9 Cons of Galaxy S25 Edge (Review 2025)

Samsung’s Galaxy S25 Edge is an undeniably sleek piece of hardware. It’s ultra-thin, incredibly light, and polished to near perfection, at least on the surface. Marketed as the most elegant member of the S25 family, it has garnered attention for its design-forward approach. At first glance, it appears to be a cutting-edge flagship device meant to balance power and portability.

But once you move past the looks, the cracks begin to show.

Despite its $1,100 price tag (or £1,099 in the UK), the Galaxy S25 Edge makes a number of compromises that feel hard to justify, especially in a year when phone hardware is more competitive than ever. Below, we’ll take a detailed look at where the S25 Edge falls short, category by category, and why many consumers and reviewers are starting to feel like this is more form than function.

Battery Life: The Biggest Compromise

The most glaring weakness of the Galaxy S25 Edge is its battery life. And that’s not an exaggeration, it’s the Achilles’ heel of this device.

Samsung fitted this phone with a modest 3,900 mAh battery. That’s notably smaller than the 4,900 mAh cell in the regular S25 Plus and dramatically lower than the 5,000 mAh powerhouse in the S25 Ultra. While the company likely made this decision to maintain the slim profile of the Edge, the result is predictably poor stamina.

Real-world usage puts the screen-on time at around 4.5 to 5 hours. For comparison, most flagship phones today comfortably exceed 6 hours, with some pushing past 7. If you’re a moderate-to-heavy user, expect to see the dreaded 10% warning before dinner time.

Making things worse, the S25 Edge doesn’t benefit from the newer silicon-carbon battery tech that’s making its way into other premium devices. This type of battery tech can store more energy in the same space, meaning Samsung had options, but chose not to use them here.

Charging is another disappointment. With only 25W wired charging, you’re looking at a slower top-up time than the S25 Ultra, which supports up to 45W. In an emergency, every minute counts, and this slower charging speed doesn’t help the Edge’s case as a premium device.

While some users shrug it off, saying they’re around chargers all day anyway, many others rightly see battery life as a non-negotiable. It’s 2025, and a $1,100 phone shouldn’t require battery anxiety by lunchtime.

Camera Downgrades: Premium Phone, Mid-Tier Experience

At this price point, users expect a camera system that can compete with the best. Unfortunately, the Galaxy S25 Edge stumbles here, too.

It skips the telephoto lens entirely. That means no optical zoom. You’re left with digital cropping, fine for casual 2x shots, but forget about anything further. Compared to the S25 Ultra’s periscope lens and versatile zoom, this feels like a deliberate and painful omission.

Even the ultrawide camera has been stripped back. The Edge uses a 12MP sensor, a downgrade from the Ultra’s sharp 50MP ultrawide lens. While you can still take decent landscape or macro shots, details get soft, and dynamic range takes a hit, especially in challenging lighting.

Oddly enough, even the main sensor, technically the same 200MP unit as the Ultra, may be underperforming. Some users and testers report that images look “slightly softer,” potentially due to the redesigned, flattened lens structure. That design may have shaved millimeters off the phone’s thickness, but it seems to have also taken a toll on clarity.

In low-light conditions, the difference becomes even more apparent. Night photos lack the pop, noise control, and depth that the Ultra delivers. For mobile photographers, this phone simply doesn’t compete at the top tier.

Thermal Performance: Thin Body, Hot Problems

The Edge’s svelte profile doesn’t leave much room for cooling. Even though it technically includes a vapor chamber for heat management, the reduced internal volume limits its effectiveness.

During gaming sessions or when using intensive AI features, the S25 Edge gets noticeably warm, more so than its thicker siblings. Thermal throttling is a real issue, particularly in extended use cases. If you’re editing 4K video, using AI-driven photo processing, or even playing graphically demanding games like Genshin Impact, expect performance drops and increased heat.

Samsung’s own “light mode” setting, which limits peak performance to extend battery life and reduce heat, only highlights the problem. You’re essentially encouraged to tone down your usage so the phone doesn’t overheat. That’s a strange expectation for a $1,100 flagship.

The takeaway: the S25 Edge sacrifices sustained performance for design. And if your usage habits include anything beyond light social media and messaging, you’ll feel those limitations quickly.

Audio Quality: A Flat Note in a Premium Device

While smartphone audio isn’t usually a headline feature, it still matters, especially on high-end devices where media consumption is common.

