Samsung Galaxy S25 Edge debuts Monday — 3 things we know and 2 we still need to find out

The waiting game that began when Samsung first previewed the Galaxy S25 Edge back in January has an end in sight now that Samsung has set a date for a Virtual Unpacked event to show off a new phone. With invitations for the May 12 live stream labeled "Beyond Slim," it's pretty clear that the Galaxy S25 Edge will be the star of the show.

While it may feel as if the Galaxy S25 Edge has been discussed to death already, there's actually very little that we officially know about the phone. Samsung has confirmed a few details here and there, but most of what we know relating to the Galaxy S25 Edge has come to us via rumors and leaks.

In other words, there's still plenty of ways that Samsung could surprise us when the Virtual Unpacked events gets underway this Monday at 8 p.m. ET / 5 p.m. PT. Heading into that event, here's what Samsung's already confirmed about the Galaxy S25 Edge and a few of the big questions we expect to be answered very shortly.

The Galaxy S25 Edge is going to be very thin

What Samsung's "Beyond Slim" marketing slogan doesn't tell you, your eyes can. Thanks to the preview units on display during January's Galaxy Unpacked event and March's MWC 2025, we've known for a while that a slender design is going to be the Galaxy S25 Edge's calling card.

What we don't know officially is the exact dimensions of the device, though leakers have filled in that particular details. The Galaxy S25 Edge is reportedly 5.8mm thin, give or take a fraction of a millimeter. With a reported weight of 5.7 ounces, the Galaxy S25 Edge figures to be fairly lightweight as well.

Assuming Samsung confirms those specs on Monday, here's how the Galaxy S25 Edge would measure up to the rest of the Galaxy S25 lineup, as well as some of the best phones that we've reviewed recently.

As you can see, the Galaxy S25 Edge would be the thinnest Samsung flagship by far, shedding nearly 1.5mm off the standard Galaxy S25's thickness. It's also a full 2mm thinner the iPhone 16 and nearly 3mm thinner than the Pixel 9 — blame that horizontal camera bar on Pixel's phones, if you like.

The true comparison for the Galaxy S25 Edge won't arrive until later this year, when Apple is rumored to be releasing an iPhone 17 Air that's also a super-thin handset. In fact, dummy units that claim to mirror the iPhone 17 Air's dimensions indicate the phone is 5.65mm at its thinnest point, which would beat the Edge for slenderness. For now, though, it sounds like the Edge will be the thinnest phone available.

A 200MP main camera

Samsung's preview of the Galaxy S25 Edge showed off a device with two rear cameras. And now we know how many megapixels will come with that main camera, thanks to a comment Samsung made when announcing its May 12 launch event.

"Even with its slim form, the Galaxy S25 Edge’s 200MP wide lens continues Galaxy’s iconic camera experience, delivering pro-grade capabilities to intuitively capture the world around you," Samsung's announcement read. "And thanks to Galaxy AI, the camera transforms into a smart lens that helps recognize what matters to create new memories."

So that's a 200MP main camera, matching what the Galaxy S25 Ultra offers. There's no word on the Edge's other rear camera, but it's safe to assume that it's an ultrawide lens, though probably not the 50MP sensor the Ultra uses for that particular camera. Instead, leakers believe the Galaxy S25 Edge will feature a 12MP ultrawide lens.

Based on our Galaxy S25 Ultra camera testing, such as the 200-photo face-off with the iPhone 16 Pro Max that we conducted, that 200MP lens on the Edge should capture some fairly detailed shots, particularly in low-light settings. But the photos I'm most interested in involve a camera that isn't on the Galaxy S25 Edge — specifically, how well the phone handles close-up without a dedicated zoom lens.

One assumes that zoom shots will rely on the main camera, cropping in on shots at full resolution to approximate optical zoom quality. Other phones, like the dual-lens iPhone 16, do this great effect, so I'm interested to see if the Galaxy S25 Edge follows suit.

Plenty of AI on board

In confirming the 200MP camera on the Galaxy S25 Edge, Samsung also alluded to AI capabilities. Clearly, the Edge is going to inherit the Galaxy AI features found on other leading Samsung phones, in particular generative AI editing for resizing objects in images and removing distractions from photos.

But AI likely won't stop with photo-editing. In its event announcement, Samsung touted the upcoming phone as " a powerful AI companion," which suggests that you'll find other Galaxy AI tools on this device as well. Additions with the Galaxy S25 lineup include Now Brief, which uses your data and behavior to provide a summary screen with personalized suggestions for the day ahead, and cross app actions that tap into the Gemini Assistant to perform multiples taks with a single command.

These will be worthwhile additions — for my money, Galaxy AI offers a pretty polished experience with some truly useful capabilities. But I also wonder if Samsung will take the opportunity of a phone launch to add new AI tools to the mix. It certainly did about a year ago when its Galaxy Z Fold 6 foldable introduced a Sketch to Image photo editing feature. I'd like to see the Edge introduce a new capability of its own — one that would roll out to other Samsung devices via a software update, of course.

What we still don't know about the Galaxy S25 Edge

Samsung still has plenty of blanks to fill in for its upcoming phone, like what chipset it will use (most likely the Snapdragon 8 Elite) and what colors we should expect (silver, blue and black, if you go by the rumors). But those aren't the most pressing issues for Samsung to address at its May 12 event.

I think the two biggest remaining questions surrounding the Galaxy S25 Edge concern its battery life and its price.

On the battery front, you'd imagine that there's not much room inside a super-thin phone for a big battery — nothing like the 5,000 mAh power pack that the Galaxy S25 Ultra uses to deliver the best phone battery life of any Samsung phone. Rumors indicate the Edge will be limited to a 3,900 mAh cell, which is even smaller than the battery inside the S25.

There's more to longevity than just a big battery, of course, and the Snapdragon 8 Elite's power management features should come in handy here. We'll know for sure just how much the chipset can help the Galaxy S25 Edge last on a charge when we get a chance to test the phone. But it will certainly be interesting to here how Samsung responds to questions about the Edge's battery.

Then there's the matter of how much the Galaxy S25 Edge will cost. With the rest of the S25 lineup ranging in price from $799 to $1,299, there would seem to be a gap right between the $999 Galaxy S25 Plus and the pricey S25 Ultra that the Edge could slide into.

Indeed, rumors about the Edge's price in Korea would suggest that Samsung plans to charge just a little bit more than the cost of the S25 Plus. That would suggest a $1,099 starting price in the U.S., though we'll have to wait for Monday's launch for the official announcement.

Save $50 on the Galaxy S25 Edge @ Samsung
If you register at Samsung to preorder the Galaxy S25 Edge ahead of the May 12 launch event, you'll get a $50 credit to apply to your purchase of what Samsung shows off. That's likely to be the Galaxy S25 Edge, an ultra-thin phone with a 200MP main camera and Galaxy AI features.

View Deal

Whatever Samsung ends up charging, you've got a chance to save a little bit of money should you wind up buying the Galaxy S25 Edge. A pre-event promotion promises a $50 credit you can apply to your purchase when you register with Samsung to pre-order whatever device winds up debuting at the Virtual Unpacked event.

More from Tom's Guide

• Sorry, Galaxy S25 Edge — this is the thin phone I want Samsung to release instead
• Galaxy S25 Edge and iPhone 17 Air could make this the year of the thin phone — but will shoppers bite?
• Goodbye, iPhone? Apple's Cue says the phone could be replaced by AI