The Samsung Galaxy S25 Edge is sort of one thing to behold. Whereas it makes the odd compromise to succeed in simply 5.8mm skinny, notably by way of battery capability, it’s nonetheless very a lot a flagship-calibre cellphone. It even packs the identical Snapdragon 8 Elite processor as the remainder of the Galaxy S25 sequence.
Nevertheless, we’ve discovered this yr that Qualcomm’s newest chip is a sizzling little quantity, demanding critical cooling to maintain its peak efficiency past transient bursts. Pair that with the Edge’s slim metallic chassis, and also you’ve acquired a recipe that raises some pink flags. To see if it will probably nonetheless ship what Samsung followers count on, I in contrast the Galaxy S25 Edge towards Samsung’s top-tier fashions and rival flagships in the identical value vary.
The excellent news? There are not any indicators of efficiency throttling or underclocking in on a regular basis use. The Galaxy S25 Edge’s CPU and reminiscence configuration match the remainder of the sequence, delivering ample burst efficiency precisely when wanted. That stated, we did discover the cellphone turned heat even throughout reasonable use. Nonetheless, it breezed by means of CPU-heavy benchmarks like Geekbench 6 and PCMark Work with out breaking a sweat.
Issues take a flip, nevertheless, when simulating prolonged gaming classes or working sustained, demanding workloads. To push it additional, we turned to 3DMark’s Wild Life Stress Assessments, monitoring GPU efficiency over a grueling 20-minute run.
Sadly for the Edge, efficiency dips under the Galaxy S25 Extremely proper out of the gate, and it solely worsens from there. The cellphone shortly falls under the smaller Galaxy S25, making it undoubtedly the worst within the sequence for longer, and even reasonable gaming classes. The efficiency discrepancy varies relying on the timeframe you’re , however at their worst, the Edge is 8.5% slower than the S25 and a substantial 24.8% slower than the Extremely. That’s probably the distinction between clean and uneven body charges in very demanding video games or emulator duties. Not nice for a cellphone that prices $1,100.
On a regular basis efficiency is nice, however the Edge throttles onerous underneath sustained stress.
The wrongdoer right here is evident: thermal throttling. Like each cellphone within the sequence besides the Extremely, the Edge shortly hits Samsung’s self-imposed higher restrict of 40-45°C, triggering an aggressive drop in efficiency. Whereas it doesn’t run hotter on common than its siblings, it pulls again extra aggressively, dropping to only 45% of its peak rating at worst, in comparison with 50% for the Galaxy S25 and 52% for the better-cooled Extremely. That’s extra according to Samsung’s clamshell foldables; final yr’s Galaxy Z Flip 6 managed 47% stability.
So no, sustained efficiency isn’t the Edge’s forte. However let’s zoom out and take into account the larger image.
Regardless of costing considerably much less, the OnePlus 13 demonstrates what the Snapdragon 8 Elite can do with a extra strong cooling setup — it’s a much better choose if efficiency is your prime precedence. As an alternative, the Edge shortly slides towards the identical efficiency because the very reasonably priced Galaxy S24 FE.
That’s to not say the Edge is a complete letdown. Most real-world video games aren’t as punishing as artificial stress assessments, so sustaining a gentle 60fps ought to nonetheless be inside attain with out dialing down too many settings. Even at its worst, the Edge hovers across the efficiency of the equally priced iPhone 16 Professional Max and stays forward of the Pixel 9 Professional XL when underneath heavy load, albeit whereas pumping out far more warmth.
Are the Edge’s efficiency trade-offs definitely worth the slim design?
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You’d in all probability already guessed that the Galaxy S25 Edge was not constructed for efficiency fans — Samsung already has the Extremely for them. But it surely nonetheless delivers greater than sufficient burst efficiency for day-to-day duties. The true problem is {that a} $1,100 cellphone lags behind the $799 Galaxy S25 in stress assessments and may fall to a degree nearer to the $649 S24 FE. It’s a stark reminder of the efficiency limits that ultra-slim designs impose. Maybe most irritating of all, that glossy metallic construct doesn’t simply throttle efficiency, it makes the warmth far more noticeable throughout prolonged use, particularly whereas gaming on the go.
The Samsung Galaxy S25 Edge is clearly designed to show heads, nevertheless it makes loads of sacrifices within the identify of favor. For those who prize type over operate, these tradeoffs may nonetheless be price it. If not, your cash will stretch lots additional elsewhere.
