Samsung Galaxy S25 Edge: Supermodel looks, everyday trade-offs

Samsung’s Galaxy S25 Edge is the most attention-grabbing phone the company has made in years. At just 5.8mm thick, it’s thinner than the S25 Plus, but it has a flagship processor and the same 200MP main camera you’ll find on the Ultra. Sounds perfect, right? Not quite. Shrinking a phone to almost extreme thinness forces you to compromise on battery life, camera versatility, and charging speed, all while matching the S25 Plus’s $1,099 price tag.

Below you’ll find full specs, initial impressions, real-world battery numbers, pre-order bonuses, and a reality check on who should (and shouldn’t) buy this slim legend.

Galaxy S25 Edge at a glance

• Thickness/weight: 0.228 in. (5.8 mm) • 5.75 ounces. (163 grams)

• Show: 6.7-inch QHD+ Dynamic AMOLED display 2x • 1–120 Hz

• Chipset: Snapdragon 8 Elite for Galaxy

• Memory/storage: 12 GB RAM • 256 GB or 512 GB

• Rear cameras: 200 MP wide angle (ƒ/1.7) • 12 MP ultra wide angle (ƒ/2.2)

• Front camera: 12 megapixels (ƒ/2.2)

• Battery: 3900 mAh • 25W wired charging • 15W wireless charging

• Build: Titanium frame • Gorilla Glass Ceramic 2 (front) • Gorilla Glass Victus 2 (rear)

• Flag: Titanium Silver • Titanium Jet Black • Titanium Ice Blue

• Price: From $1,099.99

How Samsung achieved 5.8mm and what that really means

Samsung swapped the standard aluminum mid-frame for titanium, reduced all internal supports, and introduced Gorilla Glass Ceramic 2 to keep the front panel ultra-thin but durable. The result is light as a feather and incredibly elegant in the hand: a true luxury object, not a plastic compromise.

However, “thinnest Galaxy” does not equal “thinnest phone ever made.” The S25 Edge measures 0.228 inches (5.8 millimeters), excluding the rear camera lenses, but slim phones have been around for more than a decade. For example, the Oppo R5 (2014) and Oppo R5s (2015) measured 0.193 inches (4.9 mm), the Vivo X5Max (2014) measured 0.189 inches (4.8 mm), and the Motorola Moto Z (2016) measured 0.205 inches (5.2 mm).

Those phones were great at the time, but they lacked today’s 5G radios, big batteries, LTPO screens, and 200MP cameras. Samsung’s trick is to fit all that into something almost as thin.

Performance: Flagship silicon, full Galaxy AI

Despite its diet, the Edge maintains the same Snapdragon 8 Elite for Galaxy as the S25 Ultra. Day-to-day tasks are identical: instant app launches, zero lag when editing 4K videos, and smooth 120Hz scrolling. All Galaxy AI features (Real-Time Live Translation, Chat Assistance, Generative Editing in Gallery) perform exactly the same as on its more expensive siblings.

Camera: 200 MP star, but no zoom versatility

Photos from the main sensor are identical to those of the Ultra at 1×, with great detail and Samsung’s signature bold color. The 12MP ultra-wide angle is solid for landscapes. What you miss out on is optical zoom: digital crops look good up to 3×, acceptable at 5×, and softer beyond that. If you live with 10× moon shots, you’ll miss out on the telephoto lens.

Battery Life and Charging: Real World Reality Check

Going down to a 3900 mAh cell means approximately 4.5 to 5 hours of screen-on time in lab tests. Michael Fischer (MrMobile) drained his review unit in 11 hours of heavy use during a day of travel (music streaming, flight boarding passes, Bluetooth headphones and watches, constant social media, and photography). It also triggered a thermal shutdown of Google Maps when the phone overheated while using wireless Android Auto in a hot car, evidence of a tighter thermal envelope.

Recharging is slower on paper, but here are its hard numbers with a 30W USB‑PPS brick:

This is faster than expected, thanks mainly to the smaller battery, not any new charging technology. Critics also point out that Samsung could have made up for the capacity losses with a higher-density silicon-carbon cell used by other slim phones, but stuck to traditional lithium-ion chemistry.

Quick Tips to Stretch Your Battery

1. Place Screen mode a Natural (slightly lower brightness).

2. Light Lightweight performance profile in Settings »Battery and device care» Battery.

3. Deactivate Automatic HDR video in camera if you rarely shoot in sunlight.

Who is the Galaxy S25 Edge for (and who is it not for)?

Buy it if…

• You value pocket-friendly comfort and one-handed feel over marathon battery life.

• Your photos are 90% wide or a standard focal length.

• You love the look of the Z Flip but prefer a slab design.

Skip it if…

• You rely on zoom to take travel or wildlife photos.

• You play for hours or stream all day.

• You want the best value: the S25 Plus gives you more for the same money.

