I got to try Samsung's new ultra-thin S25 Edge smartphone

On Monday night, Samsung finally lifted the veil off the Galaxy S25 Edge. Just a few hours prior to that, I got to put my grubby little fingers all over it.

At an event for media on Monday, I went hands-on with Samsung's latest flagship phone, part of a new wave of ultra-thin phones. The $1,099 Galaxy S25 Edge is honestly one of the easier new devices to explain to a layperson because its entire reason for being is that it's pretty much the same as the other Galaxy S25 phones, but a whole lot thinner. You get the same chipset, the same software features, similar enough camera specs, and a comparable battery, depending on which Galaxy S25 model you compare it to.

The S25 Edge is available for preorder now from Samsung, Amazon, and Best Buy, though Samsung is offering a $50 discount and 256GB of bonus storage. The phone will be available starting May 30.

Let's dig in.

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Credit: Samsung

Samsung Galaxy S25 Edge

$1,049.99 at Samsung
$1,099.99 Save $50

 

Pre-order Here

Samsung Galaxy S25 hands-on preview

All three colors. Credit: Alex Perry/Mashable

The event I went to didn't include unlimited access to the phone, so I couldn't get benchmark scores, perform detailed camera tests, or anything like that. However, that's actually fine in this case because there isn't much new on the internal side for the Galaxy S25 Edge (again, that's kind of the point). Specs-wise, here's what you get:

• 6.7-inch AMOLED display with adaptive 120Hz refresh rate

• Snapdragon 8 Elite for Galaxy chip

• 12GB RAM

• 256GB/512GB storage

• 3,900mAh battery

• 200MP wide rear lens

• 12MP ultra-wide rear lens

• 12MP selfie cam

Compared to the Galaxy S25 Ultra, Samsung's top-of-the-line flagship that starts at $1,299, the Edge's specs are actually pretty similar. It's a bit smaller (the Ultra's display is 6.9 inches), but you get the same chipset, the same amount of RAM, and the same storage options, minus a 1TB option on the Ultra. Crucially, the same 200MP main rear lens from the Ultra is here too. However, you only get a 12MP ultra-wide lens (this was 50MP on the Ultra), and you don't get a telephoto lens at all on the Edge. So, no super-zoom.

Look at how tiny that thing is. Credit: Alex Perry/Mashable

While detailed battery testing will have to wait, the size of the battery is an early concern. At 3,900mAh, it's a tiny bit smaller than the 4,000mAh cell in the base S25, and a lot smaller than the 5,000mAh cell in the S25 Ultra.

Let's stop kidding around, though. The S25 Edge's specs are nice and important, but the selling point of this phone is what it looks and feels like, not what's inside. With just 5.8mm of thickness, it's a good deal thinner than the 7.2mm base S25. Its 163g weight is comparable to the S25's weight of 162g, though it should be noted that the S25 Edge is much taller and wider than that phone.

What's it like IRL?

There isn't much to say other than it's remarkably thin when you actually see and feel it. The height and width are just about at the upper end of what I consider acceptable, in the sense that I could feasibly use the phone full-time with just one hand if I needed to. But it's just so thin and light, especially considering the state-of-the-art chipset inside of it and the high-powered camera lens on the back. Needless to say, it feels good, but there isn't much to it beyond that.

To be fair, Samsung leaked the hell out of this phone, so we've more or less known what to expect for weeks.

Again, it's very small. Credit: Alex Perry/Mashable

While more thorough testing will have to come later, I should note that Samsung told me this phone has software parity with the other S25 phones. That means all of Samsung's recent AI features are included, too. It can't be said enough: The only thing separating the Edge from the other S25 phones is how thin it is.

But that might be enough for some people. I welcome it after years of phones getting way too big and bulky.

So, if you miss the smaller phones of years gone by, this one's for you.