Xiaomi Mi 10 vs Samsung Galaxy S21 Plus: Which to Pick?

Introduction

While Samsung's Galaxy S21 Plus hit stores in January 2021, Xiaomi's Mi 10 went on sale in February 2020.

We are looking at how the Mi 10 and the Galaxy S21 Plus compare to each other to help you decide which might be the right one for you.

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

 Click here  to check who their rivals are.

Price*			vs.
Device	Mi 10	Galaxy S21 Plus
Release Date	2020, February	2021, January	1y.
OS Updates	1 year	3 years	2y.
Security Updates	4 years	4 years	0y.

*Reference: 100: Apple iPhone 13 Pro Max.

Which One Has The Best Performance?

As for performance, Geekbench 5 scores the Mi 10 7% ahead of its competitor in the multi-core ranking. On daily usage, you wouldn't be able to notice any relevant differences between them.  ? 

The Mi 10's performance does stand out if you consider its rivals. It got a score of 3322, compared to the usual 2390, or close to that.

We can classify both of them as high-end.

Performance*			vs.
Features	Mi 10	Galaxy S21 Plus
SoC	Snapdragon 865	Exynos 2100
Graphics	Adreno 650	Mali-G78 MP14
Geekbench 5 Score	3322	3113	-209
OS	Android 10 and MIUI 12	Android 11 and OneUI
Tek-Score	7.4	7.0	-0.3

*Reference: 100: Apple iPhone 13.

Which Phone Has The Best Display?

The Galaxy S21 Plus is the winner here, but the Mi 10 is just as good.

Considering the Mi 10, you should know that 84% of its rivals can play HDR content, 96% have an AMOLED screen, and 88% have an Always-On display.

Regarding the Galaxy S21 Plus, please be aware that 84% of its rivals can play HDR content and have an Always-On display, and all have an AMOLED screen.

Display Density (DPIs)*			vs.
Features	Mi 10	Galaxy S21 Plus
Size	6.6	6.7	0.1
Screen Type	AMOLED	AMOLED
Resolution (px)	1080x2340	1080x2400	64800
Refresh Rate	90hz	120hz	30
Dots per Inch	390.49	392.81	2.32
Always-On-Display	Yes	Yes
Notch	Hole	Hole
Peak Brightness	854 nits	883 nits	29
HDR	HDR10+	HDR10+
Sub Tek-Score	8.6	9.0	0.4
Protection	Corning Gorilla Glass 5	Corning Gorilla Glass Victus
Tek-Score	6.6	9.6	3.0

*Reference: 100: Sony Xperia 1 II.

Which Phone Has The Best Cameras?

The Xiaomi Mi 10 should have an overall better camera.

About the Mi 10: I'm counting on DXOMARK to review this camera, and by its specs, I bet it'll get close to 131* points. If you also consider its wide-angle lens, you'll end up with a score of 144**.

PS: you should know that all of its rivals can record videos in 4K or more and have an ultra-wide-angle lens, and 88% feature Optical Image Stabilization. However, only 16% of them feature a macro lens.

About the Galaxy S21 Plus: DXOMARK has rated this camera with a score of 123. Plus, combining with its wide-angle lens, we get a score of 137 points. For an out-and-out review, check their article.

Furthermore, all of its rivals can record videos in 4 or 8K and have an ultra-wide-angle lens, and 92% feature Optical Image Stabilization. Regardless, only 20% of them feature a macro lens.

If you prefer, we can grade these two as high-end.

Have you noticed yet? If you want a telephoto lens, you better wrap it up and start looking for other devices like the OnePlus 9 Pro. But that won't fully satisfy you either because cellphones like the Galaxy S20 Ultra aren't too good to be true anymore.

*DXOMARK is a well-known market reference when it comes to camera benchmarking. Too bad they don't get a chance to test most of the cameras out there. So what do I do? I do my best to get a comparable score by evaluating hardware specs only (sensor size, Aperture, HDR, OIS, Lenses, and so on). This score should have a 2 points (more or less) error threshold.  ? 

**Please take this with a grain of salt, particularly on mid-end cameras with less than 40MP and no zoom lens. These guys recently updated their test protocol, and I need more reviewed devices to fine-tune older scores.

Picture Quality*			vs.
Primary Camera	Mi 10	Galaxy S21 Plus
Megapixels	108	12	-96
Aperture	1.7	1.8	0.1
Lens	24mm	26mm	2
Lens Type	Wide-Angle	Wide-Angle
Flash	2	1	-1
HDR	Yes	Yes
OIS	Yes	Yes
Video	4320	4320	0
Score	144	137	-7

*Reference: 100: Xiaomi Mi 11 Ultra.

Extra Camera(s)	Mi 10	Galaxy S21 Plus	vs.
Megapixels	13	64	51
Aperture	2.4	2.0	-0.4
Lens	12mm	29mm	17
Lens Type	Ultra-wide-Angle	Regular
Megapixels	2	12	10
Aperture	2.4	2.2	-0.2
Lens	-	13mm
Lens Type	Macro	Ultra-wide-Angle
Megapixels	2	-
Aperture	2.4	-
Lens Type	Depth Sensor	-
Score	13	14	1

Selfie Camera	Mi 10	Galaxy S21 Plus	vs.
Megapixels	20	10	-10
Aperture	2.0	2.2	0.2
Lens	-	26mm

	Mi 10	Galaxy S21 Plus	vs.
Tek-Score	8.5	8.1	-0.4

Who has the best frame?

