Samsung Galaxy S25 Edge evaluate: When much less prices extra

There’s one thing to be stated for throwing an concept on the wall and seeing if it sticks. Typically, it offers us one thing sensible, like HTC introducing twin digicam setups to the world or Samsung resurrecting the foldable cellphone. Different instances, like with the LG Wing, it leaves us scratching our heads, questioning how an concept ever grew the wings it wanted to fly — pun meant.

So, when Samsung teased the Galaxy S25 Edge on the finish of its first Unpacked occasion of 2025, I figured it might go one among two methods: we might have a brand new commonplace for ultra-slim smartphones on our palms, or we might have a one-off design that reminds us why innovation isn’t all the time progress. Sadly, I feel it is a case of the latter, and right here’s why.

Don’t get me improper — the Galaxy S25 Edge appears spectacular. It even feels spectacular. Each time I choose it up, I’m in awe of how Samsung managed to make one thing with such a big show so skinny and really feel so mild. At any time when I hand it off to a buddy, they appear to heft it as soon as of their palms earlier than instantly pulling out their iPhone for a side-by-side comparability. Each time, the Galaxy S25 Edge is thinner and lighter, not less than for its dimension.

That’s what’s most enjoyable concerning the Galaxy S25 Edge: Each time somebody holds it, you get to see the look of shock on their face. It’s the Galaxy S25 Edge’s whole bit — at simply 5.8mm thick from high to backside, it’s most likely the thinnest gadget most individuals have held in a very long time, until they’re devoted iPad Professional customers. And sure, there’s a bit extra of a bump across the cameras, as a result of there’s no means a 200MP main sensor would match straight into the physique, however it actually doesn’t break the phantasm of top-to-bottom thinness.

Nonetheless, it additionally takes only a few seconds of holding the Galaxy S25 Edge for the questions to begin rolling in. I’ve been peppered with the whole lot from “How do you maintain it comfortably?” to “Do you assume you possibly can bend it?” to “Why are you utilizing it with no case?”

Truthfully, the solutions to all three of these questions are just about the identical — you simply should belief Samsung a bit bit. It decked out the Galaxy S25 Edge in its finest supplies, sandwiching a titanium body between Gorilla Glass Ceramic 2 on the entrance and Gorilla Glass Victus 2 on the again. For those who discover a technique to bend it in your pocket or your backpack, then you definitely’re most likely going to destroy a thicker, inexpensive cellphone, too.

In fact, that degree of religion within the top-tier supplies doesn’t make the Galaxy S25 Edge any extra comfy to carry. It seems like choosing up a vinyl document to place it in your turntable, by which I imply you maintain it so rigorously by the body since you’re anxious about smudging the entrance accidentally. I do know I’m not going to wreck the 6.7-inch AMOLED by touching it — it’s a cellphone, it’s meant to be touched — however I’m extra anxious about by chance opening an app, urgent on my house display screen to edit the format, or launching Circle to Search through the gesture tablet, as a result of all three of these issues have occurred because of my stocky little fingers.

Oh, and I merely refuse to make use of the Galaxy S25 Edge with a case, as a result of that might basically make it as thick as another cellphone, which I’d additionally desire to make use of caseless. You may argue that it’s higher to have a protected skinny cellphone that’s solely as thick as an unprotected common cellphone, however I nonetheless assume it defeats the purpose of shopping for the Edge. In addition to, the cellphone is already IP68 protected, so I shouldn’t have an issue letting it stand as much as the weather whereas the glass and titanium defend it in case I take a tumble.

Sadly, to return to that vinyl document metaphor I used, that’s my greatest drawback with the Galaxy S25 Edge. Though I do know it’s sturdy, similar to I do know that frivolously touching a vinyl document received’t trigger irreparable hurt, I can’t convey myself to make use of it like I’d one other cellphone. I’m nonetheless decided to deal with it like a murals that’s to be dealt with as if it have been about to interrupt, and that makes me not need to use it in any respect. I’m too nervous to easily toss it in a backpack or go away it on the sofa after I sprint out for a few morning miles, all as a result of I’m unsure what would occur if I have been a bit too tough.

