Think back to January 2026 Unpacked and one moment stands out above all others: the big Samsung Galaxy S25 Edge tease. The ultra-thin and light S25 Edge arrived alongside its Galaxy S25 smartphone siblings, but it was still in development.
We could see the 5.8mm thick phone but not touch it. It would take another five months for the Galaxy S25 Edge to get into our and consumers’ hands. It was the thinnest Galaxy phone ever until just a few months later we met the insanely slim Galaxy Z Fold 7 (just 4.2mm thick when unfolded).
The Galaxy S25 Edge is more important than you think
“It’s still in the portfolio today,” Samsung SVP of Mobile Product Management Drew Blackard told me this week when I asked about the “missing” Edge product.
“We’re not like ‘end of the life’ of the product, we’re still selling out… with all our major partners, etc.,” Blackard added.
Indeed, it can be argued that the S25 Edge played a central role in the new S26 range. First of all, there is now a fairly consistent, familiar design language across the three Android 16 phones, reminiscent of the Edge. What’s more, this is the thinnest Ultra ever; now down to 7.9mm, despite still including the S-Pen.
Blackard agreed with my assessment, “It’s definitely influenced, I would say, in the design – and you saw it yourself on the Fold 7 last year – to really push the boundaries of what’s possible in terms of slimness. It was a really big step forward for us that we were then able to bring into the Fold 7, and to your point, that influence I think on the S series this year with an even slimmer S26 shape.”
It’s certainly influenced, I would say, in design…to really push the boundaries of what’s possible in terms of slimness.
Samsung’s Drew Blackard
It’s not just the influence though. Blackard encouraged me to think about product cadence. “[The Samsung Galaxy S25 Edge] hasn’t even really lived a full life cycle in Samsung terms,” he told me. Which is true.
A January 2025 tease, May release, and we’re only in February. Samsung is unlikely to release a product update less than a year after shipping the original S25 Edge.
That said, there is still something, well, uncertain about the way Blackard characterized when we will see another Edge.
“We’re still determining what the right life cycle length is for a product like that. So we don’t have any updates on what might get there.”
This is not to say that the future is generally uncertain. Thin phones are still for Samsung, and Blackard made it clear that Samsung is simply considering the next slim steps. “It’s still a category we’re really interested in and we’re just figuring out what the right time for the next one might be.”
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