(Credit: Eric Zeman)
CUPERTINO—Apple's latest phone, the iPhone Air, is super thin and light, but we've seen thin-and-light phones before. Just a few months ago, Samsung trotted out its own slim model, the Galaxy S25 Edge. The two phones compete directly for the title of world's thinnest phone. You can see how close in size they are in the photo above. Here's what the measurements say, and what it's like to hold them in person.
Per Apple, the iPhone Air officially measures 6.15 by 2.94 by 0.22 inches (HWD) and weighs 5.82 ounces. Getting phones slimmer than 0.25 inches (6mm) takes some crafty engineering. Apple says it stuffed many of the core components, like the camera stack and processor, in the raised "plateau" at the top of the phone. The company also eliminated the physical SIM card for all models and used the recovered space for more battery capacity.
I measured the iPhone Air's thickness at the camera lens, which sticks out quite a bit from the rest of the body. At that spot, the phone's thickness doubles to 0.45 inches.
In comparison, the Samsung Galaxy S25 Edge officially measures 6.23 by 2.98 by 0.23 inches and weighs 5.75 ounces. That makes the Edge a bit larger than the Air, and a smidge lighter. Samsung relied on similar engineering tricks to trim down the Edge.
I performed the same thickness check of the S25 Edge at the camera bump. Samsung's phone was 0.40 inches thick at the camera lens, or 0.05 inches thinner than Apple's phone.
The official 0.22-inch and 0.23-inch measurements are minimal on paper, but the real-life feel of the phones is dramatically different. The Air has a rounded metal frame that feels smooth and fits comfortably in your hand. Conversely, the Edge has a flat-sided frame that forms right angles with the front and rear glass panels. This makes the Edge feel far larger than the Air when held, despite how close the actual measurements are.
The Edge has a bigger screen—6.7 inches, compared with 6.5 inches on the iPhone Air—and that plays a role here, too. Pricing is also slightly different between the phones: the Edge costs $1,099, while the Air starts at $999.
It's slimmer and less expensive, so does the iPhone Air have an edge over Samsung's Galaxy phone? Using the Air day to day is more enjoyable, thanks to the shape of the phone. It's simply easier to carry and use. However, the S25 Edge has twice the camera zoom range, which may be all some people need to know to pick the Galaxy over the Air.
Want to learn more? See what sets the four iPhone 17 models apart from one another, as well as what separates the iPhone 17 from the iPhone 16, and what we think of the iPhone 17, iPhone 17 Pro, and iPhone 17 Pro Max in our full reviews.