Asus Zenfone 8 vs Samsung Galaxy S21
A spec-by-spec comparison of the Asus Zenfone 8 and the Samsung Galaxy S21, taken from their full specification sheets. Green marks the better value in each measured row.
Head to head
| Asus Zenfone 8 | Samsung Galaxy S21 |
|---|
| Price | $399 | $145 |
| Our rating | 8/10 | 8/10 |
| Battery | 4,000 mAh | 4,000 mAh |
| Wired charging | 30W | 25W |
| Storage (max) | 256 GB | 256 GB |
| Screen size | 5.9 in | 6.2 in |
| Refresh rate | 120 Hz | 120 Hz |
| Main camera | 64 MP | 64 MP |
| Weight (lower is lighter) | 169 g | 169 g |
| Released | May 2021 | Jan 2021 |
Summary: Asus Zenfone 8 is ahead on wired charging. Samsung Galaxy S21 is ahead on screen size.
★ Which should you buy? Specs are close to an even split here, so Samsung Galaxy S21 is the better buy — the extra cost of the other one isn't matched by a clear spec advantage.
Reviewed by the infozme.com Editorial Team — see how we research & rate phones.
Display
| Asus Zenfone 8 | Samsung Galaxy S21 |
|---|
| Type | Super AMOLED, 120Hz, HDR10+, 1100 nits (peak) | Dynamic AMOLED 2X, 120Hz, HDR10+, 1300 nits (peak) |
| Size | 5.9 inches, 84.6 cm2 (~82.9% screen-to-body ratio) | 6.2 inches |
| Resolution | 1080 x 2400 pixels, 20:9 ratio (~446 ppi density) | 1080 x 2400 pixels, 20:9 ratio (~421 ppi density) |
| Protection | Corning Gorilla Glass Victus | Corning Gorilla Glass Victus |
| Features | 1ms response time, 240Hz touch sampling rate | — |
Platform
| Asus Zenfone 8 | Samsung Galaxy S21 |
|---|
| Chipset | Qualcomm SM8350 Snapdragon 888 5G (5 nm) | — |
| CPU | Octa-core (1x2.84 GHz Cortex-X1 & 3x2.42 GHz Cortex-A78 & 4x1.80 GHz Cortex-A55) | — |
| GPU | Adreno 660 | — |
| OS | — | Android 11, upgradable to Android 14 (with One UI 6.1) |
| Chipset (International) | — | Exynos 2100 (5 nm) |
| Chipset (USA/China/Korea) | — | Qualcomm Snapdragon 888 5G (5 nm) |
| CPU (Exynos) | — | Octa-core (1x2.9 GHz Cortex-X1 & 3x2.80 GHz Cortex-A78 & 4x2.2 GHz Cortex-A55) |
| CPU (Snapdragon) | — | Octa-core (1x2.84 GHz Kryo 680 & 3x2.42 GHz Kryo 680 & 4x1.80 GHz Kryo 680) |
| GPU (Exynos) | — | Mali-G78 MP14 |
| GPU (Snapdragon) | — | Adreno 660 |
Memory
| Asus Zenfone 8 | Samsung Galaxy S21 |
|---|
| RAM Options | 6GB, 8GB, 16GB LPDDR5 | — |
| Storage Options | 128GB, 256GB UFS 3.1 | — |
| Card Slot | No | No |
| RAM | — | 8GB |
| Internal Storage | — | 128GB, 256GB |
Main Camera
| Asus Zenfone 8 | Samsung Galaxy S21 |
|---|
| Dual | 64 MP, f/1.8, 26mm (wide), 1/1.73", 0.8µm, PDAF, OIS (Sony IMX686); 12 MP, f/2.2, 14mm, 112˚ (ultrawide), 1/2.55", 1.4µm, dual pixel PDAF (Sony IMX363) | — |
| Features | LED flash, HDR, panorama | LED flash, auto-HDR, panorama |
