I’ve spent the final two weeks with Samsung Galaxy S25 Edge, and when displaying the all-new Galaxy S system to my family and friends, the identical two feedback would all the time be made. The first: ‘wow, that’s skinny’. The second: ‘why?’.
Sadly I’ve been unable to supply a fast reply to the latter. The Samsung Galaxy S25 Edge doesn’t trim the fats in terms of being an epic handset – it options the identical nice person interface that Samsung refined with the S25 launch and, certainly, it appears to be like and feels particularly premium. But the characteristic that justifies its ‘Edge’ namesake hasn’t been demonstrated as notably helpful.
Despite being dearer than the Galaxy S25 Plus (the sting begins at $1,099.99 / £1,099 / AU$1,849, whereas the Plus begins at $999 / £999 / AU$1,699), it options a whole lot of the identical specs – and the place it does not, it is typically made sacrifices, together with with the digital camera and battery.
There’s a pleasant mixture of options right here that, on the entire, are in all probability enticing to a person after a selected spec. That being stated, the S25 Plus stays the higher telephone, and when you’re gravitating in the direction of dearer telephones, I’d advocate the S25 Ultra over the Edge.
I don’t actually have lots to say in regards to the Samsung Galaxy S25 Edge, however when you’re somebody who has been craving a skinny telephone, take note of this system. I don’t advocate paying full worth however, as soon as Black Friday gross sales roll round, I’d be extra inclined to buy the Edge at a reduction. At full worth, nonetheless, with the Galaxy S25 Plus now seeing worth drops, it is a robust promote.
What are these options?
Ask your self what you’re keen to sacrifice for a skinny telephone. Battery measurement? A digital camera lens? A stylus? To obtain what is probably going the thinnest telephone available on the market proper now, the Samsung Galaxy S25 Edge has sacrificed all of this stuff however, on the similar time, it has obtained an fascinating mishmash of options from each the S25 Plus and S25 Ultra, together with some options of its personal.
The 200MP lens on the Edge, which it carries over from the Ultra, is nice in use and captures a whole lot of coloration and element, although the 12MP ultrawide digital camera from the Plus can be featured, somewhat than the far more succesful 50MP lens on the Ultra. The telephoto lens is nowhere to be seen, eliminated to attain the thinness, which means that zoom capabilities are severely restricted.
The battery is barely a 3,900mAh capability pack – smaller than the 4,900mAh battery discovered within the Plus and the 5,000mAh within the Ultra. This is once more because of the thinness. I can affirm that it’s not as devastating as it could learn on paper – I’ve been in a position to yield full-day batteries from the S25 Edge efficiently throughout my time with it; nonetheless, I’m left craving for the large battery within the S25 Ultra, which I may depend on to final me right into a second day if I forgot a cost.
My 9-5 workday with the S25 Edge noticed the telephone run all the way down to about 51% as soon as I received residence, and utilizing it casually one morning, the telephone dropped from 100% to 87% in slightly below two hours. No doubt it’d be struggling if I forgot to cost it in a single day, or once I received residence after work.
A telephone of this worth could be unconscionable with a battery like this, however I form of see it as a non-issue. It’s probably not supposed to be the identical exceptionally succesful system because the Ultra, in any case – this telephone is realistically nearer to the Z vary, because it’s extra area of interest and experimental (albeit no fold).
The show can be pretty good, although it’s equivalent to the 6.7-inch, 3,440 x 1,440 decision display featured on the Plus – other than the brand new Gorilla Glass Ceramic 2 protecting layer. I’d have preferred the display to have related squared dimensions to the Ultra, together with the flagship telephone’s premium anti-glare glass to make it a extra aggressive handset (and extra totally different to the Plus), however that’s simply me.
The Snapdragon 8 Elite processor is the very same because the one which’s within the Plus and Ultra, and the AI characteristic set (which Samsung nonetheless hasn’t indicated the longer term pricing of) stays equivalent.
And that naturally leads as much as the thinness – yeah, it’s skinny. I don’t actually know what to say: Samsung made a skinny telephone. Cool. It’s nonetheless as thick as a regular telephone whenever you put a case on it, one thing that I’d extremely advocate as, though it appears to be like fairly good, I used to be not assured in holding the telephone with out a case by the facet of the street or when on a balcony. The digital camera housing additionally provides a little bit of chunkiness, protruding removed from the telephone’s again.
What was I anticipating?
The Galaxy S25 Edge seems like a stumble greater than anything, which is a disgrace contemplating Samsung’s latest observe document: the vastly spectacular Galaxy Ring, the epic Galaxy S25 Ultra refresh and awesome-value Galaxy A56 are all sensible examples of the Korean tech big’s potential to learn the room and perceive what its clients really need.
While I don’t deny the existence of oldsters searching for a skinny telephone, the S25 Edge fails to carve out a singular area of interest among the many Galaxy S household of gadgets. Simultaneously, the Edge feels too near the S25 Plus to really feel distinctive by itself, and too feature-stripped to justify shopping for at full worth.
There are locations that Samsung may take the Edge thought to make it extra interesting. As I alluded earlier, bringing it nearer in spec and aesthetic to the Ultra, providing its anti-glare layer and extra squared form whereas additionally being thinner, smaller and cheaper is one place the place the Edge could be justifiable.
Another is the other: reckoning with the truth that it’s going to be feature-limited to start with, as a substitute positioning it nearer to the base-model Galaxy S25, providing an analogous set of cameras and measurement, together with the unimaginable thinness with a barely increased worth.
It’s near the problems encountered by the Galaxy Z Flip. That telephone has related battery and digital camera limitations because the Edge, together with a excessive worth, however the Flip will get a cross because it’s actually cool to deal with your telephone like a basic flip telephone and it has a further display. The Edge is simply skinny.
For now, the Samsung Galaxy S25 Edge feels just a bit too area of interest for mass-market enchantment, which explains why the corporate has solely chosen three coloration choices (one being unique to Samsung’s on-line retailer). It’s a superb telephone and I like to recommend buying it – simply not over the opposite telephones within the S25 vary and positively not for the total worth.
