Thin Phone Duel: iPhone Air vs. Galaxy S25 Edge

In the event you’re in search of a brand new phone for the vacations or for 2026, this 12 months’s choices have taken a good flip. Each Apple and Samsung embrace extra-thin telephones of their lineups, citing the query of whether or not a slim design is preferable to the roughly normal sizes we have gotten used to. And should you do resolve you wish to shave some thickness out of your on a regular basis cellphone, which one comes out on prime: the Apple iPhone Air or the Samsung Galaxy S25 Edge?

So let’s examine the options of those skinny telephones. In the event you press them collectively, are they a lot thicker mixed than a daily iPhone 17 or Galaxy S25? And do they overcome tradeoffs in battery life, camera and sound quality that include a thinner design? I am right here to do the maths and examine options for you.

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Wish to purchase the Samsung Galaxy S25 Edge? Discover out which carriers and retailers are providing the best deals on Samsung’s slim cellphone.

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iPhone Air vs. S25 Edge worth comparability

• iPhone Air: $999. The iPhone Air takes the place previously held by the iPhone 16 Plus, making it the one mannequin with a display screen bigger than the iPhone 17 that is not an iPhone 17 Professional.

• Galaxy S25 Edge: $1,100. The S25 Edge joins the S25 and S25 Extremely on this 12 months’s Galaxy lineup.

The iPhone Air contains fewer options than the iPhone 17, such because the variety of cameras. Nonetheless, it includes a bigger show, an A19 Professional processor, and is provided with 256GB of storage to start with. Moreover, Apple has constantly utilized premium pricing for minor design modifications. The unique MacBook Air match into an inter-office envelope and price $1,799, regardless of being underpowered in comparison with the remainder of the MacBook line. (Over a couple of generations, it might finally change into Apple’s entry-level inexpensive laptop computer at $999, the place it nonetheless resides.)

The Galaxy S25 Edge’s larger worth ($101) may very well be an try and capture more dollars from clients in search of a cellphone that units them aside, however we’re already seeing occasional steep reductions on it.

In each circumstances, it is value noting that the pricing has held up in opposition to the Trump administration tariffs to this point.

iPhone Air vs. S25 Edge dimensions and weight

Now it is time to go deep — as in, simply how skinny is the depth of every cellphone?

No cellphone producer describes its telephones as cumbersome or chunky, even for extra-large fashions just like the iPhone Professional Max. But, the distinction between the depths of the iPhone Air and the S25 Edge, in addition to the usual telephones of every respective household, is stark.

Not counting the digital camera meeting, which Apple refers to because the “plateau,” a lot of the iPhone Air’s physique is 5.64mm thick. The S25 Edge, at its narrowest level, is a hair thicker at 5.8mm. (Each corporations listing solely the thinnest measurement, not together with the cameras.) Evaluate that to 7.9mm for the iPhone 17 and seven.2mm for the Galaxy S25.

The Galaxy Z Fold 7 is definitely thinner when open, at 4.2mm, however it additionally has a bigger floor space to accommodate its battery and different parts. Different foldables from Chinese language corporations, corresponding to Huawei, Oppo and Honor, additionally boast thinner our bodies than the iPhone Air or S25 Edge, however solely when opened.

And while you press the 2 skinny telephones collectively, do they actually match as much as the everyday cellphone slab you are carrying now? Mixed (and once more, excluding the digital camera bumps), the iPhone Air and S25 Extremely are 11.44mm thick, which is thicker than both the iPhone 17 or Galaxy S25, and even the iPhone 17 Professional Max at 8.75mm. Nonetheless, if you wish to obtain a extra classic really feel, the unique first-generation iPhone, launched in 2007, measured 11.6mm.

Surprisingly, the much less depth interprets to solely a slight lower in weight in comparison with the opposite fashions in every lineup. The iPhone Air weighs 165 grams versus 177 grams for the iPhone 17, whereas the S25 Edge pips in at simply 163 grams however will get barely undercut by the Galaxy S25 at 162 grams.

How large is every cellphone within the hand? Whereas each are related, the iPhone Air is barely shorter and narrower, measuring 156.2mm tall and 74.7mm extensive, in comparison with the S25 Edge’s dimensions of 158.2mm tall and 75.6mm extensive.

iPhone Air vs. S25 Edge shows

Apple calls the iPhone Air’s 6.5-inch OLED display screen a Tremendous Retina XDR show. It includes a excessive decision of two,736×1,260 pixels at a density of 460 ppi (pixels per inch) and might output a most of three,000 nits of brightness outdoor, in addition to a minimal of 1 nit at nighttime.

