Samsung Galaxy S25 Edge live: Updates from the Unpacked event

And thank you, dear readers, for following along with our late-night coverage. We hope it was as fun for you as it was for us, if not a lot more fun for you. Come back tomorrow, because we'll be liveblogging Google's Android Show at 1pm ET! See you soon.

With all that, I think we're about ready to wrap up this liveblog. I, for one, am very grateful that Samsung kept it short without forcing us to sit through unnecessary self-interviews. Thanks Samsung!

How to pre-order the Galaxy S25 Edge

Image by Mat Smith for Engadget

Samsung Galaxy S25 Edge hands-on

If you're already itching to claim an S25 Edge for yourself (because who cares about independent reviews), you can now. Samsung is offering some special deals if you sign up for its Galaxy Reserve program, though you can also order through Amazon and Best Buy.

Our senior writer Amy Skorheim has the details on deals, retailers, configurations and prices in her story on pre-ordering the Galaxy S25 Edge.

I don't know what I'd give up for a super thin phone, though. Battery life? A third camera? Performance and heat management? Not having tested one of these myself, I can't say for certain that the S25 Edge makes serious compromises, but I'm definitely skeptical right now.

Hold strong Aaron. The smart buyers will wait until after Google, Apple and Samsung do their big phone launches later this summer/fall.

For all my disappointment, I am currently trying really hard to wait for the next Pixel phone to upgrade, and this isn't making it any easier. I just want a cute phone with a good camera, and this might be it.

Yea, kudos to Samsung I guess for beating Apple to market with a super thin version of an existing device.

Yea, I'm not gonna lie, it's pretty nice. It's got the fit and finish of the S25 Ultra, but it's way, way thinner.

I guess I'm just a little underwhelmed. I think this is a nice option that splits the difference between the S25+ and S25 Ultra. But I think all the build up prior to this may have been a touch too much.

Well, it'll be interesting to see how the reception for the Edge compares to the so-called "iPhone Air," which is... Apple's take on the same thing. (If the rumors and reporting are to be believed, and I suspect they are.)

Sam did you like touching this phone in real life?

So at this point, I really have to ask: How many people are really excited to buy a super thin phone?

Is this what people want? Like, the phone is really sleek and it does have some pretty slick engineering.

But I really thought we got over the whole phone thinness wars back in the mid 2010s.

I heard a lot about Samsung defining a new product category but no real explanation as to what this category is. Are we really saying "slightly thinner phones" is a new category?

Samsung

The S25 Edge hits stores on May 23 and is available for pre-order immediately.

No offense to TM Roh, but I don't think the "no compromises" tag really applies here.

The S25 Edge has a smaller battery than a base S25. It also doesn't fully support the Qi2 wireless charging protocol. It's also merely "Qi2 ready," which means you'll need a special case or mod if you want to use Qi2 accessories.

Samsung Galaxy S25 Edge hands-on

Image by Mat Smith for Engadget

Samsung Galaxy S25 Edge hands-on

Samsung's virtual Unpacked has just kicked off, and we can now share our hands-on impressions with the world. Our UK Bureau Chief Mat Smith has just been on edge all day, trying to avoid making too many unseemly edge-related jokes. Mat was able to take in the Galaxy S25 Edge in person, even slipping it in and out of his pants (pockets, I'm sure). All that hard work, to see if this super thin phone is truly much better in real life. And what can be more real than the pants-pocket-phone struggle, right? At least, if your apparel has pockets, anyway.

From Mat:

"The thing is: Device thickness isn't an issue I have with flagship smartphones — it's the screen size. The base Galaxy S25 (or the Pixel 9 Pro) hit the sweet spot for my hands. While this new S25 Edge may be easier to hold than similar-sized phones, a 6.7-inch screen isn't for everyone."

Read more in our Galaxy S25 Edge hands-on.

