Samsung's Galaxy S21 phone line was announced at a virtual event in January. (Here's where to order one.) The latest version of Samsung's flagship Galaxy phone is the successor to the Galaxy S20 line, released in 2020. If you're in the market for an upgrade, you may be wondering: What exactly are the differences between the two Galaxy phones? Is it worth the $800 for an upgrade? (Or maybe you should go with a Galaxy S20 FE or one of the new Galaxy A series models?)
Here's everything you need to know for now about how the Galaxy S21 compares with the Galaxy S20. We chose a winner for each category below based purely on specs. For a more in-depth look at Samsung's new phones, read our full reviews of the Galaxy S21 and Galaxy S21 Ultra.
The base Samsung Galaxy S21 includes a 6.2-inch Dynamic AMOLED 2X display with a 120Hz refresh rate, a 4,000-mAh battery and three rear camera lenses, including a 12-megapixel ultrawide lens. It runs on Android 11, and has a new Snapdragon 888 processor. The phone gets a major price drop compared with its predecessor, starting at $800 (£769, AU$1,249).
The Galaxy S21 and Galaxy S20 are extremely similar when it comes to displays. Both feature 6.2-inch Dynamic AMOLED screens, a 120Hz refresh rate and an in-screen fingerprint sensor. The differences are relatively small: The S21 has a pixel density of 421ppi, compared with the S20's 563ppi. The S21 is also slightly heavier, at 6.03 ounces, while the S20 weighs 5.75 ounces.
The two phones also appear to be close to identical in design. The only major difference in appearance is the rear camera module -- on the S21, it has a metal overlay. Both phones are IP68-rated for water and dust resistance.Neither phone has a headphone jack.
In terms of colors, the Galaxy S21 comes in pastels called phantom violet, phantom gray, phantom pink and phantom white (other colors are available for the S21 Plus and Ultra models). The Galaxy S20 is available in cosmic gray, cloud blue, cloud pink and cosmic black.
