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Samsung Galaxy S25 Edge evaluate: Two-minute evaluate
Samsung understood the task with the Galaxy S25 Edge, nevertheless it didn’t try for additional credit score. The objective was to make a Galaxy S25 Plus that’s simpler to carry, however Samsung didn’t got down to make the thinnest cellphone doable – in truth the Galaxy S25 Edge isn’t even the thinnest cellphone Samsung makes in the present day. As an alternative, it did what Samsung does finest: it gave us slightly extra inside rather less.
The Galaxy S25 Edge is an excellent cellphone, and it looks like one thing distinctive in comparison with each different cellphone I’ve reviewed. The distinction is noticeable; it’s a lot slimmer and lighter than nearly every little thing else, even when sporting a case. Nonetheless, the S25 Edge isn’t a revolutionary new design, and I can’t assist however anticipate the competitors it’s going to face from Apple within the form of the rumored iPhone 17 Air.
That is the thinnest Galaxy S system Samsung has ever crafted. It’s 1.5mm thinner than the Galaxy S25 Plus, and nearly 2.5mm thinner than the Galaxy S25 UItra.
May I really feel that millimeter in my hand? I’m undecided, however between the thinness and the burden discount – it’s nearly a full ounce lighter than the Plus and two ounces lighter than the Extremely – the Galaxy S25 Edge is undoubtedly a standout.
The Galaxy S25 Edge isn’t the cellphone for you in order for you the thinnest cellphone doable. It’s the cellphone for you in order for you a Galaxy S25 Plus, however want it had been simpler to carry. It’s the Galaxy S25 Extremely, minus the additional bits that you simply wouldn’t use, just like the S Pen stylus. It’s not one thing completely new, nevertheless it’s a greater possibility for the best purchaser.
However why didn’t Samsung go for broke? Why not make the Edge absolutely the thinnest smartphone ever? The Galaxy Z Fold 6 is 5.6mm skinny when it’s unfolded. Had it shaved one other 0.3mm off the Edge, Samsung may have at the least mentioned that that is the thinnest Samsung cellphone you should purchase.
The reply, in fact, is battery life. The Galaxy Z Fold 6 is tremendous skinny, however the battery is cut up between the 2 halves. Every half of the Z Fold 6 packs solely about 2,200mAh of battery life (for 4,400mAh complete), which is quite a bit lower than the three,800mAh the Galaxy S25 Edge affords.
A thinner Galaxy S25 Edge would have meant a smaller battery, and primarily based on my testing, the S25 Edge is utilizing the smallest battery it might get away with.
The Edge had bother lasting previous meal time in my testing interval. If Samsung had made the Edge the thinnest cellphone ever!, it in all probability wouldn’t final by means of my lunch break. I’ve little question Samsung may construct such a cellphone, however I wouldn’t suggest it.
That makes the S25 Edge a pleasantly skinny cellphone that’s merely not very particular. There are not any particular options that set it aside from the remainder of the Galaxy S25 household. There’s nothing new right here. It’s a well-crafted system that delivers precisely what I anticipated; no extra and no much less. That’s not a foul factor! It’s simply… predictable.
The massive drawback is that Samsung is competing in opposition to a specter. The iPhone 17 Air may arrive later this yr, and it’s laborious to not see the Galaxy S25 Edge as a preemptive assault by Samsung on Apple’s subsequent design idea. As a result of make no mistake, Apple goes to make a huge deal out of going skinny.
Apple goes to fake it invented the millimeter. If and when Apple launches an iPhone Air in September, it’ll act like thinness is the most important design innovation because the capacitive touchscreen. All different specs be damned! And I feel Apple shall be prepared to shrink the battery and in the reduction of on cameras much more severely than Samsung.
If that occurs, the iPhone 17 Air will in all probability be much less succesful than the Galaxy S25 Edge in some ways, however it’ll give Apple the all-important bragging rights. Apple may use the dual-OLED show discovered on the iPad Professional, and up to date rumors recommend the rumored cellphone shall be round 5.5mm, making it thinner than any cellphone Samsung at present sells.
