Android & Chill
One of many internet’s longest-running tech columns, Android & Chill is your Saturday dialogue of Android, Google, and all issues tech.
Hey! Would you like a cellphone that prices an excessive amount of, has a sub-par digicam, a tiny battery, and is not as sturdy? In that case, the Samsung Galaxy S25 Edge is your dream cellphone.
This cellphone is a certifiable 100% bona fide flop. Samsung made too many compromises as a result of somebody on the firm determined that folks needed a skinny cellphone and had been keen to spend an entire lot of cash on it. It nearly appears like a script for a comedy.
Sadly, it isn’t. It is one other instance of Samsung testing the waters to see what we may be satisfied we would like, besides this time it failed. However that is okay; Samsung can afford to fail.
The cellphone apparently is not promoting very effectively, however that is not stunning. Samsung going forward with the thought, regardless that it is kinda dumb, is not stunning both. The corporate does this form of factor and has been profitable previously. You solely actually know if an thought is worth it after you strive it.
Samsung’s willingness to do dumb shit introduced us the Galaxy Observe. If you happen to like utilizing your Apple Pencil, you could thank Samsung for reminding us that there are occasions when your finger simply will not reduce it. When the primary Galaxy Observe launched, it was a flop too. T-Cellular really canceled its model after it was introduced and despatched to reviewers — I do know as a result of they despatched me one. Making a giant ass cellphone with a stylus sounded silly on the time.
No person is saying that right now; the Galaxy Observe has developed into the finest cellphone Samsung has ever made. Struggle me. The corporate goes to do the identical with book-style foldables and has already generated nearly all of the curiosity there may be for them, just by saying “YOLO” and doing it. I adore it when Samsung does that, and I hope they by no means cease. Giving us 10 unhealthy concepts is price it when that good one hits.
That is why the corporate determined telephones wanted to be thinner. Someplace down the road, they’ll have perfected a option to do it with out all the required drawbacks of right now’s tech. My opinion? Forcing a design to be this skinny means battery tech must be improved. A flop of a skinny cellphone is the first step to having a battery that is smaller, safer, and lasts longer.
Having stated all of this — and I actually do imply all of it, I perceive why this cellphone was constructed — let’s check out what we really obtained: a cellphone no one was asking for and no one can buy.
It is skinny. I do not assume it is the thinnest cellphone ever, however you possibly can’t deny that it is thinner than the rest you should buy right now (excluding foldables). Nonetheless, it is skinny on the expense of different options that make a cellphone good.
I predicted this final January once I stated making a cellphone very skinny utilizing right now’s tech would imply you could sacrifice battery life. I used to be barely off; you additionally sacrificed digicam high quality, efficiency, and sturdiness. However largely the battery.
Proper now, the batteries are model new, and also you hear individuals say they nearly final all day or will final all day in case you handle it appropriately. In 90 days, it is going to be “I can get by topping it off at meal time,” and in 180 days, individuals might want to cost it much more typically. That is how batteries work; the extra you employ them, the much less you can use them.
As somebody who used a Pixel 4 for a yr, let me let you know that it solely will get worse from right here. A smartphone is ineffective with none fuel within the tank.
Surprisingly, that is not sufficient to kill a cellphone at launch. Individuals will need it as a result of it is skinny and may get by utilizing a cable and a charger. What killed the S25 Edge was its $1,000+ asking worth.
Samsung can fake that they did not compromise to make a cellphone this skinny, however even the individuals saying that know the reality. This can be a prototype of the subsequent massive thought, and the one means for it to get higher is to construct it and work by all of it. If it sticks round, we’d love what it turns into.
