Some of the consequential telephones of the 12 months is undoubtedly the Galaxy S25 Edge. Samsung’s new skinny cellphone is designed to supply the most effective of the Galaxy S25 Extremely, S25 Plus, and common Galaxy S25 in a a lot thinner and lighter physique.
Samsung first teased its new skinny cellphone on the Galaxy S25 launch in January, and it was clear then that the objective was to beat Apple to the market. Apple has lengthy been rumored to launch the thinnest iPhone in years, the iPhone 17 Air, later this 12 months.
With Samsung beating it to the market, what does the iPhone 17 Air want, and the way can Apple compete? I’ve used the ultra-thin Galaxy S25 Edge; right here’s what Apple must do.
What the Galaxy S25 Edge does nicely
I’ve been utilizing the Galaxy S25 Edge for every week, and it’s an unimaginable feat of engineering. Though it’s simple to imagine that it’s only a slim cellphone, the Galaxy S25 Edge provides excess of that. Regardless of the skinny physique and light-weight weight, it feels simply as premium as its Galaxy S25 siblings, and options the identical highly effective Snapdragon 8 Elite processor.
By far, the most important perceived problem with the Galaxy S25 Edge is the battery. At 3,900 mAh, the battery is smaller than even the bottom Galaxy S25, so the pure concern is the battery life. That is largely unwarranted; though your battery life will range primarily based on utilization, I’ve discovered the Galaxy S25 Edge can final round 28 hours on a full cost with seven hours of display screen time. Contemplating the scale, the battery life has stunned me.
One of many different spotlight options of the Galaxy S25 Edge is the principle digital camera. At 200MP, it provides the identical decision because the flagship Galaxy S25 Extremely, however it’s not as succesful total. The secondary digital camera is an easy 12MP ultra-wide digital camera, and there’s no telephoto lens because of the skinny physique. That is the place Apple might leapfrog Samsung in additional methods than one.
What the iPhone 17 Air must have
After utilizing the Galaxy S25 Edge, there are just a few options that I hope Apple does enhance upon. First, the digital camera. The Galaxy S25 Edge digital camera isn’t groundbreaking, and regardless of the high-resolution principal digital camera, the remainder of the array leaves a lot to be desired.
Apple might considerably enhance on the Galaxy S25 Edge digital camera by adopting the principle and ultrawide cameras from the iPhone 16 Professional. Though the principle digital camera has decrease decision at 48MP, it’s extra constant than the Galaxy S25 Edge. The ultra-wide digital camera would additionally allow Apple to proceed claiming help for as much as 4 focal lengths, leading to a greater all-around digital camera expertise.
Then there’s battery life, and Apple has a definite benefit because of its vertical integration. Optimizing the software program and {hardware} stack, in addition to tweaking the efficiency of the rumored A19 processor, might finally yield higher battery life. The Galaxy S25 Edge battery is sweet, however there’s room for Apple to beat it.
The very last thing is a large ecosystem of equipment. On condition that the Galaxy S25 Edge is new and hasn’t been launched but, there’s a lack of instances and equipment accessible. I anticipate this to vary significantly within the coming weeks, however there’ll doubtless be way more iPhone 17 Air instances and equipment accessible than the Galaxy S25 Edge. That mentioned, I hope somebody additionally launches an iPhone different for the Galaxy S25 Edge Kindsuit leather-based case, which I like.
What the iPhone 17 Air is rumored to have
Based mostly on present rumors, the iPhone 17 Air could considerably disappoint me. It’s anticipated to characteristic a 48MP processor, doubtless discovered within the iPhone 16 sequence, however it received’t embody one other digital camera. Just like the iPhone 16e, this in all probability means we’ll have an in-sensor crop delivering 2x “optical” zoom. The iPhone 16e digital camera is extra succesful than you would possibly anticipate, however it’s not as succesful because the Galaxy S25 Edge, so it stays to be seen what Apple can do with the iPhone 17 Air.
It’s unclear what the battery capability might be, however the newest rumors recommend a 2,800 mAh panel, which is 20% smaller than the iPhone 16 and 40% smaller than the iPhone 16 Plus it’s rumored to switch. It’s price noting that the capability quantity isn’t a direct comparability, as iOS achieves comparable battery life with a smaller capability. Nonetheless, the smaller measurement in comparison with the iPhone 16 signifies that battery life is unlikely to surpass that of the Galaxy S25 Edge.
The Galaxy S25 Edge measures 5.8mm thick, however the iPhone 17 Air is anticipated to push the boundaries significantly additional with a thickness of simply 5.4mm. This is able to make it one of many thinnest telephones ever, and considerably thinner than the iPhone 16 sequence, which is 2 or extra millimeters thicker.
Then there’s the worth, and the iPhone 17 Air and Galaxy S25 Edge are prone to have one factor in widespread: the thinnest expertise isn’t low cost. The Galaxy S25 Edge prices $1,100, making it $100 greater than the Galaxy S25 Plus and $200 lower than the Galaxy S25 Extremely.
The iPhone 17 Air is anticipated to price the same value to the remainder of the iPhone 17 lineup, though there are conflicting stories on whether or not it’ll be costlier, or much less, than Apple’s new lineup. It’s additionally rumored that the iPhone 17 Air could not launch for a number of months after the remainder of the lineup, however that is unconfirmed.
Apple is extensively anticipated to launch the brand new iPhone 17 lineup with the iPhone 17 Air in September. No matter when it launches, and the ultimate specs sheet, one factor is evident: skinny is firmly in, and the iPhone 17 Air goes to set a brand new frontier for smartphone design that each firm will push to match or surpass. For those who don’t like skinny telephones, you might need to look away now, however having used the Galaxy S25 Edge, I can’t wait to see what Apple launches.