which one to choose?

Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra 5G appeared on the market in January 2021, while the iPhone 13 Pro had a little less time to “shine” in the year of the announcement, as the launch took place in September 2021. However, the top of the line they compete for the same market share and demonstrate features that may leave the public in doubt as to what makes the most sense for their type of use.

Each has other advantages, which represent the efforts of each manufacturer in trying to provide a unique user experience. On the one hand we have an experience dedicated to Android fans, and on the other one for those who are more familiar with iOS.

Design

The design of mobile phones is quite different. Each manufacturer has a distinct visual signature, which helps to differentiate the devices between them and the other competitors. However, taking care to give a premium look to flagships is something parallel to Apple and Samsung.

That’s because both the S21 Ultra 5G and the iPhone 13 Pro have hard glass under construction, Gorilla Glass for Samsung and Ceramic Shield for Apple. These surfaces are carefully crafted, the matte texture mimicking other types of materials, making it more enjoyable to use in everyday life. A major advantage, however, is the prevention of excessive fingerprints. Although the design of the iPhone 13 Pro is controversial, the phone is lighter than the Galaxy S21 Ultra 5G. In this way, keeping the Apple model for hours is a little less tiring than the Samsung mobile phone. The front cutout for the camera is higher on the iPhone 13 Pro due to Face ID sensors. Given the use of the display and how much it influences the user experience, the Samsung smartphone is more enjoyable with the cutout in Infinity-O format.

Another difference of this device is the compatibility with S Pen, which is the stylus developed by the company for the models in the Note line. However, it is sold separately.

Screen

iPhone 13 Pro inherits the screen from 12 Pro, an OLED Super Retina XDR, to which is added “ProMotion”, the ability to dynamically adjust the refresh rate up to 120 Hz. Galaxy S21 Ultra 5G also has some aspects that show how much Samsung has evolved in this regard, especially in terms of resolution and brightness.

The Samsung model also has a 120 Hz refresh rate. Apple’s ProMotion brings switching between 10 Hz and 120 Hz to suit the needs of every application or game, but doesn’t allow you to change settings. On the Samsung device the screen is Dynamic AMOLED 2X with HDR10 +. Regarding the refresh rate, you can keep the setting in the default mode when the display operates at 60 Hz, or the adaptive version can be turned on and the refresh rate varies between 45 Hz and 120 Hz.

The Samsung screen is also brighter, with up to 1,500 nits. In the case of the iPhone 13 Pro, the maximum reached is 1,200 nits.

Camera

In terms of photography, iPhone 13 Pro has 4 cameras, three in the module installed on the back and one for selfies. The S21 Ultra 5G has 5 cameras, four of which are located behind the smartphone and one for front use.

The iPhone 13 Pro also has a LiDAR sensor to help scan 3D objects, as well as make it easier to dim the background in a protracted way. This is also its main differentiating factor compared to S21 Ultra 5G.

However, the optical zoom of the most premium model of the Galaxy line is distinguished by the fact that it offers two operating formats, in which a sensor offers images with an approximation of up to 3x without affecting too much the image quality. The second camera can magnify up to 10x, and this helps to reach more distant objects.

When shooting, the Galaxy S21 Ultra 5G stands out for having a “Pro Mode” and allows videos recorded with your smartphone to have color and brightness adaptable to the type of content you want. On the other hand, the iPhone 13 Pro has the image stabilizer directly on the sensor. This mechanism helps to keep the images more stable, being able to compensate for the movements of the user’s hands.

Processor and memory

As they are two top phones, both Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra 5G and iPhone 13 Pro benefit from important high-performance hardware in daily use in various activities. In practice, the A15 Bionic chipset turns out to be slightly faster than the Exynos 2100 in general. However, iOS is not as customizable as Samsung’s Android One UI.

In terms of RAM, Apple does not invest too much in this direction, adopting a configuration with only 6GB of RAM. Samsung, on the other hand, offers 12GB and 16GB alternatives. In terms of internal storage, both the iPhone 13 Pro and the S21 Ultra 5G offer 128 GB, 256 GB, 512 GB and 1 TB as space alternatives.