T3i is better at lower ISO levels than Nikon D5100?

And D5100 is better at higher ISO level than T3i. I'm comparing many photos on Flickr from the T3i & D5100 and it seems that the D5100 seems to yield softer photos compared to T3i. I'm confused because many reviews say that the D5100 has a slightly better edge over the T3i in terms of image quality but I find this to be the opposite after comparing hundreds of different photos on Flickr from different photographers using different lenses.

Added (1). When I click to see the photo at a larger scale, the T3i photos seem to be sharper.

Reviews are written on technically. Virutally you would not be able to distinguish between images of 2 cameras with human eyes.

On Flickr I saw a image taken with D3100 which is least price available in market taken by a renowned photographer where he compared that image with D800 which is far expensive and better camera than D3100.

although on paper, ISO performance of D5100 is better than T3i. But your pixs with T3i are better than D5100, than it is because of you clicked them smartly.

My opinion is that all Entry Level Cameras line up are same.

The image softness/sharpness is a function of the lens not the camera body. Post processing also can be used to increase/reduce sharpness so the only way to compare is side by side, same shot same processing.

If the camera you buy is sharp enough for you then what does it matter that another is sharper? The differences are minimal anyway with similat quality lenses.

It's really obvious you don't understand ISO by that question "at lower iso". ISO is an international standard and 100 is 100 regardless of what ever camera you happen to be working with.

Higher ISO reading normally yield more noise but most later dslr cameras have noise suppression built in and that could be what you're seeing.

I shoot Canon dslr cameras and I'm very pleased with both of mine.

Nikon generally tends to set sharpness and contrast lower by default than Canon. With no post processing Canon pictures tend to look snappier out of the camera. The Nikon settings allow more flexibility and create fewer artifacts when tinkering with the image. Either camera could be set to remember different user settings.

Not a question you can answer without actually trying those two cameras in different poor lights. They are very close and one might suit YOU rather than the other.

The two cameras will have essentially identical image quality at lower ISOs. At higher ISOs though, the Nikon is clearly better. Nikons have slightly larger sensors.

You can't compare anything on flicker to reality as you don't know all of the parameters, lens choice, settings, compression, or agenda of the photographer.