In a approach, this takes the stress off Samsung. The Galaxy S25 Edge is a really good cellphone, and it matches neatly into Samsung’s worth ladder as slightly nicer than the Galaxy S25 Plus, however not as feature-packed because the Galaxy S25 Extremely. It doesn’t have to show something – the Galaxy S25 Edge does fantastic with much less, with out making an attempt to be essentially the most.
Samsung Galaxy S25 Edge evaluate: Value and availability
- Begins at $1,099 / £1,099 / AU$1,849 for 256GB/12GB configuration
- That’s $100 / £100 / AU$500 greater than S25 Plus, $200 / £150 lower than the Extremely
The Galaxy S25 Edge slots in neatly between the Galaxy S25 Plus and S25 Extremely in Samsung’s lineup. It’s nearer to the Plus, which is smart as a result of it lacks extra of the Extremely options than it possesses – there’s no S Pen, no telescopic zoom lens, and no huge battery inside, as an example, though it’s, just like the S25 Extremely, constructed from titanium.
In any other case, you get most of what you’d anticipate from the Galaxy S25 Plus, minus the zoom digicam. It packs a sensor with lots of megapixels, and that sensor is definitely bigger than the primary sensor on the Galaxy S25 Plus. Each cameras use sensors which might be smaller than the primary 200MP sensor on the mighty Galaxy S25 Extremely.
Now I want a second with my Australian associates, as a result of one thing very odd is occurring down beneath. The Galaxy S25 Extremely has come down in worth by AU$400 since launch, which suggests it prices lower than the Galaxy S25 Edge by AU$100. Additionally, the S25 Edge appears priced a bit excessive in Australia in comparison with the remainder of the world – it’s AU$500 greater than the Galaxy S25 Plus?! That looks as if a mistake, nevertheless it’s the actual worth for now, so I might wait till Samsung affords a reduction to purchase the Edge.
|
Storage |
US worth |
UK worth |
AU worth |
|
256GB |
$1,099 |
£1,099 |
AU$1,849 |
|
512GB |
$1,219 |
£1,199 |
AU$2,049 |
Samsung Galaxy S25 Edge evaluate: Specs
Like the remainder of the Galaxy S25 household, the S25 Edge will get 12GB of RAM to assist the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite for Galaxy chipset inside. This platform has confirmed highly effective and really environment friendly in my evaluations of the most effective Android telephones this yr.
The 6.7-inch show on the S25 Edge appears to be an identical to that on the S25 Plus. The primary digicam makes use of a brand new 200MP sensor that we haven’t seen earlier than, which is a bit smaller than the 200MP sensor on the Galaxy S25 Extremely, however bigger than the 50MP sensor on the Galaxy S25 Plus. There’s no telephoto lens, however the Edge appears to make use of the identical 12MP ultrawide digicam because the S25 Plus.
The Galaxy S25 Edge comes with a 3,900mAh battery beneath its show, which is even smaller than the 4,000mAh battery beneath the Galaxy S25’s 6.2-inch display screen. That’s what you sacrifice once you make a cellphone skinny.
| Header Cell – Column 0 |
Samsung Galaxy S25 |
|---|---|
|
Dimensions |
158.2 x 75.6 x 5.8mm |
|
Weight |
163g |
|
OS |
OneUI 7, Android 15. 7 main Android upgrades promised. |
|
Show |
6.7-inch LTPO AMOLED, 120Hz |
|
Chipset |
Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite for Galaxy |
|
RAM |
12GB |
|
Storage |
256GB / 512GB |
|
Battery |
3,900mAh |
|
Rear cameras |
200MP foremost, 12MP ultra-wide |
|
Entrance digicam |
12MP |
|
Charging |
25W wired, 15W wi-fi |
|
Colours |
Titanium Silver, Titanium Icyblue, Titanium Jetblack |
Samsung Galaxy S25 Edge evaluate: Design
- Feels exceptionally mild once you maintain it
- Even with a case, it’s a really skinny cellphone
The actual promoting level for the Galaxy S25 Edge isn’t the thinness, it’s the lightness. You need to maintain this cellphone to understand it; you possibly can’t simply have a look at the S25 Edge if you wish to expertise how skinny and light-weight it’s. Images don’t do justice to the remarkably mild weight, and that’s a giant a part of the expertise.
