Two weeks with the Samsung Galaxy S25 Edge — ultra thin and ultra cool

At Shortlist we like our phones like we like our tonic — slimline — so the latest handset from Samsung has captured our increasingly short attention.... sorry, where were we?

Ah, yes: the Samsung Galaxy S25 Edge is the thinnest Galaxy phone ever — and one of the thinnest phones ever made generally.

It is just 5.8mm thick, some 2mm slimmer than the regular S25. It’s an incredible design achievement and is the sort of phone that when you whip it out in your local pub, folks will put down their pint of mild to gawp at it.

But is the Samsung Galaxy S25 Edge built for everyday use? Or is this a style icon that you’d rather lust after from afar?

I’ve been using the Samsung Galaxy S25 Edge for a number of weeks now and here are 5 things you need to know…

Samsung Galaxy S25 Edge: The core specs and key features

• Dimensions: 158.2 x 75.6 x 5.8mm — this is one of the thinnest phones on the planet.
• Weight: 163g — It's lighter than the rest of the S25 Range.
• Display: 6.7-inch (Quad HD+) — This is one of the best screens money can buy.
• Screen refresh rate: 120 Hz — the higher the refresh rate, the smoother the viewing.
• Rear camera: 200MP + 12MP — it's lost one camer compared to the Ultra, but that's not biggie.
• Front camera: 12MP — this is a decent quality for all those selfies.
• Memory: 12GB — There's plenty of grunt here to make sure the Edge doesn't slow.
• Storage: 256GB — This isn't the top when it comes to storage, but more than enough for most.
• OS: Android — While Samsung UI is overlaid, this is a decent Android experience.

1. My god, it’s thin. Really thin!

Samsung calls the S25 Edge ‘beyond thin’ and I can see why. The phone is impressively slim. The 5.8mm chassis size feels fantastic in the hand, like you're holding a piece of art. It’s built from titanium which gives it a solid feel, despite being wafer-thin. This metal has also inspired the colour names of the S25 Edge. There are three options: Titanium Jetblack, Titanium Silver, Titanium Icyblue.

Look at it face on and it has an impressive 6.68-inch panel, with a 19.5:9 aspect ratio that’s protected by Gorilla Glass Victus 2. This level of protection is pretty much the norm for flagship phones but looks even better on a thinner phone.

Flip the phone around and the back is unfamiliar territory. The usual Samsung camera bump has disappeared and is replaced by a lozenge of two lenses and a sensor.

2. Thin in size but not in performance

On board is a Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite processor which is the equivalent of strapping a V8 engine to a tea tray. It’s super fast and I could flip between doom scrolling, game playing and email ignoring in seconds. Gaming was particularly fun, with the 120Hz refresh rate making things silky smooooth.

Add to this 12GB RAM, a 3900mAh battery and 25W charging. Now, that battery size is smaller than we're used to from a Samsung flagship device and is a compromise due to the small form factor of the chassis — more on this later, but it does feel like a forced compromise.

3. AI is here and it’s here to stay

Away from the hardware, the big push from Samsung in the last year or so is AI. And it is ever present in the Samsung Galaxy S25 Edge.

Two of the more interesting AI features are the inclusion of Now Brief and Now Bar — these are round-ups of essential information to get you through the day, like weather reports, breaking news and the like. Now Brief is right there on your lock screen so can’t really be ignored. Other things like Circle To Search and Generative Edit, where you can remove objects from the background of photos using AI aren’t new but are really worthy features.

There’s 256GB of storage on board which is plenty, even if you are a photo fiend or still like having a record shop's worth of songs downloaded to your phone.

4. Cameras are ace, but streamlined

There are two cameras on the S25 Edge. Now, two is plenty — and both of the cameras on board are fantastic — but on the regular S25 range there are three cameras to choose from. The main camera uses a 200MP sensor, while the second camera is a 12MP ultrawide. On the front is a 12MP sensor, too.

You can also record video up to 8K and I found some really fun features here, including super slow motion shooting, night-ography mode, portrait enhancer, and super resolution zoom.

There are also specific modes for food photography (a nod to all those foodie influencers out there, a dedicated portrait mode and dual recording so you can record yourself and whatever you are looking at.

5. Battery could be better

With such a slight frame, something was going to have to give when it came to the Samsung S25 Galaxy Edge and it seems that it’s the battery. It’s not bad but I have been used to all day and then some, from the likes of the Nothing phone range. Here it’s around 12 hours which is a lot less than the rest of the S25 range.

I did manage to juice it up to around 50% in 30 minutes, though, so the fear of the thing losing power was more of a niggle than an outright anxiety attack.

Samsung Galaxy S25 Edge: Final Verdict

The Samsung Galaxy S25 Edge is one of the best-looking handsets out there. It boasts brilliant AI smarts, fantastic performance power and two solid rear cameras. Its battery life could be better but this phone is a stunning piece of technological design — If it means a few hours have to be shaved off the battery to achieve this, then I am all for it.

The Samsung Galaxy S25 Edge is available now, starting from £1,099.