I’ve made no secret of my interest in next year’s iPhone 17 Air, a model that should replace the Plus in Apple’s iPhone 17 lineup and feature a much thinner profile than the other three.
I’m ready to let go of the ultra-wide camera if the Air needs that sacrifice. I’m also prepared for the non-Pro version of the A19 chip and a battery size that will likely be smaller than what I’d get from a Plus phone. I say that as an iPhone 16 Plus user who keeps rearranging their phone in pants pockets on account of the overall footprint of the handset.
With all that in mind, I wouldn’t be surprised to see Samsung develop a Galaxy S25 variant to compete against the iPhone 17 Air. An insider recently said that Samsung plans to release such a device in April, some three months after the main Galaxy S25 phones hit stores.
We now have more evidence the device is real. A previously unseen model number associated with the Galaxy S25 series has leaked. That model number supports rumors that the Galaxy S25 Slim is real, suggesting it won’t have the same fate as the ultra-slim Galaxy Z Fold SE. That is, the thin Galaxy S25 model would launch in international markets, including the USA.
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A report from Korean ETNews said a few days ago that industry insiders claim that Samsung recently added a “slim” version to the Galaxy S25 lineup. This was a day before leaker yeux1122 mentioned the Galaxy S25 Slim, but a few weeks later, a different report from Korea noted Samsung’s interest in a thinner Galaxy S25 variant.
At the time, it seemed Samsung would make the Galaxy S25 FE thinner. That’s the budget version of the Galaxy S25 that Samsung will launch in the second half of 2025. That’s no longer the case.
The Galaxy S25 Slim would be a much bigger deal than the limited edition Galaxy Z Fold SE or the Galaxy S FE phones. Samsung would use it to test the market’s response to an ultra-thin phone. The phone could then impact the design of the Galaxy S26 series set to launch in early 2026.
Like Apple with the iPhone, Samsung has been recycling its Galaxy S and Galaxy Z designs in recent years. The Galaxy S25 series should feature little design changes compared to the Galaxy S24 save for the Ultra. The latter is supposedly getting rounder corners for improved handling.
These design choices impacted demand for new devices. Samsung is looking for a fresh design. The Galaxy S25 Slim might be just what it needs, especially with the iPhone 17 Air supposed to launch next September.
ETNews says the Galaxy S25 Slim will hit stores in the second quarter of 2025. That’s in line with that April release window we heard of previously.
This brings us to the newest development: SmartPrix found the model number for the Galaxy S25 Slim. The thinner phone’s model number is SM-S937U. That data comes from the GSMA IMEI database, which the blog calls “absolutely accurate.”
The other three model numbers for the Galaxy S25 phones are SM-S931 (the regular S25 variant), SM-S935 (the S25 Plus), and SM-S938 (the S25 Ultra). The last two have already appeared in early benchmark tests.
More interesting is the “U” at the end of the model number. It signals that the SM-S937U is heading to the US market. Therefore, the Galaxy S25 Slim is a much bigger deal than we thought.
With Samsung and Apple both rumored to make slim variants of their flagship phones, others will likely follow. We might be looking at a big design shift in favor of thin phones.
The post Samsung’s iPhone 17 Air rival seems to be real, and a much bigger deal than we thought appeared first on BGR.
