Samsung’s skinny cellphone is right here. The Galaxy S25 Edge — first teased again in January — is actually a slimmed-down S25 Plus, with the identical 6.7-inch OLED show, Snapdragon 8 Elite for Galaxy chipset, and AI options. The compact design comes at a value although, and also you’ll must do with out the telephoto lens or beefy battery.
At 163g (about 5.7 ounces), the Edge is only a gram heavier than the common S25, with its dinky little 6.2-inch display, and at 5.8mm thick it’s comfortably thinner than any Samsung slab cellphone in years. It’s nonetheless barely thicker than Samsung’s Tab S10 tablets or Z Fold 6 foldable, which have sufficient area to get thinner by spreading their batteries out somewhat extra, however for those who choose conventional cellphone kind components then that is among the many thinnest you should buy proper now — at the very least till the rumored iPhone 17 Air comes alongside.
Photographs appear to undersell the impact, which I feel can be Samsung’s problem advertising the Edge: it mainly simply appears to be like like a daily cellphone till you decide it up, which is when everybody appears to ooooh involuntarily.
The “Edge” title means that Samsung goes to lean on how skinny the cellphone is, however for me the load is extra spectacular. It solves at the very least half the issue individuals have with large telephones, and is much extra noticeable than a barely slimmer physique. Apart from, the second you place a case on this it gained’t really feel very skinny any extra, but it surely ought to nonetheless be fairly gentle.
Samsung hasn’t taken the excuse to make the Edge any extra frail than the opposite S25 telephones, and actually has leaned the opposite means. It makes use of the identical titanium body because the S25 Extremely — harder than the aluminum of the opposite fashions — together with the newly introduced Gorilla Glass Ceramic 2 on the display, and an IP68 score for mud and water-resistance. Merely put, this ought to be fairly sturdy.
Nonetheless, there are two large sacrifices you must make. The primary is the digital camera: you solely get two rear lenses, with no telephoto in any respect. Once more although, Samsung has borrowed from the Extremely to make up for issues — the 200-megapixel predominant shooter right here makes use of the very same sensor as that cellphone, however crammed right into a smaller digital camera housing. On paper that ought to imply a predominant digital camera that’s about nearly as good because the Extremely’s — and higher than the Plus’ — however with much less versatility than both of these telephones.
The larger fear for many would be the battery. The three,900mAh cell right here is the smallest throughout the S25 vary — in comparison with 4,000mAh within the S25 and 4,900mAh within the Plus — and with an enormous display to energy too, there’s no means this gained’t have the worst battery lifetime of the lot.
Samsung insists that that is nonetheless a full-day cellphone, estimating that it may ship 24 hours of nonstop video playback, although that’s 5 fewer than the S25’s quoted 29 hours or the Plus’ 30. When my colleague Allison Johnson reviewed the common S25, she stated it received by “a full day of reasonable use,” and the Edge shouldn’t be an excessive amount of worse. Chipset and software program optimizations imply most fashionable telephones have battery to spare, making a smaller cell like this possible once more.
However that’s on day one. Batteries don’t final without end, and I don’t belief that the Edge can be a full-day cellphone without end. Samsung is committing to seven years of OS and safety updates, consistent with the opposite S25 telephones, however I’d be somewhat apprehensive concerning the Edge’s battery life effectively earlier than that.
Regardless of these downsides, you’ll truly must pay extra for the S25 Edge than you’ll for a Plus. Preorders are open now forward of an official launch on Could thirtieth, and the cellphone prices $1,099.99 for a mannequin with 256GB storage, and $1,219.99 for 512GB, which places this midway between the Plus and the Extremely in Samsung’s pricing.
So no, this most likely isn’t probably the most sensible cellphone buy you can also make proper now — but it surely was by no means meant to be. As with Samsung’s foldable telephones, there’s greater than a touch of kind over operate to the Edge. I’m impressed that Samsung has managed to maintain a lot of the cellphone on par with the opposite S25 fashions, however the digital camera and battery are hardly small issues. They’re large compromises to make for the sake of getting somewhat pocket area again, however till I’ve had the prospect to check the digital camera absolutely and push the battery for a number of days, it’s inconceivable to say if it’s a commerce value making.
That is one cellphone the place you must positively look forward to the evaluations.
Images by Dominic Preston / The Verge