Even worse, by treating the Galaxy S25 Edge with such care, I really feel like I’m depriving myself of one among Samsung’s finest options: its glorious show. The Galaxy S25 Edge packs an almost equivalent 6.7-inch LTPO AMOLED panel to the one on the Galaxy S25 Plus, proper all the way down to the variable 120Hz refresh charge. We beloved the show on that cellphone (though the cellphone itself was a little bit of a meh-burger), and it’s simply nearly as good this time, too.

The colours are wealthy and vibrant, the refresh charge is buttery easy, and the almost nonexistent bezels make the Edge really feel like all content material, on a regular basis. It was the proper show for checking the finales of Andor and The Final of Us off my listing, and I propped it up subsequent to my laptop computer to observe Chelsea elevate the UEFA Convention League trophy, finishing world soccer earlier than Arsenal has received any European silverware (whoops, sorry, stream of consciousness there… transferring on).

One factor I didn’t count on from the Galaxy S25 Edge’s show, although, is simply how dim it will probably get. Certain, it’s enjoyable to brag about peak brightness, and reaching 2,600 nits in vivid daylight is nice, however I wasn’t anticipating Samsung’s ultra-thin flagship to go the opposite means, too. Whereas testing the digicam, I watched the cellphone overrule me, kicking into essentially the most excessive type of battery saver and dropping the panel to what I can solely guess was one nit. On the time, I used to be irritated, because it was a vivid, sunny day, so I might now not see the digicam interface itself, however I’ve since come round to the concept that it was doing the whole lot potential to stretch its battery just a bit bit additional.

Though a lot of the questions I’ve fielded concerning the Galaxy S25 Edge have been about its eye-catching, barely there design, yet one more comes up simply as usually: Does its efficiency sustain? In any case, with such a slim physique, there’s solely a lot room for cooling know-how and to suit a battery, so one thing has to offer, proper? Sadly, sure.

Earlier than we discuss shortcomings, although, we must always contact on the Edge’s chipset and storage combos — they do the whole lot they’ll to set the cellphone up for achievement. It picks up the place its siblings left off, pairing a Snapdragon 8 Elite processor with 12GB of RAM and as much as 512GB of mounted storage. That’s greater than adequate for day-to-day duties, and units the Galaxy S25 Edge as much as make a strong run at our gauntlet of benchmarks.

At first, the Edge’s efficiency backed up precisely what I believed it could. My colleague Rob Triggs and I put it up in opposition to its fellow Galaxy S25 fashions throughout our pair of CPU-intensive assessments, and it hung proper with its counterparts. It solely got here up shy of the Galaxy S25 Extremely in single-core Geekbench 6 efficiency, and barely edged the gang on the extra complete PCMark Work take a look at. Sadly, as Rob famous in his head-to-head… -to-head-to-head comparability, that’s the place the excellent news runs out.

Once we flipped our testing to the extra graphically intensive Wild Life stress assessments, the Galaxy S25 Edge was fast to throw within the towel. Each instances, it began out working like an Olympic sprinter, solely to drop under even the smallest Galaxy S25 mannequin by the fourth or fifth run. At its worst, the Edge scored about 8.5% slower than the Galaxy S25 and a painful 24.8% behind the Galaxy S25 Extremely — no small margin when spending over $1,100 on a brand new cellphone.

It’s fairly simple to determine why the Galaxy S25 Edge stumbles when it does, although: Its thermal regulation isn’t there. It peaks on the identical inside temperature as Samsung’s different flagships, however when it hits that temperature, it has to throttle its efficiency a lot more durable to compensate for the condensed cooling setup. Sadly, meaning reducing its efficiency in half by the tip of our testing — one thing we haven’t seen because the Galaxy Z Flip 6 with its equally tough cooling setup.

