Galaxy S25 Edge vs iPhone Air: All the differences explained

By Victor Hristov

Updated: Sep 09, 2025, 5:57 PM

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Galaxy S25 Edge vs iPhone Air: All the differences explained

We are entering the era of super thin phones.

After months of rumors, Apple finally unveiled the iPhone Air (it replaces the Plus model from its lineup), but the first contender in this super thin category arrived months earlier, and it was the Samsung Galaxy S25 Edge.

Both devices are expected to come with roughly the same 6.7"-ish screen size, a weight of just around 160 grams, and be under 6mm thick. But there are some notable differences between them. The Galaxy comes with a 3,900 mAh battery, while the iPhone is rumored to have a battery capacity lower than 3,000 mAh. And the Galaxy has two cameras on its back, while the iPhone is only rumored to have a single one.

Which one should you go for?

Galaxy S25 Edge vs iPhone Air differences:

Galaxy S25 Edge	iPhone Air
6.7-inch screen size	6.5-inch screen
5.8 mm thickness	Slightly thinner - 5.65 mm
163 grams	Similar weight (165 grams)
Snapdragon 8 Elite chip (8-core)	A19 Pro chip
12 GB RAM	8 GB RAM
Two rear cameras	One rear camera
200 MP main camera, same as on S25 Ultra	48 MP main camera, same as on iPhone 17
12 MP ultra-wide camera	No ultra-wide camera
3,900 mAh battery	Unknown battery size
25 W wired charging	20 W wired charging
Wireless charging support	20W MagSafe wireless charging
$1,100 for 12/256GB model $1,220 for 12/512GB model -	$1,000 for 8/256GB model $1,200 for 8/512GB model $1,400 for 8GB/1TB model

*Learn more in our in-depth Galaxy S25 Edge vs iPhone Air specs comparison

6.7-inch

Dual camera

3900 mAh

12GB

$695 at Amazon

6.5-inch

Single camera

8GB

$2500 at eBay

Table of Contents:

Design and Size
Display Differences
Performance
Camera
Battery and Charging
Summary

Galaxy S25 Edge vs iPhone 16 Pro Max

Design and Size

Thin is in

iPhone Air is a bit slimmer than the Galaxy S25 Edge

Both the Galaxy S25 Edge and iPhone Air feature a screen that is large, but not quite as big as on Ultra/Pro Max models.

The S25 Edge features a 6.7-inch display, while the iPhone Air comes with a slightly smaller 6.5-inch panel.

Thanks to their super slim construction, the weight of these phones is closer to that of a much smaller phone. The Galaxy S25 Edge weighs just 163 grams, the same as the tinier Galaxy S25 (and 15% lighter than the S25 Plus). At 165 grams, the iPhone Air is practically the same.

Both models are also slim, but how slim exactly?

The Galaxy S25 Edge measures 5.8 mm, nearly 25% slimmer than the Galaxy Plus or Ultra models, a noticeable reduction. And the iPhone Air is even a hair thinner at 5.65mm.

Are these the thinnest phones to ever exist? Not really! In 2018, the Motorola Moto Z (the one with the Moto Mods) was a popular flagship measuring just 5.2 mm thick. There were a few other super thin models from some less popular brands from China too. If we look at more recognizable phones, the iPhone 16 series were around 6.9 mm, so these new models will be a bit thinner than that.

And compared to the latest foldable phones, these two are actually not as thin. The current record holder there is the Oppo Find N5, which opens to a slab with a thickness of just 4.2 mm.

Phone Thickness Comparison

Phone	Thickness
Oppo Find N5 (foldable, 2025)	4.2 mm (unfolded)
Oppo R5 (2014)	4.9 mm
Motorola Moto Z (2016)	5.2 mm
iPhone Air	5.65 mm
Galaxy S25 Edge	5.8 mm
Galaxy S25 Plus	7.3 mm
iPhone 16 Pro Max	8.3 mm

One big question that arises with thinness is durability. After all, some of us still remember the iPhone 6 Plus bend-gate, as it folded when you applied more pressure to it. However, we are not too concerned about that. Both companies would certainly do their best to avoid such a scenario, and Apple just recently made a super slim iPad that was plenty durable.

The Galaxy S25 Edge also supports IP68 water and dust protection, and the same is true for the iPhone Air.

S25 Edge comes in Titanium Jetblack, Titanium Icyblue and Titanium Silver

As for colors, the Galaxy arrives in three colorways with a titanium body: a silver, a jetblack and an icy blue version.

iPhone Air colors are Space Black, Cloud White, Light Gold, Sky Blue

As you can see above, the iPhone Air matches the colors of the S25 Edge with a black, blue and silver model, but we also expect to see a fourth, light gold colorway.

Display Differences

There is a slight difference in screen sizes between the two. Apple has made the iPhone more compact with a 6.5-inch screen, while the Galaxy S25 Edge has a slightly bigger, 6.7-inch display.

Galaxy S25 Edge	iPhone Air
Size: 6.7"	Size: 6.5"
Brightness: 2,600 nits	Brightness: 3,000 nits

As for biometrics, we have the usual — an ultrasonic fingerprint reader embedded in the display on the S25 Edge and Face ID on the iPhone.

Performance and Software

Snapdragon 8 Elite vs Apple's A19 Pro

The Galaxy S25 Edge is a true flagship and it's no surprise it runs on the powerful Snapdragon 8 Elite chip as other Galaxy S25 models.

As for the iPhone Air, it features Apple's A19 Pro chipset.

