Samsung Galaxy S25 Edge Review: All Premium, Just Not Pro

Not everyone knows it, but not everyone needs a ‘Pro’ smartphone. Sometimes, you get a Pro or an Ultra smartphone because you simply want the best. Others may simply pick a Pro device because they actually need that camera performance, or the reach of the telephoto camera. There’s also another set of people who get a Pro phone because until now, no manufacturer has been gutsy enough to build a premium phone, minus the Pro goods. What would one even call such a phone? Will anyone even buy one if it is expensive and does not deliver on all fronts?

Well, this is exactly what Samsung has done. Samsung has taken a gamble just like it did with foldables, and taken a bold step just before Apple did. It has launched the premium Galaxy S25 Edge, a device that is sleek, slim and light. But compared to the regular Galaxy S25 lineup, it has a smaller battery and two rear-facing cameras. I must admit that I was blown away by how light this device felt when I received it for review. But a few weeks in, I am not confident that there is a market for such devices unless they get a few things right.

Samsung Galaxy S25 Edge Design: A lightweight marvel

• Dimensions – 158.2 x 75.6 x 5.8mm
• Weight – 163g
• Durability – IP68

You don’t have to believe me. But the Galaxy S25 Edge makes a big and lasting impression only when you hold it. As someone who often uses foldable devices, 5.8mm isn’t a big deal, as most foldables like Google’s Pixel 9 Pro Fold, when opened, are a lot slimmer.

The Samsung Galaxy S25 Edge (right) versus the thickest foldable, the OnePlus Open

 

I have shown the Galaxy S25 Edge to a lot of people, young and old, and most did not even notice that it’s a slim smartphone. Tell them it’s one, and they acknowledge, “Oh! It’s a slim phone…”.

Their impression of it only changes when I hand it over and ask them to use it. It’s then that there’s a mind-boggling reveal. Almost everyone is immediately impressed by how light it is. Whether it’s a Pixel owner, an iPhone owner or even a budget phone user, its slim and light USP definitely feels “unreal”.

But this was the first and clear indicator that Samsung’s Galaxy S25 Edge does not make a good first impression. It may be really light, but for many, including myself, it’s not as slim or thin as many expect a “slim” phone to be. In short, it’s just not as exciting when you first see it or show it to someone.

The Samsung Galaxy S25 Edge (right) versus an Apple iPhone 15 Pro Max (left)

 

Indeed, something around 5mm or below 5mm will definitely impress from a visual standpoint. Visual tricks like a curved “edge” display would also be welcome on such a device, as slim smartphones have traditionally been all about aesthetics and design. Samsung’s current design philosophy of monolith design with flat sides, accompanied by aggressive corners, looks good on the rest of its Galaxy S25 series, but does not work well for its “Edge”, even though the phone has plenty of them.

In fact, even having its own unique design identity would have helped the Galaxy S25 Edge stand out from the S25 series. But as it currently appears, it looks very similar to them, with half the thickness.

The Samsung Galaxy S25 Edge’s slim and light design offers an IP68 rating and wireless charging

 

I do have confidence that it will last a back-pocket test, because Samsung uses a blend of titanium for its frame and chassis, and a sandwiched glass design. You also get the usual IP68 rating for dust and water. However, that does not mean you should take it for a swim, because, like every other manufacturer, Samsung won’t cover damage due to water ingress.

Regardless, I am impressed by how much Samsung has managed to do given the very restrictive boundaries of this form factor. Dust and water resistance, vapour chamber cooling, wireless charging, two rear cameras (200-megapixel primary, which is the same as on the Galaxy S25 Ultra), stereo speakers, and a fingerprint reader built into the display. And there’s still space for a 3,900mAh battery in there!

