It’s been a while since the discussion around smartphones has centered on design. Each year brings slightly different edges and colors, but it’s new cameras and hardware that mostly get the attention. This year, though, slim is in: Samsung released the Galaxy S25 Edge and Apple released its iPhone Air, each with thin bodies — and compromises.
So how do these two thin phones compare? If you press them together, are they much thicker combined than a regular iPhone 17 or Galaxy S25? I’m here to do the math and compare features for you.
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The three colors of the Samsung Galaxy S25 Edge.
iPhone Air vs. S25 Edge dimensions and weight
Now it’s time to go deep — as in, just how thin is the depth of each phone?
No phone manufacturer describes its phones as bulky or chunky, even for extra-large models like the iPhone Pro Max. Yet the difference between the depths of the iPhone Air and S25 Edge and the standard phones of each respective family is stark.
Not counting the camera assembly, which Apple calls the “plateau,” most of the iPhone Air’s body is 5.64mm thick. The S25 Edge, at its narrowest point, is a hair thicker at 5.8mm. (Both companies list only the thinnest measurement, not including the cameras.) Compare that to 7.9mm for the iPhone 17 and 7.2mm for the Galaxy S25.
Stacking the iPhone Air (top) and the S25 Edge (bottom) gives you the same thickness as the original first-generation iPhone (if you ignore the camera bumps, and the awkwardness of not seeing either screen).
Surprisingly, less depth translates to only a little less weight compared to the other models in each lineup. The iPhone Air weighs 165 grams versus 177 grams for the iPhone 17, while the S25 Edge pips in at just 163 grams but gets barely undercut by the Galaxy S25 at 162 grams.
How big is each phone in the hand? While both are pretty similar, the iPhone Air is slightly shorter and narrower at 156.2mm tall and 74.7mm wide, compared to the S25 Edge’s dimensions of 158.2mm tall and 75.6mm wide.
iPhone Air vs. S25 Edge displays
Apple calls the iPhone Air’s 6.5-inch OLED screen a Super Retina XDR display. It has a high resolution of 2,736×1,260 pixels at a density of 460 ppi (pixels per inch) and can output a maximum of 3,000 nits of brightness outdoors and just 1 nit minimum in the dark.
The Galaxy S25 Edge display has a more dense resolution.
Comparing the iPhone Air and S25 Edge cameras
So far, many of the specs have been close enough to weigh each phone fairly evenly. But then we get to the cameras.
The iPhone Air includes a single rear-facing 48-megapixel wide camera with a 26mm-equivalent field of view and a constant f/1.6 aperture. In its default mode, the camera outputs 24-megapixel “fusion” photos that are the result of an imaging process where the camera captures a 12-megapixel image (using groups of four pixels acting as one larger pixel for better light gathering, called “binning”) and a 48-megapixel reference for additional detail.
The Galaxy S25 Edge’s dual cameras.
The front-facing selfie cameras on each phone are quite different. The iPhone Air introduces a new 18-megapixel camera with an f/1.9 aperture. But the increased resolution over the S25 Edge’s 12-megapixel selfie camera isn’t what’s notable. Apple calls it a Center Stage camera because it has a square sensor that can capture tall or wide shots without physically turning the phone, compared to the 4:3 ratio sensors in typical selfie cameras. It can adapt the aspect ratio based on the number of people it detects in front of the camera: a traditional portrait orientation when you’re snapping a photo of yourself, for example, or switch to a landscape orientation when two friends stand next to you in the frame.
iPhone Air vs. S25 Edge batteries
When it comes to concerns, the battery life of thin phones tops the list. The insides of most phones are packed with as much battery as will fit, so making a phone slimmer naturally means removing space for the battery. With either model, you end up sacrificing battery power for design. But how much?
Apple doesn’t list the iPhone Air’s battery capacity, but claims “all-day battery life” and up to 27 hours of video playback. It also sells a special iPhone Air MagSafe Battery add-on that magnetically snaps to the back of the phone and works only with the iPhone Air. In her review, CNET’s Senior Tech Reporter Abrar Al-Heeti drained the battery in 12 hours over a phone-intensive day, but did end a more typical day with 20% remaining.
