Now that the Galaxy S21 Ultra is available, there is an obvious question: how does its performance compare to Samsung’s previous flagship, the Galaxy Note 20 Ultra? Gary Sims ran a realistic speed test of the Snapdragon versions of the S21 Ultra and Note 20 Ultra to find out, and one galaxy emerged as the clear winner.
Ultimately, this was a way of gauging the Snapdragon 888’s performance. The Galaxy S21 Ultra won every speed test with a significant (if not cavernous) lead and finished every benchmark a few seconds faster than the Snapdragon 865 Plus-based Note 20 Ultra. The greatest relative advantage was mixed-use tasks, but there was never any doubt about the guide.
See also: Speed test G: Galaxy Note 20 Ultra versus OnePlus 8 Pro
In particular, the Exynos 2100-based Galaxy S21 Ultra was still faster than the Snapdragon Note 20 Ultra in Sims speed tests – worth mentioning if you need to buy the international S21 variant, especially if the Exynos-powered Note 20 will still be slower.
There are reasons to prefer the Galaxy Note 20 Ultra over the S21 Ultra beyond the test results. The more powerful (and included) S Pen is the most obvious example. Or maybe you prefer the microSD expansion slot or those angular aesthetics. This also excludes offers that could make the older Note 20 more attractive. However, if raw performance is your only concern, the S21 is your clear choice.