In the event you get pinky-finger fatigue from balancing your cellphone, the S25 Edge is likely to be the cellphone that can save your favourite digit. Despite the fact that it has an enormous 6.7-inch show, the Galaxy S25 Edge is lighter than the iPhone 16 (6.1-inch display screen, 170g), or the Pixel 9 (6.3-inch display screen, 198g). It’s just one gram heavier than the 6.2-inch Galaxy S25, nevertheless it feels lighter because it’s much less dense.
I nearly at all times use a case with my cellphone, and since Samsung didn’t have instances prepared for my evaluate interval, I requested my associates at Casetify to ship over their thinnest instances for the Galaxy S25 Edge. Even with a case on the cellphone, it nonetheless feels remarkably skinny and light-weight, particularly contemplating that vast display screen dimension. My S25 Edge in a protecting Casetify shell continues to be lighter than my Galaxy S25 Extremely with no case.
Picture 1 of 3
The design general seems almost an identical to that of the Galaxy S25 Extremely, however on very shut inspection issues are much less spectacular. Frankly, the construct high quality of the Galaxy S25 Edge appears messy in comparison with the Extremely or to any Apple iPhone.
There are gaps between the body and the again glass. The SIM card tray doesn’t line up completely. There’s a niche between the digicam bump and the again of the cellphone that I nervous would choose up dust – and by the tip of my evaluate interval, that was the dingiest a part of the cellphone.
This cellphone may have been particular. Samsung may have tried one thing new, like capacitive buttons on the aspect – a trick that rumors say Apple is contemplating. It may have had super-fast charging to go along with that slim battery. It may have had distinctive colours or a novel end.
As an alternative, it’s only a slimmer model of a cellphone we obtained six months in the past, and it’s not even a very nice model at that.
Samsung Galaxy S25 Edge evaluate: Show
- Extra Galaxy S25 Plus than Extremely, however that’s fairly nice
- Fingerprint scanner was completely unreliable
The Galaxy S25 Edge, just like the Galaxy S25 Plus, is kind of a hidden gem in Samsung’s lineup on the subject of show high quality. Whereas the S25 Extremely has a slightly-larger 6.9-inch display screen, all three telephones all have the identical decision. While you pack the identical pixels right into a smaller show, you get a display screen that’s technically sharper, when it comes to pixel density.
Which is to say the Galaxy S25 Edge has a improbable display screen, among the finest you could find on any cellphone. It’s a lot shiny, even in shiny daylight, although the Extremely does beat the Edge due to the addition of the exceptional coating that Samsung has been utilizing for a few years to remove glare on its flagship flat cellphone.
The show can refresh at as much as 120Hz – take that iPhone 16 Plus – and because of LTPO tech you possibly can even get a full-color always-on show that refreshes as slowly as 1Hz to avoid wasting energy.
I’ve by no means had nice luck with Samsung’s fingerprint scanners, and the S25 Edge didn’t acknowledge me any quicker than different Galaxy telephones, and unlocking failed most of the time. I do know I’ve fingerprints as a result of my OnePlus 13 sees them with 99% accuracy, so I assume this can be a Samsung drawback, not a me drawback.
Samsung Galaxy S25 Edge evaluate: Software program
- OneUI 7 is properly constructed, however doesn’t add a lot to the Edge expertise
- AI options may be helpful, however many really feel like much more bloat
For higher and for worse, the Galaxy S25 Edge makes use of the identical One UI 7 interface as the remainder of the Galaxy S25 household, with Android 15 serving because the engine. Samsung and Google appear to be locked in a perpetual battle to manage Samsung’s telephones, so that you’ll get two internet browsers, two picture gallery apps, even two wallets and two completely different password managers.
