Apple iPhone 12 vs Samsung Galaxy S21 Plus: Which to Pick?

Introduction

While Samsung's Galaxy S21 Plus hit stores last January, Apple's iPhone 12 went on sale in October 2020.

Here you can look at the iPhone 12 and the Galaxy S21 Plus, compare each other's features, and decide which one is best for you. Let us delve into the finer details.

For additional information regarding our smartphone comparisons, check this FAQ.

 Click here  to check who their rivals are.

Price*			vs.
Device	iPhone 12	Galaxy S21 Plus
Release Date	2020, October	2021, January	1y.
OS Updates	6 years	3 years	-3y.
Security Updates	6 years	4 years	-2y.

*Reference: 100: Samsung Galaxy Note 20 Ultra.

Which One Has The Best Performance?

Performance-wise, Geekbench 5 (IOS)(Android) scores the iPhone 12 31% ahead in the multi-core ranking. If you value performance, be aware of that difference, as it will be noticeable daily. You should be aware that apps on iOs usually run smoother because of the optimizations that Apple does.  ? 

Are you looking for the quickest phone around? The iPhone 12 is clearly above the average if you consider related-priced phones. While they got a score of about 2658, it has 4067. That puts it 53% above them.

We can classify both of them as high-end.

Performance*			vs.
Features	iPhone 12	Galaxy S21 Plus
SoC	Apple A14	Exynos 2100
Graphics	Apple GPU	Mali-G78 MP14
Geekbench 5 Score	4067	3113	-954
OS	iOS 14.1	Android 11 and OneUI
Tek-Score	8.8	7.2	-1.6

*Reference: 100: Apple iPhone 12.

Which Phone Has The Best Display?

The Galaxy S21 Plus is the title-holder here, and you'd be able to tell the difference.

If you favor small notches, at least the Galaxy S21 Plus has a tinier notch.

The Galaxy S21 Plus has one disadvantage against the rest of its class: Its low DPI display.

About the iPhone 12, you should know that 88% of its rivals can play HDR content. Plus, all have an AMOLED screen, and 96% have an Always-On display.

Regarding the Galaxy S21 Plus, 89% of its rivals can play HDR content. Plus, all have an AMOLED screen, and 93% have an Always-On display.

Display Density (DPIs)*			vs.
Features	iPhone 12	Galaxy S21 Plus
Size	6.1	6.7	0.6
Screen Type	AMOLED	AMOLED
Resolution (px)	1170x2532	1080x2400	-370440
Refresh Rate	60hz	120hz	60
Dots per Inch	457.25	392.81	-64.45
Always-On-Display	No	Yes
Notch	Wedge	Hole
Peak Brightness	639 nits	883 nits	244
HDR	HDR10	HDR10+
Sub Tek-Score	2.9	9.0	6.0
Protection	Corning Gorilla Glass Victus	Corning Gorilla Glass Victus
Tek-Score	7.5	9.6	2.1

*Reference: 100: Sony Xperia 1 II.

Which Phone Has The Best Cameras?

Be aware that the iPhone 12's picture quality is, on average, 38 points above other cameras for the same budget. So the Galaxy S21 Plus isn't good enough to win this battle.

About the iPhone 12: This camera came out of DXOMARK's labs with a score of 132. If you also consider its wide-angle lens, it'll get 139 points. For an in-depth review, click here.

I hope this helps: you'd probably like to know that all of its rivals can record videos in 4K or more and have an ultra-wide-angle lens, and 96% feature Optical Image Stabilization. Nevertheless, only 8% of them feature a macro lens.

About the Galaxy S21 Plus: On DXOMARK's reviewing article, they gave this shooter 123 points. Plus, combining with its wide-angle lens, this score goes up to 137 points. For an out-and-out review, check their article.

Lastly, all of its rivals can record videos in 4 or 8K and have an ultra-wide-angle lens, and 93% feature Optical Image Stabilization. Additionally, only 15% of them feature a macro lens.

One can place these two as high-end.

