Picture: Samsung
Samsung’s slimmed down flagship smartphone is now available in the country as it seeks to get ahead of rival Apple on the premium market.
While weighing around the same as the Samsung Galaxy S25, the Edge includes more premium features.
TM Roh, President and Acting Head of the Device eXperience (DX) Division at Samsung Electronics said the S25 Edge is more than a slim smartphone.
“S25 Edge not only marks a breakthrough for its category, but it also accelerates important innovation across the mobile industry.”
Thinness
Analysts say the launch of the S25 Edge was strategically timed to pre-empt Apple, which is expected to launch a thinner iPhone this week.
The iPhone 17 lineup is expected to be unveiled on 9 September, with the much-rumoured iPhone 17 Air like its name is rumoured to be a thinner device that the current iPhone 16 lineup.
The question is whether slimness is really what the people want. Perhaps, as smartphones started with the massive Nokia and Motorola bricks and slimmed down after a few years.
But they have bulked up recently with bigger batteries and screens and are considerably heavier.
Competition
Starting at R24 999, the model has a 6.7-inch (170 mm) screen and a 5.8 millimetre-thick body, making it larger than the basic S25 model but only fractionally heavier.
At that price, users could get Huawei’s Pura 80 Pro or even the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 7. However, a lot of couch searching will be required to find the extra R20 000 for the foldable device.
The S25 Edge has Samsung’s latest built-in AI functions, including multimodal AI that allows users to interact with the device in real time through vision and voice, using the camera to ask questions.
It occupies a niche in the high-end smartphone market, targeting users who want a sleek, large-screen phone above all else.
However, this positioning puts it in direct competition with other flagship devices that offer more balanced performance or superior features in specific areas.
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