Samsung Galaxy S25 Edge review: Welcome to the light side

India Today

27-05-2025

The Galaxy S25 Edge isn't just a phone. It's a reminder that you should never take Samsung lightly. Like all seasoned heavyweights, it, too, gets hit, sometimes hard, but what's important is that it keeps moving forward. In the golden words of Rocky Balboa, 'That's how winning is done.'For a few years now, it seemed like Samsung had run out of ideas, that perhaps it had become too complacent. But turns out, it was silently working on its next big thing. Now, I have a strong feeling that the Galaxy S25 Edge - despite all its outward appearance - is not it. It is a trailer for what's potentially coming later.advertisementSince it's a teaser, Samsung is allowed to show a few things now, set the stage up, and let viewers sit and speculate about the rest. Anticipation is key. It's been a while it surprised people. They had become comfortable, a little too much, maybe. It was time to show them what Samsung is and what it can do, despite what they might be thinking.
Samsung Galaxy S25 Edge next to Apple TV 4K remote.
One of the things it is sharing goes above and beyond any paper spec. It is the acknowledgement that, yes, the Galaxy S25 Ultra is a bit much. Given a choice, many people would want to trade it for something slimmer. With the Galaxy S25 Edge, Samsung has given a small glimpse of what that phone might look like. This may not even be its final form, but one of many probable simulations and in some of them - or at least in one of them - I bet that Samsung would have allowed itself to break the rules and gone completely crazy. After all, it's the same company that made us believe it was possible to bend glass at will and do all sorts of unimaginable things with it. But today, it must practice some restraint. Not because it is not thinking about the future, but because it has a past to live with.Battery choices, calculated risksadvertisementAnd so, I can perfectly understand why the Galaxy S25 Edge has a 3,900 mAh battery, the smallest of any Galaxy S25 series phone. Even the Galaxy Z Flip 6 has a bigger battery. Calls for Samsung to use a silicon-carbon battery are not unfounded. I wish I could have told you better, but the fact is, it is using a conventional Lithium-Ion battery. You can take it or leave it. But again, I have a feeling that it was discussed. It's just one of those things where Samsung chose to let its brand name and recall do the heavy lifting.That is not to say it has set itself for abject failure. It is a calculated risk. Hardware and software have reached a point where numbers don't tell the full story. While the Galaxy S25 Edge's battery life may not blow your mind, it won't leave you high and dry, either. It is somewhere in the middle.The best thing to do is, spend some days with the phone with an open mind, during which the phone will watch and analyse your usage patterns, too. Then, when both of you get used to each other, in time, things will become a little easier. There is always a silver lining. It all depends on whether you are willing to look for it. And for those keeping score, the Galaxy S25 Edge achieved a respectable 13 hours and 38 minutes in PC Mark, which - to be completely honest - was better than what I had expected. It may not be an apt comparison, but a 5,010 mAh battery phone one of my colleagues is reviewing could only pull off 9 hours and 43 minutes. So, things could have been worse. Anyhow, it is best to keep a charger around with the Galaxy S25 Edge just in case you run out of juice when you most need it. The phone supports 25W wired and 15W wireless charging.advertisementThe majority of the juice is going into driving, a) the processor, and b) display. Both are flagship level. This was mostly expected, but it is still worth mentioning that Samsung did not cut any corners in these super-important areas.
The Galaxy S25 Edge has extremely thin bezels.
The Snapdragon 8 Elite - Qualcomm's latest - offers performance comparable to the rest of the Galaxy S25 series phones day-to-day, though it is more prone to throttling when pushed - like during intense gaming sessions – so that is something to keep in mind. This is a defence mechanism built in to save the internal components – and invariably the phone – from frying up. The Galaxy S25 Edge does this a tad more aggressively given it is not your typical flagship phone. But it doesn't come at the expense of user experience, which holds up well regardless of how you use it. This is thanks to some intricate optimisation from Samsung on the software side. [You're more likely to observe these knee-jerk reactions during benchmarks or when you go specifically looking for them.]advertisementA refined One UI, no cut cornersOne UI 7 deserves every bit of praise it has been widely receiving. The general impression is that Samsung can do no wrong at this point. Everything it has put out, or plans to put out, is adding to what is already one of the most cohesive Android skins available on the market, in ways that are both visually appealing and functionally meaningful – even AI. While Google may be spearheading a lot of these advancements at the base level, Samsung is making them more accessible, so more people can understand and use them – not just the tech-savvy.advertisementIt will take time, but Samsung has laid out the groundwork early and is continuing to build on it each day, every day breaking barriers and giving competitors, particularly Apple, something to think about. What's impressive is that the Galaxy S25 Edge gets the same love and commitment as the rest of the Galaxy S25 series phones, and this is across the board. Samsung isn't keeping any Galaxy AI feature exclusive to the Ultra, or intentionally made the Edge any less capable. It is neck-and-neck down to 7-years of all-round support.