It’s attending to be a bit a lot. I’m the primary to insist that Samsung’s software program – like its Web internet browser – performs higher than Google’s different. However no person desires two of every little thing; you don’t get an additional steering wheel once you purchase a automobile. It’s time for Samsung to finish the duplicate-apps challenge.
There are many Galaxy AI options on the cellphone, and it comes with Google Gemini preloaded and able to take over the facility button at your beck and name.
I feel we could have already hit the wall with AI options. Samsung has been touting its Now Temporary widget and app because the Galaxy S25 launched, and it’s a very ineffective piece of software program. It’s presupposed to study issues about me after which provide info tailor-made to my wants, however nothing like that occurs.
I’ve been sporting a Galaxy Watch Extremely and Galaxy Buds 3 Professional whereas utilizing the S25 Edge for weeks. The Now Temporary affords not more than in the present day’s climate, a missive that feels creepy coming from an AI (‘Wishing you properly’?!), and the primary few occasions on my work calendar, that are often the primary three individuals who took the day without work and logged it correctly.
At worst, Now Temporary affords me partisan political information. I filter out most politics from my social feeds, and I don’t speak about politics in my textual content messages, so I’m undecided why Now Temporary thinks politics are what pursuits me. It’s inescapable.
Fortunately, Samsung has confirmed that the Galaxy S25 Edge will get seven years of main Android and safety updates, so it ought to final by means of Android 22, identical to the remainder of the Galaxy S25 household.
Samsung Galaxy S25 Edge evaluate: Cameras
- Precisely what I anticipated primarily based on the specs
- Samsung’s processing may be enjoyable, or inconsistent
After I heard that the Galaxy S25 Edge would use fewer cameras than its S25 stablemates, with one huge 200MP foremost sensor and a supporting ultra-wide, I used to be excited on the prospect. In any case, one in every of Leica’s hottest cameras, the Leica Q3, makes use of a single giant sensor and a large lens, and fakes all the zoom with digital cropping. If anyone can pull off the identical trick on a digicam cellphone, it’s Samsung.
Nope. I’m disillusioned to say the cameras are fantastic, however not groundbreaking. I hoped the Edge can be a trendsetter. As an alternative, it runs down the center of the street with out faltering. It does an excellent job on the issues Samsung digicam telephones do properly, however it might’t deal with the all-in-one duties of the Galaxy S25 Extremely.
There are not any surprises with the Galaxy S25 Edge cameras. The primary digicam makes use of a 200MP sensor with a large lens, and that sensor is a bit smaller than the 200MP sensor on the Galaxy S25 Extremely. No shock then that the Extremely continues to be the most effective Samsung digicam cellphone, in additional methods than one.
The primary digicam produces pictures which might be a bit fuzzier than what I obtained from the Galaxy S25 Extremely, and I used to be stunned to seek out the colours dialed again a bit as properly. The Edge’s cameras don’t appear to be tuned to pop colours as a lot because the Extremely cameras do. It nonetheless managed to take wonderful meals images and heat portraits, like I anticipate from Samsung.
Picture 1 of 2
In the event you want a zoom lens, the S25 Edge isn’t going to fulfill you. The digital zoom doesn’t come near offering the element and high quality I get with optical zoom on the Galaxy S25 Extremely and iPhone 16 Professional Max. A heron throughout the river seemed like a white, featherless blob once I snapped a pic with the Edge. The iPhone and Galaxy Extremely pictures revealed a beak and a few plumage.
Picture 1 of 2
In the event you take lots of images open air, the S25 Extremely has a coating on the show to scale back glare, and it makes a giant distinction even in comparison with the S25 Edge, which has a nearly-identical show in any other case. The Edge can get shiny, nevertheless it’s a lot simpler to see the Extremely’s display screen if the solar is shining immediately on you.
