I Was Flawed In regards to the Galaxy S25 Edge. The Skinny Telephone Hype May Be Legit

8.5/ 10
SCORE

Samsung Galaxy S25 Edge

Professionals

• Light-weight design
• 200-megapixel major digital camera
• Sturdy titanium body and Gorilla Glass back and front
• Highly effective Snapdragon 8 Elite processor
• 12GB of RAM

Cons

• Mediocre battery life
• Solely 25-watt wired charging
• Steep $1,100 price ticket
• Simply two rear cameras

Admitting you are incorrect is rarely enjoyable, however I am going to swallow my delight and say it proper now: I used to be incorrect concerning the Galaxy S25 Edge.

When Samsung unveiled the skinny cellphone again in January, I did not fairly see the attraction. Certain, slimming down parts is an engineering marvel, however how will the battery and digital camera undergo in consequence? Plus, is anybody actually asking for a thin cellphone?

However because the saying goes, seeing is believing. And maybe extra fittingly, holding is believing (not as catchy an adage, however undoubtedly true). Every time I decide up the S25 Edge, I am stunned by how mild it’s. 

Watch this: Galaxy S25 Edge Evaluate: This Skinny Telephone Left a Large Impression

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What’s not so mild is the worth. The S25 Edge, which goes on sale Could 30, begins at $1,100. That is a major worth hike over the $800 vanilla model of the S25, which is more likely to put this one out of attain for lots of people. Plus, skinny telephones can come off as a gimmick to snag extra of your hard-earned {dollars}. However after spending every week with the S25 Edge, I now perceive {that a} modern design can really assist elevate the consumer expertise and, for some, may justify that increased price ticket.

In truth, I am undecided I can return.

Galaxy S25 Edge feel and appear

My favourite factor concerning the S25 Edge is not how skinny it’s (5.8mm), however how mild it’s (163 grams). I hardly really feel it in my pocket or bag, and typing on one thing so ethereal is gratifying and refreshing. Strictly talking, the Edge is one gram heavier than the baseline S25, however it has the identical 6.7-inch show because the S25 Plus, so it is remarkably mild for its dimension. 

The cellphone’s titanium body provides sturdiness, but additionally offers the S25 Edge a pleasant matte end that makes it really feel safe in my hand. That satisfying texture extends to the frosted Corning Gorilla Glass Victus 2 backing, which, together with the Gorilla Glass Ceramic 2 show, offers the cellphone an assuring sturdiness. It does not really feel like it should bend after I apply pressure to it, and I am not frightened about it flexing in my pocket. That is a aid, since I refuse to slap on a case and diminish the Edge’s slim attraction. 

Sadly, the Edge does not borrow one of many finest options on the S25 Extremely: an anti-reflective coating to attenuate display glare. It is a missed alternative, however at the least the Edge’s 120Hz show is clean and vivid, with a peak brightness of two,600 nits that makes the display straightforward to take a look at even in direct daylight. 

I have a tendency to love larger telephones due to their spacious shows, however I do not just like the heft that sometimes accompanies them. The S25 Edge solves that downside, however it introduces one other as a replacement: battery life. 

Battery life and efficiency

That is the important thing trade-off if you need a skinny cellphone: Much less area means a smaller battery, which interprets to shorter battery life. The S25 Edge has a 3,900-mAh battery, which is the smallest capability throughout the S25 lineup. For comparability, the S25 has a 4,000-mAh battery, the S25 Plus’ battery packs in 4,900 mAh, and the S25 Extremely has a 5,000-mAh battery.

I hoped I would not actually really feel the distinction, however it seems I used to be simply being foolishly optimistic. Samsung has mentioned the S25 Edge helps all-day battery life, and that is just about precisely what it is best to count on — however not way more. 

I am a reasonably heavy cellphone consumer, and with a single cost, I managed to pack in a very good quantity of social media scrolling, texting, navigating, images and streaming, plus some calls (wild use for a cellphone, I do know). That was constant over a number of days. 

