Samsung Galaxy S25 Edge — Supermodel Looks, Everyday Trade-Offs

The thinnest Galaxy ever feels incredible in the hand, but its diet comes with sacrifices you need to know about before spending $1,099.

Samsung's Galaxy S25 Edge is the most head‑turning phone the company has built in years. At just 5.8 mm thick, it's slimmer than the S25 Plus, yet it has a flagship‑grade processor and the same 200 MP primary camera you'll find in the Ultra. Sounds perfect, right? Not quite. Shrinking a phone to near‑razor thinness forces compromises in battery life, camera versatility, and charging speed — all while matching the S25 Plus's $1,099 price.

Below, you'll find the full specs, initial impressions, real‑world battery numbers, preorder bonuses, and a reality check on who should — and shouldn't — buy this skinny legend.

Galaxy S25 Edge at a glance

• Thickness/weight: 0.228 in. (5.8 mm) • 5.75 oz. (163 g)

• Display: 6.7-inch QHD+ Dynamic AMOLED 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 (ƒ/1.7) • 12 MP ultra-wide (ƒ/2.2)

• Front camera: 12 MP (ƒ/2.2)

• Battery: 3,900 mAh • 25 W wired charging • 15 W wireless charging

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

• Colors: Titanium Silver • Titanium Jetblack • Titanium Icyblue

• Price: Starting at $1,099.99

How Samsung pulled off 5.8 mm — and what that really means

Samsung swapped the standard aluminum mid‑frame for titanium, shaved every internal bracket, and introduced Gorilla Glass Ceramic 2 to keep the front panel ultra‑thin yet durable. The result feels feather‑light and impossibly sleek in hand — a genuine luxury object, not a plastic compromise.

Yet "slimmest Galaxy" does not equal "thinnest phone ever." The S25 Edge measures 0.228 inches (5.8 millimeters), excluding the rear camera lenses, but wafer-thin handsets have existed for over a decade. For example, the Oppo R5 (2014) and Oppo R5s (2015) were 0.193 in. (4.9 mm), the Vivo X5Max (2014) was 0.189 in. (4.8 mm), and the Motorola Moto Z (2016) was 0.205 in. (5.2 mm).

Those phones were great at the time but lacked today's 5G radios, large batteries, LTPO displays, and 200 MP cameras. Samsung's trick is fitting all of that into something nearly as slim.

Performance: flagship silicon, full Galaxy AI

Despite its diet, the Edge keeps the same Snapdragon 8 Elite for Galaxy as the S25 Ultra. Day‑to‑day tasks feel identical: instant app launches, zero lag when editing 4K video, and fluid 120 Hz scrolling. All Galaxy AI features — real‑time Live Translate, Chat Assist, Generative Edit in the Gallery — run exactly as they do on pricier siblings.

Camera: 200 MP star performer, but no zoom versatility

Photos from the main sensor are identical to the Ultra's at 1×, with rich detail and Samsung's trademark punchy color. The 12 MP ultra-wide is solid for landscapes. What you lose is optical zoom: digital crops look fine up to 3×, acceptable at 5×, and mushy beyond that. If you live on 10× moon shots, you'll miss the telephoto.

Battery life and charging: real‑world reality check

Dropping to a 3,900 mAh cell means roughly 4.5–5 hours of screen‑on time in lab testing. Michael Fischer (MrMobile) drained his review unit in 11 hours of heavy travel‑day use (music streaming, flight boarding passes, Bluetooth buds and watch, constant social, and photography). He also triggered a thermal shutdown of Google Maps when the phone overheated during wireless Android Auto in a hot car — evidence of the tighter thermal envelope.

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

• 0 → 57% in 30 min (Samsung claims up to 55% with 25 W adapter)

• 93% in 60 min

• Full in 75 min

That's faster than expected, thanks mostly to the smaller battery — not to any new charging tech. Reviewers also note that Samsung could have offset capacity losses with a higher‑density silicon‑carbon cell used by other thin phones but stuck to traditional lithium‑ion chemistry.

