Anyone with even the slightest interest in smartphones probably knows what this article is about. Yes, it’s the Galaxy S25 Edge, Samsung’s first ultra-slim flagship phone that the company believes has a target audience, even if that target audience may not be large enough to make it a mainstream success.

The Galaxy S25 Edge is, for the most part, an amazing achievement. The design is a marvel, and it’s genuinely impressive how thin Samsung has made it while still packing it with various top-tier features, including the fastest Snapdragon chip currently available.

The Galaxy S25 Edge also has a titanium frame and Corning’s new Gorilla Glass Ceramic 2 for enhanced durability, and in our experience, the phone is solidly built and feels quite strong and resilient.

Sadly, our experience also involves battery life that is frustratingly mediocre. Whether it’s the smallest Galaxy S flagship or an Ultra model, Samsung’s flagship phones in recent years have delivered excellent battery performance, but the Galaxy S25 Edge breaks that trend.

Four members of the SamMobile team, located in Germany, the Netherlands, Australia, and India, are testing the Galaxy S25 Edge. Only one of us has battery life that you would call acceptable. While Samsung is touting all-day battery life, we’ve been charging the phone halfway through the day to make sure that if we decide to head out, the battery won’t die out.

What’s worse is that the battery drain is noticeable even during minimal use. Idle power consumption is unusually high. We frequently recorded screen-on times of just around three hours on a full charge. From what we can gather, the custom vapor chamber is doing an excellent job of keeping the Snapdragon 8 Elite chipset cool. But, because of the thin design, the heat is being transferred to the battery, which is running hotter as a result.

For a phone that costs €1,249, this kind of battery life feels downright criminal. Yes, the slim form factor is impressive, and this is a first-generation product. But in 2025, a phone that keeps you tethered to the wall or a power bank just shouldn't exist. Some people won't mind the average battery life, and perhaps the units we are testing will get better with time by learning our usage patterns.

Out of the box, however, the Galaxy S25 Edge's weak endurance has left a sour taste in our mouth. It's especially disheartening because in pretty much all other aspects, this phone's as good as any other flagship from Samsung. The lack of a zoom camera is forgivable, but the unreliable battery life is not, and we sincerely hope Samsung has a software update or two in the pipeline to address the issue.