Even more evidence that the iPhone 17 Air competitor is real

I’ve made no secret of my interest in next year’s iPhone 17 Air, the model that’s supposed to replace Apple’s Plus. iPhone 17 model range and have a much slimmer profile than the other three.

I’m willing to give up the ultra-wide camera if the Air requires that sacrifice. I’m also prepared for a non-pro version of the A19 chip and a battery size that will likely be smaller than the Plus phone. I say it like iPhone 16 Plus user who keeps rearranging his phone in his pants pockets due to the overall size of the phone.

Given all this, I wouldn’t be surprised if I see Samsung develop Galaxy S25 option to compete with the iPhone 17 Air. An insider recently reported that Samsung plans to launch such a device in April, about three months after the main Galaxy S25 phones go on sale.

Now we have more evidence that the device is real. A previously unpublished model number associated with the Galaxy S25 series has been leaked. This model number confirms rumors that the Galaxy S25 Slim is real, suggesting it won’t suffer the same fate as the ultra-thin Galaxy Z Fold SE. That is, the thin Galaxy S25 model will be released in international markets, including the United States.

Report from Korean ETNews said a few days ago that industry insiders were claiming that Samsung had recently added a “thin” version to the Galaxy S25 lineup. It was the day before source of information yeux1122 mentioned Galaxy S25 Slimbut a few weeks later, another report from Korea noted Samsung’s interest in a thinner variant of the Galaxy S25.

At the time, it seemed like Samsung would make the Galaxy S25 FE thinner. This is the budget version of the Galaxy S25, which Samsung will release in the second half of 2025. This is no longer the case.

The Galaxy S25 Slim will be a much better deal than the limited edition Galaxy Z Fold SE or Galaxy S FE phones. Samsung will use it to test the market’s response to the ultra-thin phone. The phone could then influence the design of the Galaxy S26 series, which is scheduled to launch in early 2026.

Like Apple with the iPhone, Samsung has been redesigning its Galaxy S and Galaxy Z in recent years. The Galaxy S25 series should have minor design changes compared to the Galaxy S24, with the exception of the Ultra. The latter will presumably have more rounded corners to improve handling.

These design choices influenced the demand for new devices. Samsung is looking for a fresh design. The Galaxy S25 Slim could be just what it needs, especially with the iPhone 17 Air due out next September.

ETNews says the Galaxy S25 Slim will hit stores in the second quarter of 2025. This is in line with the April release period we heard about earlier.

This brings us to the latest developments: SmartPrix found Galaxy S25 Slim model number. The model number of the thinner phone is SM-S937U. This data is taken from the GSMA IMEI database, which the blog calls “absolutely accurate.”

The remaining three model numbers of the Galaxy S25 phones are SM-S931 (regular variant of S25), SM-S935 (S25 Plus) and SM-S938 (S25 Ultra). The last two have already appeared in early performance tests.

Even more interesting is the “U” at the end of the model number. This signals that the SM-S937U is heading to the US market. So the Galaxy S25 Slim is a much bigger achievement than we thought.

Samsung and Apple are rumored to be launching slim variants of their flagship phones, and others are likely to follow suit. We may be in for a big shift in design towards thinner phones.