Unfortunately, the S25 Edge doesn’t deliver. Its stereo speakers are tuned on the dull side, lacking bass response and overall volume compared to rivals. The iPhone 15 Pro and the Galaxy S25 Ultra both provide richer, louder, and more spatial sound.

For video calls, podcast playback, or YouTube videos, the Edge is passable. But when you fire up music or a Netflix binge, the limitations become obvious. If you use your phone as your primary media device, this is one corner you’ll wish Samsung hadn’t cut.

Display: Gorgeous, But Missing a Key Detail

The 6.6-inch AMOLED screen on the S25 Edge is sharp, bright, and smooth, but it’s not perfect.

One subtle but significant omission is the lack of an anti-reflective coating. This might sound minor, but for users coming from the S25 Ultra, or even some competing flagship devices, it’s immediately noticeable. In bright daylight or under direct lighting, reflections and glare can be distracting, requiring you to crank up the brightness just to see the screen clearly.

The Edge display is still good. But in a year where competition is fierce and attention to detail matters, “good” isn’t quite enough.

Design and Durability: Looks Great, Wobbles Hard

Let’s talk about that design. Yes, it’s beautiful. Yes, it’s thin. But those choices come with hidden costs.

The most annoying? The camera bump. It’s massive. When you set the phone down on a table, it wobbles like a seesaw. Unless you use a case, which many do, the experience of using it flat on a surface is awkward and distracting.

Speaking of cases, here’s another catch: putting one on negates much of the thin-and-light appeal. With a protective case (and you’ll want one, given the phone’s delicate build), it’s suddenly not that much thinner than a cased S25 Plus. So what exactly are you paying for?

Despite its Gorilla Glass Ceramic 2 front and titanium frame, the S25 Edge still feels more fragile than it should. That’s the paradox: a phone designed to feel elegant ends up feeling too delicate for daily life.

Price vs. Value: A Tough Sell

At $1,100, the Galaxy S25 Edge is anything but cheap. And here’s the issue: it doesn’t feel like you’re getting your money’s worth.

The S25 Ultra, which comes with better cameras, better cooling, better speakers, a bigger battery, and an S Pen, can often be found for the same price or just $100–150 more. In some regions, especially outside the U.S., pricing parity makes the Edge a harder sell. Why choose the stripped-down model for essentially the same money?

Even the S25 Plus, which comes in at a lower price point, offers better battery life and arguably a more balanced experience.

If this phone had launched at $899, maybe it would’ve been easier to recommend. But at $1,100, you’re paying for thinness and aesthetics, and sacrificing essentials that impact daily use.

Missing Features: S Pen and Beyond

The Galaxy S25 Edge doesn’t support the S Pen. While not everyone needs stylus functionality, it’s worth noting that this once “niche” tool has become a major selling point for Samsung’s Ultra line. Artists, note-takers, and productivity-minded users will miss it.

Other missing features are less obvious but add up: reduced thermal headroom, weaker camera setup, slower charging, and no ultra-premium display coating. All of these omissions collectively make the Edge feel like a design-first product rather than a performance-driven one.

The Case Conundrum: Design Goals Undermined

One final irony of the S25 Edge is this: most people put a case on their phone.

Samsung’s entire pitch for this device rests on it being thin and light. But once you slap on a standard protective case, the Edge becomes just another slab, slightly slimmer than its siblings, sure, but no longer strikingly so.

So you’re still dealing with shorter battery life, weaker cameras, and reduced cooling, for a visual aesthetic that disappears the moment you try to protect your investment.

It’s a contradiction that many users are rightfully calling out. Why buy a phone for how it looks and feels, only to immediately cover it up?

Final Verdict: Who Is the Galaxy S25 Edge For?

The Galaxy S25 Edge is a luxury product disguised as a practical one. It’s undeniably attractive, and for users who prize sleek design above all else, it might make sense. But if your priorities include battery life, camera quality, performance, or value, the Edge doesn’t hold up.

In the end, it’s a phone built on compromise, and not the kind that benefits the user. At $1,100, it feels more like a fashion statement than a flagship. And while there’s a place for that in the market, most buyers would be better served elsewhere.

Nevertheless, if you’ve weighed all these drawbacks. Still wish to go with the purchase, congratulations! You’re making a considered decision that you won’t regret.