Samsung Galaxy A12 vs Samsung Galaxy M21

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Comparing the Samsung Galaxy A12 vs Samsung Galaxy M21 across performance, display, camera, battery, storage, expert reviews and user rating to help determine the better smartphone.

Here is the summary of the results:

Performance: Samsung Galaxy M21 scores higher on the Geekbench Multi-Core test with 1,100, while Samsung Galaxy A12 scores 998, making Samsung Galaxy M21 the better performer.


Display: Samsung Galaxy A12 offers a screen size of 6.5 inches, while Samsung Galaxy M21 offers 6.4 inches, making Samsung Galaxy A12 the larger display of the two. Samsung Galaxy M21 features a Super AMOLED display compared to Samsung Galaxy A12's PLS TFT LCD, making Samsung Galaxy M21 the better display of the two.


Rear Camera: Both Samsung Galaxy A12 and Samsung Galaxy M21 feature a 48 MP primary rear camera.


Front Camera: Samsung Galaxy M21 offers a higher front camera resolution with 20 MP, while Samsung Galaxy A12 offers 8 MP, making Samsung Galaxy M21 better for front camera photography.


Battery: Samsung Galaxy A12 delivers longer battery life with 14h 46m, while Samsung Galaxy M21 delivers 10h 20m, making Samsung Galaxy A12 the better pick for all day usage.


Storage: Both Samsung Galaxy A12 and Samsung Galaxy M21 offer the same internal storage of 64 GB.


Expert Review: Samsung Galaxy M21 receives a higher expert rating of 7 from the editorial team, while Samsung Galaxy A12 is rated 6.


User Rating: Samsung Galaxy M21 receives a higher user rating of 4.2, while Samsung Galaxy A12 has a rating of 4.1.

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Summary

Release Date

16 Feb, 2021
18 Mar, 2020
06 May, 2026

Performance

MediaTek Helio P35
Samsung Exynos 9 Octa 9611
Snapdragon 8 Gen 5
Tru-Octa Core (upto 2.3 GHz)
Octa Core (upto 2.3 GHz)
Octa Core (upto 3.8 GHz)
4 GB RAM
4 GB RAM
12 GB RAM

Display

6.5 inches (16.51 cm)
6.4 inches (16.26 cm)
6.31 inches (16.03 cm)
PLS TFT LCD
Super AMOLED
AMOLED
720x1600 px (HD+)
1080x2340 px (FHD+)
1216x2640 px (FHD+)
60 Hz Refresh Rate
60 Hz Refresh Rate
120 Hz Refresh Rate

Rear Camera

48 MP
Wide Angle Primary Camera
48 MP
Primary Camera
50 MP
Primary Camera
5 MP
Ultra-Wide Angle Camera
8 MP
Ultra-Wide Angle Camera
50 MP
Telephoto Camera (upto 3x Optical Zoom)
2 MP
Macro Camera
5 MP
Depth Camera
8 MP
Ultra-Wide Angle Camera
2 MP
Depth Camera
N/A
N/A

Front Camera

8 MP
20 MP
50 MP

Battery

5000 mAh
6000 mAh
6500 mAh
15W Fast Charging
15W Fast Charging
90W Flash Charging
No Wireless Charging
No Wireless Charging
Wireless Charging

Storage

64 GB
64 GB
256 GB
eMMC 5.1
UFS 2.1
UFS 4.1

Expert Review

6.0/10
7.0/10
8.4/10

Pros

  • Good battery life
  • Daylight photography is good
  • Vivid and colour accurate display
  • Long-lasting battery
  • Decent day-time photography
  • Compact, premium design
  • Excellent battery life
  • Reliable performance
  • Strong portrait photography

Cons

  • Chipset could have been better
  • Higher-resolution panel could be used
  • Still on Android 10
  • Night photography is average
  • Higher refresh rate would have been nice
  • Dated waterdrop notch design
  • Slow charging speed
  • Video recording inconsistencies
  • Colours can be slightly oversaturated