The Edge has bother maintaining with non-Samsung gadgets, too. We’ve already established that it begins sky-high, nearly matching the OnePlus 13’s peak regardless of the latter having a large cooling chamber, earlier than dropping a lot nearer to the efficiency of the iPhone 16 Professional Max and Pixel 9 Professional XL only a few runs later. It’s not dangerous firm to maintain — each Apple and Google make nice flagships — however you get extra out of each by way of battery life and digicam flexibility to make up for no matter efficiency woes pop up. The Galaxy S25 Edge has no such luck. Oh, and the Galaxy S24 FE places up related last numbers regardless of costing almost $500 much less.

Now, that is the place you may hope I’ll swoop in and say the Galaxy S25 Edge’s day-to-day efficiency is completely different from its managed benchmarks. It’s not.

The cellphone runs wonderful beneath informal load however stumbles while you ask it to work a bit more durable. The Snapdragon 8 Elite chipset heats up, the battery drops like a stone, and also you begin to get battery nervousness in a rush. I could make do if I’m simply strolling round my neighborhood, listening to Spotify and scrolling social media, however after I was house for Memorial Day Weekend, I made a decision to work the Edge a bit more durable. I took it for the picture stroll I discussed within the design part above, and it confirmed me simply the place its weaknesses lie.

Once I began my journey round city, the cellphone was at a snug 25% cost — completely affordable, and no battery saver was wanted but. I put my trusty CMF Buds Professional 2 in my ears and fired up my daylist whereas in search of attention-grabbing scenes price taking pictures. After about 20 minutes within the solar, opening and shutting the digicam as wanted, the battery dropped to a mere 3%, and the titanium body felt uncomfortably heat in my hand. That is when Samsung hacked its brightness all the way down to only one nit, marking the tip of my journey as a result of I couldn’t see the display screen any longer.

In fact, I wasn’t in an emergency, so I simply shrugged and went again to my mother and father’ home to search for a charger. Nonetheless, that poor battery return has caught with me to the purpose the place I’m unsure I’d go away house with something lower than a 30% cost and count on to have any juice left by the point I get again.

Then once more, I can’t think about that many individuals can be utilizing the final 20% of their cellphone’s battery to take photographs of the place the place they grew up, however I desire to consider it as a warning. The stakes have been very low for me, however in the event you have been out on a hike and obtained misplaced or obtained right into a automotive accident and wanted to name for assist, I’m anxious that you simply wouldn’t have the ability to belief the Galaxy S25 Edge like you possibly can one other cellphone. And, in the event you can’t belief your cellphone while you want it most, you’re most likely not going to have that cellphone for very lengthy.

Granted, the Galaxy S25 Edge is far more dependable for informal workloads. It soared by the previous few episodes of a few of my favourite reveals, as talked about above, and it’s been completely comfortable to load up Pokémon TCG Pocket whereas I waste time opening pack after pack in search of a number of extra shinies. Extra graphically intensive titles like Name of Responsibility Cellular and even Warhammer 40,000 Tacticus would most likely flip the Galaxy S25 Edge right into a small neutron star, although — both that, or it could throttle to the purpose the place they turned unplayable.

And, since I’ve opened the door of complaining concerning the Galaxy S25 Edge’s tiny battery, let’s keep some time. Personally, I feel that is the largest factor that might make me nervous about retaining and utilizing this cellphone in the long run. Because of dimension constraints, Samsung might solely match its flagship with a 3,900mAh battery, making it smaller than the cell inside the bottom Galaxy S25. Had Samsung adopted a silicon-carbon battery, it most likely might have bumped that capability by a number of hundred milliamp-hours, very like OnePlus did with the OnePlus 13, however it didn’t. It settled for much less, and our managed battery drain take a look at reveals why that was most likely a nasty concept.

On the left aspect, we’ve got the Edge’s efficiency in opposition to its fellow Samsung fashions, discounting the Galaxy S25 Extremely to maintain the graph legible. Throughout 4 of the primary 5 classes, the ultra-slim Galaxy S25 Edge comes up quick. Certain, it ties the Exynos-toting Galaxy S24 on a simulated Zoom name, and it’s proper within the combine for digicam efficiency, however all over the place else, it’s hovering round fifth place out of 5. It, in fact, has the fifth-largest battery out of the 5, so there’s not a lot for the Galaxy S25 Edge to hold its hat on right here.

