Samsung Galaxy S25 Edge review: When less costs more

There’s one thing to be stated for throwing an thought on the wall and seeing if it sticks. Typically, it provides us one thing sensible, like HTC introducing twin digital camera 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 thought ever grew the wings it wanted to fly — pun supposed.

So, when Samsung teased the Galaxy S25 Edge on the finish of its first Unpacked occasion of 2025, I figured it may go one in all two methods: we may have a brand new commonplace for ultra-slim smartphones on our palms, or we may 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 mistaken — 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. Every time 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, at the least for its measurement.

That’s what’s most enjoyable in regards to 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 manner a 200MP main sensor would match immediately into the physique, however it actually doesn’t break the phantasm of top-to-bottom thinness.

Nevertheless, it additionally takes just some 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 suppose you would bend it?” to “Why are you utilizing it with no case?”

Actually, the solutions to all three of these questions are just about the identical — you simply must 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. In the event you discover a solution to bend it in your pocket or your backpack, then you definitely’re most likely going to destroy a thicker, cheaper 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 report 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 by chance. 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 accident opening an app, urgent on my house display to edit the structure, or launching Circle to Search through the gesture tablet, as a result of all three of these issues have occurred due to 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 may primarily make it as thick as another cellphone, which I might additionally choose to make use of caseless. You might argue that it’s higher to have a protected skinny cellphone that’s solely as thick as an unprotected common cellphone, however I nonetheless suppose it defeats the purpose of shopping for the Edge. Moreover, 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 report metaphor I used, that’s my greatest drawback with the Galaxy S25 Edge. Regardless that I do know it’s sturdy, similar to I do know that calmly touching a vinyl report received’t trigger irreparable hurt, I can’t deliver myself to make use of it like I might 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 in all Samsung’s finest options: its glorious show. The Galaxy S25 Edge packs a virtually similar 6.7-inch LTPO AMOLED panel to the one on the Galaxy S25 Plus, proper all the way down to the variable 120Hz refresh price. We beloved the show on that cellphone (though the cellphone itself was a bit of a meh-burger), and it’s simply pretty much as good this time, too.

The colours are wealthy and vibrant, the refresh price is buttery clean, and the practically 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 record, 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… shifting on).

One factor I didn’t count on from the Galaxy S25 Edge’s show, although, is simply how dim it will possibly get. Positive, 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 manner, too. Whereas testing the digital camera, 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 may not see the digital camera interface itself, however I’ve since come round to the concept that it was doing the whole lot doable to stretch its battery just a bit bit additional.

Though many of the questions I’ve fielded in regards to the Galaxy S25 Edge have been about its eye-catching, barely there design, yet another comes up simply as typically: Does its efficiency sustain? In spite of everything, 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 present, proper? Sadly, sure.

Earlier than we speak about 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 fulfillment. 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 fastened storage. That’s greater than adequate for day-to-day duties, and units the Galaxy S25 Edge as much as make a stable run at our gauntlet of benchmarks.

At first, the Edge’s efficiency backed up precisely what I assumed it will. My colleague Rob Triggs and I put it up towards its fellow Galaxy S25 fashions throughout our pair of CPU-intensive exams, 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 check. Sadly, as Rob famous in his head-to-head… -to-head-to-head comparison, that’s the place the excellent news runs out.

Once we flipped our testing to the extra graphically intensive Wild Life stress exams, the Galaxy S25 Edge was fast to throw within the towel. Each instances, it began out operating 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 easy to determine why the Galaxy S25 Edge stumbles when it does, although: Its thermal regulation isn’t there. It peaks on the similar inner 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, which means slicing 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 hassle 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 an enormous cooling chamber, earlier than dropping a lot nearer to the efficiency of the iPhone 16 Professional Max and Pixel 9 Professional XL just some runs later. It’s not unhealthy firm to maintain — each Apple and Google make nice flagships — however you get extra out of each by way of battery life and digital camera 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 comparable remaining numbers regardless of costing practically $500 much less.

Now, that is the place you would possibly 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 advantageous underneath 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 anxiousness 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 cushty 25% cost — completely affordable, and no battery saver was wanted but. I put my trusty CMF Buds Pro 2 in my ears and fired up my daylist whereas searching for fascinating scenes price taking pictures. After about 20 minutes within the solar, opening and shutting the digital camera 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 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. Nevertheless, 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 will likely be utilizing the final 20% of their cellphone’s battery to take pictures of the place the place they grew up, however I choose to consider it as a warning. The stakes have been very low for me, however if you happen to have been out on a hike and bought misplaced or bought right into a automotive accident and wanted to name for assist, I’m anxious that you just wouldn’t be capable to belief the Galaxy S25 Edge like you would one other cellphone. And, if you happen to 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 way more dependable for informal workloads. It soared via the previous couple of 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 searching for a couple 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 will throttle to the purpose the place they turned unplayable.

