Samsung Galaxy S25 Edge vs Galaxy S25 Ultra: Which should you buy?

Samsung’s 2025 flagship range comes in all different shapes and sizes, but how does the top-end Galaxy S25 Ultra compare to the company’s ultra-thin Galaxy S25 Edge in everyday use?

On the one hand, the S25 Edge is an impressive feat of engineering that pushes the limits of how thin a smartphone can be without compromising the overall experience – even if it isn’t quite as thin as Apple’s competing iPhone Air.

On the other hand, the S25 Ultra continues to offer the very best smartphone tech that Samsung has to offer, from a vast, pixel-packed screen to a versatile camera setup, solid performance and great battery life, albeit in a much larger, thicker package.

The question is, which should you spend your hard-earned cash on? We’ve spent plenty of time with the Samsung Galaxy S25 Edge and Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra, and here’s how the two flagship phones compare in real-world use. 

Pricing & availability

The Samsung Galaxy S25 Edge is more affordable than the S25 Ultra, but it’s still a very premium device with an RRP at £1099/$1099 with 256GB of storage, or £1199/$1219 for 512GB. That said, the phone released in May 2025, and as such, is now available at a discount – just £819 at the time of writing.

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It’s a similar story with the Galaxy S25 Ultra. It has an RRP of £1249/$1299 for the 256GB model, £1349/$1419 for the 512GB model and £1549/$1659 for the top-end 1TB model, but as it was released back in January 2025, we’ve seen various price cuts, bringing the phone down to as little as £900 at the time of writing.

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Design

Design is, of course, where the Galaxy S25 Edge shines. 

At an impressive 5.8mm thick and 163g, the phone is significantly thinner and lighter than almost any flagship – especially those with a matching 6.7-inch screen – and is bested only by Apple’s iPhone Air.

Like Apple’s ultrathin alternative, it doesn’t just look different though, it feels different. Using it one-handed is a pleasure, despite its large screen, and slipping it into a pocket reveals a notable lack of heft. 

Despite the ultra-slim profile on offer, the S25 Edge is made from premium materials, including a titanium frame and Gorilla Glass Ceramic 2 screen protection. It even manages to include full IP68 dust and water resistance, matching that of the S25 Ultra.

Speaking of, the Galaxy S25 Ultra leans into the more conventional – but still premium – look and feel with its regular candybar design. 

That said, it’s a big year for the S25 Ultra, with its design finally brought in line with the rest of the Galaxy S25 family with flat edges and rounded corners. Some might miss the distinctiveness of the older Ultra models with their rounded edges and sharp angular corners, but the flatter sides make it easier to grip, and it remains a polished and well-constructed bit of kit made from titanium. 

While undoubtedly thicker and heavier than the S25 Edge at 8.2mm and 218g, it still doesn’t feel cumbersome in the hand, and the slightly reduced height and width compared to the S24 Ultra improves comfort too. 

Winner: Samsung Galaxy S25 Edge

Screen

Both the S25 Edge and S25 Ultra come equipped with Samsung’s best display tech, and neither disappoints as a result.

The Galaxy S25 Edge sports a suitably high-end 6.7-inch QHD+ AMOLED panel with an LTPO-enabled 120Hz refresh rate and a high 2600nit brightness that makes content look superb in any lighting. 

Colours are punchy and contrast is excellent as you might expect from an AMOLED screen, with Samsung’s new ProScaler tech upscaling lower-res content for the high-res panel. It looks fantastic as a result, but the high pixel count comes at the cost of battery life, so you may well end up dropping it down to a lower-res FHD+ resolution. 

The Ultra shares the same fundamentals as the S25 Edge, but improves in key areas. The larger 6.9-inch QHD+ panel has even slimmer bezels and a unique anti-reflective coating that significantly cuts down glare. It’s essentially just as vivid and bright as the Edge, but benefits from a larger canvas and marginally better outdoor visibility. 

It’s the near-bezeless design that gives it that undeniably premium feel, with a more immersive gaming and video-watching experience as a result. If display quality is your top priority, the Ultra has the edge – and yes, that pun was intended. 

Winner: Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra

Cameras

If you were to compare the two phones on paper, you’d see a massive gap in camera hardware, but the real-world results are closer than you might expect.

The S25 Edge sports a 200MP main sensor – the same as the S25 Ultra, albeit with an 80% slimmer sensor – and a 12MP ultrawide, dropping the 3x telephoto present on the rest of the S25 range due to size constraints. 