Sooner or later, for instance, I began with a full cost at 3:40 p.m., and was right down to 31% by 12:30 a.m. On one other day, after I did not spend fairly as a lot time glued to my display as a result of I used to be operating round overlaying Google I/O, I began with 96% at 5:45 a.m., and hit 32% by 11:30 p.m. It is value noting that I’ve the always-on show enabled always, since rapidly glancing on the time and notifications is one thing I simply cannot reside with out, even when it takes a slight toll on battery life. 

In CNET’s 45-minute endurance check, which features a mixture of streaming, scrolling by means of social media, becoming a member of a video name and taking part in video games, the S25 Edge’s battery went from full to 91%. In the identical check, the baseline S25 reached 93%, and the S25 Plus completed at 94%. 

And in a three-hour streaming check over Wi-Fi, by which I watched a YouTube video in full-screen mode at full brightness, the S25 Edge’s battery dropped from 100% to 83%. The baseline S25 reached 85% in the identical check, whereas the S25 Plus completed at 86%. 

In the end, you may get much less juice out of that slimmer construct, however S25 Edge provides simply sufficient battery life to make me completely happy. Usually, I like having a very good quantity of spillover cost on the finish of the day, merely as a reassurance that my cellphone can final slightly longer if wanted. However the S25 Edge has shifted my priorities. I am having fun with the modern type issue a lot that I am prepared to make some compromises, even when which means I’ve to make sure you cost my cellphone every night time, which is one thing I are inclined to do anyway. 

One other draw back that’s sadly frequent, even for premium Samsung telephones, is that the S25 Edge does not help super-fast charging, solely 25-watt wired charging and 15-watt wi-fi charging. That is not nice for a cellphone in 2025. In a 30-minute charging check, the Edge went from 0% to 48%. It reached a full battery in about an hour and quarter-hour, which compares poorly to telephones just like the OnePlus 13, which might go from zero to utterly recharged in simply over half an hour, because of 100-watt charging. 

The truth that such a skinny system may even energy by means of a full day of my extravagant display time is admittedly spectacular. However I hope future variations scale up battery life, as a result of I might moderately not compromise if I haven’t got to. 

One of many S25 Edge’s strongest promoting factors is its Snapdragon 8 Elite processor, which additionally powers the remainder of the S25 collection. Apps launch rapidly and run easily, and the cellphone by no means bought scorching after I was taking footage and movies. Transitioning from panorama to portrait mode in YouTube is instantaneous, and multitasking is equally clean and seamless. Movies transfer into and out of picture-in-picture mode with none lag. 

That processor means the S25 Edge may energy all these Galaxy AI options Samsung actually desires you to make use of, like Generative Edit for Pictures and Audio Eraser for cleansing up distracting sounds in your movies. You will additionally discover Google Gemini options onboard, like Gemini Dwell, which helps you to have a back-and-forth dialog with an AI assistant, and Circle to Search, which exhibits you details about something in your display with a few faucets (it is considered one of my favourite options ever).

Benchmark exams for the CPU in Geekbench 6 place the S25 Edge properly above the complete Galaxy S24 lineup. In a graphics check utilizing 3DMark’s Wild Life Excessive, the S25 Edge exceeded the efficiency of the iPhone 15 Professional, Galaxy S24 Extremely and OnePlus 12.

Try the graphs beneath for extra specifics.

The S25 Edge comes with 12GB of RAM and storage choices of 256GB and 512GB. I am glad storage did not take successful, since that is one of many prime issues when individuals store for a cellphone, in keeping with a CNET survey from August. The opposite priorities? Battery life and digital camera. Which brings us to our subsequent chapter. 

Scaled-back cameras that also ship 

You will additionally should compromise a bit with the S25 Edge’s cameras; the thin body solely helps two rear lenses. Fortunately, Samsung has made that tradeoff slightly simpler by making a type of cameras a 200-megapixel one for its major shooter, similar to you may discover on the top-of-the-line S25 Extremely. It is paired with a 12-megapixel ultrawide digital camera. There’s additionally a 12-megapixel selfie digital camera. 