The Galaxy also has an advantage with 12 GB of RAM on board compared to an expected 8 GB RAM on the iPhone.

Galaxy S25 Edge	iPhone Air
Processor: Snapdragon 8 Elite	Processor: Apple A19 Pro
RAM: 12 GB	RAM: 8 GB
Storage: 256 GB 512 GB	Storage: 256 GB 512 GB 1 TB

Both phones support AI, though, so at least that will not be a concern. Of course, the kind of AI on the two is vastly different.

Apple is still struggling to update Siri to a more modern form and is now relying on ChatGPT, which is integrated in the system. Samsung, on the other hand, is ahead in the AI game with Gemini and way more powerful AI image editing tools.

We now also now that the iPhone Air will have iOS 26 on board. Some call this the biggest visual overhaul in the last decade with the new Liquid Glass design. Among the cool new iOS 26 features you get a new dynamic wallpaper where time fluidly adapts to the available space on the wallpaper and the whole wallpaper also moves and adapts for better visibility when you receive notifications. There is also new animated album art that you can see when you tap on the Now Playing menu.

Among the useful features, you get a new and much simplified Camera design, which hides all modes except photo and video. You can still reveal them with a swipe left or right, and a swipe up reveals additional settings. Apple also fixes the Photos app chaos from the previous iOS version as you now have two buttons to easily switch between a library view and your collections/albums.

But the star of the show is in the Phone and Messages app. You get Call Screening features that lets you fight off telemarketers. This will also work in Messages, filtering out spam messages. You also get a new Live Translate feature in calls. If all of that sounds familiar, it's because it is. Those features have been available on other Android phones and the Galaxy has added support for Live Translate in calls way earlier (but the actual results are a bit of a mixed bag).

There is also a huge number of smaller changes in iOS 26. Music for example is getting lyrics translations, which is cool, and Apple Maps will better understand your routines and proactively suggest alternate routes when it sees there is a traffic jam ahead.

Camera

One vs two

Slim phones have to make some concessions and apart from a smaller battery, the other adjustment these two make is with cameras.

The S25 Edge is the first Samsung flagship in years to skip a telephoto camera as it only has two cameras on board, while the iPhone Air goes even further in compromise territory with only one rear camera.

As for the Galaxy, it has a 200 MP main camera, using the same hardware as the Galaxy S25 Ultra, while the secondary camera is an ultra-wide one with a 12 MP sensor borrowed from the S25 Plus.

The iPhone features a single 48 MP main camera.

Galaxy S25 Edge	iPhone Air
Main Camera: 200 MP	Main Camera: 48 MP
Secondary Camera: 12 MP ultra-wide	-
Selfie Camera: 12 MP	Selfie Camera: 18 MP

We are yet to see how people react to a premium iPhone with just one camera. Some will be outraged, but we are not sure the ultra-wide camera gets all that much use anyway and for us, a telephoto camera would be a better addition (and both phones DON'T have one).

Battery Life and Charging

Worse than a regular phone, but how much worse?

With a 3,900 mAh battery on board, the Galaxy S25 Edge has less capacity than even the small vanilla S25 model (that one features a 4,000 mAh cell).

And we expect the iPhone Air to also have a small battery, likely even smaller than the one on the Galaxy. Rumors say it could come with a 2,800 mAh battery, which is tiny even for Apple standards. That is our biggest concern about this phone, as we are not even sure it can last you a whole day.

Apple does provide some battery life estimates for the Air. The company says it can last for 22 hours of video streaming, a bit less than the 27 hour rating for the iPhone 17, but higher than the 18-hour estimates for the iPhone 16.

Those would be quite remarkable numbers, if true, but it is notable how Apple has stopped reporting audio playback numbers this year, so our suggestion is to wait for real-world battery tests.

Samsung says the S25 Edge can last for 24 hours of video playback, while the Galaxy S25 is officially rated for 29 hours, while the S25 Plus is said to last for 30 hours. So even official Samsung numbers confirm that the S25 Edge has the worst battery life in the Galaxy series.

Galaxy S25 Edge	iPhone Air
Size: 3,900 mAh	*Size: 2,800 mAh
Charging: 45 W	Charging: 20 W
Wireless Charging: 15 W	Wireless Charging: 20 W

*size for iPhone Air is an estimate based on rumors.

As for charging, we get 25 W charging speeds on the Galaxy and slightly slower 20 W charging on the iPhone.

Both phones also support wireless charging, while switching roles. The Galaxy has 15W wireless charging, a bit slower than the iPhone Air with its 20W MagSafe charging speed. Keep in mind that the Galaxy does not have magnets, while the iPhone does.

Summary

Despite their smaller battery size and the fewer cameras, the Galaxy S25 Edge and iPhone Air are very exciting.

Everyone seems to be tired of the boring sameness of modern smartphones and a thinner design might just be that breath of fresh air users need.

Which of these two should you save up for? We'd have to test the battery which is, honestly, the biggest sticking point, but it seems that the rule here is to go for the Galaxy if you prefer Android, and the iPhone Air if you want iOS, simple as that.

The other consideration is compactness, as the iPhone is a bit smaller than the Galaxy.

Which one would you go for?

View Full Bio

Victor, a seasoned mobile technology expert, has spent over a decade at PhoneArena, exploring the depths of mobile photography and reviewing hundreds of smartphones across Android and iOS ecosystems. His passion for technology, coupled with his extensive knowledge of smartphone cameras and battery life, has positioned him as a leading voice in the mobile tech industry.

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