TM Roh delivers the final line "Life opens up with Galaxy," and the screen fades to black. A 15-minute presentation! How lucky are we? Could this all have been an email?

Samsung

The S25 Edge costs $1,099 in the US.

President TM Roh is on now telling us how the S25 Edge "is an engineering marvel that makes no compromises." It's a balance of design and engineering craftsmanship, he adds. We'll have to see how it performs in the real world to gauge that for ourselves — especially on things like heat dissipation and battery life.

Samsung

The S25 Edge will be available in three colors.

The S25 Edge is available for pre-orders starting today, starting at $1,100. That's fast, we've already got the price and we're only 13 minutes in!

Another friendly reminder, these AI features are largely the same as what you get from the rest of the S25 family.

"Our longstanding collaboration with Google," said the Samsung rep, means that the Galaxy S25 series, including the S25 Edge, get access to the latest Gemini features. That sounds like code for "Google paid us a lot of money to include Gemini in our phones."

Samsung

The Galaxy Edge lets you access Google's Gemini AI functionality at the touch of a button.

On-device Galaxy AI makes your AI requests and functions a bit more secure. They also power the Now Brief and Now Bar — features we saw released earlier with the S25 series. Samsung is also shouting out some Google tie-ins, like Gemini-powered search

Unfortunately, due to size constraints, Samsung didn't give the S25 Edge a telephoto lens. All you get is a main cam and an ultra-

Samsung

Samsung's Photo Assist is an AI-enhanced image editor — table stakes in today's competitive phone market.

On to more Galaxy AI talk. Phew! I was worried we'd have a phone in 2025 without any AI features. You'll get the same suite of features as the S25 series offers here, like generative AI photo editing or Audio Eraser for getting rid of distracting background noise in videos.

One really small change on the Edge compared to both the S25+ and S25U is that it has a wider field of view for its selfie cam.

By the way, say hi to Sam Rutherford, who is here adding some thoughts from some hands-on time he spent with the S25 Edge.

Samsung

Despite the thin body, the Edge maintains some powerful camera specs.

The S25 Edge has a 200-megapixel main camera, alongside a 12MP ultrawide lens. The main sensor can shoot wide and crop in while preserving clarity. It appears there are just two cameras here. No telephoto system!

One thing I found kind of amusing, is that during my demo session, a Samsung rep told me that the reason why the Edge doesn't have a matte display like on the S25 Ultra is because an anti-reflective coating would have made the phone ever so slightly thicker.

Samsung

The Edge is 5.8mm deep and weighs only 163g.

Another Samsung exec has appeared, now seeming to tell us what's Rumor versus what's Fact. But they haven't gone on to bust any myths. Instead, we're being told more about the Galaxy S25 Edge's processor and performance.

Another important point. While Samsung says the S25 Edge's has the smallest high-resolution camera ever made, it's also the same sensor used in the S25 Ultra. So it's not exactly an all-new component.

The S25 Edge is housed within a titanium frame, and is the first phone to have Corning Gorilla Glass Ceramic 2 on .

Samsung

Samsung says the Edge is the first phone to feature Corning's Gorilla Glass Ceramic 2.

Next up: Heat dissipation. More people staring at computers and blueprints while talking about the importance of getting rid of excess heat. On to the mechanical design team, with people staring at blades and razer thin sheets of metal.

I'm dropping in here to say that back when Samsung teased this thing months ago, I said that the S25 Edge looked like one half of the Z Fold 6.

And from everything I've seen so far, that sentiment continues to ring true. The only difference is that instead of a flexible display, the Edge has a glass screen.

Samsung

Samsung calls it "the smallest high-resolution camera ever made."

Another video now, with a narrator describing how the S25 Edge's camera had to be redesigned to fit its super thin frame. Onscreen, we see multiple engineers (or paid actors more likely) discuss and brainstorm how to design things.

No wasting time here! We're moving at quite the clip. Lee, who leads the Mobile Design team at Samsung, talks more about not compromising on specs for any S-series phone.

