The era of super-skin color phones is here. Samsung beat Apple and is expected to announce the “iPhone 17 Air” this fall, using its virtual unpackaged event to share full details about its own ultra-thin phone, the Galaxy S25 Edge.
The S25 Edge announced at the end of the Galaxy S25 series launch in January that it attracted everyone with its slim design. At 5.8mm thick (not counting the camera bump, because why can any wise company calculate?), the S25 Edge is the thinnest Android phone made by Samsung, just beating the slimmer phone of the past, the 2018 release of the 5.9mm Galaxy A8. It’s almost as thin as a USB-C port. Such thin phones won’t be cheap when available on May 30; bookings will start on May 12. Samsung requires $1,099 with a base model of 256GB of storage (512GB $1,219), just to make the phone rock 163 grams privilege.
See Samsung.com’s Galaxy S25 Edge
If you’ve been following the rumor factory, then no technical specifications I intend to tell you will surprise you. Almost all the money leaked is on the money. The S25 Edge features a 120Hz 6.7-inch AMOLED display, a dual-lens camera system with a 200-megapixel main lens and a 12-megapixel ultra-wide lens, and a 12-megapixel Selfie camera. It is also as durable as any other premium phone, with an IP68 rating that is dusty and waterproof.
The engine that powers all is Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 8 Elite Mobile Platform. Samsung is selling two configurations: 12GB RAM with 256GB of storage and 12GB of RAM with 512GB of storage. Despite its thin profile, the S25 Edge still houses a 3,900mAh battery. We have to wait to see how enough this is, but on paper, the battery is smaller than the other S25 families, which have 4,000mAh (S25), 4,900mAh (S25+) and 5,000mAh (S25 Ultra). The latest Apple Tea leaves show that the iPhone 17 Air’s battery won’t last until the iPhone 17 and 17 pros that will be launched this fall. There is a silver lining: The S25 edge supports fast wireless charging and reverse wireless charging (for charging wireless earbuds). I think maybe Samsung might throw away both features to keep the phone as thin as possible, but both are intact. Your actions, Apple.
There is also Galaxy AI – Samsung’s suite of Generative AI features – all scattered in one of its UI versions of Android. Confirmed AI features include “Now Short”, which creates notifications and reminders based on your schedule and application usage, and “Now Bar”, which displays real-time updates and other bite-information on the S25 Edge’s lock screen (like the iPhone’s dynamic island, but more useful, but more useful, but located at the bottom of the screen). Other camera-centric generation AI features include “Drawing Assist”, which turns sketches into detailed illustrations and “audio erasers”, which eliminates unnecessary sounds, just like traffic noise in videos.
I haven’t put the edge of the S25 in my hand, but I’m sure it’s thin enough to slide across the cake. Is it worth the risk of your new $1,100 phone doing this? Of course not, but someone needs to do… As science, it might be Tiktok videos. There are also legal concerns about whether the S25 edges are prone to bend. I’m sure some YouTubers or influencers will try to sit in the back pocket. Until we get an audit unit, what do you think of Samsung’s thinnest phones? Is the tradeoff (smaller and less battery camera) a deal-breaker? I’m glad it has two rear cameras instead of the rumored single lens of the iPhone 17 Air.
See Samsung.com’s Galaxy S25 Edge
