With the launch of Samsung's Galaxy S25 Ultra, you may be considering an upgrade to to one of the best Android phones yet.
Perhaps you're looking for a better camera experience. Or you want to try new Galaxy S25 AI features like cross-app actions. Or you want better performance from the Snapgdragon 8 Elite chip.
But do you get the Galaxy S25 Ultra now or wait for the super-thin Galaxy S25 Edge?
We don't know a lot about the Galaxy S25 Edge, as it got only a brief tease at the Samsung Unpacked event. We also got up close to the Edge but couldn't hold it. We know that it's strikingly slim and will likely launch this year.
So the question is, do you pick up the latest and greatest from Samsung now or do your eyes wander to the thing you can't have just yet?
Here are the arguments for picking up a Galaxy S25 Ultra flagship or waiting a few months for the skinny Galaxy S25 Edge.
Why you should wait for the S25 Edge
Samsung may have teased the Galaxy S25 Edge during its January Galaxy Unpacked event, but there was very little revealed in the way of actual details.
Other than the fact that it exists, we don't officially know about the Galaxy S25 Edge specs, price or release date with Samsung promising that its "a culmination of our most innovative technology packed into a form that's sleek, powerful and unlike anything you've seen before."
Samsung promises that the Galaxy S25 Edge is 'unlike anything you've seen before'
That said, the presumed Galaxy S25 Slim came with a long-tail of rumors, much like its Galaxy S25 brethren. Here's what we know about the Galaxy S25 Edge so far based on the rumors so far.
For example, how thin will the phone actually be? Rumors suggest it will be between 6.4mm and the 8.2mm thickness of the S25 Ultra. Any number in that range is pretty thin, though the iPhone 17 Air is rumored to hit 5.5mm in thickness.
Samsung's main focus to start the year was to get out the main S25 trio out by February 7. As for the Edge, we've seen reports that it will arrive in June this year, likely in time for the summer Unpacked event, which usually focuses on foldable devices.
Another leaker forecasted an April launch. They also reported that it would adopt an Exynos 2400 chipset over the newest Qualcomm processor. Running Samsung's Exynos chip would be a downgrade from Qualcomm's system-on-chips, though Snapdragon 8 Elites may not be practical for the phone due to a lack of space for heat dissipation. But it might mean lower prices.
Presumably, the Edge will run One UI 7 and access to the latest Galaxy AI features, though how capable the Slim will be compared to the S25 phones sporting Qualcomm's chip is up in the air.
The slimmer phone might get more RAM and Qi2 wireless charging.
It's also worth noting that the Galaxy S25 Edge has only two rear cameras, compared to four for the S25 Ultra. If we had to guess, the S25 Edge may forego telephoto lenses in favor of a main wide camera and an ultrawide shooter, but we'll have to wait and see.
As for pricing, it's not clear where in the lineup Samsung sees the Edge. It's been posited that the Edge is a rebranded version of the Galaxy S FE model. The current Galaxy S24 FE is similar to the main S24 lineup with some features and hardware toned down at a lower price. That phone currently starts $650 or $710 for the 256GB version, about $150 less than the equivalent sizes of the Galaxy S24.
That doesn't sound plausible, though.
Another theory purports that the Edge will slot between the Plus and the S25 Ultra with a price closer $1,000.
Right now there are, admittedly, more questions than answers with the Galaxy S25 Edge. We'll need more information and leaks to give us more of a sense of what the Edge is really capable of and how Samsung will make the phone distinctive outside of just being thin.
Why you should opt for the Galaxy S25 Ultra
The biggest plus for the Galaxy S25 Ultra is that it's available right now. We know for sure that the S25 Ultra has more cameras and an S Pen, a feature the S25 Edge likely does not have.
The base 256GB model of the Galaxy S25 Ultra starts $1,299 and rises to nearly $1,700 for the 1TB variant. It's the same price as last year's S24 Ultra, which is a relief after a year of price increases on many new phones.
The biggest Galaxy S25 Ultra hardware upgrades include a rounded design, larger 6.9-inch screen and new 50MP ultrawide camera.
If you want to save on Samsung's flagship, there are plenty of Galaxy S25 Ultra deals available that bring the price down significantly.
Design-wise, this year's Ultra phone drops the pointed corners for a softer, rounder look. It is slightly bigger than last year's phone with a 6.9-inch display. Like Apple's iPhone 16 Pro Max, this is a big phone. If you're looking for phone real estate, Samsung's latest has you set and is somehow thinner and lighter than the iPhone and the S24 Ultra.
Beyond that, the S25 Ultra isn't much different on the exterior.
The biggest hardware upgrades include a new 50MP ultrawide camera and Qualcomm's latest Snapdragon 8 Elite chipset coupled with 12 GB of RAM.
In our benchmark testing, we found that the S25 Ultra bests the iPhone 16 Pro Max and the latest Android devices. This includes the OnePlus 13.
The Galaxy S25 Ultra lasted an excellent 17 hours and 15 minutes in our S25 Ultra battery testing, it's the longest lasting Galaxy device we've tested and just slightly behind the iPhone 16 Pro Max, landing this flagship a spot on our best phone battery life list.
Where you'll see a big difference is in the software. The S25 Ultra launches with an overhauled Samsung One UI 7, Samsung's Android skin, that is mostly about integrating more AI tools throughout the system. This includes a deeper pairing of Google's Gemini pointing toward a more agentic AI future on your phone.
There's a new cross-app actions feature that lets you perform multiple tasks at once with your voice, as well as a call transcript feature that lets you see the contents of a call after you hang up. There's also a new quick settings menu, which is very intuitive and reminiscent of Apple's Control Center.
Some features like Now Bar, which is meant to prioritize your notifications on your lock screen, do need some work, but updates are sure to be on the way.
Samsung Galaxy S25 Edge vs S25 Ultra: Which will you snag?
We won't give our recommendation until the Galaxy S25 Edge actually becomes available with more details and a better idea of what kind of hardware it will feature.
Assuming the pricing rumors are true, if you're looking to save some money, it's looking like the Galaxy S25 Edge will most likely have access to Galaxy AI features at a lower price point than the Galaxy S25 Ultra.
If you prefer top-of-the-line performance or prize camera performance, the the S25 Ultra will be the better bet. And the S Pen should remain an S25 Ultra exclusive.
At this point, if you're not sure if you want to wait or not, we're more than likely to get more details about the Edge ahead of its launch, and we'll be doing more head-to-head comparisons with the S25 Ultra in the coming weeks.
Stay tuned for more details.
More from Tom's Guide
