Samsung Galaxy S25 Edge Review: Slimmer Form Settles The Spec Question

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It's time to put away your assumptions, or at least it's time to put away mine. To be honest, I wasn't all that psyched about reviewing this phone. Looking from afar, I only saw what was taken away from the phone. I didn't see what those subtractions could bring.

Don't get me wrong, this phone is not the next big thing — far from it. It's actually the next small thing, and if the rumor mill is to be believed, this is the first salvo in a war that it about to be fought. Apple is rumored to bring an "iPhone Air" this coming fall, so a part of this phone feels like beating that device to the punch, but that's assuming that other phone will actually exist.

But all of that devalues what this phone actually is, which is to say, it's pretty cool. Samsung has done some really cool things with this phone that makes it worthy to stand in the S25 lineup — not just as a fashion-forward phone (though it is) but as a real consumer product that you should consider.

I've spent a long weekend with the Samsung Galaxy S25 Edge, provided by T-Mobile for this review, on that same company's network. I hesitate to label this as a "full review" per se, but I'm confident enough to have drawn some really solid conclusions based on that limited time.

Right off the bat, it's important to realize that the Samsung Galaxy S25 Edge is every bit as much of a flagship phone as its siblings. There are a few notable differences to be sure, but for the most part, if you're picking between the Samsung Galaxy S25 Plus and this phone, you're basically a meme from "The Office." It's the same picture.

On board, you still have Samsung's OneUI 7, which I love but a lot of people on Reddit really do not. Personally, I feel like OneUI made Samsung's software usable again. I love the Now Bar, though the Now Brief still leaves something to be desired, even after almost five months. Galaxy AI is still on board — you can draw images, and turn people into cartoons, etc.

The display on the Galaxy S25 Edge is the same as that on the Galaxy S25 Plus, as are the key specifications, like the Snapdragon 8 Elite processor, 12 GB of RAM and up to 512 GB of onboard storage (my review device at 256 GB). You also still get wireless charging and an in-screen fingerprint sensor.

Of course, the reason we're all here is the thinness of this phone. Samsung shaved this phone down to just 5.8mm — not including the camera bump, which in fairness adds another 4.6mm to the phone. Yes, the camera bump almost adds another phone's worth of thickness. Is this the thinnest phone ever? No! That honor goes to the Moto Z in 2016. That phone, you'll recall was the first to use Moto Mods, or modular add-ons to the phone that gave it extra capabilities like a 360-degree camera or an extra battery pack.

But for a flagship that doesn't intend to have a projector zip-tied to its back, the Samsung Galaxy S25 Edge feels pretty remarkable. Not only did Samsung achieve this thickness while still retaining an in-display fingerprint sensor and wireless charging (I'm looking at you, OnePlus from a couple of years ago) but also wedged in a not-quite 4,000 mAh battery (3,900 mAh to be exact) into this chassis. Gone too is the telephoto lens that the S25 Plus boasts.

Aside from that, you could put the S25 Plus and the Galaxy Edge side by side on paper and there's little difference. At this point you might be thinking — like I was — but a tiny battery an no telephoto camera? Why on earth would Samsung shave off two crucial components like that? To an extent I agree but also wait until the end of this review.

When I first unboxed the Samsung Galaxy S25 Edge, my first gut reaction was "Whoa, this phone feels really weird to use...in a good way." Picking up and holding the phone feels really odd but pleasing. I've grown accustomed to phones with heft and this phone is very much not that. It slips very easily into a pocket.

It's also worth noting that my wife really likes this phone. When she was holding it, she noticed that her hands, which are smaller than mine, but not as much smaller as one would think (I have referenced my sausage fingers on more than one occasion) can easily reach across the phone from side to side. That's something she cannot do with her current daily driver, the Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra. 

So, given the size of the device, it's safe to assume that the battery inside must be small and therefore battery life must be unacceptably tiny, right? Not so much as it turns out.

I only had this phone for one weekend so far, so I was limited in what I could test with this phone in terms of battery life. That being said, I was not gentle on the phone. On Saturday, I spent most of the day working out in the yard while streaming a couple of podcasts and an entire Cubs game (they won) into Bluetooth headphones. Additionally, I read part of a book on the phone and played a few smaller games — for example: "Royal Match," not "Call of Duty," so it wasn't as intense.

On Sunday, I spent most of the day out and about taking photos, streaming more podcasts, and spent a few hours at my local amusement park also shooting photos and videos and texting a lot. All this while in a congested amusement park.

Finally on Monday, I had a pretty typical day at home followed by some reading. What finally managed to kill the battery was the nearly one hour of "Hyperlapse" videos I shot from my bike. That took the battery all the way down to one percent before I luckily managed to plug it in.

Overall, this was a pretty intense weekend, as far as my phone's batter was concerned and I was pleasantly surprised at how well this phone performed. If you are a gamer, or you tend to spend a lot of time every day scrolling TikTok or playing Mistplay games, then this phone is probably not going to be for you. If, on the other hand, you spend a lot of time at home (or on Wi-Fi) this phone will probably be ok for you.

As for the cameras, it should come as no surprise that the cameras on this phone have Samsung's chops, no doubt. During the day, things are great — there's basically no drop-off in camera quality, except at the loss of the telephoto lens. Even then, the phone's 200-megapixel main camera is capable of shooting at 2x and even 4x zoom (in most situations) pretty well.

Adam Doud/SlashGear

Moving subjects in particular like a fast-moving roller coaster, or even the water drops from a Slip N' Slide sprinkler are caught in very fine detail. I didn't get the chance to take a lot of macro shots, but those I took were... fine. 

Portrait mode is also pretty good – normally a good test for portrait mode is to see what happens with the whisps of loose hair hippies like me usually end up with. Samsung didn't isolate them. Rather, the post processing eliminated them altogether, and to tell the truth, I don't hate it.

Adam Doud/SlashGear

At night, moving subjects are problematic even in burst mode — just don't try. But if you can get your subject to stand still, this camera does a great job. Camera judder in video is still an issue, but not as much as you typically see, which is a good thing. As I mentioned earlier, Hyperlapse videos are a fun favorite of mine — I dig them. I have no dealbreaker complaints about the camera system.

Overall, this phone is definitely one you should consider, or at the very least you should not be afraid of trying it out. This phone is basically a Galaxy S25 Plus, with a smaller battery and one less camera. If you don't care about telephoto photography, then there's only one thing to worry about. The Samsung Galaxy S25 Edge will cost you $1,099.99 from the Samsung Store on Amazon, through Samsung's own online store, or from all the major carriers. 

If you need a big battery, your choice is simple — get the S25 Plus (for the same starting price as the Edge). However, if you want something that is sleeker and more stylish, then this phone is definitely worth considering. I was surprised at how much I got out of this phone. I was not gentle on it. I would argue I was harsher with it (by design) than most other phones I test. The average flagship should last you at least a day and a half on a single charge, if not two days. This phone is not that, and it never was that. But it's no pushover either.

Rather, this phone is a fashion-forward design that puts form over function, but not at the sacrifice of the latter. This phone won't win any battery tests, but it won't necessarily lose them either. If you think about your phone, and do a bit of planning ahead, this phone will not let you down. If you want to go of grid for 48 hours, buy something else. But if you want to slip this into your pocket and barely feel it there — and you don't want to use a case because then you're missing the point entirely — then this phone might just be right for you.