixel size: 1.4 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) Aperture size: F1.8 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: 1/2.55" Pixel size: 0.8 μm
Flash
LED	LED
Video recording
4K UHD (30 fps), QHD, 1080p (60 fps), 720p (240 fps) HDR, Time-lapse video, Hyperlapse, Continuous autofocus, Object tracking, Picture-taking during video recording, Video light, EIS, Video calling, Video sharing	8K UHD (24 fps), 4K UHD (60 fps), 1080p (240 fps), 720p (960 fps) OIS, HDR, Hyperlapse, Video light, EIS
Front
8 MP (Wide Angle, Autofocus, HDR) Video capture: QHD	10 MP (PDAF, HDR) Video capture: 4K UHD (60 fps)

Connectivity & Features

Bluetooth
5.0, Yes	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 3.1	Type-C, USB 3.2
Sensors
Accelerometer, Gyroscope, Compass, Hall (for flip covers), Barometer, Ambient light sensor, Proximity sensor	Accelerometer, Gyroscope, Compass, Hall (for flip covers), Barometer, Ambient light sensor, Proximity sensor
Hearing aid compatible
M3/T3	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, ANT+, UMA (Wi-Fi Calling), Tethering, Computer sync, OTA sync	NFC, ANT+

Multimedia

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

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
1, 2, 5, 8	1, 2, 4, 5, 8
Data Speed
LTE-A Pro Cat 16 (1000/150 Mbit/s), HSDPA+ (4G) 42.2 Mbit/s, HSUPA 5.76 Mbit/s, UMTS	LTE-A, HSDPA+ (4G) 42.2 Mbit/s, HSUPA 5.76 Mbit/s, UMTS
SIM type
Nano SIM	Nano SIM
HD Voice
Yes

Regulatory Approval

FCC approval
Date approved: Apr 06, 2017 FCC ID value: A3LSMG950U	Date approved: Dec 18, 2020 FCC ID value: A3LSMG996U
Measured SAR
Head: 0.49 W/kg Body: 0.48 W/kg Simultaneous Transmission: 1.53 W/kg Wireless Router: 0.46 W/kg	Head: 0.65 W/kg Body: 0.95 W/kg Simultaneous Transmission: 1.59 W/kg Wireless Router: 1.04 W/kg Phablet: 3.97 W/kg

Alternative variants

International version

System chip	Samsung Exynos 9 Octa 8895 (10 nm)
Processor	Octa-core 2300 MHz Exynos M2 "Mongoose" and ARM Cortex-A53
GPU	Mali-G71 MP20
4G (FDD) Bands	1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 8, 12, 13, 17, 18, 19, 20, 25, 26, 28, 32, 66
4G (TDD) Bands	38, 39, 40, 41
FCC approval	Date approved: Sep 05, 2017 FCC ID value: A3LSMG950F
Measured SAR	Head: 0.38 W/kg Body: 0.75 W/kg Simultaneous Transmission: 1.55 W/kg Wireless Router: 1.09 W/kg

with 256GB storage

Memory	256GB
Prices (MSRP)	$1050

for T-Mobile

4G (FDD) Bands	2, 4, 5, 12
3G Bands	5, 4, 2, 1
VoLTE	Yes

for Europe

System chip	Samsung Exynos 2100 (5 nm)
Processor	Octa-core 1x2.91GHz Cortex-X1 3x2.81G​Hz Cortex-A78 4x2.2G​Hz Cortex-A55
GPU	Mali G78 MP14
Weight	7.05 oz (200.0 g)
5G Bands	SA, NSA, Sub-6
FCC approval	Date approved: Dec 18, 2020 FCC ID value: A3LSMG996B
Measured SAR	Head: 0.24 W/kg Body: 0.75 W/kg Simultaneous Transmission: 3.59 W/kg Wireless Router: 1.26 W/kg Phablet: 1.95 W/kg

for Verizon Wireless

4G (FDD) Bands	2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 8, 13, 18, 19, 20, 26, 28
4G (TDD) Bands	38, 39, 40, 41
3G Bands	5, 8, 2, 1

for U.S. Cellular

4G (FDD) Bands	2, 4, 5, 8, 12, 13, 17, 18, 19, 25
4G (TDD) Bands	38, 39, 40
Data Speed	LTE-A, HSPA, UMTS

with Dual SIM

System chip	Samsung Exynos 9 Octa 8895 (10 nm)
Processor	Octa-core 2500 MHz Exynos M2 "Mongoose"and ARM Cortex-A53
GPU	Mali-G71 MP20
Dual SIM	Yes

Links

Full specifications
Samsung Galaxy S8 Specs	Samsung Galaxy S21+ Specs
PhoneArena Review
Samsung Galaxy S8 Review	Samsung Galaxy S21+ Review
User Reviews
Samsung Galaxy S8 User Reviews	Samsung Galaxy S21+ User Reviews