Nearly four months after Samsung came out with its ultra-thin phone, Apple has done the same. And now an iPhone Air vs. Galaxy S25 Edge face-off can truly get underway. Comparisons will immediately look at which phone is thinner and lighter, but there's more to this battle than specs. The thin phone champ will emerge based on which phone offers the best performance, cameras and battery life.
We'll have the answers to those questions once we get a chance to fully test the iPhone Air. (My colleague Mark Spoonauer has gone hands-on with the iPhone Air for some first impressions.) But now that Apple has officially shown off its new phone, we can at least run an initial iPhone Air vs. Samsung Galaxy S25 Edge comparison. Here's how these slender phones stack up.
iPhone Air vs. Samsung Galaxy S25 Edge specs
| Row 0 - Cell 0 | iPhone Air | Samsung Galaxy S25 Edge |
Starting price | $999 / £999 / AU$1,799 | $1,099 / £1,099 / AU$1,849 |
Screen size | 6.5-inch Super Retina XDR display | 6.7-inch AMOLED |
Refresh rate | 120Hz | 120Hz |
Chipset | A19 Pro | Snapdragon 8 Elite |
Storage | 256GB, 512GB, 1TB | 256GB, 512GB |
Rear cameras | 48MP Fusion | 200MP main, 12MP ultrawide |
Front camera | 18MP Center Stage | 12MP |
Battery life (Hrs:Mins) | Not yet tested | 12:24 |
Size | 6.2 x 2.9 x 0.22 inches (156.2 x 74.7 x 5.64mm) | 6.23 x 2.98 x 0.23 inches (75.6 X 158.2 X 5.8mm) |
Weight | 5.82 ounces (165 grams) | 5.75 ounces (163 grams) |
Colors | Sky Blue, Light Gold, Cloud White, Space Black | Titanium Silver, Titanium Jetblack, Titanium Icyblue |
iPhone Air vs. Samsung Galaxy S25 Edge price and availability
When it comes to price, the iPhone Air has one-upped the Galaxy S25 Edge. Apple's phone costs $999, which is $100 cheaper than the Edge's $1,099 starting price. Both phones offer 256GB of storage in their base models.
The iPhone Air keeps its edge even as you opt for higher-capacity models, though. A 512GB iPhone Air costs $1,199 compared to $1,219 for the S25 Edge. You can also get a 1TB iPhone Air for $1,399, but no such storage option exists for the Edge.
Samsung's phone went on sale at the end of May. Preorders for the iPhone Air begin on Friday (September 12), with the phone hitting stores on September 19.
iPhone Air vs. Samsung Galaxy S25 Edge design
Let's start with the first thing everyone's going to focus on in an iPhone Air vs. Galaxy S25 Edge comparison — which phone is thinner. The nod goes to the iPhone Air, which measures 5.64mm at its thinnest point. The Edge, not exactly a bulky phone, measures 5.8mm. The Edge is also taller and wider than the Air.
However, you're carrying around a lighter phone if you turn to the S25 Edge, if only by just a little. Samsung's phone tips the scales at 163 ounces — 2 ounces lighter than the iPhone Air.
Both phones feature titanium frames and materials designed to reassure you that they won't shatter at the first hint of trouble. In Samsung's case, the Edge features Gorilla Glass Ceramic 2 while Apple touts its own Ceramic Shield 2 material. The phones also have IP68 water-resistance ratings, though Apple's extends to 6 meters compared to 1.5 meters for the S25 Edge.
iPhone Air vs. Samsung Galaxy S25 Edge display
The size difference between the Edge and the Air can be partially explained by their disparate sizes. The Galaxy S25 Edge offers a larger screen, at 6.7 inches to the iPhone's 6.5-inch panel.
It's a very bright panel on the Galaxy S25 Edge, with Samsung promising 2,600 nits of peak brightness. Phones rarely reach that level, but our reading of 1,997 nits in testing is pretty impressive.
