Samsung Galaxy S21 vs. Galaxy S10: What are the key differences?

Samsung Galaxy S21 vs. Galaxy S10: What are the central differences?

(Paradigm credit: Tom's Guide)

If you're shopping for a Samsung Galaxy S21, it makes sense to compare the latest phones to previous Samsung handsets, if only to see what improvements have been made. The most natural comparing focuses on how this yr's models measure upwards against the Galaxy S10 and Galaxy S10 Plus. After all, if you bought one of those ii phones when they came out in 2019, yous're likely considering an update past at present.

Such a comparing shows off several key upgrades in the latest versions. Both the Galaxy S21 and Galaxy S21 Plus offer impressive displays, a big boost in speed thank you to the Snapdragon 888 processor, meaning camera improvements, and 5G support as standard instead of requiring a separate, more expensive model.

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Two years makes a big difference in the world of smartphones, so it'south obvious that the Galaxy S21 and S21 Plus would take the high ground compared to their S10 cousins. And though the newer devices have lost a couple of features you can find in Samsung'south older phones, our Galaxy S21 vs. Galaxy S10 face-off finds that at present'southward a corking time to update.

We'll break it all down for y'all and so that y'all tin can decide for yourself.

Galaxy S21 vs. Galaxy S10 specs

	Galaxy S21	Galaxy S21 Plus	Galaxy S10	Galaxy S10+
Launch price	$799	$999	$899	$999
Screen size	6.2-inch Dynamic AMOLED (2400 x 1080; 48Hz - 120Hz)	6.7-inch Dynamic AMOLED (2400 10 1080; 48Hz - 120Hz)	six.1-inch Dynamic AMOLED (3040 x 1440; 60Hz)	6.4-inch Dynamic AMOLED (3040 x 1440; 60Hz)
Refresh rate	48-120Hz	48-120Hz	60Hz	60Hz
CPU	Snapdragon 888	Snapdragon 888	Snapdragon 855	Snapdragon 855
RAM	8GB	8GB	8GB	8GB, 12GB
Storage	128GB, 256GB	128GB, 256GB	128GB, 512GB	128GB, 512GB, 1TB
MicroSD	No	No	Yes	Yeah
Rear cameras	12MP (f/1.8) wide; 12MP (f/2.2) ultrawide; 64MP (f/2.0) telephoto with 3x optical zoom	12MP (f/1.eight) wide; 12MP (f/2.ii) ultrawide; 64MP (f/2.0) telephoto with 3x optical zoom	12MP (f/1.five, f/2.4) wide; 16MP (f/2.2) ultrawide; 12MP (f/2.four) telephoto with 2x optical zoom	12MP (f/1.five, f/ii.4) wide; 16MP (f/2.ii) ultrawide; 12MP (f/two.4) telephoto with 2x optical zoom
Front cameras	10MP (f/ii.ii)	10MP (f/2.ii)	10MP (f/1.9)	10MP (f/i.9); 8MP (f/2.2)
Battery size	4,000mAh	4,800mAh	3,400mAh	iv,100mAh
Bombardment life (Hrs:Mins)	9:53 (60Hz); 6:31 (adaptive)	9:53 (60Hz); 9:41 (adaptive)	10:xix	12:35
Wireless	5G, Wi-Fi 6E, UWB	5G, Wi-Fi 6E, UWB	LTE, Wi-Fi 6	LTE, Wi-Fi 6
Size	6 x 2.viii x 0.31 inches	half-dozen.iv x 3 x 0.31 inches	five.9 x 2.77 x .31 inches	6.2 x 2.92 ten .31 inches
Weight	half dozen.07 ounces	7.13 ounces	v.54 ounces	6.17 ounces
Colors	Phantom Violet, Phantom Grey, Phantom Pink, Phantom White	Phantom Violet, Phantom Silverish, Phantom Black	Prism White, Prism Blackness, Prism Dark-green, Prism Blue, Canary Yellowish, Flamingo Pink, Cardinal Ruby-red, Fume Blue	Prism White, Prism Black, Prism Greenish, Prism Blue, Canary Yellow, Flamingo Pink, Ceramic Blackness, Ceramic White, Cardinal Red, Smoke Blue

Galaxy S21 vs. Galaxy S10: Prices

Samsung opted to introduce the Galaxy S21 family at lower prices this year, dropping from what many considered to be besides loftier with the S20 series. The entry-level Galaxy S21 with 128GB of storage will cost you $799; add on another $fifty to get the 256GB variant.

Meanwhile, the Galaxy S21 Plus comes in at $999 for the base model and another $50 for the 256GB version.

Starting prices for the Plus models hasn't inverse, with the Galaxy S10 Plus debuting at $999 in 2019 earlier Samsung cut the price to $849 with the launch of the Galaxy S20 Plus a year after. Prices have dropped further since then.