| Video | 8K@24fps, 4K@30/60fps, 1080p@30/60/240fps, EIS | 8K@24fps, 4K@30/60fps, 1080p@30/60/240fps, 720p@960fps, HDR10+ |
| Triple | — | 12 MP, f/1.8, 26mm (wide), 1/1.76", 1.8µm, Dual Pixel PDAF, OIS; 64 MP, f/2.0, 29mm (telephoto), 1/1.72", 0.8µm, PDAF, OIS, 1.1x optical zoom, 3x hybrid zoom; 12 MP, f/2.2, 13mm, 120˚ (ultrawide), 1/2.55", 1.4µm, Super Steady video |
Selfie Camera
| Asus Zenfone 8 | Samsung Galaxy S21 |
|---|
| Single | 12 MP, f/2.5, 28mm (standard), 1/2.93", 1.22µm, dual pixel PDAF (Sony IMX663) | 10 MP, f/2.2, 26mm (wide), 1/3.24", 1.22µm, Dual Pixel PDAF |
| Features | HDR | Dual video call, Auto-HDR |
| Video | 4K@30fps, 1080p@30/60fps, EIS | 4K@30/60fps, 1080p@30fps |
Battery
| Asus Zenfone 8 | Samsung Galaxy S21 |
|---|
| Type | Li-Po 4000 mAh, non-removable | Li-Ion 4000 mAh, non-removable |
| Charging | 30W wired, PD3.0, QC4 (60% in 25 min, 100% in 80 min advertised), 10W reverse wired | 25W wired, PD3.0; 15W wireless (Qi/PMA); 4.5W reverse wireless |
Body
| Asus Zenfone 8 | Samsung Galaxy S21 |
|---|
| Dimensions | 148 x 68.5 x 8.9 mm (5.83 x 2.70 x 0.35 in) | 151.7 x 71.2 x 7.9 mm (5.97 x 2.80 x 0.31 in) |
| Weight | 169 g (5.96 oz) | 169 g (Sub6), 171 g (mmWave) |
| Build | Glass front (Gorilla Glass Victus), glass back (Gorilla Glass 3), aluminum frame | Glass front (Gorilla Glass Victus), plastic back, aluminum frame |
| SIM | Dual SIM (Nano-SIM, dual stand-by) | Dual Nano-SIM; eSIM |
| Water & Dust Resistance | IP68 dust/water resistant | — |
| Water Resistance | — | IP68 dust/water resistant (up to 1.5m for 30 min) |
Comms
| Asus Zenfone 8 | Samsung Galaxy S21 |
|---|
| WLAN | Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac/6/6e, dual-band, Wi-Fi Direct | Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac/6, dual-band, Wi-Fi Direct |
| Bluetooth | 5.2, A2DP, LE, aptX HD, aptX Adaptive | 5.0, A2DP, LE |
| Positioning | GPS (L1+L5), GLONASS (L1), BDS (B1/B1c/B2a), GALILEO (E1+E5a), QZSS (L1+L5), NavIC (L5) | GPS, GLONASS, BDS, GALILEO |
| NFC | Yes | Yes |
| Radio | No | FM radio (Snapdragon model only) |
| USB | USB Type-C 2.0, OTG | USB Type-C 3.2, OTG |
Launch
| Asus Zenfone 8 | Samsung Galaxy S21 |
|---|
| Announced | May 12, 2021 | 2021, January 14 |
| Status | Released May 13, 2021 | Available. Released 2021, January 29 |
| OS | Android 11, upgradable to Android 13, ZenUI 8 | — |
Frequently asked questions
Which is newer, Asus Zenfone 8 or Samsung Galaxy S21?
Asus Zenfone 8 — May 2021 for the Asus Zenfone 8 versus Jan 2021 for the Samsung Galaxy S21.
Is the Asus Zenfone 8 or the Samsung Galaxy S21 rated higher?
We rate the Asus Zenfone 8 8/10 and the Samsung Galaxy S21 8/10.
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