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 worth although, and also you’ll need to 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 a bit extra, however when you desire conventional cellphone kind components then that is among the many thinnest you should purchase proper now — at the very least till the rumored iPhone 17 Air comes alongside.
Photos appear to undersell the impact, which I feel will likely be Samsung’s problem advertising the Edge: it principally simply appears like an everyday cellphone till you decide it up, which is when everybody appears to ooooh involuntarily.
The “Edge” identify 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 huge telephones, and is much extra noticeable than a barely slimmer physique. Besides, the second you place a case on this it received’t really feel very skinny any extra, nevertheless it ought to nonetheless be fairly mild.
Samsung hasn’t taken the excuse to make the Edge any extra frail than the opposite S25 telephones, and in reality has leaned the opposite manner. It makes use of the identical titanium body because the S25 Ultra — 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. Simply put, this must be fairly sturdy.
Still, there are two huge sacrifices it’s a must to make. The first is the digicam: you solely get two rear lenses, with no telephoto in any respect. Again although, Samsung has borrowed from the Ultra to make up for issues — the 200-megapixel essential shooter right here makes use of the very same sensor as that cellphone, however crammed right into a smaller digicam housing. On paper that ought to imply a essential digicam that’s about pretty much as good because the Ultra’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 3,900mAh 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 a giant display to energy too, there’s no manner this received’t have the worst battery lifetime of the lot.
Samsung insists that that is nonetheless a full-day cellphone, estimating that it may possibly 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 obtained via “a full day of average 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.
But that’s on day one. Batteries don’t final without end, and I don’t belief that the Edge will likely be a full-day cellphone without end. Samsung is committing to seven years of OS and safety updates, according to the opposite S25 telephones, however I’d be a bit nervous concerning the Edge’s battery life nicely earlier than that.
Despite these downsides, you’ll really need to pay extra for the S25 Edge than you’d for a Plus. Preorders are open now forward of an official launch on May 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 Ultra in Samsung’s pricing.
So no, this in all probability isn’t essentially the most sensible cellphone buy you may make proper now — nevertheless it was by no means meant to be. As with Samsung’s foldable telephones, there’s greater than a touch of kind over perform 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 digicam and battery are hardly small concerns. They’re huge compromises to make for the sake of getting a bit pocket area again, however till I’ve had the possibility to check the digicam totally and push the battery for just a few days, it’s inconceivable to say if it’s a commerce value making.
This is one cellphone the place it’s best to undoubtedly anticipate the evaluations.
Photography by Dominic Preston / The Verge
