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The market for ultra-thin and light phones is officially at its tipping point, as Apple threw its hat into the ring this week with the new iPhone Air .
The latest and arguably most innovative iPhone has the company’s thinnest design yet, aiming for a thickness of around 5.6mm. How did the folks in Cupertino achieve such a record? By opting for a smaller battery, fewer cameras, and a few design elements that break the norm, especially by iPhone standards. In other words, it’s a completely different beast.
Also: Everything Apple announced at its September iPhone event
Its closest competitor, the Samsung Galaxy S25 Edge, is another. The S25 Edge follows a similar design philosophy, offering users a beefed-up hardware experience with a few questionable omissions. Which of the two phones should you buy? That’s what I’m here to answer.
Specification
| Highlight | Apple iPhone 11 | Samsung Galaxy S25 edge |
| Starting price | $999 | $1,099 |
| Display size | 6.5. | 6.7. |
| Processor | A19 Pro | Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite |
| Front camera | 18MP center stage, dual capture | 12MP ultrawide |
| Rear cameras | 48MP Fusion Camera | 200MP main, 12MP ultrawide |
| Battery | 2800mAh (estimated) | 3 900mA |
| Storage | 256GB, 512GB, 1TB | 256GB, 512GB |
| Weight | 165 g | 162g |
| Finishing | Sky blue, light gold, cloud white, space black | Titanium icy, jetblack and silver |
You should buy the iPhone Air if…
1. You want a less risky thin phone
What do I mean by that? For starters, the iPhone Air starts at $999, undercutting the S25 edge by $100, so it’s already an investment that should be easier to manage. That money gets you 256GB of internal storage (the same as the Samsung), Apple’s reproducible software update policy that keeps the phone’s features up to date for years, and an iOS experience that’s proven to be reliable for app support and fluidity.
Also: Apple iPhone 17 Pro vs iPhone 16 Pro: Here are the key differences
It goes without saying that if you’re a current iPhone user, the iPhone Air will be the better choice of the two, with benefits like easier data transfer (including those pesky contacts that never got saved properly) and access to a familiar suite of iOS apps like iMessage and FaceTime.
Apple’s retail presence is also much stronger than Samsung’s, with multiple stores centralized in all popular cities in the US (and beyond) to provide smoother service.
2. You’re often outdoors (and want the best view)
Apple says the iPhone Air can reach a peak brightness of 3,000 nits, beating the S25 Edge’s 2,600 nit rating. This simply means the iPhone appears brighter when outdoors or under intense lighting, making the device easier to read, browse, and navigate.
Also: Every iPhone 17 model compared: Should you buy the base model, air, pro, or max?
As far as other display specs go, the iPhone Air rivals the S25 edge squarely, from its 120Hz display to the durability of the glass layering. You could also argue that the iPhone’s smaller 6.5-inch screen size makes it easier to carry and operate with one hand compared to the S25 Edge’s 6.7-inch screen.
You should buy the Samsung Galaxy S25 Edge if…
1. You want a more flexible camera system
While both manufacturers had limited form factors to build cameras around, Samsung offers more creative freedom with the S25 edge. It starts with a 200MP main sensor (compared to the iPhone Air’s 48MP), which delivers high-resolution images when cropped or captured in RAW.
Then you factor in the additional 12MP ultrawide sensor, which stretches the width of the shots you can take. I hope Apple heavily markets the iPhone Air’s “Fusion Camera,” but trust me when I say that no artificial modification will ever beat pure, physical optics.
2. You want a more feature-packed phone
Android phones have always been more feature-rich than the iPhone, and that’s true of the S25 edge. Compared to the iPhone Air, Samsung’s handset has a more extensive AI toolkit, powered by both Galaxy AI and Google’s Twin services. This includes browsing tools like Circle Search, a more extensive image editing suite, system-wide translation capabilities, and more.
The S25 Edge also supports physical SIM cards, while the iPhone Air is eSIM-only regardless of which region you buy the handset from. This is likely a deal-breaker for frequent travelers who insist on using local SIM cards or customers who simply don’t want to digitize their SIM cards.
Also: Finally, the Samsung phone I’m going for, the S25 Ultra, is gone (especially at this price)
For audiophiles, the S25 Edge packs a stereo speaker system compared to the iPhone’s mono audio channel. It’s going to be very difficult for the iPhone to output louder and richer sound than the Galaxy, even if Apple embeds some screen vibration technology to help amplify the audio.
Finally, the S25 edge has a larger 3900mAh battery compared to the iPhone Air’s roughly 2800mAh capacity. However, these numbers won’t tell the full story of durability, so we’ll have to test the iPhone to see exactly how optimized the device is.
