The competition for the thinnest flagship phone strolls to center stage. A couple of names whirl in the gossip mills: the Samsung Galaxy S25 Edge and the Apple iPhone 17 Air. Both are rumored to go beyond the limits of slim forms for smartphones, and with that come trade-offs. Let's explore the rumors further and see what they say.
The Galaxy S25 Edge: Cutting It Close
Think of a sleeker Galaxy S25+. That is what the Galaxy S25 Edge reportedly would want to be perceived as. Speculations point to a 6.7-inch OLED display, just like in the S25+, with a buttery smooth 120Hz refresh. But the real chatter is about its dimensions. Reportedly, we are looking at an almost ridiculous-thin 5.84 mm of thickness and a weight lighter than a paper, very close to about 162 grams. Crazy thin.
For this type of job, materials play a huge role. Expect a solid aluminum frame and glass backing that may even flirt with ceramic for scratch resistance, scaling possible even tougher than the standard Gorilla Glass Victus 2 on the regular S25. Oh, and the bezels. Down to a whisper of 1.32mm on all sides so you can have the best immersive experience from the screen.
Camera and Internals
With photography, it sounds like Samsung will stick with a muscular main camera setup. The expected main camera will be the 200MP Samsung HP2 sensor, accompanied by a 12MP ultrawide lens. It looks like no dedicated telephoto zoom lens, probably so as to remain slim. The main sensor will do the zooming digitally. A 12MP selfie camera seems to be on the cards as well.
Power shall prevail by all means wherever it lurks. The chipset being touted is the Snapdragon 8 Elite, supported by 12GB RAM and 256GB storage. Even under high loads, cooling should be ensured by means of a vapor chamber. The battery size is estimated to be in the 3900mAh or 4000mAh range with 25W charging. Wi-Fi 7 is going to keep things future-proof, and it is expected to run One UI 7 based on Android 15 straight out of the box.
Look out for the possibility of an early April announcement at a price thought to be around $1,100.
iPhone 17 Air: Apple's Ultra-Thin Experiment
Say farewell to the 'Plus' model. According to rumors, Apple might send iPhone 17 Air to replace it in the fall of 2025, with an idea of packing "Pro-level power into a pocket-size form," as Bloomberg's Mark Gurman says. And "pocket-size" might well be an understatement. Gadgets could be as thin as an amazing 5.5mm. This will indeed be thinnest in record for an iPhone, being even thinner than the iPhone 6 and a full third thinner compared to the iPhone 16 Pro.
Just to achieve such extreme slimness, some are believed to be sacrificed. Most importantly, it is being rumored that there would be only a single commissioner speaker for calls and media playback. The display is expected to have approximately 6.6 inches with anti-reflective coating like the Galaxy S25 Ultra and protected by Gorilla Glass Armor. Pro-Motion (120Hz adaptive refresh rate down to 1Hz) is finally expected to be a standard feature of the complete iPhone 17 family.
Camera, Chip, and Other Details
Renders suggest a streamlined camera setup with a single rear lens housed in an oval module, reminiscent of the Pixel 9 Pro. Sensor details are still under wraps, but the selfie camera is rumored to get a significant upgrade to 24MP with a six-element lens, promising better detail and zoom capabilities.
Untethered processing power from the Apple A19 chip paired with 8GB RAM. A19 is not going full out like the top-tier "Pro" version (that will be reserved for the Pro models) but is likely to be highly efficient thanks to TSMC's improved 3nm N3P process. Battery life may be a real concern vis-a-vis the slim profile, although it is said that Apple's own C1 5G modem eats lower power compared to former Qualcomm solutions. Also, Wi-Fi 7 support will be expected by all means through an Apple-designed chip for cost-saving. Any big change: rumors suggest ditching all physical SIM card slots, which means only eSIM.
On price front, analyst Jeff Pu has said the iPhone 17 Air could take the place of the iPhone 16 Plus at the starting point of $899. As for the announcement, fall announcement is expected, as was the usual trend with iPhones.
Slimming Down: Worth the Trade-Offs
Both the Galaxy S25 Edge and the iPhone 17 Air are becoming quite the intriguing end-of-the-line products pursuing the very limits of smartphone design. From here, one can plainly see that certain compromises have to be made in the name of extreme thinness, be it the battery size, camera zoom capabilities, or in some cases, speaker setup. Whether consumers deem these sacrifices valuable in pursuit of a super-slim profile remains to be seen. For now, these are all just mere rumors, so take it with a spoonful of salt. But the mere thought of these ultra-thin flagships gets one excited.