User Ratings

4.1/5
(7,354 ratings)
4.2/5
(65,210 ratings)
4.5/5
(170 ratings)

Benchmarks (The higher, the better)

109,789
AnTuTu Score
168,633
AnTuTu Score
3,000,897
AnTuTu Score
14h 46m
Battery Life (PC Mark)
10h 20m
Battery Life (PC Mark)
16h 04m
Battery Life (PC Mark)

Compare Prices

₹12,649
₹14,980
₹79,999

Video

Videos
1 Video
Videos
11 More Videos
Videos
1 Video

User Feedback

General

Launch Date

Feb 16, 2021
(Official)
Mar 18, 2020
(Official)
May 06, 2026
(Official)

Operating System

Android v10 (Q)
Android v10 (Q)
Android v16

OS Updates

N/A
N/A
5 Year

Security Updates

N/A
4 Year
7 Year

Custom UI

Samsung One UI
Samsung One UI
Origin OS

Performance

Performance Rating

Good
Good
Excellent

Chipset

MediaTek Helio P35
Samsung Exynos 9 Octa 9611
Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 5 SM8845

Processor

Octa core, 2.3 GHz, Cortex A53
Octa core

2.3 GHz, Quad core, Cortex A73 1.7 GHz, Quad core, Cortex A53
Octa core

3.8 GHz, Dual core, Oryon V3 Phoenix L 3.32 GHz, Hexa Core, Oryon V3 Phoenix M

Architecture (The higher, the better)

64 bit
64 bit
64 bit

Fabrication (The lower, the better)

12 nm
10 nm
3 nm

Graphics (GPU)

PowerVR GE8320
Mali-G72 MP3
Adreno 829

RAM

4 GB / 6 GB
4 GB / 6 GB
12 GB

RAM Type

N/A
LPDDR4X
LPDDR5X Ultra

Performance Test Results

AnTuTu Score (The higher, the better) AnTuTu benchmark measures overall performance of a phone by stress-testing CPU, GPU, RAM, etc.

109,789
168,633
3,000,897

Bootup Time (The lower, the better)

32.0 s
23.0 s
14.0 s

Gaming Test Results

Wild Life Extreme (The higher, the better) Wild Life Extreme is a classic mobile benchmark; it renders in 4K to test the peak performance of a wide range of devices.

N/A
N/A
4,004

Battery Drain* (The lower, the better)

3.0 %
3.0 %
5.0 %

Heating* (The lower, the better)

12.8 %
11.3 %
17.4 %
* after 30 mins of gaming

Display

Display Rating

Excellent
Excellent
Best In Class

Display Type

PLS TFT LCD
Super AMOLED
AMOLED

Screen Size

6.5 inches  (16.51 cm)
6.4 inches  (16.26 cm)
6.31 inches  (16.03 cm)

Resolution

720x1600 px (HD+)
1080x2340 px (FHD+)
1216x2640 px (FHD+)

Brightness

N/A
420 nits
N/A

Peak Brightness

N/A
N/A
5000 nits

Refresh Rate

60 Hz
60 Hz
120 Hz

Aspect Ratio

20:9
19.5:9
19.5:9

Pixel Density

270 ppi
403 ppi
460 ppi

Screen to Body Ratio (calculated)

82.06 %
84.02 %
90.11 %

Screen Protection

N/A
Corning Gorilla Glass v3
Yes

Bezel-less Display

Yes with notch
Yes with waterdrop notch
Yes with punch-hole display

HDR 10 / HDR+ Support

N/A
N/A
Yes HDR 10+

Screen to Body Ratio (claimed by the brand)

N/A
91 %
94.38 %

Design

Height

164 mm
159 mm
150.83 mm

Width

75.8 mm
75.1 mm
71.76 mm

Thickness

8.9 mm
8.9 mm
7.99 mm

Weight

205 grams
188 grams
191 grams

Build Material

Back: Plastic
Back: Plastic
Back: Glass

Water Resistance

N/A
N/A
Yes Water resistant IP68 IP69 (up to 30 minutes in a depth of 1.5 meter)

