I examined three ultra-slim telephones in 2025. They have been all a bit garbage.
Okay, that could be a bit harsh, however the iPhone Air, Galaxy S25 Edge and Motorola Edge 70 are all flawed to the extent that most individuals ought to keep away from them. The place Apple and Samsung’s fashions have been involved, you’d be paying a premium for a sub-par expertise.
Whereas Honor is launching the Magic 8 Professional Air in China on 19 January, it seems to be an outlier. All indicators level to there being no Edge cellphone within the upcoming Galaxy S26 sequence, whereas poor gross sales of the iPhone Air have supposedly (per DigiTimes) induced Xiaomi, Oppo and Vivo to halt manufacturing of their very own ultra-slim telephones.
As somebody who was upset by ultra-slim telephones on three separate events final 12 months, you’re most likely considering that is music to my ears. And it was – till I noticed the Xiaomi 17 Air’s leaked specs.
The ultra-slim cellphone I’d been ready for?
In fact, there are many caveats once we’re leaks of a cellphone that gained’t ever come to market. There are not any ensures that the leaks are even correct, not to mention that they’d make their method into the ultimate machine.
But when Weibo leaker Daring Panda is to be believed, the Xiaomi 17 Air would’ve set a brand new customary for ultra-slim telephones, coming in at simply 5.5mm.
With a 6.59-inch show, it could’ve sat between the 6.5-inch iPhone Air and 6.7-inch Galaxy S25 Edge and Motorola Edge 70.
Anyron Copeman / Foundry
Fellow leaker Digital Chat Station has constructed on this, suggesting a light-weight chassis someplace between 160g and 169g.
The twin rear digicam setup would even have included a 200Mp lens – probably the identical 3.7x periscope telephoto because the Xiaomi 17 Extremely. Whereas we don’t have a lot to go on right here, Xiaomi’s images prowess means that stills might’ve been up there with the perfect digicam telephones.
I actually consider that is the cellphone that might’ve modified my thoughts in regards to the class
Battery capability is quoted as below 6000mAh, however that implies it was nonetheless bigger than 5000mAh, and comfortably larger than the 4800mAh Motorola Edge 70 – the most important cell we’ve seen in an ultra-thin handset to date.
The opposite massive promoting level would’ve been the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 chip, which might’ve made it probably the most highly effective ultra-slim Android cellphone to this point.
Bored Panda by way of Weibo / GSMArena (edited)
Digital Chat Station goes on to say that “inner assessments recommended there was no marketplace for ultra-thin telephones”, which might be true. But it surely’s a disgrace we gained’t get the possibility to see how good it might have been in actual life. I actually consider that is the cellphone that might’ve modified my thoughts in regards to the class.
Within the meantime, all hope rests on the Honor Magic 8 Professional Air, and even that may not make it out of China.
In case you don’t thoughts a thicker machine, our information to the most effective telephones you should purchase consists of some glorious choices.