As for the entry-level models, the Galaxy S21 is $100 cheaper than the Galaxy S10 was at launch. What's more, the S10's toll has dropped, first to $749 in 2020, with farther declines into this yr.

Should you be considering an upgrade, head to Samsung first, where the phone maker is offering rebates when you merchandise-in older models. For instance, a Galaxy S10 will get yous upward to $450 in credit on either the Milky way S21 or Galaxy S21 Plus. Nosotros're tracking the best Samsung Galaxy S21 deals at other retailers and wireless carriers every bit well.

Galaxy S21 vs. Milky way S10: Design

Samsung changed its design linguistic communication with the S20 serial, refining it for the S21. The rear cameras are confined to i corner on the dorsum instead of being a bar. The front end camera cutout is centered along the top instead of being off to one side. In short, some similarities remain between the two device families, but you really accept to look for them.

Samsung Galaxy S21 vs. Galaxy S10: Should you upgrade? — Samsung Galaxy S10 (Prototype credit: Tom'southward Guide)

The S10 and S10 Plus received plenty of fun and wacky color options, notably the yellowish one, whereas the S21 and S21 Plus are more reserved in their Phantom Violet, Phantom Gray, Phantom Pinkish (S21), Phantom Black (S21 Plus), and Phantom White (S21) colorways.

Both the S21 and S21 Plus are heavier than the S10 and S10 Plus — the S21 is virtually every bit heavy as the S10 Plus, in fact. All of these phones are the same thickness at 0.31 inches, just the S21 and S21 Plus are larger at 6 10 ii.8 inches and half dozen.iv ten three inches, respectively. Compare that to the 5.9 x ii.77-inch S10 and vi.two 10 2.92-inch S10 Plus. It'southward a moderate difference, especially given that the batteries in the S21 and Plus are bigger than those plant in the S10 and S10 Plus.

Milky way S21 vs. Galaxy S10: Brandish

Samsung has had some of the best smartphone displays for years, but with the S20 series, information technology embraced loftier refresh rates. For the Galaxy S21 and S21 Plus, Samsung lowered the screen resolution to full Hd (1080p), simply offered a variable refresh rate, which can ramp upwardly to 120Hz.

So while the total resolution isn't as loftier as the Galaxy S10 and S10 Plus, the S21 and S21 Plus can be locked to 120Hz all the fourth dimension or adaptively dropped to salve battery. The S10 models are stuck at 60Hz, though with QHD resolution.

You still take incredible displays on these older Samsung phones, just one time you see Android at ninety frames per second or higher (120fps in the case of the S21/Plus), it's hard to go back to 60. The difference is very noticeable and it's for the better.

Galaxy S21 vs. Galaxy S10: Cameras

Samsung stuck with a triple camera setup on the S21 and S21 Plus — which is basically the same equally the Milky way Annotation 20'southward — though there have been improvements to the telephoto lens. It at present sports 3x optical zoom versus the 2x on the S10 and S10 Plus, while Samsung'south Space Zoom feature can result in 30x photos on the newer phones. Information technology'southward rather impressive.

All of these Samsung phones characteristic ultrawide lenses to become those dramatic shots, especially for nature scenes. The big differences come up downwardly to software-powered camera features on the newer models, similar the crazy Infinite Zoom characteristic that tin can net you 30x zoom photos, or the Super Steady manner that uses AI to proceed your video steady.

Some photographic camera features have plant their mode to the S10 by way of software updates. Verizon users, for case, got a software update for the Galaxy S10 models that lets the Photograph, Portrait, and Hyperlapse camera modes detect low-light. Still, if you want the best camera features possible, information technology'due south better to go with the newer models.

For the front cameras, all iv phones have a 10MP sensor, though the Milky way S10 Plus adds an additional 8MP shooter alongside. If the selfie game is important to you, you won't exist disappointed with the S21 and S21 Plus, though the differences in photo quality versus the S10 and S10 Plus may non be readily apparent to most people.

Galaxy S21 vs. Milky way S10: Performance

It may seem obvious, just performance metrics will be much different between the S21 and the S10 families. The new Snapdragon 888 in the Galaxy S21 and S21 Plus is a beast and is the best performing CPU in Android land.

Conversely, the S10 and S10 Plus stone the Snapdragon 855, which is still more than fine for the vast bulk of people out there but two years older than the Snapdragon 888. Basically, unless you lot're a spec junky, there's no need to jump to the S21 just to get the bump in performance.

The Galaxy S21 and S21 Plus were the fastest Android phones we've tested when they came out, though the OnePlus 9 Pro and ROG Phone 5 take since surpassed Samsung's devices. We have a full breakdown of our original Galaxy S21 benchmarks if you're interested in checking that out.