How Apple could respond: iPhone 17 Air rumors

Analysts expect Apple’s fall lineup to feature an ultra-thin iPhone 17 Air that sits between the base and Pro models. Early rumors point to a 6.7-inch OLED, a thickness of less than 6mm, and a price of around $899. If true, 2025 could mark a broader industry shift in which “thin and premium” replaces “large and midrange” for both Samsung and Apple.

Pricing, pre-order benefits and availability

• Pre-orders are open now; Departure on May 30.

• Samsung and Amazon include a $50 gift card plus a free storage upgrade to 512GB during pre-order.

• Major carriers offer up to $600 trade-in credit for recent Galaxy S models.

Reserve on Amazon: SAMSUNG Galaxy S25 Edge Phone + $50 Gift Card + Large Storage Upgrade to 512GB for $1,099.99

The final result

The Galaxy S25 Edge fulfills its mission: offering a striking piece that feels incredibly stylish without falling into mid-range specs. If you want a phone that disappears into your pocket but still has a 200MP camera and Snapdragon 8 Elite power, this is it. Simply accept the compromises on zoom, battery life, and charging speed, or spend the same money on the thicker, more durable S25 Plus. Either way, Samsung’s slim phase is here and Edge is just the beginning.

Complete specifications

Dimensions/weight

• 6.228 in. (158.2 mm) × 2.976 in (75.6 mm) × 0.228 in. (5.8mm)

• 5.75 ounces. (163 grams)

• Titanium frame.

• Gorilla Glass Ceramic 2 (front)

• Gorilla Glass Victus 2 (rear)

Show

• 6.7-inch 2x QHD+ Dynamic AMOLED display

• 3,120 × 1,440 pixels (Quad HD+)

• 19.5:9 aspect ratio

• 513 dpi density

• 1 to 120 Hz LTPO adaptive refresh

• HDR10+

• Maximum brightness at 2600 nits

• Corning anti-scratch coating (without Ultra-style anti-reflective coating)

Performance

• Snapdragon 8 Elite for Galaxy (3nm)

• Octa core 4.47 GHz, 3.5 GHz

• 12GB RAM

• 256 GB or 512 GB (probably UFS 4.1, not officially confirmed)

• No microSD expandable storage

rear cameras

• 200 MP, ƒ/1.7, OIS, 2x optical quality zoom

• 12 MP ultra wide angle, ƒ/2.2

• Video:

  • UHD 8K at 30 fps

  • UHD 4K at 60 fps

  • UHD 4K at 120 fps

  • Full HD 1080p at 120 fps

• In slow motion:

  • Full HD 1080p at 240 fps

  • Full HD 1080p at 120 fps

  • 4K at 120fps

• Autofocus

• HDR10+

• Samsung Registration

• Super stable

front camera

• 12 megapixels, ƒ/2.2

• 4K at 60fps

• HDR10+

• Samsung Registration

• Autofocus

Battery/charge

• 3900 mAh lithium-ion

• 25W USB-C PD 3.0/PPS (0–57% in 30 min, full in 75 min)

• 15W wireless charging

• Qi2 ready (need extra magnetic ring)

• Reverse Wireless PowerShare

Connectivity

• 5G NR Sub‑6 and mmWave

• LTE‑A 4×4 MIMO

• Wi-Fi 7 (802.11a/b/g/n/ac/ax/be)

• Wi-Fi direct

• Bluetooth 5.4 with LE audio

• Ultra Wide Band (UWB)

• NFC

• GPS / GLONASS / Galileo / BeiDou

• USB-C 3.2 Gen 1

• Satellite capability (at least for the T-Mobile version)

Biometrics/sensors

• Ultrasonic fingerprint under the screen

• Face unlock (2D)

• Accelerometer, fingerprint, gyroscope, geomagnetic, proximity, ambient light, barometer, Hall sensor

Audio

• Dual stereo speakers with Dolby Atmos

• Adapt sound

• Without 3.5mm jack

• Playback in MP3, M4A, 3GA, AAC, OGG, OGA, WAV, AMR, AWB, FLAC, MID, MIDI, XMF, MXMF, IMY, RTTTL, RTX, OTA, DFF, DSF, APE

Durability/protection

Software/support

• Android 15 + One UI 7.0 at launch

• Seven years of operating system updates and security patches

• Full Galaxy AI Suite (Live Translation, Note Assistant, Generative Editing, etc.)

• Samsung DeX (wired and wireless)

• Link to windows

• SmartThings Support

• Samsung Knox Vault Hardware Security

Extras

• Physical Nano‑SIM + eSIM / Dual eSIM

• Bixby/Gemini voice assistants

• Accessibility suite (headphone support, live captions, live transcription, real-time text, sound amplifier, sound notifications, etc.)

• Packaging: 3Amp USB-C cable, SIM tool, eco-friendly paper documentation (without power supply)

• Video playback in MP4, M4V, 3GP, 3G2, AVI, FLV, MKV, WEBM

Don’t miss: Activate your Samsung Galaxy Vault to keep your apps, files and history safe from prying eyes and hackers