When I first heard Samsung bring back the edge name as a new slim member of the S25 family, all I could think of: Why? Honestly, I think phone manufacturers were already hungry nearly a decade ago. The pursuit of shaving off the device’s millimeter shaving leads to battery life, extra heat and more limited features. Then what to give?
On a certain level, just like fashion, older trends will become fresh and stylish again over time. Furthermore, after the phone transitioned to 5G (which required extra power, more complex modems and larger antennas), modern components began to shrink again, essentially paving the way back to the slim phone. But then it hit me. While thinness is probably the most eye-catching thing on the edge of the Galaxy S25, it’s not enough to justify creating a completely new device. Instead, I believe this phone is part of Samsung’s move to the middle kids in its flagship mobile lineup as a more attractive family member. When viewed this way, I actually think this is a largely successful one.
design
Billy Steele
While it suffers from a smaller battery without a telephoto lens, the S25 Edge is more than just a super sleek phone designed for sheer thinness.
- Fashion design
- Titanium frame
- Large 200MP main cam
- Bright OLED display
- Minimum battery on any S25 phone
- No telephoto lens
- Mediocre wired charging speed
- Not fully compatible with QI2
Samsung $1,100
Don’t get me wrong now, although I’m less practical with my phone, the S25 Edge is beautifully designed. Only 5.8mm thick (0.23 inches), it feels impossible to be stylish. What’s even more impressive is that Samsung came here without sacrificing durability. Just like the S25 Ultra, the Edge has a titanium frame, an IP68 rating with dust and water resistance, and a stronger Gorilla Glass Ceramic 2 panel that covers its display. One difference is that the edges have a smooth finish, rather than a matte finish on the Ultra, because – I’m not lying to you – Samsung says the anti-reflective coating will increase its thickness. The honor of sticking to a strict design philosophy, because the S25 Edge is undoubtedly fascinating in terms of pure feeling and aesthetics.
But while the S25 Edge has some features with Ultra, such as its frame and main camera, it’s actually more like the S25+’s refresh at least when it comes to overall size. It has the same 6.7-inch OLED panel with a 120Hz refresh rate, and is as vibrant and vibrant as before. Although the weight of 163 grams or 5.75 ounces with S25+ (190G or 6.7 ounces) is indeed smaller.
Performance
Like the rest of the S25 family, the edge is supplied by the Snapdragon 8 Elite with 12GB of RAM and 256GB or 512GB of storage. Despite its compact size, Samsung still found space to squeeze the steam chamber to prevent throttle and overheating. So even if pushed away, the back of the phone is rarely lukewarm, while doing great things when I play games, multitasking, or doing almost anything else I can imagine.
camera
Another major difference from the basic template of the S25+ is that the edge has a 200MP main sensor from the Ultra and a 12MP Ultra wide CAM. But there is no dedicated zoom. Now at first, I’m a little frustrated because I think any of this expensive phone should have a telephoto lens. That is, the main sensor with a large number of pixels can be captured, which means you can crop freely without degrading the image quality. You just need to remember to tell the camera to shoot in full 200MP mode, rather than the standard 12MP setting. Another small change is that the Edge has a wider 12MP selfie camera compared to the S25+ and Ultra, which allows you to put more people in the group, but that is really the main difference.
Overall, the S25 Edge took great photos. The colors are rich and the details are crisp, although you will still get the slightly saturated tones of Samsung and warm tones. The same is true for low-light lenses. For this review, instead of comparing it to a pixel or iPhone, I compared the edge to the Motorola Razr Ultra. I feel like both are trying to attract people who want a stylish device, but they do it in a very different way.
What jumps out immediately is that the foldable phone (at least the Razr) still lags behind more traditional glass bricks, even as thin as the edges. In almost every shot, Samsung’s phones are brighter, clearer and better exposed than Motorola’s phones. So if you’re the type of person who wants a compact phone without sacrificing image quality, the S25 Edge is a more powerful option.
Battery life
The biggest trade-off when making a phone call is that this thinner battery space is less. Therefore, the smallest power pack in the S25 Edge’s family is 3,900 mAh, which is less than 100 mAh in the base S25. In our local video crash test, this took only 25 hours and 59 minutes. It’s not scary, but two hours worse than the three and a half hours we got from the S25 Ultra (29:27). For those who care so much about longevity, you have been warned.
Thankfully, the S25 Edge still supports wireless charging at an acceptable 15-watt, despite its wired speed of just 25 watts. However, since the phone is just “QI2 ready”, anyone who wants to use compatible magnetic wireless accessories will need to buy a box or adhesive mount with built-in magnets, as the phone itself does not have one.
wrap up
The S25 Edge is part of the cracked phone. I still don’t fully grasp the desire to make modern phones thinner than they are now. Especially if you’re like most people and once you get it, you can throw things in the situation (even if you consider Samsung’s new super slim option). Unless you think the phone’s battery life is a good thing, there’s no real change to shave the extra 1.5mm of the 1.5mm on the standard S25.
But, as an alternative to the Humdrum S25+, suddenly, things get even more fun. Samsung’s former middle kid costs significantly more than the base S25, but it doesn’t have the nifty features like a super high resolution main camera or a titanium frame like you’re on the S25 Ultra. Indeed, the most attractive feature of the S25+ is the size of the 6.7-inch screen.
Now, this is where the Galaxy S25 Edge comes. It offers all of this stuff at the same $1,100 starting price as the S25+, as well as an ultra-slim and well-crafted chassis. Yes, Samsung sacrificed some battery capacity and the phone-specific Zoom arrived here, but these are not straightforward traders. This is because with Edge, new members of Samsung’s flagship mobile family are not just thin, but have a stylish identity that can exist independently.
