At the Galaxy S25 launch, Samsung also teased — and confirmed — its upcoming slim phone. Rumored to be less than 6mm in thickness, the Galaxy S25 Edge is set to be Samsung’s thinnest candy bar phone, and potentially pull our attention away from the iPhone 17 Air, which is still at the rumor stage. Ahead of the launch, new details have emerged on how the Galaxy S25 Edge could be lighter, and it has to with Samsung revisiting an older design choice.
The Galaxy S25 Edge is said to ditch glass for its back for the sake of durability. Instead, SamMobile claims to have exclusive information about the material it uses instead. According to the report, Samsung is instead opting for a ceramic material, which will be complemented by an aluminum frame.
Whether it’s entirely ceramic or fused partly with glass is yet to be seen. But in either case, if the report is true, the Galaxy S25 Edge’s back should weigh less and more durable compared to a standard glass back, including one reinforced with some advanced protective glass.
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Ceramics on phones aren’t new
Ceramic backs on phones aren’t entirely new, and were of significant interest among smartphone brands in the late 2010s. Brands like LG, Essential, HTC, and Xiaomi toyed with the idea for their flagship models. Even Samsung offered a black ceramic version of its Galaxy S10 Plus back in 2019, and it proved to be more durable than its glass counterpart. Despite that, ceramic as a material for phones never really took off as the complex manufacturing process, which increases cost.
Ceramic isn’t a single substance but instead a class of substances which have a crystalline structure — more symmetric orientation — at the molecular level. This makes them more rigid while keeping them thinner and lighter. By definition, anything made with clay and then cured in an oven is a ceramic, which even includes porcelain used for crockery.
Ceramics used on gadgets, such as the Galaxy S10 Plus, are relatively more advanced and require extensive engineering. Brands have previously utilized Zirconia (zirconium dioxide), which is also used for jewelry and dental implants among other applications. It remains to be seen which route Samsung takes.
With this addition, Samsung might be able to position the Galaxy S25 Edge above the base and the Plus variants, and might even price it on par with the S25 Ultra. The S25 Edge is expected to already match up to the Ultra in terms of performance and the camera’s capabilities, though the thin profile could be worry those who wish to record longer videos with or game on it.
The phone is rumored to launch sometime in Q2 2025, which leaves us with only a few months before we know about Samsung’s choice of materials for sure.