
When Samsung launched the Galaxy S25 series, we pretty much knew it would consist of three phones: the S25, S25 Plus, and S25 Ultra. However, Samsung surprised many when it ended its presentation with “one more thing,” teasing the Galaxy S25 Edge. Still, while the teaser was a great way to show off the company’s engineering, Samsung left me intrigued and confused by the reveal.
The Galaxy S25 Edge has been rumored for some time as the Galaxy S25 “slim,” with leaks referring to a phone that’s much thinner than its regular lineup of phones. Rumors seem to be going back and forth about the phone’s position and whether it will actually appear or launch alongside the regular S25 lineup. Now, we know the phone is a real, solid device, but that’s about as much as we know aside from its actual design.
What confuses me is Samsung’s decision to tease a phone that should have launched alongside the Galaxy S25 trio of phones.
Buy now or wait.
I’ll start by saying that I’m all for a slim phone. I recently wrote about how I wish flip phones like the Motorola Razr were thinner, so I wouldn’t mind seeing the iPhone 6 return to the days when companies were apparently trying to make the thinnest phone possible. She was running. Bandgate. The Galaxy S25 Edge intrigues me because it allows me to stick the case on the device without it being uncomfortably thick.
I know I’m not the only one who wants a thinner phone, so Samsung is clearly on to something here. The problem is that now Samsung is making us wait.
On one hand, I understand why Samsung chose to tease the Galaxy S25 Edge now. Leaks are pretty much inevitable at this point, and companies like Google and Samsung want to try to get ahead of them if they can. Once Lex reaches the point of no return, they will try to outrun them one way or another. Google has gotten good at this, and now it’s Samsung’s turn to control the narrative by defying our expectations.
Early leaks called the phone the Galaxy S25 “Slim,” which is clearly incorrect, at least as far as the official moniker is concerned. It’s a thin phone, so the leaks about it were correct, although we don’t know how thin it is yet. Additionally, some early renders of the device hinted at a triple camera setup, while the original deal only has two rear cameras. Another point for Samsung I think.
The main problem I have with this is that Samsung is forcing consumers to make a choice: buy what we have or wait for this exciting new thing to launch. As a regular consumer, I’d be pissed off if I bought a Galaxy S25 Plus now, only for Samsung to turn around and introduce something similar but possibly even more appealing months later.
It’s a problem that Samsung had with the launch of the Galaxy Z Fold Special Edition, a slimmer version of the Galaxy Z Fold 6 that launched months later (and in the following quarter, mind you). .
Shortly after the launch of the Zfold 6, Samsung was criticized for launching very repetitive phones that didn’t seem to move the needle, until it issued a rare apology. Then, a few months later, it revealed the Z Fold Special Edition, which intrigued many of us. Unfortunately, it was only available in South Korea, and while it lacked S Pen support, it was still an impressive phone that realized how the Galaxy Z Fold 6 should have been.
Getting the jump on Apple
After seeing what Samsung did with the Z Fold Special Edition launch, I can imagine the company waiting until Q2 to launch the Galaxy S25 Edge. This will give the company another flagship to bring to market between the S series of main phones and the Z lineup, which usually launch in Q3.
That would make the most sense, given how Samsung is. Lost market share in Q2 2024.Revealing a huge hole in the company’s product release schedule. But while Samsung may risk losing some sales of its flagship trio of Galaxy S25 devices, it also gains something else that could be far more valuable in the long run: hype.
After the company’s troubles in 2024, Samsung clearly needs something to show consumers that it’s still an interesting company. An “one more thing” moment à la Apple is the kind of thing that just might do, especially if Samsung reveals the phone while saying virtually nothing about it. It leaves us with more questions than answers and forces us all to speculate as to why Samsung clearly thinks this is a big deal. Because it should be more than how thin it is… right?
Probably not. Apple has been. The iPhone 17 is rumored to be the Air. is in the works, and the phone could bring us back to the days when it was slim. And given Apple’s tendency to get a lot of hype for their phones after they’re launched, Samsung clearly wanted to get ahead of the game and show us that it can be just as exciting as Apple’s.
The thing is, no one is asking Samsung to look at what Apple is doing because, clearly, Samsung customers aren’t looking at Apple. Jitesh Abrani, research manager for IDC’s Worldwide Mobile Device Trackers, said as much in an interview with Shruti Shekhar, editor-in-chief of Android Central.
“For the longest time, Samsung has focused on competing with Apple when globally they are competing with many brands,” he says. “To succeed, Samsung needs to understand that there’s more to it than Apple. Samsung must leverage its scale to quickly iterate and continue to invest in marketing as it continues to do so through the pandemic.” They used to do it in the pre-disease era.”
Only time will tell if consumers will go along with the hype. Of course, Samsung will have to prove it can be interesting again, and I’m not sure 2025 is the year, especially given that its latest Galaxy S25 phones ditched the necessary hardware in favor of AI. How to skip the upgrade
All this… for him?
By choosing to wait and start building up hype for the phone, Samsung also risks disappointing consumers with a fairly underpowered phone. We don’t have official specs and information beyond what Samsung showed in Unpacked, but leaks point to a pretty run-of-the-mill flagship that could come with some notable compromises.
The phone could run a slightly lower-powered version of the Snapdragon 8 Elite with 12GB of RAM, which should help manage thermals in such a thin chassis. Rumors and recent leaks also point to a 3,900mAh battery with 25W charging. That would put its battery specs just below the smallest Galaxy S25, which has a smaller display and a 4,000mAh battery.
The Galaxy S25 Edge is expected to have a display that falls somewhere around the Galaxy S25 Plus and S25 Ultra, and if true, it will be interesting to see how it handles battery life. One way could be that it simply drops the resolution down to FHD+ instead of QHD+, which means it will miss out on a certain display upgrade like the ProScaler in the S25 Plus/Ultra.
The only bright side of the rumors is that the phone could sport a 200MP primary camera, which has been reserved for Samsung’s Ultra and Z-fold phones until now.
This puts the Galaxy S25 Edge in a very precarious position as far as where it fits into the S25 lineup at all, especially if it comes with the size of larger phones with specs that compare to smaller, less capable models. More come. Overall, it’s starting to look somewhat underpowered, exactly what Android Central’s Jerry Hildenbrand predicted.
Samsung is trying to prove it can be fast again, but the Galaxy S25 edge could fall flat, and possibly all the hype it’s generating for a mid-phone could backfire.