I have not hidden my interest in next year’s iPhone 17 Air, a model that should replace the Plus at Apple iPhone17 range and have a much thinner profile than the other three.

I’m willing to give up the ultra-wide camera if the Air needs that sacrifice. I’m also ready for the non-Pro version of the A19 chip and a battery size that will likely be smaller than I’d get from a Plus phone. I say it like an iPhone 16 Plus user who keeps rearranging their phone in their pants pockets due to the overall bulkiness of the handset.

With all this in mind, I wouldn’t be surprised to see Samsung develop a Galaxy S25 variant to rival the iPhone 17 Air. An insider recently said that Samsung plans to launch such a device in April, about three months after the main Galaxy S25 phones arrive in stores.

We now have more evidence that the device is real. An unreleased model number associated with the Galaxy S25 series has been leaked. This model number supports rumors that the Galaxy S25 Slim is real, suggesting that it won’t have the same fate as the ultra-thin Galaxy Z Fold SE. That is, the Galaxy S25 slim model would be launched in international markets, including the United States.

A Korean report 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 a day before leak eyes1122 mentioned the 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 looked like Samsung was going to make the Galaxy S25 FE thinner. This is the economical version of the Galaxy S25 that Samsung will launch in the second half of 2025. This is no longer the case.

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

Like Apple with the iPhone, Samsung has been recycling its Galaxy S and Galaxy Z models for several years. The Galaxy S25 series should feature few design changes compared to the Galaxy S24, with the exception of the Ultra. The latter is supposed to have more rounded corners for better maneuverability.

These design choices have impacted the demand for new devices. Samsung is looking for a new design. The Galaxy S25 Slim could be just what it needs, especially with the iPhone 17 Air expected to launch next September.

ETNews indicates that the Galaxy S25 Slim will hit stores in Q2 2025. This matches the April release window we previously heard about.

This brings us to the most recent development: SmartPrix find the model number of the Galaxy S25 Slim. The model number of the thinnest phone is SM-S937U. This data comes from the GSMA IMEI database, which the blog describes as “absolutely accurate”.

The other three model numbers of the Galaxy S25 phones are SM-S931 (the standard variant of the S25), SM-S935 (the S25 Plus), and SM-S938 (the S25 Ultra). The last two have already appeared in the first benchmark tests.

More interesting is the “U” at the end of the model number. This indicates that the SM-S937U is heading to the US market. Therefore, the Galaxy S25 Slim is a much bigger deal than we thought.

While Samsung and Apple both claim to make slim variants of their flagship phones, others will likely follow. We could be looking at a big design shift towards thin phones.