Samsung introduced its Galaxy S21 lineup earlier this week – a vanilla Galaxy S21, a plus model that provides largely the same internals in a larger package and the Ultra that has a strong claim for the throne of the ultimate cameraphone. We already compared the three new phones, but now it’s time to look at the upgrades they bring over the outgoing Galaxy S20 family.

Samsung Galaxy S21 5G vs Samsung Galaxy S20 5G

What changed: The vanilla phone brings a brand new design and a flat screen, which may be an upgrade or a downgrade depending on where you stand. The new chipset should bring substantial performance upgrade, but the display saw its resolution dropped to 1080p. The panel has adaptive refresh rate though, so it should be way more power-efficient.

Faster chipset
Lower starting price (€850 vs €999)
256GB storage option
Stronger Gorilla Glass Victus protection
Flat screen
New design

Display downgraded from QHD+ to Full HD+
Slightly wider and heavier
No microSD slot
No earphones or charger in retail box (in most markets)
Plastic back

DETAILED SPECS COMPARISON

Samsung Galaxy S21+ 5G vs Samsung Galaxy S20+ 5G

What changed: The changes between the S20+ and S21+ are largely the same as those on the vanilla phones – you get the new look and color palette, the flat screen and the refreshed internals with the main cameras remaining unchanged. The S21+ drops the ToF sensor, but we doubt it will be dearly missed.

Bigger battery (4,800 mAh vs 4,500 mAh)
Faster chipset
256 GB storage option
Lower starting price (€1,050 vs €1,099)
Stronger Gorilla Glass Victus protection
Flat screen
New design
UWB support

Display downgraded from QHD+ to Full HD+
No ToF camera
Slightly wider and heavier
No microSD slot
No earphones or charger in retail box (in most markets)

DETAILED SPECS COMPARISON

Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra 5G vs Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra 5G

What changed: The Ultra member certainly got the most changes over its predecessor even if it retained the curved QHD+ screen. It’s now an adaptive refresh rate panel that goes down to 10Hz when you see static content.

Yet arguably the biggest upgrades are around the back where the single 5x telephoto unit of the S20 Ultra is replaced by a 3x and 10x units, largely increasing flexibility. The ultrawide camera gained autofocus, while the main sensor is a new design that should boost low-light performance further.

New 108MP sensor
10x optical zoom camera
Second 3x telephoto camera

Lower starting price (€1,250 vs €1,349)
Stronger Gorilla Glass Victus protection
Ultrawide cam with autofocus
4K@60 fps video recording with all cameras
First Galaxy S smartphone with S Pen support
Samsung’s first 1440p+ 120Hz display (10-120Hz), 1,500 nits
Faster chipset and RAM
New design, more color options

Fast charging downgraded from 45W to 25W
Slightly heavier
No microSD slot
No earphones or charger in retail box (in most markets)

DETAILED SPECS COMPARISON