It ’s often said that Apple does n’t do things first ; it does them right . But not everything can be done right . And my fear is that the demerit of theSamsung Galaxy S25 Edge , which launch this workweek a good four month before the iPhone 17 Air , are innate to this type of twist rather than something that can be fix .
There are obviously positive points to this pattern constituent , which is why Samsung and Apple are both go down the sub-6 mm route . As well as being just 5.8 millimetre thickheaded , the S25 Edge weigh 163 thousand , which is amazingly light for a phone with a 6.7 - in display and actually lighter than each of Apple ’s current 6.1 - column inch handsets . I have n’t hold one , butby all accounts , the Edge ’s lack of heft is strikingly noticeable in the hand , and I can see why that ingathering … it just does n’t invoke to me .
If you offer up to make my 3.5 - pound MacBook Pro lighter , I ’d jump at the chance . Less weightiness in the haversack when I take it to the office would be a welcome acclivity . Same for myiPad Air(460 g ) andAirPods Max(386 g , plus another 135 g for the stupid case ) . But weight simply is n’t a botheration decimal point for my iPhone 16 Plus ( 6.7 column inch , 199 constant of gravitation ) . And I ’d go further and say that I would actively dislike it being made any light .
Ever notice that a lawn tennis egg is more unmanageable to catch than something hard and laborious , like a baseball or cricket ball ? It ’s because weight makes an physical object sink into your helping hand and stay there , while light aim need to be actively gripped . A 199 g headphone , plus case , sit nicely in my hand . A phone that ’s 163 gramme ( which likely is n’t cased because you want to show off the innovative slimline conception ) is far more likely to be dropped , especially if it ’s almost entirely made of fluent looking glass . And then , enhanced crack protection or no enhance crack protection , you ’re risking disaster .
What does this dubitable gift of lightness cost us ? Plenty . The S25 Edge descend with three main via media : lower battery capacity ( 1000mAh less than the S25 + with significantly slower charging ) , a weaker camera organisation ( no telephotograph lens , hence worse rapid climb ) , and a high price . Phone cameras have debatably reached a phase of evolution where any one of them is as good as almost anyone postulate , but price and battery life are , unlike weight , active infliction points . I encounter it bewilder that someone would willingly pay more for a sound that lasts less time strictly for the sake of make it slender .
It ’s not like this is a particularly attractive design , either . It ’s just the same old glowing rectangle , camera lenses arrayed vertically on the back in the usual Galaxy style , pinhole camera cutout on the front . And because of the design obstacle that is the USB - blow port ( if only there was some way toget free of that … ) , the bottom edge await wonky , with the port sit down nigher to the rear of the human body than the front . It ’s just not a design that has anything to commend it other than being slight .
Anyron Copeman / Foundry
All of these compromises — and more — are wait to afflict the iPhone 17 line . Apple ’s radical - thin French telephone will reportedly have just one rear camera , a mellow price than the iPhone 16 Plus , and battery life so bad that it willsell an accessoryjust so users can get through the daytime . concede , masses who have held pinhead have come awayvery impressedwith the design , but remember , these are n’t working models . First impressions are one thing ; actually using it after the wow divisor wears off is another .
A uncouth argument in favor of major change is to say that you ’ll feel differently once you ’ve had a prospect to get used to it . And until now Apple watcher have been holding out Leslie Townes Hope that the iPhone 17 Air would pull off a like trick , that while it seemsimpractical in hypothesis , we ’ll fall in love with the target once it ’s in our hands , once we ’ve drop some fourth dimension with it and grow accustomed to its benefit . That ’s why rival product are so important for our understanding of the 17 Air . They give reviewers a chance to actually experience the realness of a sub-6 mm smartphone .
The launch of the S25 Edge , then , has been an interesting exercise for Apple sports fan . But if this is what ’s in store for the iPhone 17 Air in the descent , I feel less affirmative than ever . Not for me , thanks .
