The future of thin phones is up in the air, leaving me on the edge of my seat. Apple’s latest smartphone redesign is epitomized by the $1,000 iPhone Air, while Samsung is still trying to sell consumers on a slim $1,100 Galaxy S25 Edge. Tales as old as good versus evil—or Android versus iOS—don’t ever have an expected outcome, and we doubt either device will make you want to change ecosystems. Still, we know you’re curious about how the devices stack up, and we finally have the specs to compare them.
You could be forgiven if you can’t spot the difference based on pics alone from Apple’s “Awe Dropping” showcase. While there’s a dramatic difference between the iPhone 16 and iPhone Air, there are more things happening under the hood to keep the Samsung and Apple devices distinct, and it sets us up for a whole new category of smartphone. Samsung is normally the company more willing to innovate, especially considering its Galaxy foldables, culminating in this year’s Galaxy Z Fold 7. Apple will likely take some of these thin design cues into its inevitable foldable competitor. We don’t suggest you go out and buy either of these phones right off the bat. No matter which ecosystem you belong to, you may be giving up on some expected features—whether battery life or camera capabilities—for the sake of a device that slides easier into your pocket.
Galaxy S25 Edge vs. iPhone Air: Design
Specs can’t do justice to the major distinctions between Samsung’s and Apple’s slim phones, but we need to explain how the minute millimeter differences play out in real life. The iPhone Air clocks in at 5.64mm while the S25 Edge measures at 5.8mm. Samsung’s device is slightly larger with a 6.7-inch display compared to the iPhone Air’s 6.5-inch, but it’s also lighter at 163g versus 165g.
What matters more is looks. The iPhone Air appears thinner when you hold the two phones side by side. Part of that is color choice and aesthetic, especially if you compare the black model to the silver sides of the S25 Edge, where the light tends to reflect. The Edge also has a larger camera bump compared to the Air’s thin “plateau.” In terms of display, the S25 Edge has a higher-resolution display with 513 PPI, or pixels per inch, versus the Air’s 460 PPI. At least both screens now support 120Hz refresh rates (older base iPhones were locked at 60Hz).
iPhone Air thinned comparison with Samsung Galaxy S25 Edge #AppleEvent pic.twitter.com/BlujtA6wV1 — Ray Wong (@raywongy) September 9, 2025
Both phones use titanium for the sides, as it’s likely better for keeping the phone from bending under strain. As for added protection, Samsung is using Gorilla Glass Ceramic 2 for the screen and Gorilla Glass Victus 2 on the back. Apple went with a Ceramic Shield 2 layer on the front and a first-gen Ceramic Shield on the back. Slapping a case on a thin phone would defeat the entire purpose, so having a sturdy device is paramount. The S25 Edge has one thing the iPhone Air doesn’t: a physical SIM card tray.
Galaxy S25 Edge vs. iPhone Air: Chip
Samsung’s Android devices have relied on Qualcomm chips for the last several phone generations, and that didn’t change with the Galaxy S25 Edge. The phone uses the powerful Snapdragon 8 Elite, a CPU with an octa-core CPU and Adreno 830 GPU on a 3nm process. The iPhone Air is using Apple’s more powerful A19 Pro chip, though it notably has one less GPU core than the same processor found on the iPhone 17 Pro.
We have not done any benchmarking with the A19 chips, so we won’t know how the two chips stack up when compared side by side. Apple promised the A19 Pro will have better single-thread performance compared to the A18 chip, which implies it will handle individual tasks faster than before. The A18 Pro was already better in multi-core scenarios compared to the Snapdragon 8 Elite, though the Qualcomm chip has a slight edge in multi-core scenarios.
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