Samsung Galaxy S25 Edge smartphone review – thin is back in with virtually no compromises

The Samsung Galaxy S25 edge has set a new smartphone trend – thin is back in. But the good news is there’s very little compromise to bring you a smartphone that’s just 5.8mm thick while still offering flagship features and performance.

We’ve been using the S25 edge for a couple of weeks and this one of our favourite devices we’ve used for some time.

Naturally, the biggest selling point of the device is the fact that it is super slim at just 5.8mm thick.

The first time we got it in our hands we marvelled at the engineering that could still pack in all those features in a chassis that’s about the same size as the thickness of two 20 cent coins or three 10 cent coins.

The S25 Edge feels great in your hands – it is so slender and light and will amaze anyone who sees it.

Every single person we showed it to was very impressed as they cradled it in their hand.

The idea of having a thin smartphone sounds good and, frankly, I struggled to see the point when I first heard of it.

It’s not like customers were banging down the doors at Samsung and Apple demanding a super thin smartphone.

There was no petition being signed by thousands of customers.

No, this was a demonstration of what’s possible and Samsung has knocked it out of the park.

A few years ago a phone like the S25 Edge would not have been possible.

Even today looking at this device you can appreciate it is an engineering marvel.

At the time we were saying this was an answer to a question that no one asked.

But once we got it in our hand, we never knew we wanted a thin smartphone as much as we did until we gripped the S25 Edge for the very first time.

Samsung teased the Galaxy S25 Edge back in January at the Galaxy S25 unpacked event in San Jose.

And that was a smart move because customers could see than whole S25 range and decide then if they wanted to upgrade to one of those devices.

But Samsung decided to give us a glimpse of the S25 Edge to let customers know there was something down the track that they could upgrade to if they didn’t want to dive into the S25 series at that time.

But the elephant in the room is the huge unmissable rumour about Apple producing their own super thin iPhone later this year.

In fact, the rumours are so strong that Apple is producing the iPhone 17 Air – that’s the name people have given it – we can expect that release to confirm the trend that a thin smartphone is the new fancy design trend that other brands will inevitably follow.

Design wise, of course, there’s the svelte proportions of this sleek 5.8mm device.

But it’s still feels solid in your hand and has an excellent build quality.

The phone’s frame is made of titanium and the 6.7-inch dynamic AMOLED 2X 120Hz display is covered with the latest Corning Gorilla Glass ceramic too – a new strong glass ceramic material that will give customers peace of mind that, despite its svelte proportions, it is still actually quite strong.

It’s the same screen that you’ll find on the Galaxy S25+.

In the two weeks we’ve been using the device we haven’t even used a case.

Samsung will offer a range of their own cases for the S25 Edge end, even inside that case, it is still quite thin.

And it’s also not going to weigh you down at just 163g – which is about the same weight as a packet of chips.

One question we’ve been asked about the strength of the devices is “will it bend”?

That may seem to many ridiculous a question and our answer is that we could bend any phone if we wanted to and there will no doubt be the odd YouTuber will go ahead and do that with the S25 Edge.

But the answer we gave is that the device is strong and there’s no risk of that even when you carry it around in your back pocket like we did.

I’d even sat on it while it was in my back pocket while I was driving.

Under the hood is the same Snapdragon 8 Elite Mobile Platform for Galaxy that is used in the S25 smartphone series which means it delivers the exact same performance including Galaxy AI features with on-device processing.

We went from using the S25 Ultra to the S25 edge and the experience was virtually the same.

But to achieve a smartphone of these slim proportions there had to be some minor compromises.

And we do say minor because for us there was never a time when we said, “we wish we had….” while using the S25 Edge.

Naturally there are some differences and they come with the camera and the battery.

On the camera side, Samsung is using the same 200MP wide lens that’s found on the S25 Ultra along with the 12 MP ultra-wide lens which, between them, deliver stunning quality and offer flagship level photography.

What you won’t be getting is a periscope lens setup or any higher optical zoom because there’s just no space for it.

If photography is your main use of your smartphone, then you may demand more than what the S25 Edge delivers.

But that’s not to say the S25 Edge’s camera isn’t premium.

Images and videos produced with the device were remarkable and will satisfy most customers.

The camera system on Samsung Galaxy S25 Edge more than holds its own even in low light situations while still benefiting from the same ProVisual Engine that’s part of the S25 series.

The rumoured iPhone 17 Air will reportedly only have one lens in its camera system.

We were quite happy with our images and videos produced with the S25 edge so to us this didn’t really feel like a compromise.

The other difference is the battery capacity which stands at 3900mAh compared to 5000mAh on Samsung’s other smartphones.

With such a slender body it would have been physically impossible to have the same battery capacity with the S25 Edge.

We were slightly worried a smaller battery powering the same display and processor as the other members of the S25 phone family would result in a mid-afternoon recharge.

But we’re happy to report, while using the S25 Edge as our daily driver for now two weeks, the battery sailed through the day even when we were making lots of calls, using the browser, answering emails and both browsing and creating posts for social media.

By early evening we still had about 35 per cent battery and that could have easily lasted until bedtime.

After an overnight charge we were ready to attack the day.

The S25 Edge can also be charged quietly so it can be topped up throughout the day.

For us we had the S25 being wirelessly charged in our car while we were on the road.

On the weekend, when we were making far less calls and hardly looking at email, the battery would only be down to about 50 per cent by late afternoon.

Our fears for the battery life were quickly allayed and this never became an issue.

In fact, battery life seemed to improve the longer we used the S25 Edge because it was improving its efficiency as it learned how we use the device.

This 25 Edge is positioned as a flagship device, and rightly so.

It does have most of the premium features you’ll find in devices at that level and, of course, attracts a similar price tag.

The Samsung Galaxy S25 Edge is priced at $1,849 for the 256GB variant and $2,049 for the 512GB model.

We did quite like the colour we received for our review device, Titanium Icy Blue but there are two other choices – Titanium Silver and Titanium Jet Black.

The Samsung Galaxy S25 Edge goes on sale this week.

VERDICT

The Samsung Galaxy S25 Edge is a thing of beauty – a super thin smartphone that almost defies logic while at the same time delivering a virtually uncompromised experience and superior performance. And it will definitely impress your friends.