Samsung Galaxy S8 vs Samsung Galaxy S21+ Specs Comparison

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	6.7-inch
Resolution
2960x1440px, 18.5:9 ratio, 570 PPI	2400x1080px, 20:9 ratio, 393 PPI
Technology
Super AMOLED	Dynamic AMOLED
Refresh rate
	120Hz (adaptive)
Screen-to-body
84.26 %	88.63 %
Peak brightness
	1300 cd/m2 (nit)
Features
HDR support, Scratch-resistant glass (Corning Gorilla Glass 5), Ambient light sensor, Proximity sensor	HDR support, Scratch-resistant glass (Corning Gorilla Glass Victus), Ambient light sensor, Proximity sensor

Hardware

System chip
Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 MSM8998 (10 nm)	Qualcomm 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
RAM
4GB (LPDDR4)	8GB (LPDDR5)
Internal storage
64GB	128GB (UFS 3.0)
Storage expansion
microSDXC up to 256 GB	not expandable
OS
Android (9.0 Pie, 8.0 Oreo, 7.0 Nougat), Samsung One UI	Android (13, 12, 11), Samsung One UI

Battery

Capacity
3000 mAh	4800 mAh
Type
Li - Ion	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
3840x2160 (4K UHD) (30 fps), 2560x1440 (QHD), 1920x1080 (Full HD) (60 fps), 1280x720 (HD) (240 fps) HDR, Time-lapse video, Hyperlapse, Continuous autofocus, Object tracking, Picture-taking during video recording, Video light, EIS, Video calling, Video sharing	7680x4320 (8K UHD) (24 fps), 3840x2160 (4K UHD) (60 fps), 1920x1080 (Full HD) (240 fps), 1280x720 (HD) (960 fps) OIS, HDR, Hyperlapse, Video light, EIS
Front
8 MP (Wide Angle, Autofocus, HDR), Video capture: 2560x1440 (QHD)	10 MP (PDAF, HDR), Video capture: 3840x2160 (4K UHD) (60 fps)

Connectivity & Features

Bluetooth
5.0, Yes	5.0
WLAN
802.11 a,b,g,n,ac,dual-band MIMO, Wi-Fi Direct, Hotspot	802.11 a,b,g,n,ac,ax(Wi-Fi 6),dual-band MIMO, Wi-Fi Direct, Hotspot
USB
Type-C, USB 3.1	Type-C, USB 3.2
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
Sensors
Accelerometer, Gyroscope, Compass, Hall (for flip covers), Barometer	Accelerometer, Gyroscope, Compass, Hall (for flip covers), Barometer
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	Wireless screen share
Radio
	FM
Additional microphone(s)
Noise cancellation, Video recording	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(2100), 2(1900), 3(1800), 4(AWS-1), 5(850), 7(2600), 8(900), 12(700 a), 13(700 c), 17(700 b), 18(800 Lower), 19(800 Upper), 20(800 DD), 25(1900+), 26(850+), 28(700 APT), 29(700 d), 30(2300 WCS), 66(AWS-3)	Bands 1(2100), 2(1900), 3(1800), 4(AWS-1), 5(850), 7(2600), 8(900), 12(700 a), 13(700 c), 14(700 PS), 18(800 Lower), 19(800 Upper), 20(800 DD), 25(1900+), 26(850+), 28(700 APT), 30(2300 WCS), 66(AWS-3), 71(600)
4G (TDD)
Bands 38(2600), 39(1900+), 40(2300), 41(2600+)	Bands 38(2600), 39(1900+), 40(2300), 41(2600+), 46, 48(3600)
3G
Bands 1(2100), 2(1900), 5(850), 8(900)	Bands 1(2100), 2(1900), 4(1700/2100), 5(850), 8(900)
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

Buyers information

MSRP
	$ 1000
In The Box
	C to C Data Cable, Ejection Pin

Availability

Officially announced
Mar 29, 2017	Jan 14, 2021

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(2100), 2(1900), 3(1800), 4(AWS-1), 5(850), 7(2600), 8(900), 12(700 a), 13(700 c), 17(700 b), 18(800 Lower), 19(800 Upper), 20(800 DD), 25(1900+), 26(850+), 28(700 APT), 32(1500 L-band), 66(AWS-3)
4G (TDD)	Bands 38(2600), 39(1900+), 40(2300), 41(2600+)
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

Internal storage	256GB
MSRP	$ 1050

for T-Mobile

4G (FDD)	Bands 2(1900), 4(AWS-1), 5(850), 12(700 a)
3G	Bands 5(850), 4(1700/2100), 2(1900), 1(2100)
VoLTE	Yes

for Europe

System chip	Samsung Exynos 2100 (5 nm)
Processor	Octa-core 1x 2.91GHz Cortex-X1 + 3x 2.81GHz Cortex-A78 + 4x 2.2GHz 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(1900), 3(1800), 4(AWS-1), 5(850), 7(2600), 8(900), 13(700 c), 18(800 Lower), 19(800 Upper), 20(800 DD), 26(850+), 28(700 APT)
4G (TDD)	Bands 38(2600), 39(1900+), 40(2300), 41(2600+)
3G	Bands 5(850), 8(900), 2(1900), 1(2100)

for U.S. Cellular

4G (FDD)	Bands 2(1900), 4(AWS-1), 5(850), 8(900), 12(700 a), 13(700 c), 17(700 b), 18(800 Lower), 19(800 Upper), 25(1900+)
4G (TDD)	Bands 38(2600), 39(1900+), 40(2300)
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