Galaxy S25 Slim and iPhone 17 Air both rumored to share the same disappointing weakness

If the internet's tales are anything to go by, it seems 2025 may be the year of ultraslim phones. Both Samsung and Apple are said to be working on their own takes on what a superslim phone is, and although most of the leaks so far have been promising, some compromises have to be made in order for a diet to work.

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One of the trade-offs for achieving that ideal runway model waist is cutting down on the carbs, and in our case, this means those sweet lithium-ion carbs, at least according to Digital Chat Station. In fact, the leaker says to expect significantly smaller than expected batteries for the S25 Slim and iPhone 17 Air: their batteries are said to range around 3,000mAh to 4,000mAh.

The post also mentions the devices may have a thickness between 5.Xmm to 6.Xmm. We've already heard more concrete leaks about the two models, with the Galaxy S25 Slim expected to be around 6.4mm, while the iPhone is rumored to be about 5.5mm thick.

We may have seen the trade-off in battery life coming, but it still feels disappointing. At least for me: battery life is a huge deal for me as I'm not a big fan of babying a phone with a quickly depleting battery.

The leaker doesn’t specify which phone will have which exact battery capacity. I'm inclined to believe that just because the S25 Slim would likely be a tad thicker, it may have a battery cell closer to the 4,000mAh while the iPhone would probably go more towards the 3,000mAh end of the spectrum.  

Earlier rumors about the Galaxy S25 Slim pointed to a battery cell closer to 5,000mAh, but now this seems more like wishful thinking than actually logical. As far as the iPhone is concerned, no previous leaks have indicated what to expect in terms of battery, but iPhones tend to be quite good with power management so there's some hope left.

As far as earlier leaked details go, the iPhone 17 Air is still wrapped in mystery but we know a few things - that it would probably replace the Plus model in the lineup and would likely be the thinnest iPhone up to date. Another compromise to achieve its rumored slimness is the one camera on the back.

Meanwhile, the contender from Samsung is expected to show up sometime in May (likely just to be teased at the upcoming Galaxy event on January 22) and could come with a 6.7-inch display and a triple-camera system.

I'm actually starting to wonder if this slim trend would be a thing at all or if these would be just show-off types of devices. For one, I know that a smaller battery is a huge no-no for me, and I'm not even sure I'd like to sport a superthin device (for fear of dropping it, mainly). Anyway, we'll have to wait and see how hot the battle between those two would be, and how many of the potential buyers would even be interested in it.