{"id":126248,"date":"2025-09-07T09:22:10","date_gmt":"2025-09-07T09:22:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/126248\/"},"modified":"2025-09-07T09:22:10","modified_gmt":"2025-09-07T09:22:10","slug":"this-extremely-slim-phone-is-hitting-apple-and-samsung-where-it-hurts","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/126248\/","title":{"rendered":"This Extremely Slim Phone Is Hitting Apple and Samsung Where It Hurts"},"content":{"rendered":"

You have to travel across the world to find just how Americans are devoid of choice for interesting phones. At IFA 2025<\/a>, I went hands-on with Tecno\u2019s Slim phone\u2014or at least I tried to hold onto its incredibly thin frame. It\u2019s an apt name for such an irregular phone, one that has me asking whether Samsung and\u2014potentially\u2014Apple need to rethink what people really want from frisbee-light phones.<\/p>\n

China-based Tecno has a penchant for weird mobile devices. The company recently revealed a Phantom Ultimate G Fold tri-fold<\/a> concept phone that wraps around itself, like the letter \u201cG.\u201d The Tecno Slim, on the other hand, is a real product that people in Asia and Europe can buy, but folks in the U.S. are still out of luck. There are two versions of the Slim, a 4G \u201cSpark Slim\u201d version that\u2019s 5.93mm and a 5G \u201cPova Slim\u201d model at 5.95mm. Those numbers are largely meaningless compared to actually having the device in hand. Not to put too fine a point on it, but it may be the thinnest mobile phone that I\u2019ve held. There\u2019s just a few millimeters distance from the edge to the bottom USB-C port. The waterfall-type screen, where the edges slope down toward the back, adds to the sensation that I\u2019m holding a thin pane of glass rather than a traditional smartphone.<\/p>\n

The $1,100 Samsung Galaxy S25 Edge<\/a> is 5.8mm thick, so it\u2019s still winning in terms of pure thinness. The difference between the two is the Tecno Slim doesn\u2019t give up much in pursuit of a thin frame. It has an AMOLED display with a 1.5K resolution and a blistering 144Hz refresh rate (Apple, eat your heart out<\/a>). Despite its light feel, it still packs a 5,160mAh battery that allows for 45W fast charging. The S25 Edge packs a 3,900mAh battery. Rumors for Apple\u2019s ultra-thin iPhone 17 Air suggest the device could also sacrifice battery life<\/a> on the altar of pocketability.<\/p>\n

\"Tecno\u00a9 Kyle Barr \/ Gizmodo <\/p>\n

Tecno promises users will net between 24 and 28 hours of battery life. Tecno also claims it\u2019s figured out thermal issues with a 0.3mm-thick vapor chamber. And to top it off, the Slim is surprisingly cute, too. The rear camera cutout looks like a googly-eyed face. Depending on what actions you take, the rear lights might blink or wink at you. Imagine if the lights on Nothing\u2019s latest phones<\/a> before the Phone 3<\/a> had a little bit more personality.<\/p>\n

The two major discrepancies between the Slim and other modern phones are the cameras and chip. The Spark Slim uses a Helio G200 while the Pova Slim is powered by the MediaTek Dimensity 6400 5G+\u2014a lower-to-mid-range chip. These are not going to be the fastest, most capable phones around. It\u2019s also an Android 15-based device, which\u2014depending on your appreciation for Material 3 Expressive<\/a>\u2014is either a point for or against the thin phone.<\/p>\n

Every design will have its tradeoffs. Tecno\u2019s device will be worse off if you prioritize phone performance and camera capabilities. The Slim will be available sometime soon, Tecno told me, though there\u2019s no pricing information just yet. And again, sorry, this isn\u2019t coming to the U.S., so folks in the States have to accept bad batteries on thin phones for now.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"You have to travel across the world to find just how Americans are devoid of choice for interesting…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":126249,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[1121,1572,49,48,66522,190,848,1124,61],"class_list":{"0":"post-126248","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-mobile","8":"tag-android","9":"tag-apple","10":"tag-ca","11":"tag-canada","12":"tag-ifa-2025","13":"tag-mobile","14":"tag-samsung","15":"tag-smartphones","16":"tag-technology"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/126248","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=126248"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/126248\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/126249"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=126248"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=126248"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=126248"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}