Samsung has beaten Apple to market with an ultra-thin flagship smartphone, detailing its previously teased Galaxy S25 Edge model on Tuesday.

The Korean tech giant said the S25 Edge was the thinnest phone it had ever made, with a titanium body measuring only 5.8 millimetres thick.

Available in Australia from 30 May, the device will cost $1,849 for 256GB of storage, or $2,049 for 512GB of storage — a higher price than Samsung's base S25 model, which has a recommended retail price of $1,399.

The S25 Edge will come in silver, black, and light blue variants, and will feature a 6.7-inch AMOLED display and the same Snapdragon 8 Elite processor seen in other Galaxy S25 models.

The Edge will include a 12-megapixel front camera and two rear cameras — a 200-megapixel wide camera and a 12-megapixel ultrawide camera, down from three rear cameras on the standard S25 which includes a telephoto lens for improved zoom.

Another compromise for the Edge's thinner designer is battery capacity: the S25 Edge will have a 3,900 mAh battery, down slightly from the S25’s 4000 mAh battery and the more premium S25 Ultra’s 5000 mAh capacity.

Samsung said the Edge could deliver 24 hours of continuous video playback, which is a few hours less than the S25’s reported 29 hours and the Ultra’s 31 hours.

The company first teased the Galaxy S25 Edge back in January when it unveiled its broader S25 range.

Chinese firm Tecno's Spark Slim device has been touted as the world's thinnest smartphone, with a thickness of only 5.75 millimetres.


Samsung's Galaxy S25 Edge model is 5.8mm thick. Images: Samsung / Supplied

Taking a dig at Apple

Samsung used its S25 Edge announcement to take a few small digs at Apple — its key smartphone competitor, which is also reportedly planning to introduce a new ultra-thin ‘Air’ model as part of its iPhone 17 lineup this September.

Samsung’s Rachel Roberts argued the Korean company’s artificial intelligence software features (known as Galaxy AI) were “here now, not ‘coming soon’”, in a tongue-in-cheek nod to delays in Apple’s AI software releases and upgrades to its personal assistant, Siri.

Roberts also described Galaxy AI as “a true AI companion” during Samsung's presentation, in another possible slight towards Siri’s slower adoption of generative AI features.

TM Roh, president and acting head of the device experience division at Samsung, said the company believed S25 Edge would accelerate “important innovation across the mobile industry”.

Like Samsung’s Galaxy S25 line, Apple’s next iPhone models are expected to have 12GB of RAM to allow more breathing room for memory-intensive AI features, up from the current 8GB in its iPhone 16 line.


Samsung's Galaxy S25 Edge model will come in silver, black, and light blue variants. Images: Samsung / Supplied

Apple reportedly preparing ‘iPhone 17 Air’

Reports and alleged leaks have circulated for months regarding Apple’s own ultra-thin smartphone, which is expected to be between 5 and 6mm thick and have a 6.6-inch display.

Reportedly called the iPhone 17 Air, the device is expected to replace Apple’s iPhone Plus models — the taller and wider versions of its base iPhone model, which have not sold as well as the company had hoped.

Other reports have suggested the new device could have only a single main speaker and a smaller battery, while alleged leaks of dummy models have shown only one rear camera.

The device would also “likely” not support physical SIM cards and would instead rely solely on eSIMs due to its thinness, reputable Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo wrote in January.

While pricing has yet to be confirmed, analysts have suggested iPhone 17 Air may be priced somewhere between Apple's base iPhone 17 models (iPhone 16 begins at $1,399) and its more premium iPhone 17 Pro devices (iPhone 16 Pro starts at $1,799).