Samsung Galaxy S25 Edge Review: An Ultra-thin Smartphone That You’d Have to See to Believe

A coin and my review of Samsung’s all-new Galaxy S25 Edge have something in common. They are both two-sided. A coin has heads and tails. My review focuses on the Galaxy S25 Edge's impressive lightweight design (and razor-thin profile), as well as the much-discussed battery life (3,900mAh).

You have to see it to believe it

I’ve been to numerous events in Delhi over the past week. From quizzes to bowling and from movies to Jamia, I’ve encountered people from all walks of life. Some have seen me carrying multiple smartphones (such is the life of a reviewer) and, many times, the latest and greatest, while others have never seen me before. As soon as I take out the Galaxy S25 Edge, heads turn, and questions start popping up. Everyone wants to take a look and get a feel of the smartphone.

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Yes, as I mentioned earlier, you’ve got to see it to believe it. The remarkable achievement does come with its fair share of compromises (read, battery life), but we’ll get to those later. Let me just throw two pieces of facts at you. The Galaxy S25 Edge measures 5.8mm in thickness. That’s less than the Galaxy S25+ (with a similar screen size), which measures 7.3mm. For a candy-bar-designed phone, this is one of the thinnest you can get your hands on at this point. The other number I’m going to throw at you is about its weight. Yes, the slim and lightweight Galaxy S25 Edge weighs a mind-boggling 163 grams. Yes, read that again. 163 grams. To put this in context, just hold five playing cards next to the smartphone. That’s how thin and light this smartphone is.

People may have taken many a swipe at Samsung for being unimaginative when it comes to its smartphone designs. Yes, the last couple of Galaxy S series smartphones have all had a similar design. But, once again, Samsung rises from the ashes and dares to be different. And we shall applaud until kingdom come. Super-thin may be the theme going forward (as we have seen at MWC 2025), but Samsung is the first one out of the blocks.

The flip side is the battery life

Yes, the Galaxy S25 Edge comes with a 3,9000 mAh battery. That’s 1,000 mAh less than what the Galaxy S25+ (4,900 mAh) had. To get to this level of thinness, Samsung had to make some compromises. Chief among them is the size of the battery life. Samsung could have used a silicon-carbide battery pack for a smaller and denser battery (just like some of the Chinese smartphone companies are doing), which would have been perfect for an ultra-thin smartphone, but alas. Samsung, for what it is worth, has made some software optimisations to boost the battery life of this smartphone.

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After testing it out for over two weeks, I can tell you that this isn’t a smartphone with all-day battery life. By mid-day, you’d be staring at a battery life that is under 30 percent. That battery anxiety that I’ve been saying has mostly gone away in recent times? Well, with the Galaxy S25 Edge, it’s back. You’d be hard-pressed to get over five and a half hours of screen-on-time (SoT). Even with minimal usage, you’d be running out of battery well before dinner. The Galaxy S25 Ultra, which costs about the same, consistently provided me with 8.5-9 hours of SoT.

Sure, you can be frugal with your usage, turn down the resolution, reduce the brightness, and not take so many photos, but what’s the fun in that? If you’re someone who is constantly glued to your smartphone (for work reasons, or as a photographer, or for any other reason), then the Galaxy S25 Edge may not have the stamina to keep up with you. For now, those considering using an ultra-slim phone as their daily driver will be a small audience.

Now that the elephant is out of the room let’s discuss the other aspects of the smartphone, specifically the cameras. You aren’t getting the bells and whistles of the Galaxy S25 Ultra despite the similar pricing. You’ve to consider the components that can be put into such an ultra-thin package. Yes, you’re going to have to settle for a dual-camera setup instead of the triple-camera setup that those Ultra folks are enjoying. Yes, you do get the impressive 200MP primary camera, which is quite impressive. The photos are crisp and detailed, and the colours do pop. The dynamic range is good, and less noise. It may not be as true-to-life as some other cameras (such as those with Leica, Hasselblad, and Zeiss-optimised lenses on other smartphones), but tonality is preserved, and the images look good, even when blown up on a 55-inch TV. There’s no telephoto camera here, but you can zoom up to 10x AI-assisted on the primary camera. There is 2x optical zoom, but I was hoping for more.

If you’re genuinely using the camera to its fullest potential, then you’ll have to be patient. Capturing a good shot in low-light conditions requires a certain amount of patience. Still, you can get some excellent shots if you keep at it. But yes, the quality is still a bit below what you’d expect from a smartphone that costs over ₹ 1,00,000.

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Ultra-wide and videos. These aren’t flagship-level. On the ultra-wide, the dynamic range is limited, and some amount of noise creeps in. With videos, using the primary sensor is fantastic. The ultra-wide, though? Not up to current-day standards.

Let’s talk about the pricing

Samsung was the first to the market with an ultra-thin smartphone. Unless you were at MWC 2025 in Barcelona, there is nothing else you can compare the Galaxy S25 Edge with. Its design is remarkable, and for a company that hadn't innovated for years, Samsung is back — and how!

The other thing I didn’t touch upon, but I’ll mention briefly, is that the phone wobbles when placed on a flat surface. Yes, it’s due to the camera bump, but even if you slap on a case, it’ll still rock. That’s because even case-makers are in a race to see who can have the thinnest one of them all.

Despite taking the smartphone out and about in the New Delhi heat, I didn’t notice any excessive heating. Yes, it did get warm, but just as much as many of the other smartphones I’ve been carrying over the last couple of weeks.

Samsung has priced the Galaxy S25 Edge at ₹ 1,09,999 for the 256GB and 12GB variant. That’s up there with the bells and whistles of the Galaxy S25 Ultra.

Verdict: Worth the money?

You have to head to a retail store and witness this in person before committing such a large amount of money to an ultra-thin phone with some compromises. Yes, it’s a bold direction Samsung is heading to, and yes, it’s a huge gamble. However, one has to commend the company for taking this direction. I have become a believer after using this smartphone for a few weeks, but I know I won’t be buying one. I know plenty of people who would prefer an ultra-thin smartphone, but they will be waiting for the second generation when the battery life will undoubtedly be much better.

Let me boil it down for you because it’s actually quite simple. If you’re a heavy smartphone user or a professional photographer, this smartphone may not be for you if you’re someone who is near a plug point at least once a day (besides your bedtime) and wants to avoid holding a brick-like device as a smartphone.

Did anyone ask for the Galaxy S25 Edge? Probably not. Do people want lightweight phones? Sure. Do people prefer compact smartphones? Sure. But do people wish to compromise concerning battery life? No. Still, the Galaxy S25 Edge is a breath of fresh air in an otherwise stale smartphone industry (outside of China).