Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra vs. Xiaomi Mi 11 vs. Huawei Mate 40 Pro vs. OnePlus 8T

The Samsung Galaxy S21 are official. They are the benchmark in the high end of Samsung for this year, pending the folding, a possible Note 21 and other surprises. From the Samsung Galaxy S21 trio, the Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra is the top model. The high end of the high end.

The Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra is one of the first powerful mobiles of the year and, like every time we have a powerful mobile, we can only wonder how it compares to the rest of the high end. To find out, it is compared to other recent mobiles such as the Xiaomi Mi 11, the Huawei Mate 40 Pro +, the OnePlus 8T, the Realme X50 Pro, the Sony Xperia 1 II and the OPPO Find X2 Pro.

OLED and 120 Hz: the new standard

It looks like it was yesterday when all mobile displays have been running at 60Hz for a lifetime, but since 2019 the highest refresh rates have started to be imposed. First, 90 Hz has timidly entered our lives and today the standard, at least in the high end, is 120 Hz refresh. This is the case with the Galaxy S21 Ultra panel, in addition to the Xiaomi Mi 11, OnePlus 8T and the OPPO Find X2 Pro.

The Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra is the only one in its series to retain the QHD + resolution, thanks to which it is equivalent to the resolution of the rest of the mobiles in our comparison. The only ones that keep the FHD + resolution are those with a slightly smaller screen, like the OnePlus 8T, with its 6.55 inches, or the Realme X50 Pro, with 6.44 inches.

If all high-end mobiles agree on something, it’s to mount an OLED screen and includes a perforated front camera. The notch is officially a thing of the past at high-end, and the only terminal that doesn’t pierce the screen is the Sony Xperia 1 II, which mounts the camera to the top frame.

Snapdragon, Exynos 2100 and a Kirin

At the high end, the most powerful Qualcomm processor at the moment remains the most common choice. This is exactly what is happening in OPPO, Sony, Realme and OnePlus betting, with Snapdragon 865, and Xiaomi Mi 11, the first to include the new Snapdragon 888. Huawei, veto between the two, juggles to mount its own Kirin 9000 in the Mate 40 Pro + and Samsung announces the return of Exynos with its Exynos 2100.

These will be the benchmarks that will have the last word on the actual performance of the Exynos 2100, even if on paper it seems fairly equal to the Snapdragon 888. As for the RAM, the Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra is well served, with 12 or 16 GB of RAM of your choice. No other mobile in our comparison achieves 16 GB of RAM.

The Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra is a powerful mobile, with 165mm wide, 8.9mm thick and 228 grams in weight. Only the Huawei Mate 40 Pro + comes close, a little smaller but heavier. The good news is that this bigger size goes hand in hand with a bigger battery, 5000 mAh capacity, which is relatively common in the mid-range and entry-level range, but not among the more powerful mobiles.

This battery includes Fast charge 25 W and wireless 15 W. These are a bit short numbers compared to the competition, where OPPO, OnePlus, Realme and Huawei already include charging at 65W. With 15W wireless charging, three quarters of the same: it doesn’t know much about the 50W wireless charging of the Xiaomi Mi 11.

108 megapixels and spatial zoom

One of the main features of the Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra along with the rest of the models in its series is in the cameras. Same design, but a lens, ToF and a handful of megapixels more. There is a sensor for all tastes: 108 main megapixels, two 10 and 12 megapixel telephoto lenses and a 12 megapixel wide angle. By putting them together, the “spatial zoom” of 100x is obtained.

Being a sensor created in collaboration with Xiaomi, it’s no surprise that the Xiaomi Mi 11 includes it as well, albeit in a triple and not a quad camera. The rest of the mobiles in our comparison bet on 64 or 48 MP triple or quadruple camerasAlthough the case of the Huawei Mate 40 Pro + is remarkable, it has a five times 50 + 12 + 8 + 20 + ToF camera.

Onward, the Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra wins the resolution award thanks to its 40 megapixel sensor for selfies. Well above the 8 MP of the Sony Xperia 1 II, although with a lens, unlike the Realme X50 Pro and the Huawei Mate 40 Pro +.

In terms of connectivity, and not surprisingly, all terminals are 5G, although the Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra scores some points in other connectivity technologies by integrating UWB and Wi-Fi 6E, not present in the others.

Comparison chart

As always, we leave you the comparison table with all the main terminal specifications. This way you can see at a glance what has and what is missing from the Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra compared to its direct rivals.