With a Galaxy S25 Slim reportedly in development, Samsung seems to be saying that any phone Apple makes, it can make thinner. And should the rumored addition to Samsung's Galaxy S25 lineup surface next year as leakers have suggested, 2025 could turn out to be a big year for slimmed-down phones.
We've already heard reports that Apple is working on an iPhone 17 Slim — potentially called the iPhone Air — that would join the iPhone 17 lineup coming out in the fall of 2025. But now reports are surfacing that Samsung has a thin phone of its own in the works, and that it could get the jump on Apple's version by several months.
Right now details about the Galaxy S25 Slim are pretty... um... thin, but a few reported specs are starting to come into focus. Here's what we know about the Galaxy S25 Slim at this early stage and how it could compare to the iPhone 17 Slim, should both thinner phones arrive next year.
Samsung Galaxy S25 Slim possible release date
It's widely anticipated that Samsung is going to host another Galaxy Unpacked event early in 2025 — possibly as soon as January — where it would showcase its new Galaxy S25 models. After all, last year's Galaxy S24 launch event took place in mid-January, as Samsung looks to close the gap between its annual flagship update and when the new iPhones arrive the previous fall.
One Korean source has claimed January 23 will be the date of the next Galaxy Unpacked, which will happen in San Francisco. So pencil that into your calendar just in case it's correct.
That said, if there is a Galaxy S25 Slim in Samsung's plans, it may not arrive alongside other S25 models like the Galaxy S25 Ultra. Instead, Samsung's slim phone could show up later in the year.
How much later? One report has the phone arriving in June 2025 based on when the phone's reported model number showed up in the GSMA IMEI database. Smartprix, the source of the report, says that Samsung tends to enter model numbers into that database six to seven months before the phone's arrival.
Another leaker, posting as @Jukanlosreve on X, gives an early date, forecasting a launch in April. However, the reasoning behind that timing wasn't listed.
Samsung Galaxy S25 Slim — or Samsung Galaxy S25 FE?
If it seems puzzling that Samsung would stagger the launch of its main Galaxy S25 lineup and a new Slim model, then maybe it would help to think of the rumored phone as a device we're more familiar with — the Galaxy S25 FE. Samsung routinely launches FE versions of its latest flagships several months after the original phones debut.
That's what Korean publication The Elec claimed back in October, when it reported that the Galaxy S25 FE would be introduced as a slimmer version of the S25 models. "Unlike the three Galaxy S25 series that will be released early next year, the FE model still has a product development period," The Elec reported, according to a translation of the article from the original Korean.
Even with a June launch, though, the Galaxy S25 Slim would be arriving much earlier than your typical FE release from Samsung. The Galaxy S24 FE just started shipping in October, nearly nine months after the rest of the S24 lineup hit the market.
Another line of thought is that a slim phone from Samsung would be an experiment on the company's part, with ETNews reporting that Samsung would produce the Galaxy S25 Slim in limited quantities to test market interest. If enough people buy it, the report continues, Samsung would incorporate a Slim flagship into its Galaxy S26 lineup in 2026.
These types of limited edition phone aren't out of character for Samsung. Just last month, the phone maker rolled out a special edition of the Galaxy Z Fold 6 that's thinner and lighter than the version that arrived globally over the summer. However, this special edition release has been limited to South Korea so far.
Samsung Galaxy S25 Slim design and display
Missing from any reports about the Galaxy S25 Slim is one crucial detail — just how thin a phone are we talking about here?
The Galaxy S24 FE that could be thought of as the Slim's predecessor is 8 mm thin, which isn't as thin as the 7.6mm Galaxy S24. Presumably, the goal would to approximate the Galaxy Z Fold 6, which is 5.6mm thin when unfolded.
For what it's worth, the iPhone 16 measures 7.8mm thin, and early reports on the iPhone 17 Slim suggest that phone is trying to match devices like the current iPad Air (6.1mm) or iPad Pro (5.3mm) when it comes to thinness.
As for the display on the Galaxy S25 Slim, the only rumor that's emerged thus far is that it would match the Galaxy S24 FE's 6.7-inch panel.
Samsung Galaxy S25 Slim cameras
It's unclear whether the thinner dimensions of a Galaxy S25 Slim would mean that Samsung would have to limit the number of cameras on the device. Apple's iPhone 17 Slim is reportedly going to feature a lone rear camera in an apparent concession to the limited space.
One camera rumor surrounding the S25 Slim suggests Samsung wants to go big in one regard — the new phone will purportedly feature a 200MP main lens, matching the camera spec of the Galaxy S24 Ultra. The Galaxy Z Fold 6 Special Edition that just came out also has a 200MP main camera.
Whether there's enough room for additional lenses on the Galaxy S25 Slim is unclear. But if you want an indication of what could be possible, the Galaxy S25 Ultra is rumored to be upgrading to a 50MP ultrawide lens and telephoto camera with a variable aperture. If Samsung intends for the Slim to be a premium model — and the 200MP main camera suggests that it does — we could see those improvements included in the mix as well.
Samsung Galaxy S25 Slim specs
Other Galaxy S25 Slim specs have yet to emerge in early rumors, including which chipset Samsung intends to use for the phone. It's widely thought that Samsung is planning to turn to the Snapdragon 8 Elite for the rest of the Galaxy S25 lineup, with one leaker insisting Qualcomm's latest silicon will power every Galaxy S25 model. But if the S25 Slim is as thin as it's rumored to be, that could pose heating issues for the Snapdragon 8 Elite, which has proven to be a very powerful chip when we've benchmarked it in a reference device. It's unclear if reports claiming the Snapdragon 8 Elite will power every Galaxy S25 model are only referring to the phones expected to launch at the start of the year, and not the Slim since it's rumored to be arriving later on.
In fact, the leaker predicting an April release for the Galaxy S25 Slim forecasts that phone will use an Exynos 2400 chipset, the same system-on-chip that powers the Galaxy S24 and Galaxy S24 Plus models released outside North America this year. Rumors suggest that Samsung is having issues producing the 3nm Exynos 2500 in large enough volumes to support a phone launch — hence, the idea that the phone maker would turn to an older chipset for a 2025 phone.
Galaxy S25 Slim outlook
More details about the Galaxy S25 Slim have to emerge for us to get a sense of where this rumored phone fits into Samsung's product lineup — is it a slimmed-down version of the Ultra or a even more stripped down FE? And just what does it have to offer besides a thinner design?
Assuming reports of a staggered ship date for this model are correct, we have plenty of time to learn more about the Galaxy S25 Slim, even after the rest of the Galaxy S25 lineup makes its expected debut toward the start of the new year. But between rumors of this device and a new iPhone 17 Slim, it's very clear that thin will be in for 2025.
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