The issues worsen on the suitable aspect once we put the Edge up in opposition to equally priced competitors, together with the beefed-up Motorola Razr Extremely and the iPhone 16 Professional. Sure, the Edge usually stays forward of its iOS-powered rival, however it falls far behind the opposite three Snapdragon 8 Elite flagships, stopping a whole bunch of minutes in need of the remaining by way of 4K video playback, net looking, and even a simulated Zoom name. Combine in the truth that the remainder of these telephones have a lot bigger batteries for not far more cash (or typically much less), and it turns into robust to achieve for the Galaxy S25 Edge.

Swapping over to charging, the Galaxy S25 Edge as soon as once more takes after Samsung’s smallest flagship. It packs the identical 25W wired and 15W wi-fi charging choices as the bottom Galaxy S25, ignoring that Samsung’s dearer choices bump the speed to 45W with a suitable USB PD PPS block. This strict limitation signifies that though it has the smallest battery of the telephones I in contrast it to on the suitable aspect, it expenses second-slowest, solely ending sooner than Apple’s turtle-esque iPhone 16 Professional.

And sure, I’ll admit that it’s most likely pointless to complain a couple of cellphone that may fill its battery in nearly an hour, however when choices just like the Razr Extremely and OnePlus 13 can fill their a lot bigger cells in as little as half the time, I’m going to choose them every time I get the possibility.

Whereas I can perceive Samsung stripping again the battery capability on its slimmest flagship thus far, it’s harder for me to grasp a number of different limitations, together with the twin digicam setup. Sure, for the primary time because the Galaxy S10e (which value a fraction of what the Galaxy S25 Edge does), we’ve got a flagship Samsung cellphone with solely two rear cameras. Granted, the first digicam is an absolute beast — the identical 200MP sensor from the Galaxy S25 Extremely — however it seems like Samsung has given up one of many issues I’ve all the time trusted to maintain it among the many finest digicam telephones you should purchase.

To me, while you choose up a standard Samsung flagship, you count on a reasonably versatile triple digicam setup. You count on a strong main digicam, a telephoto sensor set to 3x optical zoom, and an ultrawide sensor that rounds issues out. That’s not the case with the Edge. It’s content material to pair its Extremely-tier main sensor with a Plus-tier 12MP ultrawide shooter, making a digicam duo that’s equally glorious and simply sort of on a regular basis common. It might have pulled over the 50MP ultrawide sensor from the Galaxy S25 Extremely, giving the Edge extra megapixels and cropping means than it might know what to do with, however as an alternative went the extra pedestrian route whereas stripping a lot of the zoom functionality.

In fact, I can solely think about that Samsung determined to axe the telephoto sensor in an effort to restrict the scale of its digicam bump, thus retaining the Edge, properly, edgy. Engineers most likely already took exception as a result of the bump is simply as thick as the remainder of the cellphone, and perhaps they put their foot down on the additional area the {hardware} would have required. Sadly, meaning the zoom on the Galaxy S25 Edge is all digital and tops out at simply 10x zoom —  the identical as an iPhone 16 or a base Pixel 9. You may technically get inventive and shoot full 200MP photos from the first digicam solely to crop them in tighter afterwards, however in any other case, there’s no technique to push the default interface additional. In observe, that makes the Galaxy S25 Edge really feel like a Fiat with the engine of a Ferrari — it might most likely do extra, it simply received’t.

Let’s get to some digicam samples, and also you’ll see what I imply.

