Skinny Telephone Battle: iPhone Air vs. Galaxy S25 Edge

Though purely anecdotal, I’ve seen stories of individuals going into Apple retail shops intent on shopping for an iPhone 17 Professional — with its improved digital camera system, vapor chamber cooling system and naturally that brilliant orange colour — after which strolling out with the slim iPhone Air as an alternative. And when Samsung introduced the Galaxy S25 and S25 Extremely, what caught everybody’s consideration was the tease of a thinner mannequin that was subsequently launched because the Galaxy S25 Edge. In case you’re unexpectedly contemplating a thinner cellphone, this appears to be the yr to do it.

So how do these two slim telephones evaluate? In case you press them collectively, are they mixed a lot thicker than a daily iPhone 17 or Galaxy S25? I am right here to do the mathematics and evaluate options.

Seeking to order the iPhone Air? Try our order information to be taught if you may get it free and different nice offers.

Wish to purchase the Samsung Galaxy S25 Edge? Discover out which carriers and retailers have the finest offers on Samsung’s slim cellphone.

Do not miss any of our unbiased tech content material and lab-based opinions. Add CNET as a most popular Google supply.

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 yr’s Galaxy lineup.

The iPhone Air contains fewer options than the iPhone 17, such because the variety of cameras. Nevertheless it features a bigger show, an A19 Professional processor and is configured with 256GB of storage to start out. Plus, Apple has at all times utilized premium pricing for skinny design modifications. The unique MacBook Air match into an inter-office envelope and value $1,799, regardless of being underpowered in comparison with the remainder of the MacBook line. (Over a number of generations, it will finally turn into Apple’s entry-level reasonably priced laptop computer at $999, the place it nonetheless resides.)

The Galaxy S25 Edge’s greater worth (of $101) might be an try to seize extra {dollars} from clients who’re on the lookout for a cellphone that can set them aside, however we’re already seeing occasional steep reductions on it, like this $300 drop.

In each instances, 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 S25 Edge and the usual telephones of every respective household is stark.

Not counting the digital camera meeting, which Apple calls the “plateau,” many 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 firms listing solely the thinnest measurement, not together with the cameras.) Examine 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 extra floor space to unfold out its battery and different parts. Different foldables from Chinese language firms 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, not together with the digital camera bumps), the iPhone Air and S25 Extremely are 11.44mm thick, which is extra chunky than both the iPhone 17 or Galaxy S25, and even the iPhone 17 Professional Max at 8.75mm. However when you wished to get nearer to an old-time really feel, the unique first-generation iPhone in 2007 sat at 11.6mm.

Surprisingly, much less depth interprets to solely rather less 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 fairly comparable, the iPhone Air is barely shorter and narrower at 156.2mm tall and 74.7mm vast, in comparison with the S25 Edge’s dimensions of 158.2mm tall and 75.6mm vast.

iPhone Air vs. S25 Edge shows

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

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 x 1,440 pixels at 513 ppi. Its brightness goes as much as 2,600 nits.

Each telephones’ screens function 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. However then we get to the cameras.

The iPhone Air features a single rear-facing 48-megapixel vast 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” images which might be the results of 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 higher gentle gathering, referred to as “binning”) and a 48-megapixel reference for added element.

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

The S25 Edge contains two built-in rear cameras, a 200-megapixel vast and a 12-megapixel ultrawide. There is not any devoted telephoto digital camera, so the S25 Edge additionally provides a 2x-zoomed crop that shoots images at 12 megapixels in dimension.

The front-facing selfie cameras on every cellphone are fairly totally different. 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 Middle Stage digital camera as a result of it has a sq. sensor that may seize tall or vast pictures with out bodily turning the cellphone, in comparison with the 4:3 ratio sensors in typical selfie cameras. It might adapt the facet ratio primarily based on the variety of folks it detects in entrance of the digital camera: a conventional portrait orientation while you’re snapping a photograph of your self, for instance, or swap to a panorama orientation when two pals stand subsequent to you within the body.

iPhone Air vs. S25 Edge batteries

In relation to considerations, the battery lifetime of skinny telephones tops the listing. The insides of most telephones are filled with 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 would 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 assessment, 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 features a 3,900-mAh battery that Samsung claims will play as much as 24 hours of video playback. (Come on, cellphone producers, our telephones aren’t televisions left working within the background.) 

In her S25 Edge assessment, Al-Heeti famous that the cellphone additionally typically lived as much as Samsung’s personal “all-day battery life” boast, saying, “In the end, you will get much less juice out of that slimmer construct, however S25 Edge provides simply sufficient battery life to make me comfortable…However the S25 Edge has shifted my priorities. I am having fun with the glossy type issue a lot that I am keen to make some compromises, even when which means 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 utilizing a 20-watt or greater wired energy adapter, going from zero to round 50% cost in half-hour.

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 would 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 similar 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 runs on a Snapdragon 8 Elite processor, the identical one which powers the opposite S25 fashions. It contains 12GB of RAM and is accessible in storage capacities of 256GB and 512GB. The cellphone comes preinstalled with Android 15.

iPhone Air vs. S25 Edge all specs