Samsung Galaxy S25 Edge evaluate: Digicam samples
Picture 1 of 7
Samsung Galaxy S25 Edge evaluate: Efficiency
- Wonderful efficiency from the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite
- The Edge stayed very cool beneath situations that break different telephones
I used to be anticipating wonderful efficiency from the Galaxy S25 Edge, and this cellphone delivered past my expectations. It was a lot quick, with that overclocked Snapdragon 8 Elite for Galaxy chipset offering a bit extra enhance than you’ll get on a non-Samsung Snapdragon cellphone. Samsung has additionally carried out a exceptional job of preserving the cellphone cool, even once you push the efficiency to the restrict.
I carry out a stress take a look at the place I run a number of mapping apps on a cellphone, and play music over Bluetooth, then sit the cellphone above my automobile dashboard within the sunshine. Most telephones take lower than an hour of this punishment earlier than they shut down as a result of overheating.
The S25 Edge by no means give up, managing to remain cool sufficient to operate for so long as I wanted. That’s unbelievable – each iPhone, Pixel cellphone, and Galaxy cellphone I’ve examined has failed this endurance take a look at. The Edge actually lives as much as Samsung’s claims of significantly better cooling – that 10% bigger vapor chamber clearly makes an actual distinction.
This makes the Galaxy S25 Edge a straightforward contender for a finest gaming cellphone rating. It affords nice efficiency and superior cooling – every little thing a gaming cellphone wants.
I additionally had enjoyable enjoying video games with the Galaxy S25 Edge clipped onto my Xbox wi-fi controller utilizing an inexpensive third-party attachment from Amazon. The cellphone is so light-weight that gaming for lengthy durations was a breeze – it’s a pleasant approach to kill time whereas I anticipate my Change 2 to reach.
Samsung Galaxy S25 Edge evaluate: Battery
- Good battery for the skinny dimension, however not nice
- Couldn’t final a full day if I used it aggressively
As I mentioned above, Samsung may have made a thinner Galaxy S25 Edge, however the battery life can be horrible – as it’s, throughout my evaluate interval the S25 Edge typically wanted a recharge whereas I used to be consuming dinner, particularly if I performed video games, took lots of images, or in any other case taxed the cellphone closely.
If I scrolled my social feeds and listened to music on the practice into work, I might be involved about whether or not the battery would final till the practice trip residence.
It’s too unhealthy Samsung didn’t use the most recent silicon carbon battery know-how discovered within the OnePlus 13, which could have helped it to pack in additional energy. I additionally want this cellphone charged quicker than different Galaxy S25 fashions, not slower – if it had 80W charging like the most recent OnePlus telephones I wouldn’t be nervous about having to prime up all through the day, as a result of that top-up would take lower than quarter-hour.
Because it stands, quarter-hour of charging obtained me simply previous 25%, and a full cost took about an hour. That’s fairly gradual by in the present day’s requirements, particularly contemplating that this battery is smaller than every other inside a Galaxy S25 cellphone.
Samsung may additionally be exaggerating its battery claims. It instructed us to anticipate the Edge to supply longevity someplace between the Galaxy S24 and Galaxy S25, however in our lab benchmark assessments the S25 Edge lasted for lower than 13 hours of fixed use the place the Galaxy S24 lasted greater than 13 hours, and the Galaxy S25 topped 15 hours.
If you actually need good battery life the Galaxy S25 Plus is the Samsung champ, delivering nearly 19 hours of display screen time in our rundown take a look at. Nevertheless it’s not the Edge’s lack of battery life as such that bugs me; it’s how lengthy it takes to prime the cellphone up.
