4 ways that the Samsung Galaxy S25 Edge could beat the iPhone 17 Air

OPINION: 2025 is the year of the seriously slim smartphone, with both the Samsung Galaxy S25 Edge and iPhone 17 Air rumoured to make their debut this year.?

While both are said to offer a slimmer build than regular smartphones, which can measure anywhere from 8-10mm thick, current rumours suggest that Samsung’s Galaxy S25 Edge could beat the iPhone 17 Air in a few crucial ways.

That said, based on current rumours and leaks, here are four ways that the Samsung Galaxy S25 Edge could best the iPhone 17 Air.?

The Samsung Galaxy S25 Edge could be thinner

Both the Samsung Galaxy S25 Edge and iPhone 17 Air are seriously thin smartphones, but it looks like Samsung could have the ‘edge’ here.?

A near-complete spec sheet for the upcoming slimline Galaxy S25 leaked online recently, not only giving us a better idea of the processor, cameras and other elements that could come to the S25 Edge, but more details on its design.

If the rumours are true, the S25 Edge could measure in at an impossibly thin 5.84mm thick, a massive reduction on the previously rumoured thickness of 6.4mm. This is largely down to Samsung deciding to opt for a dual-camera setup rather than a triple camera setup, allowing it to shave off a few millimetres, but more on camera tech in a bit.?

As we saw at MWC 2025 where the S25 Edge was on display, the device is indeed impressively thin, though we couldn’t get up close and personal to compare it to the likes of the regular Galaxy S25.?

This isn’t to say that the iPhone 17 Air will be thick and chunky; like the S25 Edge, Apple is aiming for a seriously slimline smartphone.?

That said, rumours about the actual thickness aren’t consistent; Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman suggests it’ll be 2mm thinner than the iPhone 16 Pro, which would put it around the 6.25mm mark and almost half a millimetre thicker than the S25 Edge.?

However, Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo claims that it’ll be around 5.5mm at its thinnest point, while competing analyst Jeff Pu suggests it’ll be closer to 6mm. The Information also suggests a measurement somewhere between 5 and 6mm, so it is possible that the iPhone 17 Air could be thinner – it’s just hard to say for certain right now.??

Of course, these measurements are focused on the smartphones’ thinnest points, with the Samsung Galaxy S25 Edge and iPhone 17 Air both said to have sizeable camera housings that could, for the former at least, increase the thickness to around 10mm – if rumours are to be believed.?

The Samsung Galaxy S25 Edge may have more cameras

Samsung might not just have the thinner design overall; it could also have the potential to beat the iPhone 17 Air in the all-important camera department.?

That’s because the iPhone 17 Air is rumoured to feature just a single camera. It may be the same 48MP wide camera that’s used in the iPhone 16 collection, but still, it’s a single camera. That means that the iPhone 17 Air won’t even be able to take an ultrawide shot like the iPhone 16 and its accompanying 12MP ultrawide can.

As seen from its MWC reveal, Samsung’s S25 Edge will feature a dual-lens setup. Per SmartPrix, Samsung initially tested a triple-camera setup before dropping a lens to make the chassis even thinner.?

Samsung hasn’t given any specifics about the cameras yet, but rumours suggest it could feature the same 200MP primary camera as the top-end Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra, along with what’s assumed to be the same 12MP ultrawide lens as the S25. However, one rumour does claim it’ll match the S25 Ultra’s 50MP resolution, so there could be even more to get excited about here.?

The Samsung Galaxy S25 Edge may be more powerful

The iPhone 17 Air is said to feature the same A19 chipset as the entry-level iPhone 17, a step up from the A18 chipset – though crucially, not as powerful as the A19 Pro chipset headed to the iPhone 17 Pro and Pro Max.?

That’s still a new chipset, however, and we expect solid year-on-year gains, even if Apple reportedly hasn’t shifted to a next-gen 2nm process. Instead, the new chipset will offer a larger vapour chamber for improved cooling and, thus, better performance.?

In any other year, we’d be confident that the upcoming A19 chipset could outpace the Android flagship alternative, but 2025 isn’t a regular year. With the release of the Snapdragon 8 Elite, Android smartphones perform better in benchmarks than Apple’s A18 Pro – and by quite the margin, especially in the CPU department.

That gap is even wider when comparing the A18 within the iPhone 16 to the Snapdragon 8 Elite for Galaxy within the Samsung Galaxy S25. Given that the Samsung Galaxy S25 Edge is rumoured to feature the same custom ‘For Galaxy’ chipset, we’re expecting similarly strong performance.?

Sure, Apple could close the gap between the A19 and Snapdragon 8 Elite, but with more ground to cover than usual in a year-on-year update, it’s certainly not set in stone at this point.?

The Samsung Galaxy S25 Edge may be more durable

You might assume that a slimline smartphone might be more susceptible to damage than its chunkier counterparts, but that might not be the case – if Samsung is to be believed, anyway.

Samsung’s Mobile Experience VP of Product and Marketing, Annika Bizon, revealed the firm’s focus on durability in a recent interview.?

Speaking with Tech Radar, Bizon explained that “with anything slim, durability [has to come as part of the package]. Those are the two features [of the Edge] that are exciting [for us]. Well, I know durability isn’t exciting – but it’s really important. So watch this space, because there are some exciting things to come regarding this phone.”??

Bizon didn’t go into any more detail about what to expect in this regard, but rumours claim that the S25 Edge could eliminate the glass rear entirely and replace it with a more durable ceramic rear. That would certainly make sense as to why people could see, but certainly not touch, the Galaxy S25 Edge models on display at MWC this year.?

It’s possible that Apple could use the same titanium frame as the top-end iPhone 16 Pro to improve durability compared to the aluminium frame of the regular iPhone 16, but there isn’t much word on how Apple plans to deal with the durability of its slimline iPhone otherwise.