Rather a lot has modified because the iPhone 6 collection debuted again in 2014, and a skinny cellphone in the present day does not have to return with the identical compromises that it did a decade in the past. Apple, Google, and Samsung have all launched merchandise over the previous few months that exhibit their skill to make skinny and succesful gadgets on the identical time. If these ideas had been utilized to the smartphone, I would snap up the rumored Samsung Galaxy S25 Slim in a heartbeat.
Skinny and light-weight telephones will assist your arms (and pockets)
The Pixel 9 Professional Fold (left), seventh-generation iPod nano (center), and Pixel 9 (proper). (Picture credit score: Brady Snyder / Android Central)
I’ve spent the previous few months utilizing three impressively skinny gadgets, and so they’ve satisfied me that there is worth in thinness. The Google Pixel 9 Professional Fold is 5.1mm “thick” when unfolded, and the 11-inch M4 iPad Professional is 5.3mm thick. These two merchandise have been my go-to foldable and pill, and their type elements are an enormous purpose why. You do not understand how the heft and thickness of conventional flagship telephones have an effect on the way in which you employ them — till you attempt alternate options.
So, what is the third system? Sarcastically, it is the seventh-generation iPod Nano from 2012, measuring 5.4mm. It was the thinnest system Apple ever made till it was usurped by the M4 iPad Professional this 12 months. I’ve discovered myself utilizing it once more in 2024 as a approach to hearken to music on runs. It has Bluetooth, is extra dependable than a smartwatch for music listening, and is method thinner and lighter than a smartphone. I am unable to bear the considered throwing an iPhone 16 Professional Max or Galaxy S24 Extremely in my pocket, however the iPod Nano is simply wonderful.
That anecdote is exactly why the Samsung Galaxy S25 Slim is interesting. A cellphone between 5mm and 6mm thick could be skinny sufficient to go locations that present flagships cannot. To know why, take into consideration what it is like to carry your cellphone above your face whereas mendacity in mattress. Or, think about how difficult it may be to carry a cellphone, your keys, pockets, or a beverage on the identical time. A skinny (and hopefully lighter ) Galaxy 25 Slim would tackle all of those (admittedly first-world) issues.
I do not want an enormous battery or large digital camera sensors
(Picture credit score: Apoorva Bhardwaj / Android Central)
The aforementioned Pixel 9 Professional Fold and M4 iPad Professional are proof that you do not have to make huge compromises to make a thinner system. The Pixel 9 Professional Fold nonetheless has a Tensor G4 chip and stable battery life, and I might say the identical in regards to the iPad Professional with its desktop-class M4 system-on-a-chip and 10-hour battery life. Outdoors of North America, the brand new Galaxy Z Fold 6 Slim has a 200MP digital camera regardless of being the thinnest Samsung foldable ever.
There may very well be extra compromises with a Galaxy S25 Slim since it will be extra compact than each the Pixel 9 Professional Fold and the M4 iPad Professional. Nevertheless, early indications are that Samsung might need discovered a approach to embody a strong digital camera system in a small bundle. Dependable Samsung leaker IceUniverse on X (previously Twitter) claims that this mannequin has an “Extremely” digital camera , maybe matching the efficiency of the remainder of the Galaxy S25 collection.
Even when there are minor hits to battery life and digital camera high quality, I believe I can dwell with that. My screen-on time is above common, normally about 10 hours day by day. With intermittent charging at my desk, within the automotive, and in a single day, I simply get by way of a full day of utilization. After I cannot, transportable chargers and battery banks fill the hole. Now that quick charging is the norm, perhaps gigantic batteries and lengthy battery life aren’t as essential as they as soon as had been.
As for digital camera high quality, I believe there’s worth in having giant and highly effective digital camera sensors, however it’s not obligatory. Carrying the Ray-Ban Meta good glasses for a 12 months proved that tiny sensors can nonetheless be extraordinarily spectacular.
Use a protecting or fashionable case? You may love skinny telephones much more
(Picture credit score: Brady Snyder / Android Central)
Each time I assessment a smartphone and touch upon the system’s match and end, I am reminded by readers that most individuals won’t ever see it. The overwhelming majority of customers put a case on their cellphone on day one, and that is the most important purpose why I would purchase a skinny cellphone. I sometimes use my telephones caseless as a result of I am not prepared so as to add the additional bulk that comes with utilizing a protecting case. Nevertheless, if the Galaxy S25 Slim shaves a millimeter or two off the cellphone’s thickness, it might profit case customers probably the most.
In that state of affairs, the thickness of a Galaxy S25 Slim with a case put in might match the everyday thickness of an Android cellphone with out a case. You possibly can have the very best of each worlds — the safety and magnificence factors that include utilizing a case whereas retaining the everyday thinness of a caseless cellphone.
This has been the very best factor about day by day driving the M4 iPad Professional and Pixel 9 Professional Fold. The distinction of some millimeters does not influence day by day use a lot when utilizing the gadgets with out a case. The last-generation iPad Professional would most likely be skinny sufficient for most individuals, till they attempt to pair it with a Magic Keyboard. That keyboard case shortly doubles the thickness of the iPad Professional, making it your complete bundle thicker than a MacBook Air.
Nevertheless, pair the M4 iPad Professional with a Magic Keyboard, and your complete bundle feels thinner due to the iPad’s slimmer type issue. The identical goes for the Pixel 9 Professional Fold, which I exploit with the Mous Tremendous Skinny 2.0 case. I did not use the unique Pixel Fold with a case; the foldable cellphone grew to become too thick. I am assured that the Galaxy S25 Slim would convey comparable advantages.
An extended anticipate the skinny cellphone of my desires
Max Jambor at AllAboutSamsung appears assured that the Samsung Galaxy S25 Slim does exist. Nevertheless, it is not going that we’ll see it in January with the remainder of the Galaxy S25 collection. Samsung might observe the same timeline to the Galaxy Z Fold 6 collection, which began with the common Fold 6 in July, with the Fold 6 Slim debuting in October.
When (or if) the Galaxy S25 Slim debuts, I will be able to open up my pockets — offered it is skinny sufficient. The current releases of the M4 iPad Professional, Pixel 9 Professional Fold, and Galaxy Z Fold 6 Slim show that you may make a wonderful system that is impossibly skinny. I am anticipating the Galaxy S25 Slim to make waves in the identical method these three gadgets have already got.