I don’t have too many points with any of the photographs I picked for this primary row — they present the Galaxy S25 Edge’s strengths fairly properly. The topics in all 4 samples are clear and sharp, with nice pure fall-off behind the sign up my hometown and good shadows under the rail automotive to the far proper aspect. If I had to pick a hiccup from the bunch, it could be that Samsung’s closely saturated pink and inexperienced colour profile is again with a vengeance. I do know it was a sunny day, however the caboose that sits within the park in my hometown hasn’t been that pink for a number of years, neither is the grass often fairly so vigorous at this level within the spring. Additionally, for being a largely digital crop, the shot of the blue crab holds fairly strong element.

Shifting on, Samsung’s devoted portrait mode is simply as dependable as its pure bokeh, if a bit sharper. I like that it was ready to pick your complete lion sculpture in opposition to the white fence, as I’ve had different experiences the place a cellphone will isolate the lion’s head after which name it a day. The large 200MP sensor had no troubles with the marginally decrease lighting situations within the shot to the suitable, both. It appropriately uncovered the ice cream signal whereas retaining correct shadows within the doorway and on the ivy-coated constructing within the background. The macro-like shot of the succulent on the left-hand aspect introduced one among Samsung’s different quirks to my consideration, which is the best way it handles Focus Enhancer in close-ups.

Now, I didn’t assume to snap two photographs of the primary succulent, so I went again out to discover a hydrangea on my road again house in Baltimore. I grabbed two photographs — one with Focus Improve lively and one with it turned off. After a look between the 2, I feel I’ll be turning Focus Enhancer off for the foreseeable future. Though it cleverly adjusts for macro-like element, Samsung’s synthetic sharpening is simply an excessive amount of for me to assume the picture is pure.

Additionally, whereas I gave Samsung some warmth for selecting the lower-resolution ultrawide sensor over the 50MP choice on its Extremely, I nonetheless assume it’s an excellent digicam. I really like the colours within the shot of the city corridor to the far left, and I feel the digicam does a fantastic job of displaying the size of the church tower on the suitable aspect. It’s a bit harder to get a glance I like when making an attempt to seize road artwork up shut, referring to the mosaic on the far aspect, however the colours are nonetheless spot-on given the grey, overcast day after I was strolling round.

Alright, right here’s the place I get as an instance the issue with Samsung ditching the telephoto sensor. Regardless of having a monstrous 200 megapixels to work with, the Galaxy S25 Edge is comfortable to stay with simply 10x zoom. That’s a fraction of what the smaller Galaxy S25 fashions can obtain at 30x and hardly compares to the 100x Area Zoom of the Galaxy S25 Extremely. Sure, I’ll admit that limiting the zoom ensures higher completed photographs throughout your complete vary — the whole lot under is a lot sharp sufficient for me to share it, although, as a result of it’s digital, you may’t pixel peep with out issues getting dicey — however it seems like a man-made limitation on such an costly smartphone.

The final piece of Samsung’s premium digicam setup is its 12MP selfie digicam. This time, I’ve to offer it some credit score for matching the Galaxy S25 Extremely — even when a 12MP sensor isn’t a excessive bar in a punch gap. Both means, I feel the colours and particulars are adequate, and the substitute bokeh does a reasonably good job of capturing all of my hair with out placing too sharp a line round my head. I’m not totally certain why my white shirt has such a blue solid, however I’m a lot happier with the tones in my face, even when I obtained a bit burnt over the vacation weekend.

If high-quality video is what you’re after, you may most likely guess what I’m about to say. Sure, the Galaxy S25 Edge shoots nice footage at 1x or 2x zoom. Sure, the stabilization is superb, and the power to shoot 8K at 30fps or 4K at as much as 120fps means you could have loads of choices. I like how a number of of my easy clips round city got here out, however like above, the dearth of zoom flexibility means there are scenes you simply received’t have the ability to dial in carefully sufficient.

On the brilliant aspect, a few of Samsung’s newest software program wrinkles make it extra fulfilling to make use of the cameras total. The Edge helps a easy zoom slider when taking pictures movies, which makes clips, properly, smoother. It additionally permits you to save publicity settings while you flip between digicam modes so that you simply don’t have to boost and decrease your publicity and danger lacking a shot. Maybe the best trick within the Galaxy S25 Edge’s digicam e-book, although, is its means to shoot Log format movies from each the entrance and rear sensors, that means that you would be able to simply hop in and colour grade your footage in a while.