Samsung packed a bigger 6.7-inch QHD+ Dynamic AMOLED 2X display screen into the S25 Edge, which interprets to a high-resolution show measuring 3,120×1,440 pixels at 513 ppi. Its brightness goes as much as 2,600 nits.

Each telephones’ screens characteristic adaptive 120Hz refresh charges for smoother efficiency.

Evaluating the iPhone Air and S25 Edge cameras

To this point, lots of the specs have been shut sufficient to weigh every cellphone pretty evenly. Then, we get to the cameras.

The iPhone Air features a single rear-facing 48-megapixel extensive digital camera with a 26mm-equivalent area of view and a continuing f/1.6 aperture. In its default mode, the digital camera outputs 24-megapixel “fusion” photographs that end result from an imaging course of the place the digital camera captures a 12-megapixel picture (utilizing teams of 4 pixels appearing as one bigger pixel for improved mild gathering, generally known as “binning”) and a 48-megapixel reference for extra element.

Apple additionally claims the iPhone Air can seize 2x-zoomed (52mm-equivalent) telephoto photos which can be 12 megapixels in dimension and signify a crop of the middle of the picture sensor.

The S25 Edge options two built-in rear cameras: a 200-megapixel wide-angle lens and a 12-megapixel ultrawide lens. There is no devoted telephoto digital camera, so the S25 Edge additionally gives a 2x-zoomed crop that shoots photographs at 12 megapixels in measurement.

The front-facing selfie cameras on every cellphone differ considerably. The iPhone Air introduces a brand new 18-megapixel digital camera with an f/1.9 aperture. However the elevated decision over the S25 Edge’s 12-megapixel selfie digital camera is not what’s notable. 

Apple calls it a Heart Stage digital camera as a result of it includes a sq. sensor that may seize tall or extensive photographs with out requiring the person to bodily flip the cellphone, in contrast to the 4:3 ratio sensors present in typical selfie cameras. It might probably adapt the side ratio primarily based on the variety of individuals it detects in entrance of the digital camera: a conventional portrait orientation while you’re snapping a photograph of your self, for instance, or change to a panorama orientation when two buddies stand subsequent to you within the body.

iPhone Air vs. S25 Edge batteries

Relating to issues, the battery lifetime of skinny telephones is on the prime of the listing. The insides of most telephones are full of as a lot battery as will match, so making a cellphone slimmer naturally means eradicating house for the battery. With both mannequin, you find yourself sacrificing battery energy for design. However how a lot?

Apple does not listing the iPhone Air’s battery capability, however claims “all-day battery life” and as much as 27 hours of video playback. It additionally sells a particular iPhone Air MagSafe Battery add-on that magnetically snaps to the again of the cellphone and works solely with the iPhone Air. In her evaluation, CNET’s Senior Tech Reporter Abrar Al-Heeti drained the battery in 12 hours over a phone-intensive day, however did finish a extra typical day with 20% remaining.

The S25 Edge includes a 3,900-mAh battery, which Samsung claims will assist as much as 24 hours of video playback. (Come on, cellphone producers, our telephones aren’t televisions left operating within the background.) 

In her S25 Edge evaluation, Al-Heeti famous that the cellphone additionally usually lived as much as Samsung’s personal “all-day battery life” boast, saying, “Finally, you will get much less juice out of that slimmer construct, however S25 Edge gives simply sufficient battery life to make me glad…However the S25 Edge has shifted my priorities. I am having fun with the smooth kind issue a lot that I am keen to make some compromises, even when meaning I’ve to remember to cost my cellphone every night time, which is one thing I are inclined to do anyway.”

It is value noting that each telephones assist quick charging when used with a 20-watt or larger wired energy adapter, permitting them to succeed in round 50% cost in half-hour from a very discharged state.

iPhone Air vs. S25 Edge processor, storage and working system

The iPhone Air is powered by Apple’s newest A19 Professional processor, the identical one discovered within the iPhone 17 Professional fashions (in comparison with the A19 within the inventory iPhone 17). Apple does not listing the built-in reminiscence, however we suspect it contains 8GB of RAM (which is acknowledged because the minimal quantity to run AI options corresponding to Apple Intelligence). The bottom storage configuration is 256GB, with choices to order the iPhone Air with 512GB or 1TB capability. It ships with iOS 26, the most recent model of the working system that Apple launched broadly this week.

The S25 Edge is powered by a Snapdragon 8 Elite processor, the identical one which powers the opposite S25 fashions. It contains 12GB of RAM and is out there in storage capacities of 256GB and 512GB. The cellphone comes preinstalled with Android 15.

iPhone Air vs. S25 Edge all specs

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