I'd go for the Galaxy S21 Plus for its number of color options and water resistance.

The Mi 10 is 8 g. (0.28 oz) heavier than the other, weighing about 200 g. (7.05 oz). But because screen size also matters, the "weight to display size" score of the Mi 10 is 3.5, which means it's kind of weighty for a 6.6 inches screen. The Galaxy S21 Plus, in its turn, has 4.6, so nothing to state here.  ? 

The Galaxy S21 Plus is rated IP68, which means it's water-resistant in up to 1 to 3 meters. That should be for up to 30 minutes, and it's in standby mode only. So don't take photos underwater.

Looks*			vs.
Body	Mi 10	Galaxy S21 Plus
Size	162 x 74 x 9 mm (5.71 x 2.61 x 0.32 in)	161 x 75 x 7 mm (5.68 x 2.65 x 0.25 in)	-23367
Weight	208 g. (7.34 oz)	200 g. (7.05 oz)	-8
Build	Front and back glass	Front and back glass
Colors	Coral Green, Peach Gold, and Twilight Grey	Phantom Black, Phantom Violet, Phantom Silver, Phantom Red, Phantom Gold, and Phantom Pink
Screen To Body Ratio	89.20%	89.75%	0.56
Disp.Size To Weight Score	3.5	4.6	1.1
Looks	9.1/10	10.0/10	0.8
Waterproof	-	IP68
Biometrics	Under Display Fingerprint	Under Display Fingerprint
Tek-Score	1.8	7.2	5.4

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

Which has the best battery?

In theory, they should have about the same battery life because they have the same capacity: about 4780 mAh. And as reported by GSMArena, you shouldn't expect notable differences here.

For the record, both of them also don't have many rivals at any given price range. Do check our best-of listing.

Mi 10's Quick wireless charging is likewise snappy. That's uncommon in its class.

Battery*			vs.
Features	Mi 10	Galaxy S21 Plus
Capacity (mAh)	4780	4800	20
1h Talk + 1h Web + 1h Video	84% left	84% left	0
1h Talk + 3h Web + 1h Video	71% left	70% left	-1
1h Talk + 1h Web + 3h Video	74% left	74% left	0
Bat. To Phone Size Score  ?	3.7	3.6	-0.2
Sub Tek-Score	7.6	7.6	0.0
Fast Charging	30w	25w	-5
Wireless Charging	30w	15w	-15
Reverse Charging	5w	4.5w	-0.5
Tek-Score	7.7	7.3	-0.4

*Reference: 90: Samsung Galaxy A42.

Which has more storage?

There isn't a winner here.

Storage*			vs.
Features	Mi 10	Galaxy S21 Plus
RAM (GB)	8GB	8GB	0
Internal (GB)	128GB	128GB	0
Micro SD	No	No
Tek-Score	6.0	6.0	0.0

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

Which is the most connectivity-friendly?

You can only get Bluetooth 5.1 with the Mi 10.

Do you still favor wired headphones? None of them will help you with that. 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. Perhaps you don't mind settling with the Galaxy Note 10 Lite.

They both run on (LTE and) 5G networks.

Connectivity			vs.
Features	Mi 10	Galaxy S21 Plus
Network	5G	5G
Bluetooth	5.1	5.0
NFC	Yes	Yes
3.5mm jack	No	No
Tek-Score	5.1	4.6	-0.5

Which is more affordable?

Here's what we've found out:

Reference: $529

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Xiaomi Mi 10

Reference: $999

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$650.00

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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)

So, what about that global score? We'll get there. Just so you have an idea, take a look at where its adversaries average. They usually sit close to 6.7 (for the Mi 10) and 6.9 (for the Galaxy S21 Plus).

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

What can the Xiaomi Mi 10 give you that the Samsung Galaxy S21 Plus can't:

- More affordable

- Faster wireless charging (30w vs. 15w)

- Bluetooth 5.1

What can the Samsung Galaxy S21 Plus give you that the Xiaomi Mi 10 can't:

- Higher refresh rates

- Better glass protection

- Better display

- Water-resistant

- More OS updates (3 additional years)

Pros	Mi 10	Galaxy S21 Plus
#1	Performance	Performance
#2	AMOLED	AMOLED
#3	Always-On-Display	Always-On-Display
#4	Cameras	Cameras
#5	Battery Life	Battery Life
#6	Fast Charging	Fast Charging
#7	Wireless Charging	Wireless Charging
#8		Glass Protection

Cons	Mi 10	Galaxy S21 Plus
#1	MicroSD Slot	MicroSD Slot
#2	Weight	Weight
#3	3.5mm Jack	3.5mm Jack
#4	Price	Price

Relative Score*			vs.
Global Score	Mi 10	Galaxy S21 Plus
Gaming Score	7.4	7.6	0.2
Tek-Score	6.76	7.43	0.67
Your Score

*Reference: 100: Samsung Galaxy Note 20 Ultra.

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.

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