|
Worth |
Not a foul worth for the svelte design and pocketability. what you’re getting, there are not any surprises, so it looks as if a good improve from the Galaxy S25 Plus (or is it a downgrade from the Extremely?) |
4/5 |
|
Design |
A bit thinner and far lighter than every other flat cellphone you’ve tried. You may’t inform by trying; it’s a must to choose it as much as really feel the distinction. The end is a bit shoddy, however the design would possibly nonetheless fulfill consumers with a sore pinky. |
3/5 |
|
Show |
The identical nice show I noticed on the Galaxy S25 Plus (with the identical awful fingerprint scanner). It’s tremendous sharp and really shiny, although when you’ll typically be in shiny sunshine the Extremely has a greater anti-glare coating that makes it price a glance. |
5/5 |
|
Software program |
Samsung’s One UI seems pretty much as good as ever, although the AI options are beginning to wane when it comes to their usefulness. Fortunately, this cellphone will get seven years of updates, so it’ll don’t have any drawback working your favourite apps and hopefully bettering within the years to return. |
3/5 |
|
Cameras |
You get fewer cameras on a thinner cellphone, however the primary digicam nonetheless takes improbable photographs, albeit ones which might be a bit subdued by regular Samsung requirements. They don’t pack the identical element because the Extremely, however meals images and portraits are particularly beautiful. |
3/5 |
|
Efficiency |
Implausible efficiency from the Snapdragon 8 Elite for Galaxy is paired with a few of the most spectacular cooling I’ve skilled on a smartphone. I couldn’t get the Edge to fry itself, irrespective of how a lot I pushed previous its efficiency limits. |
5/5 |
|
Battery |
Battery life isn’t horrible contemplating the burden discount, however I want the smaller battery got here with quicker charging to make me neglect how lengthy I want to attend. I needed to cost the cellphone most nights after dinner, until I used to be cautious. |
3/5 |
Purchase it if…
Do not buy it if…
Samsung Galaxy S25 Edge evaluate: Additionally think about
| Header Cell – Column 0 |
Samsung Galaxy S25 Edge |
Samsung Galaxy S25 Plus |
Galaxy S25 Extremely |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Value: |
$1,099 / £1,099 / AU$1,849 |
$999 / £999 / AU$1,699 |
$1,299 / £1,249 / AU$2,149 |
|
Show: |
6.7-inch LTPO AMOLED |
6.7-inch LTPO AMOLED |
6.9-inch LTPO AMOLED |
|
Cameras: |
200MP foremost, 12MP ultra-wide |
50MP foremost, 12MP ultra-wide, 10MP 3x telephoto |
200MP foremost, 50MP ultra-wide, 10MP 3x telephoto, 50MP 5x telephoto |
|
Battery Life HH:MM (Future Labs take a look at): |
12:45 |
18:46 |
18:35 |
How I examined the Samsung Galaxy S25 Edge
- I examined the cellphone for 2 weeks
- I took dozens of images
- I performed video games and watched motion pictures
- I checked e-mail and labored in Slack
- I used AI options extensively
- Benchmark testing is for comparability, not scoring functions
I examined the Samsung Galaxy S25 Edge for greater than two weeks earlier than posting this evaluate. I acquired the Edge earlier than I traveled to Google I/O, and I took the cellphone alongside as my major work system and for leisure on flights.
After I obtained again from Google I/O I had Covid, so the Galaxy S25 Edge was my major sofa companion, and my supply of leisure and call with the world. I used it to play video games, watch motion pictures, and hearken to audiobooks.
After I’d recovered, I took the S25 Edge automobile purchasing and linked it to a variety of completely different automobiles to check. I used the cellphone to take images, analysis automobiles, and extra. I even requested for assist from Google Gemini and Samsung’s Galaxy AI to do analysis, reply calls, and reply to solicitors.
I linked the Galaxy S25 Edge to a Galaxy Watch Extremely, Galaxy Buds 3 Professional, and an Xbox Wi-fi controller, amongst quite a few different gadgets.
Future Labs assessments telephones utilizing a mixture of third-party benchmark software program and proprietary, real-world assessments. We use Geekbench, CrossMark, JetStream, WebXPRT and Cellular XPRT, and 3DMark for efficiency testing. We take a look at a cellphone’s efficiency on video duties utilizing Adobe Premiere Rush. We additionally measure show coloration output and brightness.
For battery testing we carry out proprietary assessments which might be the identical for each cellphone, which allow us to find out how lengthy it takes for the battery to run down.
Learn extra about how we take a look at
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