Samsung Galaxy S25 Edge review: Smart subtractions

It's no great secret why modern smartphones stopped chasing the dream of a thinner form factor. A slim profile might be nice to look at, but a bigger battery adds convenience that's hard to turn down. Nevertheless, with rumours circulating that Apple is gearing up to unveil a new trimmed-down version of the iPhone later this year, Samsung has chosen to beat its biggest rival to the punch. 

Almost everything you really need to know about the Galaxy S25 Edge is right there in the name. It's a thinner version of the same formula it launched in the market only a few months ago. All told, there's little love likely to be lost over the reduction in grams here. The same can't be said about the obvious compromises that come with it. Throw in the premium price-tag and the lack of new features and I wouldn't be shocked if this ends up being a particular divisive addition to the Samsung smartphone roster in the long run.

After all, that's the funny thing about edges. If you're not careful, it can be surprisingly easy to cut yourself on them.

Since the main selling point here is the lean and lightweight form factor, let's cut to the chase. The difference in size between the Galaxy S25 Edge and its siblings is significant enough that you'll notice it almost immediately. That's the good news. The bad news is that there's not all that note about the design aside from the numbers involved.

The Galaxy S25 Edge clocks in at 5.8mm. That's about a millimetre and a half thinner than the Galaxy S25. In terms of weight, Samsung's subtractions have left the Galaxy S25 Edge at a lean 163g. Even if that's a gram heavier than the standard Galaxy S25, that figure is well below the 190g of the Galaxy S25 Plus.

Otherwise, the display on the Galaxy S25 Edge is a close match for the AMOLED one found on Samsung's plus-sized premium phone. It's 6.7-inches in size, with FHD resolution and a 120Hz refresh rate. This screen also comes with Corning's Gorilla Glass Ceramic 2 protection on the front, which offers 1 meter of drop protection. That's better than nothing, but it is a clear step downwards in durability when compared to the 2.2 meters of drop protection offered by the Gorilla Glass Armor 2 found on the Galaxy S25 Ultra.

Although there's plenty of DNA shared by the Galaxy S25 Edge and its siblings, one area where the new device stands out is the camera hardware. The back of the Galaxy S25 Edge is host to a dual-lens setup that combines a 200MP wide-angle lens with a 12MP ultrawide one. The former is almost a match for the primary lens on the Galaxy S25 Ultra.

Even if the sheer number of megapixels involved is nothing to scoff at, it seems like the camera on the back of the Galaxy S25 Edge is an area where Samsung have cut back in order to achieve a thinner form-factor. The results it delivers are a little bit of a mixed bag as a result.

Although the Galaxy S25 Edge performed well in both daylight and low-light environments, the absence of a telephoto lens was a constraint that I ran into fairly fast. I guess it makes sense that Samsung want to reserve the best camera setup for its most expensive smartphones, but it's weird that this particular device doesn't offer the same level of versatility found in its less-expensive siblings.

As with the exterior, there are few surprises lurking under the hood of the Samsung Galaxy S25 Edge. 

On the inside, Samsung's slimmer smartphone is powered by the Snapdragon 8 Elite for Galaxy processor and 12GB of RAM. As with the standard Galaxy S25 and Galaxy S25 Plus, the Galaxy S25 Edge comes in two storage configurations. Those who want to pay less are stuck with 256GB, while those willing to pay more can double that sum to 512GB for a premium.

In other words, and despite the leaner form-factor, the Galaxy S25 Edge is more or less as powerful as its sibling when it comes to silicon. Apps loaded fast, and I had no real major issues or hiccups when it came to the Android-powered software experience that the hardware delivered. Multitasking wasn't an issue, nor did the Galaxy S25 Edge have any issues with more graphically-intensive games like League of Legends: Wild Rift, Diablo Immortal and Zenless Zone Zero.

What's more, the Samsung Galaxy S25 Edge comes with seven years of OS updates and seven years of security updates. That's pretty close to being as good as Android devices get. Given the price you're paying, that's very good news.

In contrast, the bad news is that the Galaxy S25 Edge doesn't seem built to compete with its siblings or rivals when it comes to battery life. On the inside, the handset is kitted out with a 3900mAh battery. That's 100mAh smaller than the one found in the Galaxy S25, 1000mAh smaller than the battery inside the Galaxy S25 Plus and 1100mAh less than what you can get from the Galaxy S25 Ultra.

Given that, you'd expect to get a little bit less out of the device on a daily basis. In practice, the story isn't that simple. Yes, there were days where it felt like the Galaxy S25 Edge ran through a full charge at a faster clip than I'd like. At the same time, there were also days where it exceeded those expectations handily. Burned down via streaming video from YouTube over Wi-Fi, the device took 25 hours and 2 minutes to go from a full charge to zero. That's a really impressive result that puts it well above devices that have much larger batteries in them. 

Your mileage may vary, but even at its worst (and even if it does fall short of what its siblings offer), the Galaxy S25 Edge could still comfortably get me through the day.