The Samsung Galaxy S25 Edge is a new kind of S series phone, aiming to be super thin and light. It's a fresh take in a world of big, bulky phones. This review looks at its top features, how it's built, screen quality, battery life, performance, and camera. We'll see if this slim design is a good change for the Galaxy line.
A New Look: Thin and Light Design
The Galaxy S25 Edge stands out because it's so thin and light. It has a 6.7-inch screen, just like the S25 Plus, but it's as light as the smaller S25. At just 5.8mm thick, it's much thinner than the S25 Ultra. This slim design means it's easier to carry around and fits better in your pocket.
To make it this thin, Samsung had to make some changes. The battery is smaller, and it doesn't have a telephoto camera. Even with these changes, it still aims to give you the same great experience you expect from a Samsung flagship phone.
The S25 Edge has a Gorilla Glass Victus 2 back and a titanium frame. It feels light and easy to hold. Like other S25 phones, it has IP68 protection, meaning it's safe from dust and water.
Display and Sound
The screen on the S25 Edge is similar to the S25 Plus. It's a 6.7-inch OLED screen with QHD resolution and a 120 Hz refresh rate. Samsung uses a new type of glass called Gorilla Glass Ceramic 2. The display looks good with thin bezels and sharp images. It supports HDR10 Plus video, but not Dolby Vision.
- Brightness: The screen gets very bright. We measured up to 770 nits with manual control, and it can go over 1,400 nits in auto mode when needed.
- Adaptive Refresh Rate: Thanks to LTPO technology, the screen's refresh rate can change from 120 Hz down to 24 Hz, or even 1 Hz, to save battery.
For sound, the S25 Edge has stereo speakers. They aren't as loud as other S25 phones, and they have less bass. You can use the ultrasonic under-display fingerprint reader to unlock the phone, which is fast and reliable.
Performance and Battery
The S25 Edge runs on the Snapdragon 8 Elite for Galaxy chip, which is an overclocked version of the regular Snapdragon 8 Elite. This means it should perform a bit better than other flagship phones. In tests, the S25 Edge scores very well, almost at the top.
However, because the phone is so thin, its thermal management isn't as good. We saw it slow down a lot during long stress tests, even after just 5 minutes.
The battery is 3900 mAh, which is smaller than the 4900 mAh battery in the S25 Plus. This means the battery life is shorter, but it's still decent. In our tests, it lasted 12 hours and 6 minutes of active use.
- Charging: It supports 25-watt charging, but there's no charger in the box. It charges from 0 to 59% in 30 minutes, and a full charge takes about an hour and 4 minutes. It also supports wireless charging.
Camera Capabilities
The S25 Edge doesn't have a telephoto camera. It has a 200-megapixel main camera, like the S25 Ultra, and an ultrawide camera with autofocus.
Main Camera
- Daylight Photos: Photos from the main camera in daylight are sharp, detailed, and have good colors. Shots of people look great.
- Digital Zoom: Two times digital zoom from the main camera is pretty good, even though it's not as sharp as regular photos.
- Low Light Photos: In low light, the default performance isn't great. Photos can be soft and noisy. Turning on night mode manually helps a lot, making photos clearer and more colorful.
Ultrawide Camera
- Daylight Photos: Daylight photos from the ultrawide camera are solid. It has autofocus, so it can take close-up shots.
- Night Photos: For night shots, it's best to use night mode. While not super sharp, photos are detailed with good colors and contrast.
Selfie Camera
The S25 Edge has a 12-megapixel selfie camera with autofocus, just like other S25 phones. Selfies are excellent with natural colors, good skin tones, and plenty of detail.
Video Quality
- Main Camera: The main camera can record video up to 8K. 4K video is clean, sharp, and has good colors.
- Ultrawide Camera: The ultrawide camera also takes good videos, though they are not as sharp as the main camera's.
- Stabilization: Electronic stabilization works very well, making videos smooth.
- Low Light Video: The main camera does a good job recording at night, with clean and sharp low-light clips.
Is the S25 Edge Right for You?
- Thin Design: The S25 Edge is very thin and light, which is impressive.
- Compromises: To achieve this slim design, there are some trade-offs. The speakers are not as loud, the chipset performance can slow down under heavy use, the battery is smaller, and there's no telephoto camera.
- Value: If you really want a super thin phone, the S25 Edge might be for you. However, if the slim design isn't your top priority, other S25 models might offer better overall value due to fewer compromises. Once you put a case on it, the thinness isn't as noticeable anyway.
Overall, the Galaxy S25 Edge offers a unique, thin design, but it comes with some compromises compared to other S25 flagships. It's a good phone, but you might find more value in other models depending on what you need.
