I examined three ultra-slim telephones in 2025. They have been all a bit garbage.
Okay, that may sound 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 has simply launched the Magic 8 Professional Air in China, 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) precipitated 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 yr, 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?
After all, there are many caveats after 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 means into the ultimate gadget.
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 might’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 digital camera 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 may’ve been up there with the perfect digital camera telephones.
I actually consider that is the cellphone that may’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 biggest cell we’ve seen in an ultra-thin handset thus far.
The opposite large 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 through Weibo / GSMArena (edited)
Digital Chat Station goes on to say that “inner assessments advised 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 may have been in actual life. I actually consider that is the cellphone that may’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.
Should you don’t thoughts a thicker gadget, our information to the perfect telephones you should buy consists of some glorious choices.