Motorola Edge 2025 vs. Samsung Galaxy S25: Which should you buy?

Comparing Motorola Edge 2025 vs. Samsung Galaxy S25 can seem a bit odd, since the former is a mid-ranger and the latter is a flagship. As such, these two smartphones are aimed at very different market segments and don't share much in common, be it hardware, software, or price. However, both are well-rounded products that pack tremendous value for money.

The Samsung Galaxy S25 offers everything you'd expect from a top-tier flagship, including powerhouse internals, fabulous AI-powered features, and a compact form factor. On the other hand, the Motorola Edge 2025 is a balanced mid-ranger that comes with a durable design, great battery life, and solid cameras. That's all well and good, but which of these two devices is better suited for your requirements?

Find out, as we see how Motorola Edge 2025 vs. Samsung Galaxy S25 stack up against each other.

Motorola Edge 2025 vs. Samsung Galaxy S25: Design, display, and hardware

Why you can trust Android Central Our expert reviewers spend hours testing and comparing products and services so you can choose the best for you. Find out more about how we test.

Over the last few years, Motorola and Samsung have been fairly consistent with the overall design language of their smartphones, so it's no surprise that the Edge 2025 and the Galaxy S25 look largely identical to their respective predecessors. That being said, both look and feel equally premium, with the Motorola Edge 2025 having a textured vegan leather back, and the Samsung Galaxy S25 featuring a smooth glass rear. While both smartphones have ingress protection, the IP68/IP69 rating of the Motorola Edge 2025 makes it a bit tougher than the Samsung Galaxy S25, which only comes with an IP68 certification.

Up front, the Edge 2025 sports a 6.7-inch curved P-OLED panel that's shielded by Gorilla Glass 7i and can hit a peak brightness of 4,500 nits. With the Galaxy S25, you get a 6.2-inch flat Dynamic AMOLED screen that's secured by Gorilla Glass Victus 2 and can reach a peak brightness of 2,600 nits. Needless to say, both are fantastic displays having vibrant colors, 120Hz refresh rate, full HDR support, and much more.

Arguably the biggest visual difference between the two smartphones is their physical footprint. While the Motorola Edge 2025 isn't exactly unwieldy, it can't be used with one hand. Conversely, the Samsung Galaxy S25 is purpose-built for one-handed use, and is easily the best small Android phone currently available in the market.

Powering the Edge 2025 is a MediaTek Dimensity 7400 chipset, along with 8GB of RAM and 256GB of internal storage. These specifications are sufficient for everyday usage, but as Android Central's Nicholas Sutrich noted in his Motorola Edge 2025 review, the phone struggles quite a bit when it comes to resource-intensive tasks like gaming.

Then there's the Galaxy S25, which is driven by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite SoC, along with 12GB of RAM and at least 128GB of onboard storage. Unsurprisingly, these specifications allow the phone to make quick work of just about anything you throw at it.

Both smartphones have all the essentials such as Wi-Fi 6E/7, Bluetooth 5.4, multi-band 5G support, NFC, and stereo speakers. You also get under-display fingerprint sensors on both devices, although the Galaxy S25's ultrasonic sensor is going to be a bit faster than the Edge 2025's optical sensor.

Motorola Edge 2025 vs. Samsung Galaxy S25: Software, cameras, and battery

Even though both smartphones run Android 15 out of the box, there's a substantial difference in their software experience. The Edge 2025 comes with Motorola's Hello UI overlay, which adds several nifty features (e.g., Smart Connect), while still keeping the overall appearance largely the same as stock Android. With the Galaxy S25, you get Samsung's One UI 7 overlay, which has its own set of useful features (e.g., Wireless DeX), but doesn't even remotely resemble stock Android.

And since you just can't have a smartphone these days without some AI thrown into the mix, each device comes with its own suite of AI-powered tools. The Edge 2025 packs Motorla's Moto AI, with features like summarization of calls and messages, and playlist generation. Similarly, the Galaxy S25 includes Samsung's Galaxy AI, with features such as cross-app actions, personalized briefings, and real-time language translation. You also get Google's Gemini and a whole bunch of editing applications on both of these smartphones.

While the software experience is comparably good on both devices, the same isn't true when it comes to software support. Slated to receive just two years of OS and three years of security updates, the Edge 2025 is not even in the same ballpark as the Galaxy S25, which will receive seven years of OS and security updates. Granted, it's not a top-of-the-line device like the Galaxy S25, but when you can get so many cheap Android phones with better update commitments, there's no reason for the Edge 2025 to have such abysmal software support.

Talking about cameras, both smartphones pack similar triple-lens rear camera systems, complete with features like OIS and high-resolution video recording. The camera setups on both devices include a primary wide-angle sensor, a telephoto lens with 3x optical zoom, and an ultrawide module. The Galaxy S25 is expected to capture awesome photos, considering the fact that it's a top-tier phone. However, it's the Edge 2025 that punches above its weight, delivering incredible images in all kinds of lighting conditions.

Although the Galaxy S25 only has a 4,000mAh battery due to its small size, don't let that fool you. As noted by Android Central's Brady Snyder in his Samsung Galaxy S25 review, the phone can hit more than six hours of screen-on time with mixed usage. Wired charging remains disappointingly slow at 25W, and you also get 15W wireless charging support.

On the other hand, the Edge 2025 comes with a 5,200mAh battery that lets you use the phone throughout the day. The blazing-fast 68W wired charging means you only need to wait a few minutes for a top-up, and there's support for 15W wireless charging as well.

Motorola Edge 2025 vs. Samsung Galaxy S25: Which should you buy?

Whether you go for the Motorola Edge 2025 or the Samsung Galaxy S25, there's no denying that you'll be getting an Android device that ticks most (if not all) of the right boxes. Having a price tag of $550, the Edge 2025 features a gorgeous design and decent specifications, but the lackluster update policy doesn't do it any favors. The Galaxy S25 sports best-in-class hardware and will be supported for years to come, but with a price tag of $800, it's quite expensive. Interestingly, both have versatile software, excellent cameras, and solid battery endurance. There's no really wrong option here, so the question is, which of these phones is right for you?

The answer is simple! If you're a heavy user and hold on to your smartphone(s) for a long time, the Samsung Galaxy S25 is definitely worth it. Conversely, if your usage is a bit more basic and you upgrade your smartphone(s) every year or two anyway, we recommend buying the Motorola Edge 2025 and saving the extra cash.