Samsung Galaxy S25 Edge hands-on: Much less smartphone, extra compromises

After teasing us for months, Samsung has formally revealed the Galaxy S25 Edge. At simply 5.8 millimeters (0.22 inches) thick, it’s the slimmest member of the S25 household — and its slimmest smartphone ever. It’s out there to preorder now and launches on 30 Might, beginning at $1,100.

Samsung stated that S25 Edge “unlocks a brand new period of progress for the cell trade” — and it’s straightforward (too straightforward!) to cynically see this as a manner of hawking one other Samsung telephone right into a thinner — and but related — slice of {hardware}, with acquainted cameras, technical specs and AI software. This isn’t an Extremely, neither is it a brand new foldable. Nonetheless, it could possibly be a brand new path for Samsung’s flagship S sequence.

What’s the distinction between the S25 and S25 Edge?

Shock! The Edge is thinner. Whereas the S25 Edge measures in at lower than the base S25, which is 6.4mm (0.25 inches) skinny, it weighs nearly the identical. In truth, there’s solely a gram’s distinction between the 2, regardless of the S25 Edge packing a a lot greater 6.7-inch display screen than the S25’s 6.2-inch one.

And boy, are you able to inform the distinction. Essentially the most up to date comparability I could make is when Apple switched to a titanium body for the iPhone 15 Professional. Spec sheets and numbers be damned: I might sense how a lot lighter the gadget was. Regardless of having a a lot greater display screen than my iPhone 16 Professional, the thinner S25 Edge felt gentle but premium. I simply slipped it out and in of my pants pockets, as a result of, nicely, how else am I going to evaluate the largest promoting level for Samsung’s newest telephone?

The factor is: Machine thickness isn’t a problem I’ve with flagship smartphones — it’s the display screen dimension. The bottom Galaxy S25 (or the Pixel 9 Professional) hit the candy spot for my fingers. Whereas this new S25 Edge could also be simpler to carry than similar-sized telephones, a 6.7-inch display screen isn’t for everybody.

Like most telephones (the Pixel 9a is a curious outlier), the S25 Edge nonetheless has a considerable digital camera unit derailing in any other case clear {hardware} strains. The twin-camera setup protrudes 4.5mm (0.17 inches), though it options the identical 200-megapixel sensor packed into the pricier S25 Extremely.

Samsung says it re-engineered the digital camera unit to make sure it might match on the Edge, but it surely nonetheless stands proud — quite a bit. Earlier than I bought to deal with the telephone, I believed this could result in the brand new telephone being oddly unbalanced and top-heavy. However no matter Samsung has executed to rearrange the part furnishings contained in the S25 Edge, it labored. The telephone doesn’t really feel lopsided or fragile in any respect, however like every other premium flagship smartphone.

The Galaxy S25 Edge’s cameras

Alongside the first 200MP sensor, Samsung included a 12MP ultrawide digital camera with autofocus and macro images help. And… that’s it. There’s no devoted telephoto system, which usually takes up more room . The 2 lenses are stacked in a vertical association, which I feel seems cleaner than the digital camera cornucopias discovered on different units — however many of us are going to overlook the flexibility of a real telephoto. Certain, you’ll be able to digitally zoom by cropping in on that massive 200MP sensor, but it surely’s not the identical.

The S25 Edge also can seize as much as 8K video and packs all the opposite images methods you’d count on in an S-Sequence telephone, like evening images and lossless zoom. Of cours,e it additionally handles post-capture AI instruments like generative enhancing (eradicating photobombers and undesirable objects out of your images) and Audio Eraser for cleansing up video in loud environments.

And on the subject of AI — or Galaxy AI — you’re getting the identical array of options that we noticed within the base S25 and S25 Extremely, powered by a customized Snapdragon 8 Elite chip and 12GB of RAM. These AI instruments embrace the Now Temporary and Now Bar which takes contextual clues out of your apps and smartphone to put out a plan in your day, remind you of the climate and extra. Samsung’s integration of Google’s Gemini now consists of Gemini Dwell, so you’ll be able to faucet into your digital camera feed to ask questions on your images and issues in your environment.

It’ll possible decide up any future Gemini and Android upgrades, too: The Galaxy S25 Edge will obtain seven generations of OS updates and 7 years of safety updates.

At a media briefing, Samsung additionally outlined the way it’s making an attempt to make sure the S25 Edge runs cool regardless of all of the packed-in {hardware}, utilizing a brand new Thermal Interface Materials (TIM) for higher warmth dissipation inside that restricted house. I didn’t actually get the time to push the gadget to its limits through the briefing, so we’ll look forward to a assessment to evaluate whether or not it really works nicely sufficient.

The corporate did need to make compromises to suit all of the S25 Edge’s options into this svelte profile. It has a 3,900mAh battery, which is small for a telephone with a 6.7-inch show that prices greater than $1,000. As compared, the bottom S25 has a 4,000mAh cell — that is a much bigger battery on a less expensive telephone with a smaller display screen. Then, there’s the S25+, which has a 4,900mAh battery with the identical display screen dimension because the S25 Edge.

In its defence, Samsung has made appreciable progress on the battery lifetime of its units (notably with this yr’s crop of Galaxy S telephones). The corporate claims the S25 Edge can run video for as much as 24 hours. Nonetheless, with a much bigger display screen inside a thinner gadget, battery life often is the greatest compromise—and it’s one thing we must take a look at after we assessment the Edge correctly.

The Galaxy S25 Edge is priced at $1,100 (£1,100) with 256GB of storage. It’ll launch on Might 30 in three colours: Silver, Jet Black and Icy Blue. It’s arduous to attract any concrete conclusions on whether or not the S25 Edge’s compromises for a smaller gadget footprint are value it, however count on our assessment within the subsequent few weeks.