Apple’s answer to Samsung’s ultra-thin flagship is here in the form of the aptly-named iPhone Air – but how exactly does it compare to the Galaxy S25 Edge?
It’s clear to see that these smartphones are both impressive feats of engineering, offering a much slimmer and lighter build than any other flagship phone on the market in 2025 – but there are subtle differences between the two that might sway your buying decision one way or the other.
While we’ve not yet gone hands-on with Apple’s ultra-thin phone, here’s how the iPhone Air compares to the Samsung Galaxy S25 Edge on paper, with a full in-depth comparison on the way once we’ve spent some time with the Air.
If you’re curious how Apple’s new flagship compares to other phones in Apple’s collection, take a look at iPhone Air vs iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone Air vs iPhone 17.
Spec comparison
| iPhone Air | Samsung Galaxy S25 Edge | |
| Dimensions | 156.2 x 74.7 x 5.6mm | 158.2 x 75.6 x 5.8mm |
| Weight | 165g | 163g |
| Screen size | 6.5-inch | 6.7-inch |
| Refresh rate | 120Hz | 120Hz |
| Material | Titanium | Titanium |
| Processor | Apple A19 Pro | Snapdragon 8 Elite for Galaxy |
| Rear cameras | 48MP | 200MP + 12MP |
| Selfie camera | 18MP | 12MP |
| Wired charge speed | 20W | 25W |
| MagSafe charge speed | 20W | N/A |
| Battery capacity | 3149mAh | 3900mAh |
Pricing and availability
The iPhone Air sits smack bang in the middle of Apple’s new iPhone 17 collection in terms of pricing, coming in at £999/$999 with 256GB of storage. It’s set to go up for pre-order on 12 September ahead of full release a week later on 19 September.
The Samsung Galaxy S25 Edge was released back in May and retails for £1099/$1099 with 256GB of storage. However, as it’s now a few months old, it’s possible to find it for a slightly lower price than its RRP suggests. It’s on sale at Samsung itself for £899 in the UK at the time of writing, for example.
The iPhone Air is thinner, but the Samsung Galaxy S25 Edge is lighter
Both the iPhone Air and Galaxy S25 Edge are designed with one thing in mind: being as thin as possible.
As such, both phones are feats of engineering with impossibly slim frames compared to most regular flagships with similar specs – but the iPhone Air manages to push past the S25 Edge at 5.6mm compared to Galaxy’s 5.8mm. That doesn’t sound like much on paper, but it should make a difference when holding them in the hand – especially with the Air’s slightly curved edges.
That said, Samsung manages to take the win in the weight department at 163g vs the iPhone’s 165g despite offering the larger screen of the two – but more on that in a bit.
Elsewhere, the two phones are surprisingly durable; the S25 Edge features Gorilla Glass Ceramic 2 screen protection, while the iPhone Air has a proprietary Ceramic Shield 2 coating. Both also offer a titanium frame and IP68 dust and water resistance. However, Apple’s iPhone is rated to survive in up to 6m of water, while the S25 Edge will falter at anything past 1.5 meters.
The Samsung Galaxy S25 Edge has a bigger screen
As mentioned, the Samsung Galaxy S25 Edge takes a win in the display department with its larger 6.7-inch AMOLED screen compared to the iPhone Air’s 6.5-inch alternative. It’s not just bigger though; it also offers a slightly higher resolution that provides an impressive 512ppi pixel density compared to the iPhone’s 460ppi.
Some specs are similar, however; the iPhone Air and Galaxy S25 Edge both offer an LTPO-enabled 120Hz refresh rate for a smoother, more responsive experience, and both get plenty bright – though the iPhone Air pips the S25 Edge to the punch at 3000nits compared to 2600nits.
The iPhone Air’s real edge comes in its coating; like other phones in the iPhone 17 collection, it features a seven-layer anti-reflective coating that Apple claims will negate reflections and glare, even outdoors.
Samsung does have similar technology, but unfortunately for the S25 Edge, it’s exclusive to Samsung’s top-end Galaxy S25 Ultra.
