Why the Galaxy S25 Edge is bound to fail

During the last Galaxy Unpacked event, along with the usual Galaxy S25 devices, Samsung teased a new and exciting addition to the family—the S25 Edge.

Not a surprise, given all the leaks, but as exciting as this device might look, I personally think it will have a tough time convincing people for a place in their pockets.

There are several reasons for that. I have to preface this by saying this is a "personal opinion". I've worked my way past many technological gimmicks from various companies and think the Galaxy S25 Edge is just that—a gimmick that's bound to fail.

How thin is too thin?

The world moves in cycles, or so many spiritual and religious teachings say. This seems to apply to technology as well. I vividly remember the last push for thinner phones. It started around 2004 with the original Motorola RAZR and peaked two years later with the Samsung X820, the world's slimmest phone at the time—just 6.9 mm thick.

All this was happening roughly 20 years ago. I still own an original Motorola RAZR and had the aforementioned X820 for a while. And let me tell you this: even at 6.9 mm, with the lightweight plastic and beveled edges, the X820 felt uncomfortable in the hand. At least to me.

The same trend recurred in 2014 with phones such as the Oppo R5 which was just 4.85mm, and Gionee Elfie - 5.1mm thickness, and many others. The wheel made another round.

Now, the thin craze is returning strong, and the Galaxy S25 Edge is its harbinger. It's 6.4 mm thick and probably trying to jump the iPhone 17 Air, another rumored thin-waist phone with an alleged thickness of 5.5 mm.

I saw the Galaxy S25 Edge in Barcelona during the MWC and grabbed one before the security started walking toward me, ready to engage. The S25 Edge units hanging on nylon threads were dummies, of course, but even a dummy felt too thin and uncomfortable in my hand. It reminded me of the old Samsung X820.

During my time at the MWC, I also touched the Tecno Spark Slim smartphone prototype, which was awe-inspiring with its 5.75 mm thickness. Still, pretty uncomfortable in the hand.

I've been having a similar experience with the latest foldables. I get it; the thinner they are unfolded, the more normal they will feel in the hand in a folded state. But still, a 4.35 mm thick phone feels feeble and edgy. It's just too thin, at least for me.

I realize this part is a bit subjective, but wouldn't you prefer a 10,000 mAh battery in a 9-10 mm phone over these ultra-thin devices? I would. That would be a real innovation.

I'm sorry, how much did you say it would cost?

While thickness might be subjective and everyone feels (pun intended) differently about it, hard cash is pretty objective. According to the latest rumors, the Galaxy S25 Edge will cost north of $1,000, allegedly—$1,099.

It's a lot of money for a dual-camera phone that's just a bit thinner than a Galaxy S25 or even the Galaxy S25 Plus, which is still cheaper at $999.

There's nothing particularly fancy about the hardware either. It's rumored to have the latest Snapdragon 8 Elite (just like the other members of the S25 family), a 6.7-inch screen with FHD+ resolution and a sub-400 PPI, 8GB of RAM, and a 3,900 mAh battery. The main camera is expected to be a 200MP sensor, but not the same as the S25 Ultra, but rather a smaller sensor with smaller pixels.

If we look at the S25 Plus, it has more of everything at a better price. One additional telephoto camera, a bigger battery, more RAM, a screen with better resolution (513 PPI), faster charging, and more. What it lacks is the thinness hype—it's 0.9 mm thicker than the Galaxy S25 Edge. That's less than a millimeter!

And we're looking solely inside Samsung's ecosystem. If we open the floor to the competition, the S25 Edge is doomed. You can choose from many models at $1,099, including some flip phones, which might be more practical than an ultra-thin candy bar phone.

Do we people really need another S25 model that sits between the S25 Plus and the Ultra and costs more than the former yet is inferior in any way other than thickness? I don't think so, but there's a poll at the end of this article, so we can see what the vox populi is.

The Galaxy S25 Edge versus the Pixel 9a and the iPhone 16e

According to Forbes, Samsung is tuning the launch of the Galaxy S25 Edge to fall somewhere around the iPhone 16e and Pixel 9a releases. Now, the 16e has already launched, and the Pixel 9a is expected in about two weeks.

The iPhone 16e starts at $599, and the Pixel 9a is expected to retain the $499 price tag of the previous generation, so it boggles the mind how the S25 Edge could compete with these two.

The iPhone 16e offers the core iPhone 16 experience, minus one ultrawide camera and MagSafe, while the Pixel 9a also brings the latest Tensor chipset and Google's software prowess for less than half of the alleged asking price of the Galaxy S25 Edge.

Granted, both phones are thicker than the S25 Edge, but is a millimeter or two in thickness that important? And if you try and argue that the S25 Edge's selling point is something else other than the thickness angle (yeah, yeah, it’s also lightweight), I just can't see what it is.

The smartphone innovation crisis

All this begs the question: why does the Galaxy S25 Edge even exist? In my opinion, the big smartphone manufacturers are starting to experience innovation paralysis. The Galaxy S series has been criticized for the incremental upgrades and lack of innovation for the past couple of generations, and the same applies to recent iPhones.

To me, the Galaxy S25 Edge, the iPhone 16e, and the 17 Air as well are desperate attempts to offer something different and break the stagnation of the main flagship lineup.

I guess the market will regulate itself at some point, and it will all depend on how successful the S25 Edge is going to be. This leads us to the poll. Would you buy the Galaxy S25 Edge at $1,099? Vote in our poll and share your thoughts about the upcoming "thinness wars" in the comment section below.