Kerry Wan/ZDNET
Samsung took the hard road when it launched the ultra-thin and lightweight Galaxy S25 Edge back in May. The phone had a mere 3,900mAh battery (not enough to be considered "diabolical," as the teens would say, but barely able to last a full day), lacked a dedicated telephoto lens, and demanded a $1,100 price tag. Unless wrist strain was your biggest issue with using smartphones, the S25 Edge just felt out of place.
Also: The best Android phones of 2025: Expert tested and reviewed
However, recent retailer offers are making me reconsider the phone. At its latest sale price of $699 ($400 off) on Amazon, the S25 Edge suddenly becomes an Android handset I'd comfortably recommend beyond the tech enthusiast circle. Here's why.
The Galaxy S25 Edge is the most powerful lightweight handset on the market right now, and is positioned to contend with Apple's rumored iPhone 17 Slim next week. As I mentioned in my month-long review, the phone "operates with grace. I can't pinpoint one thing for the solid performance, so I'll credit the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite chipset, the smoother animations of One UI 7, and the 12GB of RAM, which is sufficient for hybrid AI tasks, mobile gaming, and loading various social media feeds."
Of course, the big draw with the Galaxy S25 Edge is its ultraportability. Samsung fits a 6.8-inch AMOLED display with a 200MP-led camera system into a body that's just 5.8mm thick and 163 grams. For reference, the iPhone 16 Pro (not the Pro Max) weighs 199 grams.
Review: Samsung Galaxy S25 Edge
From the burdenless pocketing experience to the surprisingly less painful drops on the face when doomscrolling in bed, the Galaxy S25 Edge left me with a positive outlook on slimified phones.
When I compared the Galaxy S25 Edge's camera to Samsung's more expensive Galaxy S25 Ultra model, I found the main sensor to output pictures and videos of similar quality -- a good thing considering the $200 price difference.
Kerry Wan/ZDNET
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