Have you noticed yet? If you want a telephoto lens, just ignore these two and check the Sony Xperia 1 II or the OnePlus 8 Pro instead. Or just forget them because devices like the Galaxy S20 Ultra and the Galaxy Note 20 Ultra aren't too good to be true anymore.

Picture Quality*			vs.
Primary Camera	iPhone 12	Galaxy S21 Plus
Megapixels	12	12	0
Aperture	1.6	1.8	0.2
Lens	26mm	26mm	0
Lens Type	Wide-Angle	Wide-Angle
Flash	4	1	-3
HDR	Yes	Yes
OIS	Yes	Yes
Video	2160	4320	2160
Score	139	137	-2

*Reference: 100: Xiaomi Mi 11 Ultra.

Extra Camera(s)	iPhone 12	Galaxy S21 Plus	vs.
Megapixels	12	64	52
Aperture	2.4	2.0	-0.4
Lens	13mm	29mm	16
Lens Type	Ultra-wide-Angle	Regular
Megapixels	-	12
Aperture	-	2.2
Lens	-	13mm
Lens Type	-	Ultra-wide-Angle
Score	7	14	7

Selfie Camera	iPhone 12	Galaxy S21 Plus	vs.
Megapixels	12	10	-2
Aperture	2.2	2.2	0.0
Lens	23mm	26mm	3

	iPhone 12	Galaxy S21 Plus	vs.
Tek-Score	8.2	8.1	-0.1

Who has the best frame?

If you're still undecided about them, the iPhone 12 is a better choice based on its weight. But I don't see any meaningful winner here.

The Galaxy S21 Plus is 36 g. (1.42 oz) heavier than the other, weighing about 164 g. (5.78 oz). If you're looking for a lightweight device, I've come up with an adapted "display size to phone weight ratio" score. The iPhone 12 got 6.9, which suggests a pretty nice weight for a 6.1 inches display. In the meantime, the Galaxy S21 Plus has 4.6, so nothing to state here.  ? 

The iPhone 12 is resistant to water up to 1 to 3 meters, much like the Galaxy S21 Plus. But remember: it's for a maximum period of half an hour, and it's in standby mode only. So don't take photos underwater.

Looks*			vs.
Body	iPhone 12	Galaxy S21 Plus
Size	146 x 71 x 7 mm (5.15 x 2.50 x 0.25 in)	161 x 75 x 7 mm (5.68 x 2.65 x 0.25 in)	11963
Weight	164 g. (5.78 oz)	200 g. (7.05 oz)	36
Build	Front and back glass	Front and back glass
Colors	Black, Red, White, Green, and Blue	Phantom Black, Phantom Violet, Phantom Silver, Phantom Red, Phantom Gold, and Phantom Pink
Screen To Body Ratio	88.18%	89.75%	1.57
Disp.Size To Weight Score	6.9	4.6	-2.3
Looks	10.0/10	10.0/10	0.0
Waterproof	IP68	IP68
Biometrics	Face ID	Under Display Fingerprint
Tek-Score	8.6	7.2	-1.4

*100% = 4+ colors + front and back glass + S2BR: 86+%.

Which has the best battery?

At 2815 mAh, the iPhone 12 is the owner of the smallest battery, while the Galaxy S21 Plus features 4800 mAh. And according to GSMArena's tests, the winner is the Galaxy S21 Plus.

What's even better, the Galaxy S21 Plus is also beating most smartphones. Let's see if it still has a place on our top 10 list of smartphones with the best battery life.

Battery*			vs.
Features	iPhone 12	Galaxy S21 Plus
Capacity (mAh)	2815	4800	1985
1h Talk + 1h Web + 1h Video	79% left	84% left	5
1h Talk + 3h Web + 1h Video	64% left	70% left	6
1h Talk + 1h Web + 3h Video	64% left	74% left	10
Bat. To Phone Size Score  ?	6.4	4.1	-2.3
Sub Tek-Score	6.9	7.6	0.7
Fast Charging	20w	25w	5
Wireless Charging	15w	15w	0
Reverse Charging	No	4.5w	4.5
Tek-Score	6.6	7.3	0.7

*Reference: 90: Samsung Galaxy A31.

Which has more storage?

