Ryan Whitwam / Android Authority
Thinner phones might be one of the phone trends we can expect to see in 2025, but it might not be based on public demand. As in many other markets, smartphone manufacturers sometimes try to tell us what we want rather than listen to their customers. We wanted to know if that could be happening with the slim-phone narrative, so we asked your opinion.
We ran a poll in a recent article by Android Authority writer Aamir Siddiqui about thinner phones. In the post, Aamir summarized the trend of thin smartphones, with upcoming models like the Galaxy S25 Slim and iPhone 17 Slim rumored to sacrifice features such as battery capacity and camera quality for thinness. Smartphone makers have often toyed with slim designs, but most devices have struck a balance between aesthetics and functionality. If we see signs of a more significant potential shift towards wafer-thin handsets, it would raise questions about whether consumers prioritize thinness over practicality. As the poll results below show, those questions are well justified.
Do you care about thinner phones?
The poll shows a roughly even split between people who think that phones are about the right thickness right now and those who would be happy to have a thicker phone if it meant a longer-lasting battery and other potential features. The clear minority is those who would accept the tradeoffs that a thinner phone might bring. Only 15% of respondents chose this option, with almost three times more people preferring the opposite in a thicker phone.
If there was any doubt about these results, we ran the same poll on X and YouTube. There’s a little variation between the percentages in the three polls, but the takeaways are certainly the same. In the X poll, 21.5% liked the idea of a slim phone, while a majority of almost 42% would choose a thicker phone with more battery. The YouTube results were even starker, with a measly 12% choosing the thinner phones option and almost 50% preferring more girth if it meant extra functionality.
Manufacturers don’t aim to please everyone with each device.
Results like these might make interesting reading to brands like Apple and Samsung, but they likely already know that ultra-slim isn’t everyone’s cup of tea. Manufacturers don’t aim to please everyone with each device, and if approximately 15% of punters would buy a thinner phone, that’s enough for a target market. As long as they release the ‘Slim’ models as extra options and don’t compromise the core Galaxy or iPhone lines, the business risk is fairly low.
Comments on Aamir’s article reflect the poll result, with most readers pointing out what features they would prefer over a slimmer device. As commenter Hai Karate said, “Has the well of innovation run so dry that this is what will be pushed as the new hotness?” There may be a depressing amount of truth to that.
