Samsung fans can finally rejoice as we have something truly different with the Galaxy S25 series. No, it’s not the Galaxy S25, Galaxy S25 Plus, or the Galaxy S25 Ultra, but rather, the new Galaxy S25 Edge. Yes, Samsung has revived its Edge branding, and in many ways, it follows the essence of the Galaxy S6 Edge and Galaxy S7 Edge of years ago.
After the credits rolled at Samsung Unpacked last week — and as some people made their way to the exits — the company pulled off an interesting one more thing. It wasn’t a teaser like the Galaxy Ring last year, but rather it was an announcement — of sorts, at least — of the new Galaxy S25 Edge.
The rumors were true; Samsung has made a slim phone, but sadly, it’s not part of the main Galaxy S25 series. Here’s what you need to know and why the Galaxy S25 Edge is the Galaxy S25 we should have gotten.
The Galaxy S25 Edge is the rumored Galaxy S25 Slim
To understand the Galaxy S25 Edge, you have to understand Samsung’s motivations. Apple has been rumored to be working on an iPhone 17 Air, which will be its slimmest iPhone ever, and the Galaxy S25 Edge is Samsung’s answer to that.
Dubbed the Galaxy S25 Slim in the pre-announcement rumors, it was long expected that Samsung would make something truly slim, but what was displayed only somewhat delivers on this. Whereas the iPhone 17 Air is rumored to be as slim as the iPad Pro M4 — which is extremely slim — the Galaxy S25 Edge is a little slimmer than the Galaxy S25 series and doesn’t appear to be as groundbreaking.
Samsung’s announcement was followed by a rush to see it suspended next to molds of the Galaxy S24 and Galaxy S25 series, with no clear indication of how slim it will be. At first glance, it appears to be a little slimmer, which could explain why it’s branded as the Galaxy S25 Edge and not the Galaxy S25 Slim.
This is the Galaxy S25 we likely hoped for
The Galaxy S25, Galaxy S25 Plus, and Galaxy S25 Ultra are all a little slimmer than their predecessors, with the specs sheets revealing a 0.4mm slimming of the body. They are also lighter at six grams, seven grams, and 17 grams lighter than their predecessors, but these are the small increments we expect from year-on-year improvements.
Each of these improvements has vastly improved the overall feel of the phone and as I type this on the Galaxy S25 Ultra, the slimmer body makes for a vastly improved ergonomic feel. Yet, if you were hoping for something truly special from the Galaxy S25 series, the Galaxy S25 Edge is probably the phone you wanted.
We spoke to Samsung who confirmed the Galaxy S25 Edge will be roughly 6mm thick, which would make it 1.2mm thinner than the base Samsung Galaxy S25. That’s a vast improvement and would make the Galaxy S25 Edge a more groundbreaking smartphone than the rest of its compatriots. However, it’s also worth noting that the slimmer body comes with certain trade-offs.
The Galaxy S25 Edge is an example of a compromise
Ask most customers about having a slimmer phone and there will naturally be a lot of interest, followed by trepidation about certain key factors. These are namely the durability, battery life, and of course, the camera stack. We can’t answer two of these questions with any degree of certainty, but we can partially answer one: the camera stack.
The iPhone 17 Air is rumored to feature a single camera, so naturally, Samsung had to one-up Apple and equipped the Galaxy S25 Edge with a dual camera stack arranged in a vertical alignment. It reminds me of the earlier Galaxy S20, as well as the iPhone 6 series in its arrangement and style.
Samsung hasn’t confirmed details of which cameras are featured on the Galaxy S25 Edge, but previous rumors suggested that we would see a dual camera setup featuring a 200MP main camera and a 50MP ultrawide camera. Essentially, it would be the Galaxy S25 Ultra without the telephoto cameras, but in a body that’s 2.2mm thinner.
If these rumors prove to be true, this could be one of the best balances of thickness and features on a Samsung phone, but how innovative is it?
How slim and innovative is the Galaxy S25 Edge?
Smartphones have gotten thicker as customers have demanded more cameras, bigger batteries, and bigger displays. As this has become the norm, the trade-off has been thicker phones, but years ago, the trend was to go thinner. The Huawei Ascend P6 is a great example of thin phones, and remains one of the slimmest phones ever made, measuring just 6.5mm thick. However, it had a 4.7-inch display, a single camera, and just a 2,000 mAh battery, all specifications that wouldn’t be acceptable by today’s standards.
That was a decade ago, but just two months ago, we saw the Infiinix Hot 50 Pro Plus, which measures 6.8mm thin and weighs just 162 grams. It features a 50Mp main camera and 2MP depth camera, both of which wouldn’t be acceptable for a flagship phone from Samsung. However, its 5,000mAh battery and 33W wired charging would be considered more acceptable.
The best example of the current trend of slim and light phones is not in the standard candy bar phones, but rather, the foldable phones industry where the race to be the thinnest has been at full throttle. Samsung launched the Galaxy Z Fold Special Edition measuring 4.9mm unfolded (and 10.6mm folded), in response to the Honor Magic V3 which measures just 4.4mm unfolded and 9.3mm folded.
Foldable phones have the distinct advantage of being able to use split batteries and having a wider surface area to spread technology amongst, therefore allowing for a thinner overall profile. However, they also feature two displays so that comes with its trade-offs.
The Galaxy S25 Edge aims to bring the best of the thinner foldable phone space to regular smartphones, and likely kick off a whole new era of thinner and lighter smartphones. It remains to be seen how companies like Honor, Huawei, Oppo, and OnePlus will respond, but one thing is for sure: Samsung needs to ensure the Galaxy S25 Edge is the most competitive it can be when it launches, as its rivals — including Apple — will all be vying for the title of slimmest phone in the world.