Quick tips to stretch battery

1. Set Screen mode to Natural (slightly lower brightness).

2. Turn on Light performance profile under Settings » Battery & device care » Battery.

3. Disable Auto‑HDR video in the Camera if you rarely shoot in sunlight.

Who the Galaxy S25 Edge is (and isn't) for

Buy it if …

• You value pocket comfort and one‑hand feel over marathon battery life.

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

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

Skip it if …

• You rely on zoom for travel or wildlife shots.

• You game for hours or stream all day.

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

How Apple might answer: iPhone 17 Air rumors

Analysts expect Apple's fall lineup to introduce an ultra‑thin iPhone 17 Air that slots between the base and Pro models. Early whispers point to a 6.7‑inch OLED, sub‑6 mm thickness, and a price of around $899. If true, 2025 could mark a broader industry shift where "thin and premium" replaces "large and mid‑tier" for both Samsung and Apple.

Pricing, preorder perks, and availability

• Preorders open now; out May 30.

• Samsung and Amazon bundle a $50 gift card plus a free storage upgrade to 512 GB during preorder.

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

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

The bottom line

The Galaxy S25 Edge nails its mission: deliver a statement piece that feels impossibly sleek without falling into midrange specs. If you want a phone that disappears in your pocket yet still flexes a 200 MP camera and Snapdragon 8 Elite power, this is it. Just accept the compromises in zoom, battery endurance, and charging speed — or spend the same cash on the chunkier, longer‑lasting S25 Plus. Either way, Samsung's thin phase is here, and the Edge is only the beginning.

Full specs

Dimensions/weight

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

• 5.75 oz. (163 g)

• Titanium frame

• Gorilla Glass Ceramic 2 (front)

• Gorilla Glass Victus 2 (rear)

Display

• 6.7‑inch QHD+ Dynamic AMOLED 2x

• 3,120 × 1,440 px (Quad HD+)

• 19.5:9 aspect ratio

• 513 ppi density

• LTPO 1–120 Hz adaptive refresh

• HDR10+

• Peak brightness at 2,600 nits

• Corning anti‑scratch layer (no Ultra‑style anti‑reflective coating)

Performance

• Snapdragon 8 Elite for Galaxy (3 nm)

• Octa-core 4.47 GHz, 3.5 GHz

• 12 GB RAM

• 256 GB or 512 GB (likely 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, ƒ/2.2

• Video:

  • UHD 8K @ 30 fps

  • UHD 4K @ 60 fps

  • UHD 4K @ 120 fps

  • FHD 1080p @ 120 fps

• Slow-motion:

  • FHD 1080p @ 240 fps

  • FHD 1080p @ 120 fps

  • 4K @ 120 fps

• Autofocus

• HDR10+

• Samsung Log

• Super Steady

Front camera

• 12 MP, ƒ/2.2

• 4K @ 60 fps

• HDR10+

• Samsung Log

• Autofocus

Battery/charging

• 3,900 mAh Li‑ion

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

• 15 W wireless charging

• Qi2-ready (you need an add-on 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‑Wideband (UWB)

• NFC

• GPS / GLONASS / Galileo / BeiDou

• USB‑C 3.2 Gen 1

• Satellite capable (at least, for T-Mobile version)

Biometrics/sensors

• Ultrasonic under‑display fingerprint

• Face unlock (2D)

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

Audio

• Dual stereo speakers with Dolby Atmos

• Adapt Sound

• No 3.5 mm 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

• IP68 water/dust resistance (1.5 m for 30 min.)

• Corning Gorilla Glass Ceramic 2 scratch resistance (front)

Software/support

• Android 15 + One UI 7.0 on launch

• Seven years of OS upgrades and security patches

• Full Galaxy AI suite (Live Translate, Note Assist, Generative Edit, 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 (Hearing aid support, Live Caption, Live Transcribe, Real-Time Text, Sound Amplifier, Sound Notifications, etc.)

• Packaging: 3 amp USB‑C cable, SIM tool, eco‑paper documentation (no power brick)

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

Don't Miss: Activate Your Samsung Galaxy's Vault to Keep Your Apps, Files, and History Safe from Prying Eyes and Hackers