However, the iPhone Air could outshine the Edge. Apple is promising 3,000 nits of peak brightness, which should be bright enough to see details even in sunlight.
iPhone Air vs. Samsung Galaxy S25 Edge cameras
Both phones scale back the number of rear cameras you'd normally expect from a premium handset, though the Galaxy S25 Edge would seem to offer greater flexibility. In addition to its 200MP main camera, Samsung's phone offers a 12MP ultrawide lens. The iPhone Air features a single rear camera powered by a 48MP sensor.
When we tested the Galaxy S25 Edge, it took very detailed, colorful shots, with particularly detailed night photography. It was at its greatest disadvantage when taking close-ups compared to phones with dedicated telephoto lenses, particularly when we zoomed in. Of course, that's not really a concern against the iPhone Air, which also lacks a telephoto lens. Instead, Apple crops in on shots to approximate a 2x digital zoom with the main camera.
The front camera on the iPhone Air could pose a challenge to the Galaxy S25 Edge. Apple replaced the old 12MP TrueDepth camera with an 18MP Center Stage camera. More important that the megapixel boost is the fact that the new shooter uses a square sensor allowing it to adjust to wider shots when you need to squeeze more people into the frame. The Galaxy S25 Edge uses more a conventional 12MP selfie cam.
iPhone Air vs. Samsung Galaxy S25 Edge performance
I'm very intrigued to see how the A19 Pro silicon inside the iPhone Air compares to the Snapdragon 8 Elite chipset that Samsung uses for the S25 Edge. That Qualcomm system-on-chip has proven to be the top performing mobile silicon this year, and as a result, the Galaxy S25 Edge posted benchmark results on par with the best Android phones we've tested.
But all that was before Apple's A19 Pro came along. The version of the chipset inside the Air isn't the most powerful Apple makes, as there's an A19 Pro with an extra GPU core inside the iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max.
Still, the 3nm A19 Pro is expected to produce some impressive CPU speeds, with unofficial iPhone 17 Pro Geekbench single-core results topping the Galaxy S25 Edge's score. In the multi-core CPU test, the Edge still posted better numbers. We'll have to run our own testing on the iPhone Air to see if those results match our experience.
iPhone Air vs. Samsung Galaxy S25 Edge battery life and charging
Battery life figures to play a big part in determining who wins this face-off. And since Apple doesn't reveal battery sizes, we have no idea how the power pack inside the iPhone Air compares to the Galaxy S25 Edge's 3,900 mAh. Given the spatial limitations of thin phones — something Samsung knows all too well with the Edge — we'd imagine the battery inside the Air is smaller than the one in other iPhone 17 models.
But there's more to eking out more power than a big battery. We're assuming the A19 Pro improves power efficiency over past Apple silicon, and Apple says it moved components underneath the Air's camera bump to make room for the battery.
When we ran our battery test on the Galaxy S25 Edge, it lasted 12 hours and 24 minutes of continuous web surfing before it ran out of power. That's around 1.5 hours better than the average smartphone, but it's well off the pace set by other Galaxy S25 devices — indicating the trade-off you make with a thinner phone. That's something the iPhone Air is going to try to overcome.
In terms of charging, Apple has said the iPhone Air can hit a 50% charger after 30 minutes. When we timed charging on the Galaxy S25 Edge, it got to a 54% charge after the half-hour mark.
iPhone Air vs. Samsung Galaxy S25 Edge software and special features
Both the iPhone Air and Galaxy S25 Edge support the full complement of AI features offered by Apple and Samsung, respectively. Samsung's Galaxy AI tools are much more polished at this point, backed up by our testing when we ran our AI phone face-off.
Samsung promises seven years of Android and security updates for the Galaxy S25 Edge. Apple doesn't put a date on how long it supports its phones, but iOS 26, which comes preinstalled on the iPhone Air, supports phones that came out six years ago. So you can expect lengthy support no matter which device you can get.
iPhone Air vs. Samsung Galaxy S25 Edge outlook
If phones were evaluated for thinness alone, the iPhone Air has already one-upped the Galaxy S25 Edge. But comparisons don't — and shouldn't — stop there.
We'll see if the limitations that held back the Samsung phone's battery life apply to the iPhone once we test Apple's new device. And that will give us a chance to compare overall performance, too. This battle of ultra-thin phones is only just getting started.
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