You may also take a look at full-resolution variations of those digicam samples and several other extra at this Google Drive hyperlink.

Regardless of the whole lot that’s let me down concerning the Galaxy S25 Edge, there’s one vivid spot to the cellphone that didn’t was one. For a very long time, I ranked Samsung’s One UI as one among my least favourite Android skins, complaining that it’s too cluttered and forces me by too many menus to get my cellphone feeling good. I begged to spend time in Pixel UI or on Nothing OS, solely dipping again into One UI for main updates or whereas writing a evaluate. Now, although, I really feel not less than a bit bit extra at house, and can most likely prefer it even higher as soon as I get to attempt a steady construct of One UI 8.

For starters, Samsung has simplified its customization choices — or not less than made them look higher. It’s improved the color-matched theme choices, added the power to resize and reshape your widgets to interrupt up the standard house display screen grid, and cooked up a bit factor known as DIY Dwelling. Personally, I don’t assume I might ever use the wide-open chaos of DIY Dwelling, which lets you put apps wherever on your private home display screen and overlap them with stickers and doodles, however I respect what Samsung goes for. I’ve seen a number of very inventive layouts floated throughout the One UI subreddit, and I’d steal them if I didn’t should recreate them by hand.

The Now Bar can also be a necessary a part of One UI 7, and one of many higher Dynamic Island clones I’ve ever used. It’s not precisely like Apple’s implementation in that it’s invisible more often than not, however I admire that it pops up with well timed notifications on my lock display screen earlier than shuffling off to the highest proper nook after I open my cellphone. I’ve used it for the whole lot from stacking an infinite rotation of kitchen timers to monitoring the Europa League last in order that I didn’t have to observe Tottenham tackle Manchester United — a pairing that might have put me to sleep by halftime. I’m much less offered on Samsung’s Now Temporary, which updates you on the climate, upcoming occasions, and information headlines each few hours, however solely as a result of I already get these issues from the widgets on my house display screen.

That is additionally the place I ought to take a second to acknowledge Galaxy AI. There’s not a lot new on this entrance, not less than not in the event you learn our Galaxy S25 evaluations, however the total expertise retains getting smoother. I’ve began to seek out an increasing number of makes use of for issues like Picture Help and its generative edits, and I’m glad that Drawing Help lastly feels extra like a picture generator than the unique Portrait Studio. Samsung’s Name Help and Chat Help are fairly good, too, now that they’ve built-in translation options that make it simpler to tolerate my youthful brother when he busts out one of many many languages he studied in school. I’m not offered on the whole lot but — you received’t discover me utilizing Writing Help to punch up paragraphs after I already wordsmith for a dwelling, however who is aware of, even which may change over the spectacular seven years of updates that the Edge is due.

Once I began this evaluate, I puzzled which aspect of the innovation line the Galaxy S25 Edge would fall on. I contemplated whether or not it could really feel like a stroke of genius, beating Apple to the ultra-thin punch and changing into one of many finest Android telephones, or if it could really feel extra like LG’s well-known (or notorious) Wing — a daring concept that didn’t work how we’d hoped. Now, after about two weeks with the cellphone, I’ve my reply: I hope the Galaxy S25 Edge is a one-and-done.

I do know, I do know, that sounds dramatic. In reality, in a vacuum, the Galaxy S25 Edge most likely does the whole lot Samsung hoped for. It’s highly effective in small doses, feels sturdy to hold by a busy day, and is about as slim as my thoughts can comprehend. If these have been the one standards I needed to grade it on, it could go with flying colours. I’d even be keen to offer it among the identical grace that I give flip telephones, acknowledging their {hardware} limitations with out giving them a complete go.