The S25 Edge has more lenses, but the iPhone Air’s selfie camera stands out
The iPhone Air and Galaxy S25 Edge are flagships in most regards, but the same can’t quite be said of the camera hardware. It’s one of the problems with ultra-thin chassis; there simply isn’t enough space for high-end camera technology – especially zoom lenses, which require a certain amount of physical space to operate.
As such, the iPhone Air only has a single 48MP ‘Fusion’ camera on the rear. It’s a decently specced shooter with OIS, a 1/1.56-inch sensor, and a wide f/1.9 aperture. Additionally, it can deliver 24MP 2x zoom shots, thanks to its high megapixel count – but you won’t find an ultrawide or dedicated zoom lens.
The Samsung Galaxy S25 Edge offers a slight improvement. The Android competitor comes with a slimmed-down version of the 200MP sensor present on the top-end Galaxy S25 Ultra – one of our favourite cameras of 2025 – with equally impressive specs including a large 1/1.3-inch sensor, OIS and f/2.2.
Where the S25 Edge stands out is with the inclusion of a secondary 12MP ultrawide lens. It’s not the flashiest lens by any means, but it means you’ve got more options than when shooting on an iPhone. The S25 Edge’s higher-resolution sensor also enables it to deliver greater levels of digital zoom than 2x without compromising image quality.
However, while the S25 Edge sports a relatively standard 12MP selfie snapper, Apple’s alternative is anything but regular.
The new 18MP sensor not only features Apple’s Centre Stage tech to keep you centred in the shot, but with a larger, square-shaped camera sensor, it can take both landscape and portrait selfies without rotating the phone. It’ll also automatically expand the field and even switch from portrait to landscape for group shots.
The Samsung Galaxy S25 Edge has a bigger battery and faster charging
With such thin frames, it should come as no surprise that neither phone can pack the large-capacity cells of thicker smartphones. In fact, battery life was easily the weakest area of the Galaxy S25 Edge experience when we reviewed it earlier this year, with the phone struggling to last through the day without a midday top-up.
That said, it appears that the Galaxy S25 Edge has the larger battery of the two phones, boasting a 3900mAh cell compared to the iPhone Air’s 3149mAh alternative.
However, the Air’s cell isn’t that much smaller than the 3561mAh cell of last year’s iPhone 16, and that phone managed to last all day without much problem, so there is the potential for Apple’s iPhone Air to outperform the S25 Edge in everyday use. Apple does have a long track record of making its flagship phones last longer with smaller batteries, after all.
When it comes to charging, Samsung ekes out a win with 25W charging compared to the iPhone Air’s 20W alternative – but Apple claims that it can deliver 50% charge in 30 minutes, so neither is exactly slow to charge.
Both offer flagship-level power
Apple’s iPhone Air, despite not being pro-branded, sports the same Apple A19 Pro chipset as the iPhone 17 Pro – well, mostly anyway. It’s actually slightly underclocked, with one fewer GPU core than the ‘true’ A19 Pro, but even without that extra core, the phone should still perform well in both benchmark testing and real-world use.
Apple was the benchmark leader in chipset performance until the launch of Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 8 Elite in late 2024 after all, and we’re yet to benchmark the A19 Pro to see just how well the new chipset performs.
That said, the Samsung Galaxy S25 Edge sports the top-end custom Snapdragon 8 Elite for Galaxy with slightly higher clock speeds than the regular 8 Elite, and that delivers strong everyday performance.
The bigger problem is heat generation; the S25 Edge can get pretty hot when playing games, and this throttles performance. We’re expecting similar from the iPhone Air, given titanium’s poor thermal capabilities and the fact that, unlike the Pro models, the Air doesn’t feature a dedicated vapour chamber cooling system.
Either way, both phones should provide a top-tier experience – we’ll just have to wait and see which performs better in benchmark testing.
Early thoughts
Both the iPhone Air and Samsung Galaxy S25 Edge are impressive feats of engineering, offering builds that are orders of magnitude lighter and thinner than the flagship smartphone competition – but there are apparent compromises, especially in terms of camera performance and potentially battery life as well.
That all said, it’ll likely come down to whether you prefer iOS or Android. The good news is that, whatever your preference, there’s an ultra-thin flagship available to you. We’ll reserve our final judgement for once we’ve spent some time with the iPhone Air, however, so check back soon for our complete verdict.