There is not any telephoto lens, and the preset magnification choices are restricted to .6x, 1x and 2x. However that did the job for me. I do not sometimes punch in additional than 2x when taking footage on a cellphone, although the subsequent time I am within the nosebleeds at a live performance, I in all probability will not be reaching for the S25 Edge to take close-up pictures of the performer. The Edge additionally helps digital zoom as much as 10x, which is an honest backup choice, although that is whenever you’ll begin to see some noise issue into the picture.

Total, I am actually impressed by the images I snapped on the S25 Edge. It does an important job capturing sharp, vibrant photos that are not under- or over-saturated. Portrait pictures are crisp and even-toned, selfies have a pleasant smoothing impact that maintains element, and nighttime pictures faucet into AI to brighten issues up. 

Let’s heat up with a pleasant cup of tea. I like how the pink design on the teacup pops, with out coming off as oversaturated. The lighting right here is even all through, and the main points are crisp and clear.

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Portrait mode makes the shot even higher, bringing the roses into crisp focus within the foreground and actually giving them their second within the highlight. In the meantime, the graceful and refined background blurring impact preserves the setting’s total magnificence. 

Portrait mode additionally takes nice pictures of my pals, and constantly is aware of what to spotlight within the foreground and subtly blur out within the background. On this image of my pal Raneem, you may discover even the plant within the lower-left nook can be in focus, serving to to keep up that eye-catching layered impact. 

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Alternatively, the $1,000 S25 Plus has all the time felt like an ungainly center choice that is priced too excessive for what it delivers: an even bigger display with a barely bigger battery than the baseline S25. In truth, rumors are already swirling that Samsung could change the Plus choice with the Edge in future Galaxy releases. However Samsung hasn’t mentioned something about this, and we’ll see how individuals really reply to the slim cellphone when it hits retailer cabinets on Could 30. 

In the end, for those who’re tired of telephones that every one look the identical (the S25 and S25 Plus share a placing resemblance to final yr’s S24 fashions, as an illustration), the S25 Edge could possibly be a breath of recent air. I’ve grown so used to its skinny, light-weight design that holding every other cellphone seems like a drag. If, like me, you favor telephones with bigger shows, the 6.7-inch Edge has you coated, with out the majority. 

You’ll have to address shorter battery life, however the S25 Edge will nonetheless get you thru the day. A scaled-back digital camera setup is one other key compromise, however the absence of a telephoto lens does not really feel like a lot to mourn to me. 

Additionally, for those who merely wish to showcase your cool new skinny cellphone at a celebration, I can verify that it will do the trick.

I am curious to see how individuals reply to the S25 Edge, and whether or not extra corporations — particularly, Apple — hop on the skinny cellphone bandwagon. We actually could possibly be on the fringe of the subsequent massive cellphone pattern.

How we check telephones

Each cellphone CNET’s opinions workforce exams is utilized in the actual world. We check a cellphone’s options, play video games and take pictures. We study the show to see if it is vivid, sharp and vibrant. We analyze the design and construct to see how it’s to carry and whether or not it has an IP score for water resistance. We push the processor’s efficiency to the extremes utilizing standardized benchmark instruments like GeekBench and 3DMark, together with our personal anecdotal observations navigating the interface, recording high-resolution movies and taking part in graphically intense video games at excessive refresh charges.

All of the cameras are examined in a wide range of situations, from vivid daylight to darkish indoor scenes. We check out particular options like night time mode and portrait mode, and evaluate our findings in opposition to equally priced competing telephones. We additionally try the battery life by utilizing it each day, in addition to operating a collection of battery drain exams.

We bear in mind further options like help for 5G, satellite tv for pc connectivity, fingerprint and face sensors, stylus help, quick charging speeds and foldable shows, amongst others that may be helpful. We stability all of this in opposition to the worth to provide the verdict on whether or not that cellphone, no matter worth it’s, really represents good worth. Whereas these exams could not all the time be mirrored in CNET’s preliminary evaluate, we conduct follow-up and long-term testing in most circumstances.