World’s thinnest phone is here, but it’s not the iPhone 17 Air or Galaxy S25 Edge

By Nadeem Sarwar Published February 28, 2025

Tecno

The year 2025 could very well mark the arrival of super slim phones. Samsung has already given us a glimpse of the Galaxy S25 Edge, and could launch it as soon as April. Apple, on the other hand, is heavily anticipated to launch an iPhone 17 Air model later this year.

It seems a relatively unknown brand will beat them to the game.

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Tecno has today announced the Spark Slim, a phone with a thickness of just 5.75mm. Interestingly, it seems this phone isn’t a one-trick pony, because the internal hardware is also fairly powerful and puts it firmly in the upper mid-range category.

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Now, before we get into the details, here’s the disclaimer. Tecno says the Spark Slim is a concept device. That means it’s merely an innovation showcase for now, and there is a 50-50 chance that it will never make it to the market as a commercially available product.

What’s inside this sleek machine?

Tecno

Tecno says the Spark Slim will feature a dual camera setup at the back that relies on two 50-megapixel sensors. Over at the front is a 13-megapixel snapper for selfie and video-calling duties, slotted neatly in a punch-hole cutout on a 6.78-inch curved OLED screen.

The display panel sounds quite impressive, as it offers a 1.5K resolution and 144Hz refresh rate, one of the best that the industry has to offer. Tecno is also touting a peak brightness figure of 4,500 nits for the screen, roughly double compared to the iPhone 16 Pro Max.

Powering the phone is an undisclosed octa-core processor. Unfortunately, the company has not shared any details about the RAM or storage figures, either. What’s truly surprising, though, is the battery capacity.

Tecno

Tecno says the Spark Slim will come equipped with a 5,200 mAh battery, which is nothing short of astonishing. For comparison, the Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra is 8.6mm thick, but offers a smaller 5,000 mah battery.

The charging stack is no slouch either. Tecno is claiming a peak wired charging output of 45W, which is far ahead of what Apple has to offer, and matches the latest and greatest phones from Samsung.

Tecno will share more details about the phone at MWC, which kicks off next week. Digital Trends will be on the show floor, and we are expecting some hands-on time with the device, assuming Tecno has some working prototypes to show off. Stay tuned for that.

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Nadeem is a tech and science journalist who started reading about cool smartphone tech out of curiosity and soon started…

Mobile

Apple might serve a massive front camera upgrade on iPhone 17

An iPhone 16 laying on a shelf with its screen on.

The domain of Apple leaks is currently obsessed with the controversial iPhone 17 Pro design refresh, which could stir some heated debate with its massive camera hump. A lot of chatter is also focused on the svelte iPhone 17 Air. Yet, it seems there are a few other internal upgrades worth getting excited about.
According to analyst Jeff Pu, Apple will equip all four iPhone 17 series models with an upgraded 24-megapixel front camera. So far, Apple has stuck with a 12-megapixel selfie snapper on its mainline iPhones. Moreover, the company hasn’t ever deployed a 24-megapixel camera sensor, keeping its experiments limited to 12-megapixel and 48-megapixel units in the past few years.
The research note by Pu, which was seen by MacRumors and 9to5Mac, doesn’t go into details about the specifications or feature details of the new 24-megapixel front snapper on the iPhone 17 series. However, we can take an educated guess, based on what Apple accomplished when it switched from 12-megapixel to 48-megapixel rear cameras.

A 24-megapixel sensor will most likely default to pixel-binning for delivering pictures and videos at a lower resolution than the native pixel count. Pixel-binning essentially combines the light data collected by adjacent pixels, creating what is colloquially known as a super-pixel.
The sum total of these efforts are pictures that are more detailed and with more realistic color rendering, especially in low-light scenarios. Depending on how the pixels are combined, the final image is usually a lower-resolution shot, but more pleasing to look at.
For example, the iPhone 16 Pro’s 48-megapixel main camera does 4-in-1 pixel binning to produce 12-megapixel pictures, but you can still stick full-res 48-megapixel shots, too. There’s also an intermediary option to to get the best of both worlds with 24-megapixel clicks.
With a 24-megapixel selfie camera coming into the picture, iPhone 17 buyers can expect improved selfies and better-quality video calls. Moreover, since there are more pixels to collect light data, Apple might leverage it to offer more advanced camera features, too.

Mobile

Samsung might charge a bomb for the svelte Galaxy S25 Edge

Leaked skin render of Samsung Galaxy S25 Edge.

So far, Samsung has only given a see-but-no-touch glimpse of its ultra-thin Galaxy S25 Edge smartphone. It’s going to be a vehicle of engineering showcase for Samsung, but to an average buyer, the phone might leave a rather big hole in their wallets.
According to the folks over at Android Headlines, Samsung Galaxy S25 Edge’s 12GB RAM / 256GB storage variant will reportedly fall in the ballpark of €1,200 and €1,300, which roughly translates to $1,300 and $1,400 based on current conversion rates.
For the higher end-variant with double the onboard storage, Samsung is reportedly eyeing an asking price in the range of €1,300 and €1,400m, which broadly comes in at $1,400 to $1,522 apiece. For comparison, Apple’s upcoming iPhone 17 Air could cost somewhere around $900 upon its launch later this year.

A sliver of hope

Mobile

iPhone 17 Air might not serve a price shock, after all

Alleged concept render of the iPhone 17 Air in black.

Ever since we first heard murmurs of Apple prepping an ultra-slim iPhone, speculations were rife about a fittingly high asking price. But it seems buyers won’t get hit with an absurd “innovation tax” for the iPhone 17 Air model later this year.
According to Bloomberg, the upcoming phone might be priced at “roughly $900.” To put that into perspective, that’s the same asking price as the iPhone 16 Plus. To recall, the iPhone 17 Air is expected to replace the “Plus” model in Apple’s line-up later this year.

A few pleasant surprises
The package, however, is going to be a mixed bag of surprises. For example, the slim phone is expected to offer a 6.6-inch display, but it will borrow the ProMotion display tech from the pricier Pro models. So far, the high refresh rate perk has been exclusive to Apple’s flagship iPhones and iPads.