More often than not, the Galaxy S25 Edge is much more restricted than a Galaxy Z Flip 6 ($1099.99 at Samsung). Sure, they’re each formidable type components, and sure, they each have simply two rear cameras in comparison with Samsung’s typical three, however that feels extra like a perk of the Flip and a downside of the Edge. See, I like the truth that I can seize Samsung’s most up-to-date flip cellphone, slip it into my pocket, and go about my day. Once I must examine on one thing, I can often do it from the power-sipping Flex Window, which helps ease my inevitable battery nervousness. I can let the 2 rear cameras do greater than their typical workload, doubling as high-resolution selfie shooters with dependable extensive and ultrawide fields of view. I may even faucet into a lot of the Galaxy AI options I’ve come to depend on, all with out ever unfolding the hinge.

Nonetheless, after I must examine one thing on the Galaxy S25 Edge, I could as properly examine it on the Galaxy S25 Plus ($999.99 at Amazon). I’ve to tug the large 6.7-inch slab out of my pocket, fireplace up its whole show, and hope that I’m accomplished earlier than the battery begins to tick away too rapidly. And, if I’m doing all that, I could as properly do it on the Galaxy S25 Plus itself because the battery life is healthier, the charging is quicker, and the cameras are extra versatile because of the 10MP telephoto sensor. On high of all of it, the Galaxy S25 Plus is cheaper — and in the event you don’t care concerning the newest chip, the very related Galaxy S24 Plus is probably going obtainable for even much less on sale.

Truthfully, for the cash, I feel I’d even take Samsung’s smaller Galaxy S25 ($809.99 at Amazon) over the Edge. No, that cellphone won’t be as technically spectacular — if we’re nonetheless going to offer being skinny that a lot credit score — however it as soon as once more comes out forward on battery life and digicam flexibility. It’s additionally fairly a bit cheaper than the Edge, and I feel its extra conventional cooling setup offers me hope that it’ll age higher than the twice-as-bright, half-as-long Edge may. If you wish to spend a bit more cash, Samsung’s Galaxy S25 Extremely ($1299.99 at Amazon) might be its finest flagship cellphone thus far, though the design stays a bit performed out. It has all the digicam flexibility that the Edge lacks, and the S Pen is a go-to for energy customers, even when it’s been simplified to little greater than a primary stylus.

Trying outdoors the Samsung bubble, I feel a lot of the Edge’s rivals supply higher bang for about the identical variety of bucks, too. Google’s Pixel 9 Professional XL ($899 at Amazon) and Apple’s iPhone 16 Professional ($999 at Amazon) or Professional Max ($1199 at Amazon) received’t be as skinny or as mild, they usually’ll supply differing slates of AI-powered options, however they’ve lots of the identical strengths as the opposite Galaxy S25 choices. In Google’s case, we proceed to fall in love with its intelligent digicam tips, immediate software program updates, and the truth that its {hardware} has improved by leaps and bounds over the earlier technology. The Professional Pixels additionally cost sooner than the Galaxy S25 Edge and have larger batteries, so though the Tensor G4 nonetheless tends to run heat, it nonetheless manages to counteract most of my battery nervousness.

I additionally need to throw the OnePlus 13 ($899.99 at OnePlus) out as a competitor. The place Samsung determined to make cuts to make its Galaxy S25 Edge as slim as potential, OnePlus selected to pack its newest flagship with an increasing number of. It has sharper, extra versatile cameras that zoom to 120x, and the Hasselblad colour profile is amongst my favorites. OnePlus earns factors for its large 6,000mAh battery and 80W wired charging, too, together with 50W wi-fi charging and a cool new magnetic charger that works with suitable circumstances. It’s not fairly the identical as Qi2, however it’s a step in the suitable path.

Regardless of my useless hopes that the Edge can be a one-off, it’s fairly clear the skinny cellphone obsession isn’t going wherever. With the long-rumored iPhone 17 Air on the best way and numerous ideas within the works at different Android OEMs, the S25 Edge is the daybreak of a brand new type issue for bigger show smartphones (we’ve seen loads of skinny telephones earlier than, in spite of everything). I simply hope the following technology doesn’t require fairly so many essential sacrifices for the sake of the plain wow issue.