Paired with the 8GB of RAM, you won't find anything that the S21 and S21 Plus tin can't exercise as far equally smartphones become. The higher-finish version of the S10 Plus came with 12GB of RAM as an option, which could be helpful with keeping more apps in retention. That being said, nosotros're confident that near of you will exist just fine with the S21/Plus' 8GB.

Storage on all of these phones starts at 128GB. The S21 and S21 Plus go upwardly to 256GB, while the S10 topped out at 512GB. That doesn't even come close to what the top-tier S10 Plus saw: a whopping 1TB. All of that was on top of a microSD carte slot, which the S21 series lacks. Then if you store all the things on your phone and you opted for the 512GB or 1TB options on your S10 or S10 Plus, you may want to observe a backup solution elsewhere if you're upgrading to an S21 or S21 Plus.

5G connectivity comes standard on the Galaxy S21 and S21 Plus, which are compatible with all the 5G networks available in the U.South. Samsung released a separate Galaxy S10 5G dorsum in 2019, and it was a pretty pricey model for early adopters.

Galaxy S21 vs. Galaxy S10: Battery and charging

Both the Galaxy S21 and S21 Plus pack larger batteries than their S10 counterparts. The smaller S21 has a four,000 mAh battery compared to the S10's iii,400mAh; the S21 Plus houses a 4,800 mAh battery versus the S10+'south four,100mAh.

Not merely are the batteries physically bigger in the S21 series, but they're paired with the more power-efficient Snapdragon 888. Samsung has besides talked about the new AI features on the S21 and S21 Plus, challenge that it will learn your usage patterns and adjust the power consumption accordingly.

Sadly, that didn't translate to slap-up times in our battery exam, where we take phones surf the web until they run out of ability. The Milky way S21 lasted ix hours, 53 minutes and that was with the telephone's display set at 60Hz; turn on the adaptive display and the S21 ran out of juice 3 hours faster. The Galaxy S21 Plus turned in a more consistent performance in line with the boilerplate smartphone. However, the Galaxy S10 and S10 Plus both lasted longer on a charge when nosotros tested those phones in 2019.

The S21 family unit features 25W fast charging, meaning yous can top off your phone pretty apace, assuming you lot buy the charger separately since it'south non included with the phones. The S10 and S10 Plus saw 15W charging out of the box. (The S10 5G had 25W fast charging.)

It's worth noting that none of the Galaxy S21 phones come up with a charger, and then in order to get the total fast charging experience, you'll demand to pay separately for a charging brick. Some make arguments for this, in terms of reducing electronic waste matter and packaging, merely we understand why some might observe this decision annoying.

Galaxy S22 vs. Milky way S10: What virtually the Milky way S22?

Of grade, information technology'southward a new year, which means that it's fourth dimension for a new round of Galaxy S devices. The Galaxy S22 is correct effectually the corner, and so if you're notwithstanding belongings onto your Galaxy S10, then nosotros'd recommend you hold out merely a little scrap longer. Rumors paint all iii Galaxy S22 models to be significant upgrades over your current hardware. Three years volition do that.

Unless y'all find a steal of a deal on a Galaxy S21, we think information technology's best to wait to see what Samsung has in shop. We won't accept to look long.

Galaxy S21 vs. Galaxy S10: Bottom line

If you're nonetheless using a Galaxy S10 or S10 Plus, the S21 and S21 Plus are swell options if you're looking to, or are ready for, an upgrade. You'll get even better displays, 5G, improvements to the cameras, faster charging, and bigger batteries. Not only that, but you go the latest that Qualcomm has to offering with the Snapdragon 888 processor.

Coming from the S20 series is a much smaller bound, so unless yous actually desire Samsung's latest, there's non a whole lot you lot're missing out on. It is amazing, however, what a difference 2 years can make in smartphone technology.

Information technology's a bummer that the S21 and S21 Plus don't include a charger, simply the truly grating omission is the removal of the microSD bill of fare slot. Why Samsung did this remains a mystery, but information technology's not going to be a move that makes users happy. If yous must have expandable storage, it's probably best to stick with your S10 or S10 Plus, or catch 1 of the S20 phones at present that their prices have gone downward.

Fifty-fifty so, it'south no surprise that the Galaxy S21 and S21 Plus are superior to their S10 cousins. If you're gear up to upgrade, these might be the Samsung models that finally push button you to trade in your telephone.

Hashemite kingdom of jordan is the Phones Editor for Tom's Guide, covering all things phone-related. He's written about phones for over v years and plans to continue for a long while to come up. He loves null more relaxing in his habitation with a book, game, or his latest personal writing project. Jordan likes finding new things to dive into, from books and games to new mechanical keyboard switches and fun keycap sets. Hashemite kingdom of jordan tends to lurk on social media, but you tin can best reach him on Twitter.