Samsung Galaxy S26 Edge vs. iPhone Air: Doubling down on thinness

Pros

We could see 16GB of memory and larger storage configurations
Thinner than the iPhone Air at 5.5mm
Dual-chip strategy with Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 and Exynos 2600 variants
Larger 4,200mAh battery capacity
Rumored Qi2 support with internal magnets for MagSafe

Cons

Larger camera bump than iPhone Air, adding 5.3mm thickness
25W charging speeds, potentially slower Qi2 wireless charging support
No main camera upgrades expected

The iPhone Air in Cloud White against a white background.

Pros

5.6mm thick with a smaller camera plateau
Runs on A19 Pro with 12GB RAM
Includes MagSafe, Action button, and Camera Control
Selfie camera is upgraded to 18MP while adding square sensor design.

Cons

USB 2.0 Type-C port is slower than Galaxy S26 Edge
Main camera is lower-resolution
No stereo speakers
eSIM only worldwide
A19 Pro is throttled and has less memory than rumored Galaxy S26 Edge specs

Samsung kicked off the slim phone resurgence in 2025 with the Galaxy S25 Edge. Now, the question is how the tech giant will respond to emerging competitors. We’ve seen global challengers from TECNO and mainstream contenders stateside, including the iPhone Air from Apple. Although the Samsung Galaxy S25 Edge has more features, the iPhone Air does manage to be slimmer.

Apple achieved this feat by cleverly using the camera bump on phones to its advantage. By hiding components within the bump, which it now calls a plateau, it made the overall body thinner. Well, we now expect Samsung to copy Apple’s homework with the Galaxy S26 Edge. It’s rumored to be even thinner than the iPhone Air while packing an even bigger camera bump.

That’s quite a lot to consider, so which ultra-slim phone should you buy? Let’s compare the rumored Galaxy S26 Edge specs against the current iPhone Air offerings in this speculative breakdown.

Samsung Galaxy S26 Edge vs. iPhone Air: Pricing and availability

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A leaked render of the Samsung Galaxy S26 Edge.

(Image credit: OnLeaks / Android Headlines)

The Samsung Galaxy S25 Edge is only a few months old, but we’ll likely see a successor soon alongside the complete Galaxy S26 lineup. Based on current rumors, we expect the Samsung Galaxy S26 Edge to replace both the Galaxy S25 Edge and Plus models in the new series. One rumor disagrees, though. The Galaxy S26 Edge should be priced at the same $1,099 price, which will get you at least 256GB of storage.

The iPhone Air is slightly cheaper at $999, and it’s available now. The phone ships with 256GB of storage as standard and is available in four colorways: Cloud White, Sky Blue, Space Black, and Light Gold. It’s configurable with up to 1TB of internal storage.

Samsung Galaxy S26 Edge vs. iPhone Air: Design and display

The back of an iPhone Air and USB-C port in Sky Blue on a blue chair.

(Image credit: Brady Snyder / Android Central)

The Samsung Galaxy S26 Edge is expected to take major design cues from the iPhone Air. Apple stuffed the majority of the iPhone Air with battery, relegating the logic board and key system components into the camera bump — now called a camera plateau. As such, the iPhone Air camera bump extends across the back of the phone, despite only holding one camera lens.

This strategy allowed the iPhone Air to usurp the Galaxy S25 Edge’s thickness. The iPhone Air measures 5.64mm exactly, making it the thinnest iPhone ever and the thinnest commercially available phone in the U.S. right now.

Now, Samsung will do the same with the Galaxy S26 Edge, but to a greater degree. It will keep its dual vertically-oriented rear cameras, according to leaks and rumors, but the camera bump will now extend across the back. This will result in a camera island — or plateau, or whatever you prefer to call it — that’s greater in surface area than the one on the iPhone Air. Rumors claim the camera bump itself is 5.3mm alone on the Galaxy S26 Edge.

A leaked render of the Samsung Galaxy S26 Edge.

(Image credit: OnLeaks / Android Headlines)

Of course, this large camera bump allows Samsung to make the body of the Galaxy S26 Edge even thinner. It’s said to measure 5.5mm thick, meaning Samsung would pass Apple yet again.

It’s up to the consumer to decide where to draw the line as to which camera bump styles cheat dimensions. Is the iPhone Air really 5.64mm thick if it has a camera plateau? Or is the Galaxy S26 Edge really 5.5mm thick when a camera island taking up a third of the phone’s back adds another 5.3mm of thickness? Only you can decide that, but it’s worth thinking about.

The display of an iPhone Air in Sky Blue on a blue chair.

(Image credit: Brady Snyder / Android Central)

A notable difference between these two phones will be their screens. The iPhone Air has a 6.5-inch display, putting it firmly between standard and “Plus” or “Max/Ultra” phones. However, the Galaxy S26 Edge is rumored to sport a 6.7-inch AMOLED panel for another year, making it the exact same size as a typical Plus model from Samsung. Both the iPhone Air and the Galaxy S26 Edge will certainly have 120Hz refresh rate support, as well as HDR support.

The iPhone Air excels in two key areas: brightness and outdoor visibility. The phone’s display can hit 3,000 nits in outdoor settings, whereas the Galaxy S26 Edge might top out at 2,600 nits if current specs hold. Additionally, the iPhone has a slight anti-glare coating, while the Galaxy S26 Edge may not.

For durability, both phones will use a titanium chassis and offer IP68 certification against dust and water ingress.