And, since I’ve opened the door of complaining in regards to the Galaxy S25 Edge’s tiny battery, let’s keep some time. Personally, I feel that is the largest factor that may make me nervous about maintaining and utilizing this cellphone in the long run. On account of measurement constraints, Samsung may 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 may have bumped that capability by a couple of hundred milliamp-hours, very similar to OnePlus did with the OnePlus 13, however it didn’t. It settled for much less, and our managed battery drain check reveals why that was most likely a foul thought.

On the left aspect, we have now the Edge’s efficiency towards 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. Positive, it ties the Exynos-toting Galaxy S24 on a simulated Zoom name, and it’s proper within the combine for digital camera 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 fitting aspect once we put the Edge up towards equally priced competitors, together with the beefed-up Motorola Razr Ultra 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 lot of minutes wanting the remainder by way of 4K video playback, net shopping, and even a simulated Zoom name. Combine in the truth that the remainder of these telephones have a lot bigger batteries for not way more cash (or typically much less), and it turns into powerful to succeed in 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 costlier 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 fitting aspect, it fees second-slowest, solely ending quicker than Apple’s turtle-esque iPhone 16 Professional.

And sure, I’ll admit that it’s most likely pointless to complain a few 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 select them at any time when I get the possibility.

Whereas I can perceive Samsung stripping again the battery capability on its slimmest flagship so far, it’s harder for me to know a couple of different limitations, together with the twin digital camera setup. Sure, for the primary time because the Galaxy S10e (which price a fraction of what the Galaxy S25 Edge does), we have now a flagship Samsung cellphone with solely two rear cameras. Granted, the first digital camera 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 best camera phones you should buy.

To me, while you choose up a conventional Samsung flagship, you count on a reasonably versatile triple digital camera setup. You count on a stable main digital camera, 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 digital camera duo that’s equally glorious and simply sort of on a regular basis common. It may have pulled over the 50MP ultrawide sensor from the Galaxy S25 Extremely, giving the Edge extra megapixels and cropping capacity than it may know what to do with, however as an alternative went the extra pedestrian route whereas stripping many of the zoom functionality.

In fact, I can solely think about that Samsung determined to axe the telephoto sensor as a way to restrict the scale of its digital camera bump, thus maintaining the Edge, nicely, edgy. Engineers most likely already took exception as a result of the bump is simply as thick as the remainder of the cellphone, and possibly they put their foot down on the additional house the {hardware} would have required. Sadly, which means 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 might technically get artistic and shoot full 200MP photos from the first digital camera solely to crop them in tighter afterwards, however in any other case, there’s no solution 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 — you realize it may most likely do extra, it simply received’t.

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

I don’t have too many points with any of the pictures I picked for this primary row — they present the Galaxy S25 Edge’s strengths fairly properly. The themes in all 4 samples are clear and sharp, with nice pure fall-off behind the check in my hometown and good shadows under the rail automotive to the far proper aspect. If I had to select a hiccup from the bunch, it will 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 couple of years, neither is the grass normally fairly so full of life at this level within the spring. Additionally, for being a largely digital crop, the shot of the blue crab holds fairly stable 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 in a position to select your complete lion sculpture towards 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 huge 200MP sensor had no troubles with the marginally decrease lighting situations within the shot to the fitting, both. It accurately uncovered the ice cream signal whereas maintaining 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 in all Samsung’s different quirks to my consideration, which is the way in which it handles Focus Enhancer in close-ups.

Now, I didn’t suppose to snap two pictures of the primary succulent, so I went again out to discover a hydrangea on my avenue again house in Baltimore. I grabbed two pictures — 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 suppose the picture is pure.

Additionally, whereas I gave Samsung some warmth for choosing the lower-resolution ultrawide sensor over the 50MP possibility on its Extremely, I nonetheless suppose it’s a great digital camera. I like the colours within the shot of the city corridor to the far left, and I feel the digital camera does an awesome job of displaying the size of the church tower on the fitting aspect. It’s a bit harder to get a glance I like when making an attempt to seize avenue 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 for example 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 pictures throughout your complete vary — the whole lot under is lots sharp sufficient for me to share it, although, as a result of it’s digital, you’ll be able to’t pixel peep with out issues getting dicey — however it seems like a synthetic limitation on such an costly smartphone.

The final piece of Samsung’s premium digital camera setup is its 12MP selfie digital camera. This time, I’ve to present 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 manner, I feel the colours and particulars are adequate, and the unreal 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 forged, however I’m a lot happier with the tones in my face, even when I bought a bit burnt over the vacation weekend.

If high-quality video is what you’re after, you’ll be able to 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’ve got loads of choices. I like how a couple of of my easy clips round city got here out, however like above, the shortage of zoom flexibility means there are scenes you simply received’t be capable to dial in intently sufficient.