While that sounds like a serious compromise, we found the digital zoom capabilities up to the 10x mark to be surprisingly good.

In regular lighting, the main sensor produces sharp, vibrant images. Low-light performance does drop off, especially compared to the Ultra, but the main and ultrawide combination covers most everyday photography needs. How many times have you really zoomed beyond the 10x mark anyway?

That said, the S25 Ultra offers a much more versatile camera setup for those who prioritise photography over all else. 

It has a 200MP main camera with a larger sensor to capture more light and detail, along with a higher-res 50MP ultrawide and two zoom lenses – a 10MP 3x telephoto and 50MP 5x periscope. This gives it a much wider zoom range of up to 100x if you utilise the digital zoom, with fantastic results beyond the 10x mark. Photos retain detail and contrast at levels of zoom where other phones begin to introduce artefacting. 

The upgraded 50MP ultrawide is also surprisingly capable in low light, thanks to its improved pixel binning capabilities. It also supports Galaxy Log video capture for advanced colour grading, though this is very much a niche feature for content creators. 

Winner: Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra

Performance

Both the S25 Edge and S25 Ultra come with the custom Snapdragon 8 Elite for Galaxy chipset, and in general use, both feel as fast and fluid as you’d expect. Apps open quickly, multitasking is snappy and gaming performance is solid. The S25 Edge, however, has a big drawback: heat generation.

Almost undoubtedly due to its ultra-thin chassis, the phone struggles to stay cool. The phone warms up during fairly typical usage, and that becomes much more obvious during gaming when it starts to throttle performance to reduce internal temperatures – even during less demanding 2D-style games. 

The S25 Ultra avoids those problems with a larger vapour chamber and more internal space for heat dissipation. It also comes with higher RAM configurations of up to 16GB and storage up to 1TB for those who want maximum futureproofing, compared to the Edge’s single option of 12GB and 512GB. 

Unless you’re pushing the phone with extended gaming sessions or heavy multitasking, you might not notice a difference in day-to-day performance – but in demanding tasks, the Ultra is certainly more consistent. 

Winner: Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra

Software & AI

Both phones ran OneUI 7 based on Android 15 out of the box before getting the upgrade to OneUI 8 based on Android 16 in September – so it’s safe to say that the software experience is consistent among the two flagships. 

Galaxy AI-powered features include live transcription, summarisation tools, and Now Brief, a feature that Samsung claims will give you contextual updates on your day. However, in practice, we found these tools to be just mildly useful; the Now Bar, for example, felt underwhelming unless paired with a Galaxy Watch. 

AI features aside, the UI is one of the best around, with a new lick of paint for this year’s update. New animations, a split quick settings panel and improved multitasking tools make it feel fresh and responsive.

Samsung has also promised seven years of OS and security updates for both phones, which is a big win for long-term value. 

Winner: Tie

Battery life

Battery life is, without a doubt, where the S25 Edge falters. 

The 3,900mAh cell isn’t up to the task of powering a large 6.7-inch QHD+ panel and a flagship chipset, especially when said chipset is pushed to its limits when gaming. We struggled to get through a full day on a single charge, and switching the resolution to FHD+ was necessary to boost battery life. 

The Edge also charges more slowly than the S25 Ultra at 25W, and takes over an hour to fully recharge. It would’ve been nice to have faster charging to negate the battery life issues, but that’s not the case.

The Galaxy S25 Ultra utilises the same 5000mAh cell as its predecessor, but manages to extend its battery life slightly further thanks to the efficiency of the Snapdragon 8 Elite. It routinely finished days with 20-3% after typical use. Charging, though the same 45W as the S24 Ultra, is more efficient, hitting 70% charge in half an hour.

There’s also wireless charging on offer, sporting the new Qi 2.1 wireless standard, though the benefits are minimal; you’ll still need to get a case with magnets to use MagSafe-esque accessories. 

Winner: Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra

Final thoughts

The Galaxy S25 Edge is a stunningly thin and light phone, though it has a very specific appeal. If you care about design above all else, and you’re willing to compromise on elements like battery life and camera flexibility, it’s a uniquely compelling choice.

But, if you want the best all-round experience – from display quality and camera performance to performance and battery life – the Galaxy S25 Ultra is the clear winner here. It might not be the most exciting upgrade for existing Ultra owners, but as a flagship in 2025, it remains one of the best phones around.