iPhone 12 vs Samsung Galaxy S21: Which should you spend your £800 on?
The fight is surprisingly closet. Michael Simon reports
The year has barely begun and we already have our first heavyweight smartphone battle of 2021. Samsung has released its line-up of Galaxy S21 phones a little earlier than usual this year, and it’s clear they have Apple’s newest phone in its sights. Samsung hasn’t reinvented the S21 as much as it’s retooled it to take on the iPhone 12, with a lower price point, sharper design, and some new camera tricks.
Here’s how the two £800 smartphones stack up.
DESIGN
Samsung’s Galaxy S is always at the forefront of Android smartphone design and the S21 continues that tradition. Samsung has crafted a truly unique design where the metal sides seamlessly blend into the camera array, as if it were snapped onto the back. The back is made of plastic rather than glass, but it still has a premium feel, even if it’s not quite as luxurious as the S20.
Of course, the iPhone is no slouch in the looks department. Apple introduced a new, flatter design with the iPhone 12 that has a retro charm reminiscent of the iPhone 4, and it feels great to hold. The square camera array is nearly identical to the iPhone 11’s and not nearly as unique as the S21’s.
The two phones are very similar in size. The S21 is slightly bigger and a bit heavier. However, Samsung has done a fantastic job with distributing the weight on the S21, so it doesn’t feel as heavy as it weighs:
iPhone 12: 146.7x71.5x7.4mm, 171g
Galaxy S21: 151.7x71.2x7.9mm, 164g
Both phones come in a variety of colours that basically boil down to personal preference, but Samsung’s unique design stands out here as well. The camera array is treated as a design element and is made to stand out with a bold metal housing. It’s one of the most unique designs Samsung has ever made, and it makes the iPhone 12 look a little stale.
My pick: The Galaxy S21
DISPLAY
Now that Apple has gone OLED and Samsung has gone Full HD, the iPhone 12 and Galaxy S21 have very similar displays:
iPhone 12: 6.1in Flat Full HD+ Super Retina XDR (2,532x1,170), 460ppi, 60Hz
Galaxy S21: 6.2in Flat FHD+ Infinity-O Display (2,400x1,080), 421ppi, 120Hz
Marketing terms and tenth-of-aninch aside, the only real difference between the two displays is the refresh rate. Samsung is once again using a 120Hz screen on the S21, and this year it’s adaptive, meaning it will switch dynamically from a high refresh to low, depending on what you’re doing, in order to save battery life.
You’re also choosing between a hole or a notch. The iPhone 12 sticks with the rather large notch at the top of the screen that houses the TrueDepth camera and sensors for Face ID, while Samsung has a small hole in the centre for its selfie camera.
The iPhone 12’s display is excellent, and thanks to the speed of system-onchip, it feels extremely fast. But the S21 takes it a step further with its buttery-smooth scrolling that feels effortless.
My pick: Galaxy S21
PROCESSOR, RAM, STORAGE, AND BATTERY
As usual, both phones feature the very latest in chip tech. The iPhone uses Apple’s own A14 Bionic processor, while the S21 sticks with Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 888. I haven’t tested the S21 yet, but it will likely be extremely fast even if its benchmarks don’t quite measure up to Apple’s impressive results. When it comes to memory, Samsung has dialled back the RAM a bit from the S20’s ridiculous 12GB,
but the 8GB inside the S21 should be plenty. Apple has only 4GB in the iPhone 12, but iOS 14’s optimizations make it seem like there’s much more. Samsung also beats Apple with storage, offering 128GB in the S21 compared to the iPhone 12’s 64GB.
Battery life is a bit more complicated. On paper, the S21 boasts a 4,000mAh battery versus the iPhone 12’s 2,815mAh one, but real-world results will be much more important. The iPhone 12’s battery life bested that of Android phones with nearly twice as much battery capacity in 2020, so I expect both phones to make it though a full day of use with ease. When it comes to charging, both phones offer fast charging via the included cable, 20 watts via the iPhone and 25 watts with the S21. They both offer 10 watts wireless charging as well, and the iPhone also offers MagSafe magnetic charging via optional accessories.
Elsewhere, both phones have sub6GHz and mmWave 5G, and Wi-Fi 6 for speedy connectivity, as well as IP68 water resistance. The iPhone 12 also has a U1 ultra-wide band chip for precise location mapping, but you’ll
need to upgrade to one of the other models (S21+ or S21 Ultra) to get that on the S21. Like last year, the iPhone 12 has Face ID, while the S21 has an ultrasonic in-display fingerprint sensor.
My pick: iPhone 12
CAMERA
Somewhat surprisingly, both Samsung and Apple opted to stick with similar camera hardware compared to their respective predecessors. In the S21’s case, the triple-camera system is identical to the S20’s, while Apple only slightly upgraded the wide-angle sensor on the iPhone 12 with a wider aperture (f/1.6 vs f/1.8).
You’ll find more improvements in the software that drives the hardware. Samsung claims the S21 takes brighter pictures in the dark, Portrait Mode “more accurately separates the subject from the background” and Space Zoom “minimizes shaky hands and captures clearer images at 30x zoom”. Meanwhile, the iPhone 12 is one of the best smartphone cameras you can buy, with stellar shooting in all kinds of light and situations.
However, while we already know the iPhone 12 takes great photos, it doesn’t have anywhere near the power of 30X zoom. In fact, it doesn’t have a zoom lens at all, so you’ll need to get very close to your subject. On paper, the Galaxy S21 has the superior shooter, but we’ll need to test it out to see.
My pick: Galaxy S21
OS AND UPDATES
As always, you’re getting the latest OS with each of these phones – One UI 3.1 based on Android 11 with the S21, and iOS 14 with the iPhone 12 –
but the future isn’t as clear. Since the launch of the Galaxy S20, Samsung has promised all new phones will get three generations of Android updates, so the S21 is guaranteed to get Android 14 when it arrives in 2023. Apple technically offers no such guarantee, but iPhones are generally supported for five years of upgrades. For example, the iPhone 6s, which launched with iOS 9 in 2016, got iOS 14 when it landed in September.
You’re also guaranteed to get iOS updates on the day they arrive, something that isn’t so certain with the S21. While monthly security updates land quickly, new versions of Android often take months before they arrive on the latest phones.
My pick: iPhone 12
VERDICT
Samsung and Apple have been competitors for as long as they’ve been making phones, but it’s been a while since they’ve had phones that were such close competitors. I’m still testing the S21 and will have a full review soon. Based on first impressions, though, the iPhone 12 has a very tough fight on its hands and might need to relinquish its crown for the best premium smartphone value.