Samsung tried to beat Apple to the punch by releasing the Galaxy S25 Edge final month. Rumors have swirled about Apple creating an ultra-slim iPhone 17 Air, and the Galaxy S25 Edge was quickly teased in January 2025, launching in Could. Whereas the corporate might have thought it had lastly gained a serious race towards the Cupertino-based tech big, the Galaxy S25 Edge would possibly transform one more case of Samsung focusing and allocating assets within the incorrect locations.
I purchased the Galaxy S25 Edge, and even I can see the telephone’s obvious flaws. I asked for Samsung to make this kind of ultra-thin smartphone approach again in November, in reality. To make this type of controversial, area of interest system a success, Samsung wants to deal with its flaws head-on. Not fake they do not exist, which is what it’s doing.
Even followers of the Samsung Galaxy product line appear to hate the Edge, and that is not an exaggeration. Posts on the Samsung Galaxy subreddit — a spot the place you’d count on the sentiment round Samsung units to be considerably favorable — are suffering from complaints concerning the new system. One remark referred to as the Galaxy S25 Edge the “dumbest Samsung ever” and added that it was “overpriced, pointless, and false commercial.” It has over 100 upvotes.
Samsung hasn’t disclosed early sales figures for the Galaxy S25 Edge, which is considerably odd for the corporate. It usually shares gross sales information from its pre-order and launch interval in its dwelling market of South Korea, nevertheless it uncared for to take action for this launch. SamMobile studies that its sources say gross sales are under expectations for the smartphone.
If that is true, I am not shocked. Samsung’s messaging relating to the Galaxy S25 Edge has been removed from clear. As a substitute of collaborating with Doechii, the model ought to have tried to persuade those who the Galaxy S25 Edge is not a flawed smartphone. Samsung ought to remind them that each one the thick, heavy, and hulking smartphones available on the market are actually the flawed ones.
That is why I purchased the Samsung Galaxy S25 Edge to replace my iPhone 16 Pro. The latter is thick and heavy to the purpose that it is inconvenient. All of the function benefits it has over the Galaxy S25 Edge are inconsequential due to its measurement. I do not wish to maintain the telephone up at a live performance and use its 5x telephoto lens as a result of it is heavy. Nor do I wish to maintain it in my pocket on the gymnasium, or struggle a weight imbalance when utilizing the on-screen keyboard.
The Galaxy S25 Edge can go extra locations and do extra issues as a result of it’s skinny, not despite its thickness. The battery life challenge is wildly overblown — simply purchase a MagSafe/Qi2 battery pack and cease worrying about it altogether. Cost your telephone when you possibly can all through the day, like in your automobile or at your desk, and the Galaxy S25 Edge can free you from a big-battery smartphone that looks like a brick.
That is how I’d’ve pitched the Galaxy S25 Edge to smartphone customers. Samsung did not do any of that, and it may very well be a deadly error for the Galaxy S25 Edge.
As soon as once more, Samsung is not listening
It is a traditional case of Samsung not listening to or understanding its prospects. Final 12 months, Samsung copied Apple in designing the brand new Galaxy Watch Ultra and Galaxy Buds 3 Pro. Issues acquired so unhealthy a Samsung government was reportedly livid with the so-called “design plagiarism.”
Extra just lately, Samsung launched One UI 7 with iOS-like options, comparable to a break up notification shade and fast settings panel. Longtime Galaxy users aren’t happy. And to prime issues off, the Galaxy S25 Edge seems like a carbon copy of the iPhone 16 from the again.
All these controversial adjustments aren’t working. Counterpoint Research just lately revealed that the highest 4 best-selling smartphones within the first quarter of 2025 have been all iPhones. The primary Samsung telephone on the record earned the fifth-place slot, and the flagship Galaxy S25 Ultra fell to seventh place. For perspective, the Galaxy S24 Extremely was the fifth best-selling telephone in Q1 2024 a 12 months in the past — additionally behind 4 iPhones.
Samsung does not look like adapting or adjusting to suggestions. With software program updates like One UI 7 and telephone releases just like the Galaxy S25 Edge, it is creating merchandise that its prime supporters actively dislike.
It is a good telephone that I believe is misunderstood, and I blame Samsung for that, not the contrarians. The corporate made a telephone that it wanted to actually promote to its buyer base, regardless of its shortcomings, and it hasn’t. As a substitute, Samsung is bullishly (and foolishly, I’d say) saying that the Galaxy S25 Edge is not a flawed telephone in any respect.
“We actually designed this from the bottom as much as be skinny. The objective was to be skinny with out compromise,” stated Blake Gaiser, Samsung’s director of smartphone product administration in America, in an interview with Tom’s Guide. Gaiser additionally didn’t do much to address the concerns of people who aren’t happy with the telephone’s 3,900mAh battery or lack of a telephoto lens.
Samsung can not seem to learn the room, and that is true no matter whether or not I like the Galaxy S25 Edge (which I do).