Samsung Galaxy S25 Edge benchmarks
The same is also true about the screen, though here, Samsung had to make some structural changes. So, while on a pure spec-level, it has the same 1440p 120Hz LTPO AMOLED panel as the Galaxy S25 Ultra (the screen size is smaller and matches the Galaxy S25 Plus's) and delivers exceptional quality as a result, the display protection required reengineering to make it as thin as possible. Samsung is calling it 'Ceramic 2.' What you should know is that while it is very durable, it is not as resilient as the Armor 2 protection on the Galaxy S25 Ultra. Both glasses are made by Corning, but Ceramic is built to survive drops from 2 metres height while Armor can go as far as 2.2 metres. It is a small difference on paper, but when it comes to accidents, every bit counts much in the same way we can all be more careful with our phones in general. It is a two-way street.advertisementPicture perfectSpeaking of which, the Galaxy S25 Ultra has two rear cameras. The primary uses a 200-megapixel ISOCELL HP2 sensor and a 23mm f/1.7 aperture lens with optical image stabilisation. There is ample evidence that this is the same exact setup as the Galaxy S25 Ultra, in which case, there are two parts to it. 1.) it is remarkable how Samsung was able to put a sensor this big and a lens so powerful in such a small space, and 2.) how it was able to pull such consistently good performance out of it.The main camera of the Galaxy S25 Edge works in ways that challenge conventional wisdom, spewing out photos with lots of detail, rich colours, and wide dynamic range. It's not easy and yet, somehow, it makes all this look simple. Even in low light, this camera leans to giving more-than-ideal shots which are only accentuated and made better when the night mode kicks in. The only caveat is that it doesn't trigger night mode as readily (as some of the other competing phones), maybe because the sensor is so big (and the lens is so bright), the algorithm thinks it can pull off the impossible every time you fire up the system. It is false bravado as low-light photos without it come out soft and noisy – night mode is the way when the light goes away, period.In the absence of a true telephoto, the Galaxy S25 Edge uses a 2x crop from the main sensor, to simulate portraits (as well as regular zoom shots). This workaround works surprisingly well, which is testament to Samsung's years of experience with both the sensor and underlying tech. The secondary 12-megapixel camera uses a 13mm f/2.2 ultrawide lens. It has autofocus which brings enhanced macro shooting capabilities by default. The output is respectable, not great. The front 12-megapixel camera takes good selfies with natural colour tones and exposure mostly on point.Check out full camera samples below; Click to access more The Galaxy S25 Edge has top-class video recording credentials, including 8K@30ps and full 4K@60fps as well as support for LOG format, which gives creators the tools to edit in post. Samsung also lets you tweak audio profiles using AI to cut out noise and enhance dialogue depending on what you're shooting for.The Edge isn't the endSamsung is shooting for the moon with this phone, not in terms of how far its cameras can go, but how far it can bend perception and reality to make you think – and believe – you need the Galaxy S25 Edge, that you must have it, even if logic dictates that you go buy the Galaxy S25 Ultra instead, or the Galaxy S25 Plus maybe. The titanium frame and sharp 5.8 mm dimensions give it a very 007 vibe. But despite whatever side you pick, it is important that the Edge exists, because only then will we know for sure that Samsung is not beat but wants to beat the competition, including Apple which is expected to launch its own slim iPhone in the coming months. The wheels are in motion.The Galaxy S25 Edge isn't just any phone. The next version could be entirely different. There is an off chance that Samsung might not even launch it. But, it is certain that it will put some of this learning into the next Fold or Flip or maybe something even more ambitious. The Edge is a vision and statement that Samsung is willing to take risks again. Whether it makes sense as a purchase will depend on how much you're willing to trust Samsung. It has made a great phone and a unique phone (with a few obvious downsides those are not necessarily deal-breakers). The ball's in your court now.