Ruggedness

N/A
N/A
Dust proof

Rear Camera

Rear Camera Rating

Good
Very Good
Excellent

Resolution

48 MP
Primary Camera10x Digital Zoomf/2.0 Wide Angle 80° field-of-view26 mm focal length
48 MP
Primary Camera4x Digital Zoomf/2.026 mm focal length 1/2" sensor size CMOS image sensor 0.8µm pixel size
50 MP
Primary Cameraf/1.57IMX921
5 MP
f/2.2 Ultra-Wide Angle Camera
8 MP
f/2.2 Ultra-Wide Angle Camera12 mm focal length 1/4.0" sensor size 1.12µm pixel size
50 MP
f/2.65 Telephoto Camera
2 MP
f/2.4 Macro Camera
5 MP
f/2.2 Depth Camera
8 MP
f/2.2 Ultra-Wide Angle Camera
2 MP
f/2.4 Depth Camera
N/A
N/A

Autofocus

Yes
Yes Phase Detection Autofocus
Yes

OIS

No
No
Yes

Flash

Yes LED Flash
Yes LED Flash
Yes Dual LED Flash

Image Resolution

8000 x 6000 Pixels
8000 x 6000 Pixels
N/A

Settings

Exposure compensation ISO control
Exposure compensation ISO control
N/A

Shooting Modes

Continuous Shooting
High Dynamic Range mode (HDR)
Continuous Shooting
High Dynamic Range mode (HDR)
N/A

Camera Features

10 x Digital Zoom
Auto Flash
Face detection
Touch to focus
4 x Digital Zoom
Auto Flash
Face detection
Touch to focus
N/A

Video Recording

Full HD @30 fps
4k @30 fps
Full HD @30 fps
8k @30 fps
4k @30/60 fps
Full HD @30/60/120 fps

Front Camera

Front Camera Rating

Very Good
Very Good
Best In Class

Resolution

8 MP
f/2.2 Primary Camera
20 MP
f/2.2 Primary Camera26 mm focal length CMOS
50 MP
f/2.0 Primary Camera

Autofocus

No
No
Yes

Flash

No
No
Yes Screen flash

Video Recording

Full HD @30 fps
Full HD @30 fps
N/A

Battery

Battery Rating

Very Good
Very Good
Excellent

Capacity

5000 mAh
6000 mAh
6500 mAh

Battery Type

Li-ion
Li-ion
Li-ion

TalkTime

Up to 34 Hours(4G)
N/A
N/A

Quick Charging

Yes 15W Fast Charging
Yes 15W Fast Charging
Yes 90W Flash Charging

Wireless Charging

N/A
N/A
Yes 40W Wireless Charging

Battery Test Results

Battery Life (PC Mark) (The higher, the better) PCMark Battery benchmark measures battery life of a phone with various activities such as web browsing, photo editing, writing, video editing, etc.

14h 46m
10h 20m
16h 04m

Charging Time (20% to 100%) (The lower, the better)

1h 57m 17s
2h 9m 47s
0h 41m 0s

Storage

Internal Storage

64 GB / 128 GB
64 GB / 128 GB
256 GB / 512 GB

Storage Type

eMMC 5.1
UFS 2.1
UFS 4.1

Expandable Storage

Yes Up to 1 TB
Yes Up to 512 GB
No

Network & Connectivity

SIM Slot(s)

