Samsung’s newest phone shows how thin a powerful smartphone can get – but at what cost? The Galaxy S25 Edge, released on May 13, measures just 5.8 millimeters thick. That’s about as thin as six credit cards stacked together.
The S25 Edge keeps most features that made the regular S25 phones popular but removes some key elements to achieve its slim design. The phone costs $1,099 for the base model with 256GB storage.
“For the second half of 2025 ‘thin is most definitely in’,” notes Ben Wood, chief analyst at CCS Insight. The timing isn’t random – Samsung seems to be moving ahead of competitors in the ultra-thin phone race.
The slim design comes with real benefits. At 163 grams, it weighs about the same as a medium apple, making it notably lighter than most big-screen phones. The 6.7-inch screen stays large and crisp, matching what you’d find on more expensive phones. Samsung used titanium for the frame – the same strong material found in their top-tier S25 Ultra model.
However, this slim design brings two major compromises. First, the battery shrinks to 3,900mAh – smaller than the regular S25’s 4,000mAh and the S25+’s 4,900mAh. While Samsung claims it lasts 24 hours of video playback, that’s five hours less than its siblings.
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The second trade-off hits the camera system. The S25 Edge drops the zoom lens found on pricier models. It keeps a high-quality 200-megapixel main camera and a 12-megapixel ultra-wide lens, but loses the ability to zoom optically to distant subjects.
TM Roh, Samsung’s mobile division head, calls the S25 Edge “an engineering marvel.” The company had to completely rethink how to build a phone this thin while keeping it strong. They used new Gorilla Glass Ceramic 2 on the screen for protection and made the cooling system wider but thinner to prevent overheating.
The phone includes Samsung’s latest AI features, like the ability to erase unwanted sounds from videos or get instant translations during calls. All these features run on the same powerful Snapdragon 8 Elite processor found in other S25 phones.
Samsung’s Executive Vice President Moon Sung-hoon addressed durability concerns: “We managed to engineer a thinner vapor chamber to fit the slim design… We’re confident the S25 Edge can be used without concerns about overheating.”
The S25 Edge launches first in South Korea on May 23, followed by the United States on May 30. It will then roll out to about 30 other countries, including China and European nations.
Samsung currently leads the global smartphone market with 20% share, just ahead of Apple’s 19%. However, the company has warned that phone shipments might drop if ongoing trade issues affect consumer demand.
The S25 Edge represents an interesting experiment in phone design. While its thinness impresses, potential buyers should weigh whether the smaller battery and missing zoom lens justify the sleek profile. As tech reviewer Dominic Preston puts it: “This is one phone where you should definitely wait for the reviews.”