On the intense aspect, a few of Samsung’s newest software program wrinkles make it extra pleasurable to make use of the cameras total. The Edge helps a clean zoom slider when taking pictures movies, which makes clips, nicely, smoother. It additionally allows you to save publicity settings while you flip between digital camera modes so that you just don’t have to boost and decrease your publicity and danger lacking a shot. Maybe the good trick within the Galaxy S25 Edge’s digital camera e-book, although, is its capacity to shoot Log format movies from each the entrance and rear sensors, which 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 digital camera samples and a number of other extra at this Google Drive link.

Regardless of the whole lot that’s let me down in regards to 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 in all my least favourite Android skins, complaining that it’s too cluttered and forces me via 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 assessment. Now, although, I really feel at the least a bit bit extra at house, and can most likely prefer it even higher as soon as I get to attempt a secure construct of One UI 8.

For starters, Samsung has simplified its customization choices — or at the least 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 grid, and cooked up a bit factor known as DIY Home. Personally, I don’t suppose I may ever use the wide-open chaos of DIY Residence, which lets you put apps anyplace on your private home display and overlap them with stickers and doodles, however I respect what Samsung goes for. I’ve seen a couple of very artistic layouts floated throughout the One UI subreddit, and I might steal them if I didn’t must recreate them by hand.

The Now Bar can 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 recognize that it pops up with well timed notifications on my lock display 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 limitless rotation of kitchen timers to monitoring the Europa League remaining in order that I didn’t have to observe Tottenham tackle Manchester United — a pairing that may have put me to sleep by halftime. I’m much less bought 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.

That is additionally the place I ought to take a second to acknowledge Galaxy AI. There’s not a lot new on this entrance, at the least not if you happen to learn our Galaxy S25 critiques, however the total expertise retains getting smoother. I’ve began to seek out increasingly more 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 faculty. I’m not bought on the whole lot but — you received’t discover me utilizing Writing Help to punch up paragraphs after I already wordsmith for a residing, 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 assessment, I questioned which aspect of the innovation line the Galaxy S25 Edge would fall on. I contemplated whether or not it will really feel like a stroke of genius, beating Apple to the ultra-thin punch and turning into one of many best Android phones, or if it will 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 truth, 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 via 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 will move with flying colours. I might even be prepared to present it among the similar grace that I give flip telephones, acknowledging their {hardware} limitations with out giving them a complete move.

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 kind components, and sure, they each have simply two rear cameras in comparison with Samsung’s common 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 have to verify on one thing, I can normally do it from the power-sipping Flex Window, which helps ease my inevitable battery anxiousness. I can let the 2 rear cameras do greater than their common workload, doubling as high-resolution selfie shooters with dependable extensive and ultrawide fields of view. I may even faucet into many of the Galaxy AI options I’ve come to depend on, all with out ever unfolding the hinge.

Nevertheless, after I have to verify one thing on the Galaxy S25 Edge, I’ll as nicely verify it on the Galaxy S25 Plus ($999.99 at Amazon). I’ve to tug the large 6.7-inch slab out of my pocket, hearth up its whole show, and hope that I’m performed earlier than the battery begins to tick away too shortly. And, if I’m doing all that, I’ll as nicely do it on the Galaxy S25 Plus itself because the battery life is healthier, the charging is quicker, and the cameras are extra versatile due to the 10MP telephoto sensor. On high of all of it, the Galaxy S25 Plus is cheaper — and if you happen to don’t care in regards to the newest chip, the very comparable Galaxy S24 Plus is probably going out there for even much less on sale.

Actually, 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 present being skinny that a lot credit score — however it as soon as once more comes out forward on battery life and digital camera flexibility. It’s additionally fairly a bit cheaper than the Edge, and I feel its extra conventional cooling setup provides me hope that it’ll age higher than the twice-as-bright, half-as-long Edge would possibly. If you wish to spend a bit extra money, Samsung’s Galaxy S25 Ultra ($1299.99 at Amazon) might be its finest flagship cellphone so far, though the design stays a bit performed out. It has all the camera 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 exterior the Samsung bubble, I feel many of the Edge’s rivals supply higher bang for about the identical variety of bucks, too. Google’s Pixel 9 Pro XL ($899 at Amazon) and Apple’s iPhone 16 Pro ($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 most of the similar strengths as the opposite Galaxy S25 choices. In Google’s case, we proceed to fall in love with its intelligent digital camera tips, immediate software program updates, and the truth that its {hardware} has improved by leaps and bounds over the earlier era. The Professional Pixels additionally cost quicker 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 anxiousness.

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 doable, OnePlus selected to pack its newest flagship with increasingly more. 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 fitting course.

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