Apple iPhone Air review: Not a necessity, but eminently desirable
The iPhone Air has multiple very clear compromises, and using it will feel like a step-down for camera-first or battery-first users, but it is a victory of engineering design
Two decades ago, when Nokia ruled the world of mobile phones, the company had a rather wacky side to its engineering and design units that produced some of the most unexpected gadgets ever. Today, while mobile phones are all far more standardized, the iPhone Air almost feels like the equivalent of the world’s third-largest company building something actually innovative.
The iPhone Air ( ₹1,19,900 for the 256 GB variant) is the middle child of Apple’s 2025 lineup. Traditionally, this middle ground has been a bit wonky—2020 and 2021’s ‘mini’ iPhones never found big audiences, and in the past three years, the ‘Plus’ iPhones felt less of an upgrade over the base model, and more like it was neither unique nor value-centric. This year, though, the iPhone Air stands its own ground, and for what it’s worth, is worth more than just a second glance.
It is this that makes the iPhone Air a great conversation starter at a party. Everyone wants to at least see for themselves what Apple’s new super-slim iPhone is all about. Those who keep up with the rumour mills have all sorts of questions about it, and a popular durability test video of the iPhone Air surviving extreme forces seems to have done it a favour, too.
In reality, living with the iPhone Air does not feel like the compromise that some quarters thought it would be. Sure, it has ‘just’ one camera, but this uses Apple’s new 48-megapixel ‘Fusion’ camera. At a very basic level, there are three main things that you miss out on—a very limited range of zoom, no wide-angle to capture large stadium shots or widen the field of view in tight spaces, and the lack of depth capture as a result of it.
This translates to no cinematic mode for videos on the iPhone Air, and no macro or spatial videography either. Any rendering of depth in photographs, shot through the ‘portrait’ mode, is largely done through software-based image processing. You are also restricted to a limited amount of simulated zoom—only 2x, since the iPhone Air does not have an optical zoom camera at all.
Is all of this rather limiting? That depends on use cases. For journalists, the use of the phone camera is a largely functional one—apart from casual hobbyist usage when on vacation. While the latter is a situation where a diverse camera will certainly be missed, there is no impact on functionality in everyday tasks.
The bigger impact, though, is in battery stamina. With a less-than-intense usage of Slack, WhatsApp, Gmail and the Firefox web browser, the iPhone Air dwindles down to under 30% in less than six hours. With intense usage, low power mode will need to be brought in by late afternoon. Interestingly enough, Apple ships the iPhone Air with a magnetically-attaching power bank, which is an absolute necessity for users of the super-slim iPhone. Together with the power bank and low power mode, the iPhone Air will manage to last the full day.
This beckons the next question: why the slimness? Were buyers asking for slim phones? