All three phones did extremely well to capture a very dark scene but the S21 (left) missed a bit of the detail that the iPhone 12 (center) and Pixel 5 (right) grabbed.
In dark photos, the S21 tended to overly brighten photos so they lost some detail as seen here in this shot. 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). Somewhat surprisingly, both Samsung and Apple opted to stick with similar camera hardware compared to their respective predecessors. Like last year, the iPhone 12 has 3D facial recognition, while the S21 has an ultrasonic in-display fingerprint sensor, which is improved but still not as secure or speedy as Face ID.
The iPhone 12 also has a U1 ultrawide 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. They both offer 10W wireless charging as well, and the iPhone also offers MagSafe magnetic charging via optional accessories.Įlsewhere, both phones have sub-6GHz and mmWave 5G, and Wi-Fi 6 for speedy connectivity, as well as IP68 water resistance. When it comes to charging, neither phone includes a charger in the box, though both phones offer fast charging with a capable charger, 20W with the iPhone 12 and 25W with the S21.
Both phones did well to last through an entire day, though I tended to get a bit more juice with the iPhone 12.
The iPhone 12’s battery life bested that of Android phones with nearly twice as much battery capacity in 2020 and it outperforms the S21 here too. 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 Galaxy S21 isn’t just about looks-it’s also one of the fastest Android phones you can buy.īattery life is a bit more complicated. Samsung also beats Apple with base storage, offering 128GB in the S21 compared to the iPhone 12’s 64GB, though you can upgrade to 128GB for $50. Both phones were able to store dozens of recent apps screens and handle transitions and app switching without an issue. Apple has only 4GB in the iPhone 12, but iOS 14’s optimizations make it seem like there’s much more. When it comes to memory, Samsung has dialed back the RAM a bit from the S20’s ridiculous 12GB, but the 8GB inside the S21 should be plenty.