• Samsung is reportedly working on a “slim” version for its upcoming Galaxy S25 series.
• The Galaxy S25 Slim may only be launched in certain regions or in a limited way to gauge customer interest.
• Samsung is reportedly taking inspiration from Apple which may mean an industry-wide return to thin smartphones in 2025.

Typically South Korea’s Samsung has three editions for its flagship series in any particular year – the general, the Plus and the top-of-the-range Ultra. The Galaxy S25 series may feature a fourth “slim” series.

The electronics giant is reportedly gearing up to launch a “slim” version of its flagship device with the upcoming Galaxy S25 series and will join its biggest rival Apple in dropping premium phones that emphasise ultra-thin models in 2025.

According to ETNews (Korean), it is possible that this slim version will be released “In small quantities to gauge market response and change the lineup the year after next,” per local industry insiders.

This may mean that South African Samsung fans may not be able to get their hands on the Galaxy S25 Slim, but if it proves successful enough, we may be able to see a Galaxy S26 Slim land locally in the future.

The latest premium series to reach South Africa is the Galaxy S24 series, which we called the Ultra version “the best phone you can buy right now from a specifications perspective.”

Samsung is expected to pull covers on the Galaxy S25 series in the first half of 2025 where we will see the Slim version. The manufacturer will then count its next foldable Z Flip and Z Fold, as well as the Galaxy S25, S25 Plus, S25 Ultra and S25 Slim among its premium phones next year.

ETNews believes that Samsung decided on a slim version for its premium lineup because Apple is set to replace its iPhone 17 Plus with its own slim form-figure model. This next iPhone will feature a smaller screen size – about three inches smaller – than the iPhone 16 Plus.

However, there are drawbacks to making thinner phones, which is why the trend fell away sometime in the late 2000s. Thinner smartphones mean less room for hardware compartments, smaller barriers and weakened performance.

Samsung will have to perform some black magic to manage a slim version of its S-series that isn’t hampered in any way by this shape and aesthetic. According to noted leaker Yogesh Bear, the slim edition could be powered by the Snapdragon 8 Elite processor, which could make up for the performance but it won’t be coming cheap.

The so-called “world’s faster mobile CPU” was unveiled in late October by Qualcomm and will be powering devices from brands like Honor, vivo, OPPO, Xiaomi and of course Samsung. We’ll wait and see exactly what Samsung has planned for the S25 series in terms of release dates and regions.