A decade ago, Apple, Samsung Electronics and other smartphone manufacturers all battled over the same thing: making the thinnest phone possible. But the industry later pivoted, with technology giants focused instead on jamming in as much battery life, the brightest screens and the fastest chips available. That led to the tradeoff of thicker devices.
It’s now 2025 and the war over smartphone thinness is back on. Of the major brands, Samsung is kicking things off with its new Galaxy S25 Edge. It arrives just a few months before Apple is expected to release a similarly skinny iPhone.
This moment feels like an interregnum before foldable devices eventually catch on. But we’re nowhere near that turn of the page yet. Samsung’s foldable Galaxy Z series, Google’s Pixel Fold, Motorola’s resurrected Razr line-up and others haven’t been big sellers, owing to their high prices and consumer scepticism about their durability. Overall, smartphone sales remain flat, suggesting that a deluge of artificial intelligence software features from mobile device manufacturers hasn’t yet persuaded shoppers to upgrade.
For now, then, hardware makers are circling back to skinny phones in the absence of more ground-breaking ideas.
The hardware
In my time testing the US$1 100 S25 Edge, that floaty in-hand feel has been the most captivating thing about it. The device — all 163g of it — can sometimes feel like one of those hollowed-out dummy smartphones on display at retailers.
But it’s a real phone that’s on par with other premium handsets in terms of performance, software capabilities and camera quality. The Qualcomm-made Snapdragon 8 Elite processor is fast, and even with the thin frame, Samsung managed to pack in the same 200-megapixel sensor found in its top-of-the-line $1 300 Galaxy S25 Ultra.
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Still, while it’s very lean at just 5.8mm thick, it’s worth noting that it doesn’t break any records for thinness. Something to keep in mind as you consider the battery life. (More on that below.)
The S25 Edge’s camera system is reliable more often than not. The device produces sharp, vibrant images, and Samsung’s portrait mode blur delivers better results than Apple and Google. It’s also good at preserving detail in low-light conditions.
The lack of a telephoto lens might disappoint those who tend to zoom in on their subjects when shooting, and when you’re in dim conditions, Samsung’s camera software can still struggle to get usable images of people (or pets) in motion. You can overcome that issue by switching over to the phone’s more advanced camera modes, but if you prefer shooting from the hip, Samsung still lags the competition when it comes to capturing action.
I was, however, impressed that the device’s loudspeakers sound relatively normal — and not tinny — considering the limited space Samsung had to work with.
So far, the phone’s titanium frame has allayed any concerns I had around accidentally bending it. (There’s already an ample selection of cases from Samsung and third-party brands, and many of them are slim enough to preserve the appeal of the Edge’s thin design.) The display, which uses Corning’s Glass Ceramic 2, has admirably fended off scratches. I just wish it had the same anti-glare coating as the S25 Ultra, which allows it to remain viewable even in direct sunlight.
The catch
The main weakness of this sleek handset is exactly what I expected: battery life. The S25 Edge has a lesser battery capacity than even the regular, smaller Galaxy S25. Samsung has tried to compensate with background optimisations that make the device run more efficiently.
But if you’re a power user, you’ll almost certainly need to plug in for a recharge before the end of a busy day. The S25 supports wireless charging, which gives you more flexibility when it comes to those intermittent top-offs. But the phone’s 25W wired “fast” charging noticeably lags behind the S25 Ultra, which can juice up faster at 45W.
The S25 Edge’s endurance tends to take a nosedive when you’re firing off photos, shooting video or playing the latest mobile games. On days when I kept my phone usage on the moderate side, the S25 Edge easily lasted a full day. You’ll get by fine if you’re using it for the occasional social media fix, messaging, listening to music or snapping a few photos. Go beyond that and you’ll need a recharge by late afternoon.
Regardless of your usage habits, it’s worth considering how many years you’ll want to stick with this thin smartphone; if the runtime is weak out of the gate, it’s only going to get worse as the battery ages.
The takeaway
The Galaxy S25 Edge’s tradeoffs are likely to reappear in Apple’s skinny iPhone 17 later this year. For both companies, the question is whether shoppers will be excited enough about the light and brag-worthy design to tolerate shorter battery life, even if it means carrying around a battery pack. It’s not clear that consumers wanted this — a return to ultra thin handsets — but the industry is about to find out if they’re buying the pitch.
For Samsung’s part, even if the S25 Edge turns out to be a dud, it’s a strong reminder of the company’s design prowess as it turns its attention to more inventive ideas: foldables and other quirky form factors that are only just starting to gain traction. — Chris Welch, (c) 2025 Bloomberg LP
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