Ultra-thin is no longer a niche—it’s the new battlefield. The wide iPhone Air arrives as Apple’s thinnest ever smartphone, with less compromise than Samsung’ Galalxy S25 Edge into similar design dreams. So I put them both to the test to figure out which truly acts as the best slim, full-featured flagship phone in everyday life.
Both the phones offer that barely-there feel in pocket, but go about getting there quite differently. Apple’s bet is radical minimalism; Samsung’s is thin (as in light) in exchange for less creature comforts. Here’s how their trade-offs shake out — and the winner I’d recommend to most people.
Design and ergonomics
The iPhone Air is surprisingly thin at just 5.6mm, thanks to a smaller battery and simplified camera hardware, as well as an internal repositioning of components. The result is a featherweight slab that vanishes in a pocket or small bag, and is particularly lovely for one-handed use.
Samsung’s S25 Edge comes with a contour screen, which assists the phone to sit more safely in the hand — and gives it that “wow” factor. It feels less breakable than the Air thanks to a thicker body and a more traditional interior cooling setup (which only comes into play under sustained gaming or shooting 4K video).
And both are modern flagship-grade in terms of durability: Apple relying on Ceramic Shield; Samsung taking advantage of the new hardened glass produced by Corning, its Glass DX. Neither is a “case optional” phone, but both should endure daily scrapes. Repairability will probably favor Samsung: iFixit’s previous teardowns have found that common parts are more accessible in Galaxy models than on similarly skinny iPhones.
Display and audio clarity
On paper, Apple advertises a brighter screen: up to 3,000 nits peak to Samsung’s comparatively diminished 2,600 nits. That’s significant outdoors. Readability too in practice is a function of reflectance and tone mapping. DisplayMate’s testing of other recent flagships has proven that coating quality can shrink this, and Samsung makes great anti-reflective treatments.
Both panels are also 120Hz and appear to the eye in pin-sharp detail, with the iPhone Air’s 6.5-inch screen that little bit more wieldy and easier to reach across than the S25 Edge’s spacious 6.7-inch canvas. Color tuning is still what you’re used to: Apple more natural, more consistent in its color tones; Samsung slightly punchy out of the box with modes you could use to dial it down.
The S25 Edge beats its competitor in sound. It provides real stereo separation with more midrange in landscape mode. Apple’s ultrathin approach instead relies on a main transducer with panel resonance tricks to save space, which sounds clean but narrower and less enveloping for movies or games.
Performance and battery life
The iPhone Air is fueled by Apple’s newest silicon, and it’s fast — the kind of speediness that makes weighty apps feel floaty. Samsungs chip differs regionally but is equally contemporary, and Samsung’s larger vapor chamber in the S25+ Edge helps maintain peak load performance further through extended workloads, as stress-test suites such as 3DMark will usually indicate.
Battery strategy presents the clearest philosophical fissure. Samsung stuffs in a battery of around 3900mAh; Apple squeezes something much smaller (barely 2800mah) to achieve that record-reinventing skinniness. In real-world use, the S25 Edge consistently ends a full day with a safer margin. Apple’s efficiency is really good, but if you spend hours in 5G video or maps, well then that quick mid-day top up is helpful.
Charging also favors Samsung. More recent Galaxy flagships have provided faster wired rates, and tests from outlets like Tom’s Guide have consistently found that Samsung gets to 50% charge much faster than comparable iPhones. If you appreciate short pit stops more than absolute minimalism, the Edge is the less taxing friend.
Cameras and AI features
The S25 Edge is armed with a 200MP main sensor and a 12MP ultrawide, providing the option for higher-resolution crops and more expansive perspectives without having to rely on digital trickery. Apple’s opponent in this arena is a 48MP “Fusion”-style system that uses heavy computational photography to give it detail and dynamic range in a compact module.
For stills, Samsung’s high-res mode is a real advantage for when you want to crop an image of a stage or skyline. For video, Apple maintains a consistent advantage: Color accuracy and stabilization and low-light noise handling are all still areas where reviewers and test labs like DXOMARK have tended to score iPhones high in the past.
Samsung goes bigger on AI. System-wide translation, generative editing and similar tools like Circle to Search is now live thanks to Galaxy AI and Google’s Gemini integrations. Apple’s on-device and private-cloud style is well-designed, tasteful, but the S25 Edge does more things today.
Connectivity and longevity
In many markets, the S25 Edge also supports physical SIMs in addition to eSIM, which can still be a blessing for travelers that grab local cards. The iPhone Air becomes eSIM only — a smooth fit where carriers support it (though still a constraint in some regions, as industry groups like the GSMA have noted while tracking adoption).
Update policies are strict on both ends. Apple’s excellent history of multi-year iOS updates absolutely keeps resale value high; a phenomenon that firms like Counterpoint Research have been tracking. Samsung, on its side, has performed at or above industry average in how long it supports its OSes and supplies security and the recent Galaxy flagships, including the S25 Edge – follow suit.
Verdict: which ultra-thin phone is best?
The iPhone Air is the thin phone for the purist. It’s dazzlingly compact, blazingly fast and brighter outdoors, with ecosystem perks and long-term support that iPhone owners take for granted. If you’re looking for the least risky transition from an older iPhone — and prize size and polish over endurance — the Air is your call.
For the majority of buyers, though, it’s Samsung’s Galaxy S25 Edge that’s the superior ultra-thin all-rounder. You receive a more versatile camera system, stronger speakers, faster charging, bigger battery and practical touches like physical SIM support. It maintains some of the delightfulness of a skinny phone without some of the biggest trade-offs. Winner: Samsung Galaxy S25 Edge.