Definitely, the Galaxy S21 Plus.

In terms of RAM, the iPhone 12 brings 4GB. In terms of storage, it has 64GB. Furthermore, other devices from this budget usually deliver more RAM and more storage. They're around 8GB of RAM and 143Gb of storage.

Most people should be OK with only 64 GB of internal storage. However, if you love to have or record tons of videos, you'll find out that 64 GB won't be enough for you.

Storage*			vs.
Features	iPhone 12	Galaxy S21 Plus
RAM (GB)	4GB	8GB	4
Internal (GB)	64GB	128GB	64
Micro SD	No	No
Tek-Score	2.8	6.0	3.3

*Internal Storage + 256GB Memory Card (Max: 512GB).

Which is the most connectivity-friendly?

If you still don't know which to pick, you can skip this section.

There isn't much to say about the 3.5mm headphone jack, except that it simply isn't here. Want a piece of advice? Forget about adapters and go for the wireless buds. There also are other options out there if you're not really leaning towards any of these. You can get that with the Sony Xperia 1 II.

You can connect them to (LTE and) 5G networks.

Connectivity			vs.
Features	iPhone 12	Galaxy S21 Plus
Network	5G	5G
Bluetooth	5.0	5.0
NFC	Yes	Yes
3.5mm jack	No	No
Tek-Score	4.6	4.6	0.0

Which is more affordable?

Here are the best prices that we've found:

Reference: $880

Check now!

$689.99

$729.99

Check now

Apple iPhone 12

Reference: $999

$749.99

$600.00

$799.99

Check now

Samsung Galaxy S21 Plus

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Prices on eBay are in $US but Europe-based. You can click to check the prices in your country.

Prices marked with ! are from renewed/refurbished/carrier-locked phones (except eBay prices that, as a last resort, can be from bids or used devices).

How much of a "phone" can your money buy?
That's how much "score" you can get with $100 based on the global score that you'll see in the next section (higher is better).

Have you found better prices elsewhere? The formula is simple: score/price*100.

Also, don't forget to check the latest deals from these four stores, and the state of the art on mobile technology, if you don't want to overpay on your next smartphone.

Related articles:

Best smartphone deals

The Best Unbiased Smartphones For All Budgets

Smartphone Specs Statistics: The State Of The Art (Q1 2021)

Want to know about that global score? First, let me mention the average at their price range. They aren't that far from 7.0 for these two.

Verdict: What Makes the Samsung Galaxy S21 Plus Stand Out?

What can the Apple iPhone 12 give you that the Samsung Galaxy S21 Plus can't:

- Cleaner user interface

- Lighter (36 g./1.27 oz less)

- More OS updates (2 additional years)

What can the Samsung Galaxy S21 Plus give you that the Apple iPhone 12 can't:

- Better peak brightness

- Higher refresh rates

- An Always-On display

- Better display

- A larger display (+0.6")

- Better battery life

- Reverse wireless charging

- More internal storage (128GB vs. 64GB)

- More RAM (8GB vs. 4GB)

Pros	iPhone 12	Galaxy S21 Plus
#1	Performance	Performance
#2	AMOLED	AMOLED
#3	Cameras	Always-On-Display
#4	Fast Charging	Cameras
#5	Wireless Charging	Battery Life
#6	Glass Protection	Fast Charging
#7		Wireless Charging
#8		Glass Protection

Cons	iPhone 12	Galaxy S21 Plus
#1	Always-On-Display	MicroSD Slot
#2	MicroSD Slot	Weight
#3	3.5mm Jack	3.5mm Jack
#4	Price	Price

Relative Score*			vs.
Global Score	iPhone 12	Galaxy S21 Plus
Gaming Score	6.3	7.6	1.3
Tek-Score	6.76	7.47	0.71
Your Score

Scroll the sliders down below to get your own personalized score. Let's suppose you value performance and battery life, and you don't really care about anything else. Then, just set the "Performance" and the "Battery" sliders up to 5 (5+5=10), and then the other sliders down to 0. You'll know what's the best phone for you.

*Reference: 100: Samsung Galaxy Note 20 Ultra.

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