Deals: the Galaxy S25 Edge launches as the most expensive S25 phone, plus some iPad deals

1 day ago 53

The Samsung Galaxy S25 Edge is now available in the US as the pre-order period ended on Friday. That means no more free storage upgrade, but it also opens a path for some discounts.

Amazon pairs the S25 Edge with a $50 gift card and, if you buy the 512GB model, you will also get a $70 discount. It’s not much, but the phone has been on sale for only a few days and it does mean that the difference between 256GB and 512GB is only $50.

The Edge may be impressively thin (5.8mm) and light (163g), but it is also the most expensive Galaxy S25 model at the moment. Yes, the Galaxy S25 Ultra has a higher MSRP, but it also has much bigger discounts at the moment. The base 12/256GB model is $50 less than the Edge (or the same, if you include the gift card) and the 512GB model is only $20 more.

The Galaxy S25 Ultra is bulkier (8.2mm, 218g), but it has a larger battery (5,000mAh vs. 3,900mAh) and a larger display (6.9” vs. 6.7”). It also has a 200MP camera and can leverage two telephoto modules for zooming in – a 50MP 5x periscope (111mm) and a 10MP 3x tele (67mm), not to mention that its ultra-wide camera has a 50MP sensor (vs. 12MP). The extra bulk also helps with cooling, so the Snapdragon 8 Elite for Galaxy has better sustained performance in the Ultra than in the Edge.

The Samsung Galaxy S25+ is the same height and width as the Edge, though it is thicker and heavier (7.3mm, 190g) – check out the 3D comparison to see how they stack up. The Plus doesn’t have a 200MP camera – instead it is equipped with a 50MP main and a 10MP 3x (67mm) tele, its ultra-wide is the same as on the Edge (12MP). The battery is 1,000mAh bigger than the Edge. And here is the best part – the S25+ is $350 less than the S25 Edge.

If weight is a concern, the vanilla Samsung Galaxy S25 weighs 162g – that’s 1g less than the Edge. Impressive engineering on the Edge, considering that the vanilla model has a 6.2” display, not a 6.7” one. However, the battery continues to embarrass the Edge – it is the smallest in the S25 family with the vanilla model beating it by 100mAh. The camera situation is the same as on the S25+. In terms of price, the S25 is under $700.

The Samsung Galaxy S24 FE is even cheaper – the 8/128GB model is $545 at the moment, but you probably want the 256GB model as storage will get pretty tight over the years. That one is $610 – just $75 less than the vanilla S25 and $140 less than the S25+. The FE has a 6.7” screen like the S25+ (well, not quite, it’s not an LTPO panel) and a similar camera setup (50MP main, 8MP 3x/75mm tele and 12MP ultra-wide).

However, it uses the Exynos 2400e – a good chip, but not as good as the Snapdragon 8 Elite. You may want to spend extra and get an S25 flagship model as the savings with the FE aren’t that big.

The Samsung Galaxy Tab S10+ is a 12.4” tablet powered by the Dimensity 9300+. It has DeX multitasking in all its forms – on its own screen and on external ones (both wired and wireless). The tablet is rated IP68 for water resistance and ships with an S Pen. It has expandable storage, four AKG speakers and a 10,090mAh battery with 45W charging.

We also checked out Apple’s offerings and the iPad starts at just over $300. This is the refreshed model from March with the Apple A16 chip – making it the one current iPad not to support Apple Intelligence. Oh well. This slate has an 11” IPS LCD (60Hz, of course) with Apple Pencil support.

The Apple iPad Air 11 and 13 were also refreshed in March and now feature Apple M3 chips. These are massively powerful, but iPadOS doesn’t quite know what to do with all that power. Yes, there is Stage Manager (Apple’s multitasking solution for iPad), but it’s not on the same level as DeX. Even the 13” Air costs less than the Galaxy Tab S10+, though, so it should be considered. Note that storage is not expandable.

You can go a step up in power with the Apple iPad Pro 11 and 13 – these have the Apple M4. Again, you can’t get quite as much use out of the M-series chip as you would with a MacBook. Still, the Pros have better displays – bright tandem OLEDs with 120Hz refresh rate, compared to the 60Hz IPS LCDs of the Airs.

Note that the variants linked below have the regular glass. If you get a 1TB or 2TB model, you can also pick the nano-textured glass option (which cuts down on reflections), but that is a $100 upgrade (on top of a pricey storage upgrade).

The Apple iPad mini was refreshed late last year – with an Apple A17 Pro chipset, which does run Apple Intelligence. The petite tablet is up to $100, depending on which storage option you pick. We don’t see many small tablets with high-end chips these days, making the iPad mini something of a rarity.

Finally, we noticed that the PlayStation 5 Pro is $50 off its launch price. That caught our eye because Sony recently raised prices in other parts of the world.

You can also pick up an additional controller – the basic DualSense or the DualSense Edge. The Edge has extra controls (paddles on the back), remappable buttons and replaceable analog sticks.

We may get a commission from qualifying sales.

Read Entire Article