Samsung lastly took the wraps off the Galaxy S25 Edge, debuting the thinnest smartphone the corporate has made so far. It is bought a surprising 6.7-inch AMOLED display, a 200MP essential digital camera on the again alongside a 12MP ultrawide digital camera, Corning Gorilla Armor 2 safety throughout, and the top-notch Snapdragon 8 Elite processing package deal inside for true flagship-tier efficiency.
And whereas it is available in an unbelievably skinny 5.8mm body and the incomparable One UI 7 powering the expertise, it has one main setback that is going to drive most of its customers loopy: a tiny battery and comparatively gradual charging.
You see, whereas Samsung’s software program expertise is actually very good and Galaxy AI is extra feature-rich than another firm’s AI choices proper now, Samsung’s {hardware} workforce remains to be utilizing outdated battery and charging tech. Whereas it might offset this with quicker charging tech, the corporate has proven that it isn’t keen to maintain up with the Joneses on this regard, both.
In the meantime, corporations like Honor and OnePlus are utilizing silicon-carbon batteries of their telephones and have been for years, in Honor’s case. Utilizing a silicon carbon anode permits these corporations to make denser batteries which might be in a position to face up to excessive temperatures, last more, and cost quicker than the common Li-Ion batteries Samsung makes use of.
Utilizing a silicon-carbon anode negates the swelling that would in any other case happen with pure silicon batteries — one thing Samsung by no means desires to have occur after the Galaxy Word 7 — and makes it potential to extend the battery’s density by round 13%. Which means Samsung might have put a 4,400mAh battery contained in the Galaxy S25 Edge if it used silicon carbon, whereas the Li-Ion battery contained in the telephone is just 3,900mAh.
Contemplating most fashionable Android telephones sport batteries between 5,000mAh and 6,000mAh in capability, battery life on the S25 Edge is all however assured to be sub-par. Samsung confirmed to Android Central that the Galaxy S25 Edge’s battery is made from the identical supplies as the remainder of the S25 lineup. To be honest to Samsung, this battery is solely 100mAh smaller than the bottom Galaxy S25, and whereas battery life is not horrible on that telephone, it is not wonderful, both.
A small battery is already a problem, however 25W charging from 2020 makes it even worse.
Samsung might offset the small battery with ultra-fast charging, however the firm would not appear to wish to push that envelope, both. As an alternative, the S25 Edge maxes out at 25W. That is almost 1/3 of what Honor provides on the 4.4mm skinny Honor V3, for instance, which means there isn’t any likelihood to get a fast top-up in case you run out of juice midway by means of the day.
To make a really profitable ultra-thin flagship telephone, an organization has to overcome 4 essential pillars: processing energy and thermals, digital camera high quality, battery life, and charging pace. Samsung appears to have nailed the primary two due to the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite, a thinner and broader warmth chamber, and a 200MP essential digital camera, however I’ve severe doubts concerning the remaining two necessities.
If almost another Android producer made this telephone — Vivo, Xiaomi, Honor, OnePlus, or Motorola — I feel they might have nailed all 4 and known as it a day. However Samsung’s worry of battery know-how and charging speeds is, as soon as once more, hamstringing the potential greatness of its newest flagship, and that is the actual disgrace of all of it.
