Samsung Galaxy S25 Edge hands-on: Much less smartphone, extra compromises

After teasing us for months, Samsung has formally revealed the Galaxy S25 Edge. At simply 5.8 millimeters (0.22 inches) thick, it’s the slimmest member of the S25 household — and its slimmest smartphone ever. It’s out there to preorder now and launches on 30 Could, beginning at $1,100.

Samsung mentioned that S25 Edge “unlocks a brand new period of progress for the cell trade” — and it’s straightforward (too straightforward!) to cynically see this as a method of hawking one other Samsung cellphone right into a thinner — and but related — slice of {hardware}, with acquainted cameras, technical specs and AI software. This isn’t an Extremely, neither is it a brand new foldable. Nonetheless, it may very well be a brand new course for Samsung’s flagship S sequence.

What’s the distinction between the S25 and S25 Edge?

Shock! The Edge is thinner. Whereas the S25 Edge measures in at lower than the base S25, which is 6.4mm (0.25 inches) skinny, it weighs nearly the identical. Actually, there’s solely a gram’s distinction between the 2, regardless of the S25 Edge packing a a lot greater 6.7-inch display than the S25’s 6.2-inch one.

And boy, are you able to inform the distinction. Probably the most up to date comparability I could make is when Apple switched to a titanium body for the iPhone 15 Professional. Spec sheets and numbers be damned: I might sense how a lot lighter the system was. Regardless of having a a lot greater display than my iPhone 16 Professional, the thinner S25 Edge felt gentle but premium. I simply slipped it out and in of my pants pockets, as a result of, nicely, how else am I going to evaluate the most important promoting level for Samsung’s newest cellphone?

The factor is: Machine thickness isn’t a difficulty I’ve with flagship smartphones — it’s the display dimension. The bottom Galaxy S25 (or the Pixel 9 Professional) hit the candy spot for my arms. Whereas this new S25 Edge could also be simpler to carry than similar-sized telephones, a 6.7-inch display isn’t for everybody.

Like most telephones (the Pixel 9a is a curious outlier), the S25 Edge nonetheless has a considerable digital camera unit derailing in any other case clear {hardware} traces. The twin-camera setup protrudes 4.5mm (0.17 inches), though it options the identical 200-megapixel sensor packed into the pricier S25 Extremely.

Samsung says it re-engineered the digital camera unit to make sure it might match on the Edge, however it nonetheless stands out — so much. Earlier than I obtained to deal with the cellphone, I assumed this could result in the brand new cellphone being oddly unbalanced and top-heavy. However no matter Samsung has performed to rearrange the element furnishings contained in the S25 Edge, it labored. The cellphone doesn’t really feel lopsided or fragile in any respect, however like some other premium flagship smartphone.

The Galaxy S25 Edge’s cameras

Alongside the first 200MP sensor, Samsung included a 12MP ultrawide digital camera with autofocus and macro images assist. And… that’s it. There’s no devoted telephoto system, which usually takes up extra space . The 2 lenses are stacked in a vertical association, which I feel seems cleaner than the digital camera cornucopias discovered on different units — however many people are going to overlook the flexibility of a real telephoto. Certain, you may digitally zoom by cropping in on that massive 200MP sensor, however it’s not the identical.

The S25 Edge may also seize as much as 8K video and packs all the opposite images tips you’d anticipate in an S-Sequence cellphone, like night time images and lossless zoom. Of cours,e it additionally handles post-capture AI instruments like generative enhancing (eradicating photobombers and undesirable objects out of your pictures) and Audio Eraser for cleansing up video in loud environments.

And in terms of AI — or Galaxy AI — you’re getting the identical array of options that we noticed within the base S25 and S25 Extremely, powered by a customized Snapdragon 8 Elite chip and 12GB of RAM. These AI instruments embrace the Now Transient and Now Bar which takes contextual clues out of your apps and smartphone to put out a plan to your day, remind you of the climate and extra. Samsung’s integration of Google’s Gemini now contains Gemini Reside, so you may faucet into your digital camera feed to ask questions on your pictures and issues in your environment.

It’ll seemingly decide up any future Gemini and Android upgrades, too: The Galaxy S25 Edge will obtain seven generations of OS updates and 7 years of safety updates.

At a media briefing, Samsung additionally outlined the way it’s attempting to make sure the S25 Edge runs cool regardless of all of the packed-in {hardware}, utilizing a brand new Thermal Interface Materials (TIM) for higher warmth dissipation inside that restricted area. I didn’t actually get the time to push the system to its limits in the course of the briefing, so we’ll look ahead to a evaluation to evaluate whether or not it really works nicely sufficient.

The corporate did must make compromises to suit all of the S25 Edge’s options into this svelte profile. It has a 3,900mAh battery, which is small for a cellphone with a 6.7-inch show that prices greater than $1,000. Compared, the bottom S25 has a 4,000mAh cell — that is an even bigger battery on a less expensive cellphone with a smaller display. Then, there’s the S25+, which has a 4,900mAh battery with the identical display dimension because the S25 Edge.

In its defence, Samsung has made appreciable progress on the battery lifetime of its units (significantly with this yr’s crop of Galaxy S telephones). The corporate claims the S25 Edge can run video for as much as 24 hours. Nonetheless, with an even bigger display inside a thinner system, battery life could be the greatest compromise—and it’s one thing we should take a look at once we evaluation the Edge correctly.

The Galaxy S25 Edge is priced at $1,100 (£1,100) with 256GB of storage. It’ll launch on Could 30 in three colours: Silver, Jet Black and Icy Blue. It’s onerous to attract any concrete conclusions on whether or not the S25 Edge’s compromises for a smaller system footprint are price it, however anticipate our evaluation within the subsequent few weeks.