Dual SIM
Dual SIM
Dual SIM

SIM Type

SIM1: Nano SIM2: Nano
SIM1: Nano SIM2: Nano
SIM1: Nano SIM2: Nano/eSIM

Network Support

5G Not Supported 4G
5G Not Supported 4G
5G 4G

VoLTE

Yes
Yes
Yes

SIM 1

4G Bands:
TD-LTE 2300(band 40)
FD-LTE 2100(band 1) / 1800(band 3) / 900(band 8) / 850(band 5)
4G Bands:
TD-LTE 2600(band 38) / 2300(band 40) / 2500(band 41)
FD-LTE 2100(band 1) / 1800(band 3) / 2600(band 7) / 900(band 8) / 850(band 5) / 800(band 20)
5G Bands:
FDD N1 / N2 / N3 / N5 / N7 / N8 / N18 / N20 / N25 / N26 / N28 / N66 / N71 / N75
TDD N38 / N40 / N41 / N48 / N77 / N78
N/A
N/A
4G Bands:
TD-LTE 3500(band 48) / 2600(band 38) / 2300(band 40) / 2500(band 41) / 2100(band 34) / 1900(band 39) / 3500(band 42) / 3700(band 43)
FD-LTE 1700(band 66) / 2100(band 1) / 1500(band 32) / 600(band 71) / 1800(band 3) / 2600(band 7) / 900(band 8) / 700(band 28) / 1900(band 2) / 1700(band 4) / 850(band 5) / 7009(band 12) / 700(band 13) / 700(band 17) / 850(band 18) / 850(band 19) / 800(band 20) / 1900(band 25) / 850(band 26)
View More

SIM 2

4G Bands:
TD-LTE 2300(band 40)
FD-LTE 2100(band 1) / 1800(band 3) / 900(band 8) / 850(band 5)
4G Bands:
TD-LTE 2600(band 38) / 2300(band 40) / 2500(band 41)
FD-LTE 2100(band 1) / 1800(band 3) / 2600(band 7) / 900(band 8) / 850(band 5) / 800(band 20)
5G Bands:
FDD N1 / N2 / N3 / N5 / N7 / N8 / N18 / N20 / N25 / N26 / N28 / N66 / N71 / N75
TDD N38 / N40 / N41 / N48 / N77 / N78
N/A
N/A
4G Bands:
TD-LTE 2600(band 38) / 2300(band 40) / 2500(band 41) / 2100(band 34) / 1900(band 39) / 3500(band 42) / 3700(band 43) / 3500(band 48)
FD-LTE 2100(band 1) / 1800(band 3) / 2600(band 7) / 900(band 8) / 700(band 28) / 1900(band 2) / 1700(band 4) / 850(band 5) / 1500(band 32) / 700(band 12) / 700(band 13) / 700(band 17) / 850(band 18) / 850(band 19) / 800(band 20) / 600(Band 71) / 1900(band 25) / 850(band 26) / 1700(band 66)
View More

SAR Value

Head: 0.79 W/kg
Head: 0.468 W/kg
N/A

Wi-Fi

Yes Wi-Fi 4 (802.11 b/g/n)
Yes Wi-Fi 5 (802.11 b/g/n/ac) 5GHz
Yes Wi-Fi 6 (802.11 a/b/g/n/ac/ax) MIMO

Wi-Fi Features

Wi-Fi Direct Mobile Hotspot
Wi-Fi Direct Mobile Hotspot
Wi-Fi Direct Mobile Hotspot

Bluetooth

Yes v5.0
Yes v5.0
Yes v6.0

GPS

Yes with A-GPS Glonass
Yes with A-GPS Glonass
Yes with A-GPS Glonass

NFC

No
No
Yes

IR Blaster

N/A
N/A
Yes

Multimedia

Audio Jack

3.5 mm
3.5 mm
USB Type-C

Sensors

Fingerprint Sensor

Yes
Yes
Yes

Fingerprint Sensor Position

Side
Rear
On-screen

Fingerprint Sensor Type

N/A
N/A
Ultrasonic

Other Sensors

Light sensor Proximity sensor Accelerometer
Light sensor Proximity sensor Accelerometer Gyroscope
Light sensor Proximity sensor Accelerometer Compass Gyroscope

Compare Prices

₹12,649
₹14,980
₹79,999