Samsung Galaxy S25 Edge vs Vivo X300 Ultra

Samsung Galaxy S25 Edge

The 3,900 mAh cell is the smallest in the entire S25 family — even smaller than the base S25's 4,000 mAh battery. Engadget's local video rundown clocked 25 hours 59 minutes (about 3.5 hours less than the Ultra and two hours less than the standard S25); Notebookcheck reached almost 18 hours of simulated web browsing. Real-world experience is split: The Verge survived a heavy Google I/O day with 20% left; Wired needed mid-day top-ups; Trusted Reviews hit 5% by midday after only two hours of screen-on time. Wired charging caps at 25W. The single most-flagged complaint is Samsung's decision not to use silicon-carbon battery tech that competitors already ship.

• A full day covering Google I/O with three hours of screen time and an hour-ish of hotspot use ended with 20 percent left — not amazing, but fine for a heavy use day if you can plug in by evening.
• Engadget's local video rundown lasted 25 hours 59 minutes — about three and a half hours less than the S25 Ultra and two hours less than the base S25.
• Almost 18 hours of simulated web browsing and over 25 hours of HD video playback in lab testing — sufficient for a day of intensive use even if it doesn't quite beat similarly priced rivals.
• After only four hours of screen-on time the phone hit 15% — only light-to-average use will get you a full day, and travelling I/O coverage required mid-afternoon charging anxiety.
• Off a full charge at 3pm, the phone hit 30% by morning and 5% by midday with only two hours of total screen time — Trusted Reviews calls this 'the phone that reintroduces battery anxiety' for the modern era.
• Wired charging tops out at 25W and a full charge takes 1 hour 20 minutes — pedestrian numbers for a smartphone in this price category.
• The Edge sticks with regular lithium-ion battery tech, not the silicon-carbon anode chemistry rivals like the OnePlus 13, Xiaomi 15, Vivo X200 and several Honor phones already ship — a 15–20% battery boost left on the table.
• Skipping silicon-carbon was 'a big miss' — if Samsung had used it, the same thin chassis could have held meaningfully more capacity and the battery debate would have evaporated.
• If this were a more energy-dense silicon-carbon battery the conversation would be entirely different — but it isn't, and within a few years as the cell degrades buyers may regret prioritising thinness over capacity.
• Wireless charging is 'Qi2 Ready' rather than fully Qi2 compatible — there are no magnets inside the phone, so MagSafe-style accessories require a separate magnetic case or adhesive ring.

Vivo X300 Ultra

Vivo grew the silicon-carbon cell 10% to 6,600mAh while keeping the body the same size. Real-world endurance is strong — ~16h active-use score, ~7h heavy screen-on, 13–14 hour days with charge to spare — and 100W wired refills it in under an hour, with 40W wireless.

• Vivo increased the battery by 10% to 6,600mAh despite the phone being practically the same size on paper.
• In our battery test it earned an active-use score of almost 16 hours; 100W charging took it 0–66% in 30 minutes and a full charge in 46 minutes, plus 40W wireless. A charger is in the box except in Europe.
• On the China version I'm finishing entire 13–14 hour days with 25–30% left; the global version keeps the 6,600mAh cell so battery life should comfortably last 12–13 hours of heavy use.
• Getting nearly 7 hours of screen-on time with very heavy usage from the 6,600mAh silicon-carbon unit, with 100W wired and 40W wireless charging support.
• After a 4-hour heavy-usage simulation the phone still had ~45% battery left, which is solid by today's standards, and 100W wired charging takes about 45 minutes to full.

Samsung Galaxy S25 Edge

At $1,099 the Edge sits $100 above the S25+ ($999) and $200 below the S25 Ultra ($1,299) — but the Ultra is frequently discounted to within $50–100 of the Edge, which collapses the value pitch. Reviewers across The Verge, Wired, GSMArena, Ars Technica and 9to5Google ask the same question: who is this for? Reddit user sentiment on r/gadgets and r/Android is outright hostile — the dominant view is that the phone trades capability for fashion and that nobody asked for it. The optimistic case: an alternate flagship for fashion-led, non-techy buyers who want luxury hardware without S Pen, telephoto or thickness.

• The S25 Edge makes sense for someone who prizes a large screen without the bulk and weight of a typical big phone — and is easy on a battery and lives near outlets. Those are some pretty serious caveats.
• As an alternative to the humdrum S25+, the Edge gets interesting — same $1,100 starting price as the Plus but with the titanium frame and 200MP main from the Ultra plus a thinner stylish chassis, and a real identity that stands on its own.
• We shouldn't accept a phone with this kind of battery life today — instead of a thin phone with a small battery, the industry should be making a thin phone with a big battery, and the Edge just doesn't live up to the hype.
• Steep pricing at launch — the Edge starts at €1,250/$1,100/INR 110,000 and third-party resellers will sell you both the S25+ and the S25 Ultra for less, so for most users it may not be a sensible choice.
• This $1,099 smartphone is incredibly slim at just 5.8mm but also steps down in the camera department and packs an anaemic battery that may struggle to last all day — most manufacturers could never justify making such a strange, niche device.
• Even though price-wise the Edge is closer to an Ultra, feature-wise it's way closer to the Plus — you're paying more for an aesthetic and a vibe rather than getting more tech, similar to Samsung's Z Flip pricing logic.
• The Verge link to a sale showed the Galaxy S25 Ultra discounted to around $1,050 — cheaper than the Edge, which collapses any 'price-vs-Ultra' value pitch the Edge had at launch.
• It's more than just super thin, it's also a Galaxy phone that no one asked for — top r/gadgets comment with 283 upvotes captures the dominant user-voice take: gladly trade thinness for a beefy battery.
• 'What a dumb device. Compared to the Ultra you get a smaller battery, no telephoto cameras, no anti-reflective screen, and a price that isn't much lower. Just spend the $150 extra and go with the ultra.' — 133-upvote r/Android summary of community sentiment.
• The Edge is form over function — at the moment a slim Xiaomi, Oppo or Vivo with silicon-carbon battery is the more sensible thin-phone option; Samsung shouldn't try to lead the category until the battery tech is ready at its scale.

Vivo X300 Ultra

This is a deliberately niche, camera-first flagship: roughly €1,175 in China for 512GB, around £1,399 globally for the phone, and close to €2,600 for the full kit. For the people it's aimed at it draws some of the strongest praise of any 2026 phone; for everyone else, a cheaper X300 Pro or the Oppo Find X9 Ultra may make more sense.

• Last year's X200 Ultra was, in my opinion, one of the best smartphones of 2025 — and this is the best smartphone I've ever used, with the best camera application I've ever used, provided with zero script from Vivo.
• The cameras are nothing short of amazing — this is the best Android camera phone, with image quality better than anything from Samsung.
• The versatility here is just ridiculous — more like a phone in a camera than the other way around, a camera system built from the sum of its many parts.
• If you accept the 35mm main, are willing to tolerate AI processing in some scenes, and don't mind the front-camera stabilisation limits, this Vivo is an excellent choice.