Samsung Galaxy S26 Edge vs. iPhone Air: Hardware and specs

Holding the iPhone Air in Sky Blue, showing the camera plateau.

(Image credit: Brady Snyder / Android Central)

The iPhone Air has specs that look great on paper, but real-world usage may be a different story. It’s powered by the Apple A19 Pro chipset, although this is a binned version with one fewer GPU core than what you get in the iPhone 17 Pro. The chip itself also appears to be throttled in our testing, and for good reason — it gets hot quickly during intensive tasks, which will drain battery fast.

By comparison, Samsung is expected to use the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 for Galaxy in the Galaxy S26 Edge. It’ll improve on the Snapdragon 8 Elite for Galaxy within the current Galaxy S25 Edge.

That chip already outperforms the iPhone Air in many situations, so we should see even better performance from the new Samsung. It also could offer 16GB of memory, per recent leaks, which would one-up the 12GB in the iPhone Air.

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Rumored specs breakdown
Category	Samsung Galaxy S26 Edge	iPhone Air
OS	One UI 8.5 (up to seven OS upgrades)	iOS 26 (five OS upgrades guaranteed)
Display	6.7-inch QHD+ Dynamic AMOLED 2X, 120Hz LTPO 2,600 nits peak brightness	6.5‑inch (diagonal) all‑screen OLED display, 120Hz LTPO, 3,000 nits peak brightness
Processor	Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 for Galaxy	Apple A19 Pro
RAM	16GB	12GB
Storage	256GB, 512GB	256GB, 512GB, 1TB
Rear Camera 1	200MP wide, f/1.7, 24mm, OIS, PDAF, 0.6µm 2x optical-quality zoom	48MP Fusion primary, 26 mm, ƒ/1.6 aperture, sensor-shift optical image stabilization 2x optical-quality zoom
Rear Camera 2	50MP ultrawide	N/A
Selfie Camera	12MP, f/2.2, 26mm, PDAF	18MP Center Stage camera ƒ/1.9 aperture Autofocus with Focus Pixels
Audio	Stereo speakers	Earpiece speaker
Connectivity	Wi-Fi 7, Bluetooth 5.4, NFC, 5G, USB-C (3.2)	Wi-Fi 7, Bluetooth 6, Thread, NFC, 5G, MagSafe, USB-C (2.0)
Protection	IP68	IP68
Battery	4,200mAh	3,149mAh (per EU filings)
Charging	25W wired, Qi2 magnetic	20W wired and MagSafe/Qi2; 0% to 50% in 30 minutes
Dimensions	158.4 x 75.7 x 5.5mm	156.2 x 74.7 x 5.64mm
Weight	~163g	165g
Colors	Unknown	Space Black, Cloud White, Light Gold, Sky Blue

Both the Galaxy S26 Edge and the iPhone Air compromise in certain areas, but the Air seems to give up more. It doesn’t have a secondary ultrawide camera, stereo speakers, or USB 3.2 support. These are all things the Galaxy S26 Edge is tabbed to provide, plus magnetic Qi2 support, rectifying a major omission on its predecessor.

Battery life could be better on the Samsung Galaxy S26 Edge, too. It’ll ship with a larger 4,200mAh battery, according to rumors. That’s still less than most phones in its size class, but it is way more than the 3,149mAh battery in the iPhone Air.

Truth be told, Apple manages to squeeze a surprising amount of battery life from the iPhone Air, so we’ll have to test these phones before giving a battery verdict.

A leaked render of the Samsung Galaxy S26 Edge.

(Image credit: OnLeaks / Android Headlines)

Another separator between these phones is their camera offerings. Apple has the advantage in selfie capture, with a square sensor that can take vertical or portrait shots without rotating the device. It can also use Center Stage to zoom out in the software to fit everyone in the photo. In comparison, the Galaxy S26 Edge’s selfie camera isn’t expected to include any of these tricks.

The Samsung Galaxy S26 Edge will have the standout rear camera system, with a 200MP primary shooter and a 50MP ultrawide camera. The iPhone Air only has a 48MP camera sensor on the back. While it can use sensor crop to mimic 2x optical zoom like the Galaxy S26 Edge, there’s no getting around the lack of an ultrawide cam for wide shots.

Samsung Galaxy S26 Edge vs. iPhone Air: Which should you plan to buy?

The volume rocker and action button on an iPhone Air in Sky Blue.

(Image credit: Brady Snyder / Android Central)

The Samsung Galaxy S26 Edge and the iPhone Air figure to have just as many differences as similarities. They’re both thin phones, but the iPhone Air seems to prioritize minimal design as much as a slim and lightweight build. That’s evidenced by the inclusion of only one rear camera and the relatively small camera plateau — at least compared to the Galaxy S26 Edge’s rumored camera island.

Meanwhile, it’s clear that the Galaxy S26 Edge will be the winner on paper. It’s trying to be the thinnest phone with the least amount of compromise. In that effort, the Galaxy S26 Edge becomes an eyesore in the way the iPhone Air and even the Galaxy S25 Edge are not. However, it also adds a more capable ultrawide sensor, a larger battery, and a more powerful chip, according to rumors.

If you want the prettiest thin phone, I’d argue the iPhone Air still satisfies that craving best. Those wanting the most features in the thinnest package should wait for the Samsung Galaxy S26 Edge instead.

A sample Galaxy S26 Edge render from OnLeaks and Android Headlines.

The iPhone Air in Cloud White against a white background.

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