Samsung Galaxy S25 Edge Display: Top notch

• Display size – 6.7-inch, 1,440 x 3,120 pixels
• Display type – AMOLED, LTPO, 1-120Hz
• Display protection – Gorilla Glass Ceramic 2

Samsung’s done a fine job of going above and beyond with the Galaxy S25 Edge’s display. It has skinny bezels just like the Galaxy S25+, it gets plenty bright both indoors and outdoors, and it even has a fingerprint reader (which worked flawlessly) built into it!

The Samsung Galaxy S25 Edge has a gorgeous QHD+ Super AMOLED display with skinny borders

 

While the phone does get bright enough to tackle direct sunlight, I’ve noticed a small problem. Use the phone under sunlight, and the display kind of gives up and switches to a lower brightness level. This is not because this gorgeous AMOLED panel is incapable of keeping up with the ambient lighting, but mainly because the phone gets quite hot when using it outdoors, especially when using the camera.

The display remains visible after a few minutes of use, but you will need to squint a bit, especially when holding it up to use the camera. Indoors, everything is picture perfect, and I had no issues whatsoever. As expected, it also supports HDR10+ and content from OTT apps appeared bright and vivid as expected.

The 1-120Hz refresh rate does a fine job of managing the smaller battery. I was also impressed by the phone’s 480Hz touch sampling rate, which was useful when playing FPS games.

Samsung Galaxy S25 Edge Software: AI all the way!

• Android version – Android 15
• Software – One UI 7
• Software commitment – 7 years OS + 7 Years SMR

Compared to the mid-range Galaxy A26 I reviewed not too long ago, the One UI experience on the Galaxy S25 Edge does feel a lot better. The animations and transitions are buttery smooth, and software interactions feel fluid and fast thanks to the underlying premium hardware that powers it.

I like the AI-enhanced weather effects wallpapers (shown above is “cloudy”) on the Galaxy S25 Edge lock screen

 

Samsung has added AI bits all over the place. Since Samsung has its own Galaxy AI model, you will find AI making it to places that you would not see on a Pixel smartphone or an Android device from another brand. Samsung’s Live Translate feature is very useful and can be used when placing a call (to listen to the translated voice) and to translate your own into another language. Live Translate also makes it to WhatsApp and shows translated text previews below the original text bubbles.

The Samsung Galaxy S25 Edge’s Now Bar is both fun and intuitive

 

Even though Now Briefs are not as useful, the Now Bar feature visible on the lockscreen sure is. It works in a manner similar to Apple’s Dynamic Island. It can relay information from Live Notifications from various apps, be it the timer app, music, Google Maps and many more. You can even dismiss or perform certain actions depending on app support. Unlike Apple’s Live Activities and Dynamic Island, Samsung’s Now Bar and Live Notifications show a nice stackable interface, which is easier to interact with when you have many apps using it.

Samsung Galaxy S25 Edge Performance: A hot-headed performer

• Processor – Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite (for Galaxy), 4.47GHz, 3nm
• RAM – 12GB (LPDDR5X)
• Storage – 256GB (UFS 4.0)

Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 8 Elite may be the most powerful processor on the Android side of things currently, but it also gets quite hot when stressed, as we have seen in smartphones in previous reviews. So, it’s no surprise that despite its thin waistline, Samsung has managed to squeeze in a vapour chamber cooling system into its Galaxy S25 Edge.

While that may bring a sigh of relief to interested buyers, in our testing, we have found that it’s only effective in certain situations. In our 3DMark Wild Life Extreme Stress test, the phone’s performance dropped by a quarter by the 6th loop and remained there until the 20th loop. It shows that, despite having a VC cooling system, the phone does throttle, so you may not necessarily experience the full raw power of the Snapdragon 8 Elite processor.

The Samsung Galaxy S25 Edge somehow manages to accommodate a vapour chamber cooling system in its slim design

 

With casual usage, I did not notice the phone heating up too much. When playing games, gaming performance (when playing Call of Duty Mobile at Max graphics settings) did not seem to slow down or get sluggish, even after half an hour of intense gameplay.