Samsung

Samsung's Hubert Lee kicks off the presentation.

The stage lights up in sections, and we're now seeing a video of a phone being put together, component by component. The Galaxy S25 Edge title and "Beyond Slim" appear. Hubert Lee is onstage talking about Galaxy products and the design philosophy behind the S25 Edge.

Alright, the music has stopped and the disclaimer is up. We're about to start!

OK, here we go...

I love to question marketing language so I ask you, dear reader, what does "Beyond slim" mean to you?

Samsung

Still just a splash screen, but the stream should be starting soon.

Quick observation that there are 2.8K viewers on Samsung's YouTube livestream of this event at the moment, which is a lot more than I expected. T-minus 7 minutes to the show starting, yall!

I don't know why I instinctively hit mute when I saw you write that, Aaron. But yes it's quite gamey. I prefer a good Nintendo vibe though. Speaking of, I spent this weekend playing Bus Driving Simulator. It was great.

My one contribution to tonight's proceedings is to say that Samsung's soundtrack so far is the exact middle ground between elevator music and a Persona game's background tracks.

And while we're at it, let's not forget the other relevant tech events on deck for the next couple of weeks. After tonight, we've got:

• The Android Show (Tuesday, 1PM ET): Livestream and liveblog

• NVIDIA Computex keynote (Sunday, 11PM ET): Livestream, followed by plenty of highlight coverage of the Taiwan-based trade show running from May 20-22

• Microsoft Build keynote (Monday, noon ET): Highlight coverage of Microsoft's developer conference, including a livestream link.

• Google I/O keynote (Tuesday, 1PM ET): Livestream and liveblog

But for now, stay with us for all things Samsung!

Oh right, hello John Falcone. On the liveblog today are myself and John, with some assistance from Aaron Souppouris behind the scenes. Our senior reviewer Sam Rutherford may drop in, too, but it is after hours for many of us so we're taking it easy. The event should start in just under 45 minutes, and we're not entirely sure how long it will last. But we'll take your guesses!

Assuming the Edge is the superthin phone we're expecting, it's worth noting that Samsung is (again) beating Apple to the punch. Samsung was first major handset manufacturer to the market with big-screen phones (remember when they were derided as "phablets"?), and its already several generations in on foldable phones. If the rumor mill is to be believed, the thin "iPhone Air" will arrive this September, and a foldable iPhone will follow in 2026.

So it's past 6pm ET, and this event is taking place at a late 8pm for us here in the New York City area, but don't worry I had some sushi before this so I'm ready to work a few more hours. It's probably timed for 8am in Korea, though I'm not sure if there's an actual physical event taking place that I've not been invited to. All I know is this is supposed to be an "online unveiling."

Speaking of foldables, though, we did see a Galaxy Z Flip leak today, courtesy of the folks at Android Authority. Sure, this isn't the Unpacked for a Galaxy Z Flip 7, but we can certainly look forward to a slightly larger external screen on Samsung's compact foldable phone.

Even though this event is billed as an "Unpacked," it sure doesn't feel like one of the company's typical launches, which usually happen in spring and summer. The former tends to be a showcase for the Galaxy S series of flagship phones, while the latter has in recent years been when we saw Samsung's Z series of foldables, with tablets and wearables scattered across the two. Today, we're expecting only the Galaxy S25 Edge, although who knows? Samsung might have surprises for us.

If you want to see what Samsung showed us in January, here's our article on the company's tasty little tease of the Galaxy S25 Edge that was published during Galaxy Unpacked earlier this year.

Hello everyone and welcome to our liveblog of yet another Samsung Galaxy Unpacked. For those keeping count, this is the second Unpacked of 2025, and we doubt it'll be the last. As the company has already made clear, today's event will be about the Galaxy S25 Edge, which was teased at the Galaxy S25 series launch in January. How excited are you about a very, very, very thin phone?