Slim

The new ones Samsung Galaxy S25 mark the beginning of the year in the high-end smartphone range, but they also tell us about the beginning of a new trend: the war to create the thinnest smartphone. Samsung briefly showed us the Galaxy S25 Edge and rumors of a iPhone 17 Air for this fall they are too coincidental to ignore them, in the absence of official confirmation. Both promise to be the thinnest phones ever created by their respective manufacturers. The question is whether we really need thinner phones. History has taught us that The obsession with thinness usually has consequences. The 2014 iPhone 6, with its 6.9 mm, was so thin that it ended up starring in the bendgate. AND the first Galaxy Edgealthough innovative, sacrificed durability for design. The interesting thing about this trend is not so much the technology itself, but the chosen moment. We have been seeing for years how manufacturers have been thickening their devices to include larger batteries, better camera systems and more sensors. Apple went from 7.6 mm on the iPhone 8 to 8.25 mm on the iPhone 16 Pro. Samsung did the same with its Galaxy line. And users never complained about their phones being “too thick”. In any case, it is common to read a fairly recurring request: more battery even at the cost of greater thickness. And although Oppo, Huawei or Vivo have already launched models in this thickness range in the past, they never set a real commercial trend. Apple and Samsung, as leaders, are capable of doing so. The price of thinness is high. According to leaks, the iPhone 17 Air will have a single rear camera instead of two or three, and will sacrifice one of its speakers. Samsung, for its part, has reduced its Galaxy S25 Edge to two cameras. These are important commitments in 2025, when mobile photography defines the high-end. Why now? The answer may be in the folding. Apple has been working on it for years your foldable iPhoneand Samsung already dominates that format, which on the other hand It is far from what the expectations were. six years ago, when the first ones arrived. A foldable phone needs to be as thin as possible when unfolded so as not to be excessively thick when folded. These new ultra-thin models may well be testing grounds for technologies that will end up in future foldables. He Oppo Find N5 points right in that direction: an ultra-thin foldable. There is also a differentiation factor. After years of incremental iterations, both Apple and Samsung need something to make their devices stand out. Extreme thinness, although it may seem like a step backwards, is visually striking. It’s the kind of feature that makes people stop in stores or pause their gaze when they spot a phone like that in someone else’s hand. And that’s something brands crave. But the success of these devices will depend on whether the compromises are worth it. The iPhone mini failed because it occupied a niche that no one had asked for. Or rather, that he did not ask for enough clients. Will it be different with ultrathin ones? Samsung seems to be starting with some caution, limiting the launch of the S25 Edge to select markets. The mobile industry moves in cycles. This wave of ultra-thin devices marks the beginning of another. But this time, the technology could be paving the way to something bigger: the next generation of foldables. Apple and Samsung are betting big. We’ll see if consumers sacrifice functionality for style. The war for the thinnest mobile phone has only just begun. In Xataka | The cameras of the Samsung Galaxy S25, S25+ and S25 Ultra, explained: their best asset is their inspiration in DSLRs Featured image | Xataka