The only instance where you will feel the heat is when using the camera app. Be it night or day, the camera app takes just a few minutes to heat up the phone. While the phone’s frame and back feel physically hot to touch, I was a bit surprised to see the Camera app and Gallery chugging along just fine. It’s probably down to the VC cooling system, which will let you feel the heat (spread out over an area) but allows this slimmer than usual phone to keep performing or running smoothly like the “This is Fine” GIF. Still, the bottom line is that after a point, it gets too hot to hold, and this is not what anyone expects from a premium device in 2025.

When it comes to benchmarks, the Galaxy S25 Edge performs as expected, as can be seen in the comparison table below.

 

Samsung Galaxy S25 Edge Cameras: Premium, not Pro

• Primary camera – 200-megapixel, f/1.7, OIS
• Ultrawide camera – 12-megapixel, f/2.2, PDAF
• Selfie camera – 12-megapixel, f/2.2, PDAF

Given that foldables also pack in slim camera tech and have to deal with similar design restrictions, I decided to stack the recently launched Motorola Razr 60 Ultra against Samsung’s slimmest and lightest smartphone. I have squeezed in a few camera samples between to give our readers a better idea of the Galaxy S25 Edge’s performance.

It’s Samsung’s Galaxy S25 Edge versus Motorola’s Razr 60 Ultra

 

With a primary camera sourced from Samsung’s high-end Galaxy S25 Ultra, I did have big expectations from this camera and even its lossless telephoto zoom performance. It shoots photos with accurate colour and excellent dynamic range, be it day or night. The details are spot on, but I would have preferred slightly sharper images. The large sensor managed to capture plenty of data in the binned 12-megapixel default resolution. There’s plenty of detail wherever you go looking for it.

A cropped collage of camera samples captured at 12-megapixels, 50-megapixels and 200-megapixels (L to R) (tap image to expand)

 

Being a bigger than usual sensor, you can shoot at 12-megapixel, 50-megapixel and 200-megapixels. I tried all of them (as you can see in the collage above). And very similar to the results from the 2X lossless zoom images, the 50-megapixel scaled images appear a bit soft, while the 12 and 200 megapixel images appear tack sharp. Overall, I see no real-world benefit in shooting at the 200-megapixel resolution, unless you want to edit your masterpiece in post. In this case, you would be fiddling with Samsung’s Expert RAW mode (need to be downloaded), which will give you what you need, provided you know what to do with all that data. The standard/auto 200-megapixel shooting mode results in massive 32MB files, so it’s not advisable to shoot at this resolution if you’re a casual user.

Motorola’s Razr 50 Ultra (bottom) is on par with Samsung’s Galaxy Edge 50 Ultra (top). Still, it offers better sharpness and shoots slightly saturated images in comparison, which at times turn out to be close to accurate. (Tap images to expand)

 

The Galaxy S25 Edge’s main drawback compared to the Pro phones is the lack of a telephoto camera. (Tap image to expand)

 

There’s no getting around it, even with a massive 200-megapixel sensor and lossless capability. Samsung manages quality images in daylight, but even overcast conditions result in soft images with low detail when captured at 2X zoom.

Motorola’s Razr 60 Ultra (right) does a fantastic job with 2X lossless zoom, shooting sharp photos with some juicy bokeh backgrounds. (Tap image to expand)

 

The Galaxy S25 Edge’s low-light 2X captures are low on resolved detail (tap image to expand)

 

The Samsung Galaxy S25 Edge’s 2X Portrait images come out well in daylight but lack detail in low light. Edge-detection isn’t very accurate or “pro-grade” either. (Tap image to expand)

 

The ultrawide camera is not the one from the Galaxy S25 Ultra, and so it does not perform as well. The 12-megapixel photos are good, but they aren’t as big on detailed as most premium flagships available at this price point. Top: Galaxy S25 Edge, bottom: Razr 60 Ultra (tap images to expand)

 

Even Motorola’s Razr 60 Ultra (bottom) does better, even in low light, where Samsung’s (top) results appear a bit too soft. (Tap images to expand)

