Motorola Edge 70 vs. Samsung Galaxy S25 Edge: The pursuit of slimness

2025 was the year ultra-slim phones tried to make a comeback... and failed quite spectacularly. It wasn't because they were bad products; I think it had more to do with the modern smartphone buyer's thought process. If you're going to pay $1,000+ for a phone, the last thing you want to do is compromise. With slim phones like the Samsung Galaxy S25 Edge, you can't help but compromise on things like camera tech and battery capacity, and this is where everyone faltered.

Motorola is approaching this slightly differently with the Edge 70. Rather than throw in everything but the kitchen sink into a premium slim phone, it has made sensible compromises that have allowed it to price it more aggressively compared to Samsung.

If you're just after a slim and light phone that also feels premium, can the Motorola Edge 70 scratch that itch better than the Galaxy S25 Edge can?

Motorola Edge 70 vs. Samsung Galaxy S25 Edge: Design and display

The Motorola Edge 70 is very thin at just 6mm, and it weighs only 159 grams. The weight is truly remarkable, given that it has a much larger battery than the Galaxy S25 Edge. Motorola has ensured it's highly durable, with an aluminum frame and MIL-STD-810H certification. Rounding off the toughness is an IP68/IP69 rating for dust and waterproofing.

The S25 Edge only gets an IP68 rating, which makes the Edge 70 one of the most rugged slim phones we've seen yet. The phone also comes in three very pretty finishes called Pantone Bronze Green, Gadget Grey, and Lily Pad. There's even a special Cloud Dancer finish with Swarovski crystals on the back panel.

The display on the Edge 70 is equally impressive. It's a 6.7-inch pOLED panel with a 120Hz refresh rate and up to 4,500 nits of brightness. The resolution is very high, too, putting the pixel count at roughly 446ppi. You also get Corning Gorilla Glass 7i, which is good, but not as strong as the Gorilla Glass Ceramic 2 on the S25 Edge.

The Samsung Galaxy S25 Edge is a bit slimmer at 5.8mm, but it's heavier than the Motorola Edge 70 at 163 grams. Build quality is superb, just as you'd expect from a premium Samsung phone. The build is a notch more premium than the Edge 70, thanks to a titanium frame rather than aluminum.

It comes in three, albeit slightly boring, colors: Titanium Icyblue, Titanium Silver, and Titanium Jetblack. The back of the S25 Edge is also glass, and it's a pretty sturdy Gorilla Glass Victus 2.

The Galaxy S25 Edge has the same display size as the Motorola Edge 70, but it features a higher-resolution panel at 3,210x1,440 pixels. There's a 120Hz refresh rate, and excellent brightness and contrast thanks to Samsung's AMOLED tech.

Both phones are pretty close in terms of design and display tech. The Edge 70 seems to have more personality and has youthful vibes, while the Galaxy S25 Edge is more of a serious business tool. Either way, you're getting incredibly sleek phones that are built to last.

Motorola Edge 70 vs. Samsung Galaxy S25 Edge: Hardware and specs

The Motorola Edge 70 hasn't officially launched in the U.S., and there's no word about when or if it will even come. In countries where it is available, Motorola has launched just one variant of the phone for different regions, but at very different prices. For instance, the U.K. gets the 12GB/512GB variant priced at GBP 700 (roughly $940), while India gets the 8GB/256GB variant priced at Rs. 30,000 (roughly $330). The Motorola Edge 2025 is the most recent Edge series phone sold in the U.S., and it isn't exactly impressive.

Motorola has managed this competitive price by going with a mid-range SoC. The Qualcomm Snapdragon 7 Gen 4 should be good enough for light gaming and handling all the popular social apps, but it lacks the raw power for competitive gaming that the Galaxy S25 Edge possesses, thanks to the Snapdragon 8 Elite SoC.

Motorola has also managed to squeeze in a much larger 4,800mAh battery in the Edge 40. This is accompanied by 68W fast wired charging and 15W wireless charging, which are both highly impressive specs given how slim and light it is.

I find Motorola's marketing language for the cameras highly misleading, though, leading a casual observer to think it has three rear cameras. In reality, the third "lens" is actually just a light sensor made to look like a camera lens. It's a bit devious if you ask me. The Edge 40 has two 50MP rear cameras with wide and ultrawide lenses. The selfie camera is also 50MP.

The Samsung Galaxy S25 Edge starts at $1,099.99 for 12GB RAM and 256GB storage, and $1,219.99 for 512GB of storage. Both variants have the same amount of RAM. This Edge phone has much better global availability: you can find it on all three major U.S. carriers, or buy it unlocked.

You get proper flagship performance here thanks to the Snapdragon 8 Elite chip, so heavy gaming should not be an issue. When we tested it, we found the performance to be incredibly fast and fluid. What was even more surprising was the battery life. Despite the smaller 3,900mAh capacity, it still lasted for a full day. Charging specs are pretty lame at just 25W wired and 15W wireless, but then again, this is Samsung we're talking about.

The cameras on the Galaxy S25 Edge are pretty good. You get the same 200MP sensor from the Galaxy S25 Ultra as the main unit and a more pedestrian 12MP ultrawide sensor. Image quality is good in nearly all lighting conditions, but zoom past 2x, and the quality begins to dip quickly. Neither of the two phones has a telephoto camera, which would be impossible to fit in, unless you have a much thicker camera bump.

Motorola Edge 70 vs. Samsung Galaxy S25 Edge: Software

The Motorola Edge 70 ships with Android 16 and the Moto UX skin. The phone is promised to get four generations of Android OS upgrades and over five years of security updates until June 2031. The Edge 70 comes with Moto AI, which is a suite of tools for image creation, audio transcribing, and more. You can refer to our Edge 2025 review, where we've tested out all these tools.

The Galaxy S25 Edge ships with Android 15 but will receive seven OS generations and seven years of security updates. That's a hell of a long time, and it's a good thing too, as you're paying a premium for it. We've all seen Samsung's Galaxy AI features in action, and we believe they are easily one of the best, after Google's Pixel phones.

Motorola Edge 70 vs. Samsung Galaxy S25 Edge: Which should you buy?

Since the priority is having a thin and light phone, the choice is pretty easy. The Motorola Edge 70 is the best Android phone for the job, as it not only weighs less than the Samsung but also delivers much better battery life. The latter is one of the biggest sore points of the S25 Edge. The problem with buying the Edge 70, though, is that not all variants are available in all countries. In fact, we still don't know if this will be coming to the U.S.

If budget is not a constraint, I'd still suggest not buying the Edge 25 right now, as the Galaxy S26 is nearing launch and we could potentially see thinner phones or even a Galaxy S26 Edge before long. But if you do get the Galaxy S25 Edge, you should be prepared to deal with a few compromises.