 

Samsung’s Galaxy S series phones have always been good at selfies. However, the Galaxy S25 Edge (top) does come up short in terms of sharpness and detail compared to the Motorola Razr 60 Ultra (bottom). (Tap images to expand)

 

As for video, Samsung’s Galaxy S25 Edge does a phenomenal job of shooting video in daylight. Both HDR10+ and regular 4K footage show plenty of detail, have a smooth framerate and excellent stabilisation. In low light, the overall quality takes a bit of a hit. It’s not as good as an iPhone, as Samsung aggressively tries to suppress noise, resulting in flatter textures. Video from the ultrawide camera isn’t as impressive as the primary. Video recording is stabilised, but textures appear a bit soft, especially in low light.

Samsung Galaxy S25 Edge Battery: Enough for a day

• Battery capacity – 3,900mAh, lithium-ion
• Wired charging – 25W
• Wireless charging – 15W
• Charger in the box – No

Yes, this slim and light smartphone from Samsung can last a day even with heavy usage, but nothing more. This certainly sounds like a lot for a slim phone, but power users or road warriors who need more than a day’s battery life will be disappointed. Samsung could have sweetened the deal and used the newer silicon-carbon battery technology, but for reasons best known to the brand, it did not. Still, we do have some impressive numbers, given how slim this phone is.

The Samsung Galaxy S25 Edge’s slim design creates additional restrictions on charging speeds

 

In our HD video loop test, which plays a locally stored video in a loop (until the battery dies), the Samsung Galaxy S25 Edge managed a decent 16 hours and 25 minutes. In our PCMark Battery Work test, which runs various real-world tasks and applications on loop, the Edge lasted 12 hours and 17 minutes, which is impressive given its battery capacity and slim form factor.

Charging the phone using a 100 GaN charger saw the Galaxy S25 Edge charge to 41 percent in 30 minutes and 84 percent in an hour, completing the charge in 1 hour and 29 minutes. This is relatively slow compared to what most smartphones at this price point are capable of.

Samsung Galaxy S25 Edge Verdict

Samsung’s Galaxy S25 Edge may not have won me over, but I now have some new found respect for slim smartphones. Samsung has managed to set a new trend rolling, and it is downright impressive in terms of engineering achievements. However, given its current form factor and price (Rs. 1,09,999), which isn’t too slim, I don’t see it winning over audiences that would be heading to a store to buy a Galaxy S25+ (Rs. 99,999 onwards) or even a Galaxy S25 Ultra (Rs. 1,29,999 onwards). However, it makes a good case for itself for someone who’s particularly looking for a premium, slim and light Android smartphone, given that there are barely any options to choose from.

The Samsung Galaxy S25 Edge may also appeal to the clamshell foldable owners. While there have been major leaps in book-style foldable designs over the past year, the more accessible clamshell-style foldables are still quite thick when folded or unfolded. Samsung’s Edge offers something that is significantly lighter, far more durable, and slimmer.

To impress the premium crowd, Samsung’s Edge needs to be slimmer but somehow pack some Pro DNA (running cooler, have high-capacity silicon carbon battery, better ultrawide and telephoto camera). By doing this, Samsung will be able to deliver the “wow factor” that is missing from its current product. Another way for Samsung to achieve this is by dropping the Galaxy S25+ altogether and incorporating all its features into a slimmer design.

As it stands, Samsung’s Galaxy S25 Edge is nearly half a Galaxy S25 Ultra available at a price tag that seems a bit high given its various limitations. Making things worse for the Edge is Samsung’s Galaxy S25+, which outdoes it in every other way. It even looks similar with some added weight and thickness, all of which is justified given the performance gains it offers.

On a side note, with Samsung leaving room for improvement and Apple’s iPhone 17 Air on the horizon, I would not be surprised to see Chinese companies take on the slim challenge and launch super-slim smartphones in the coming months.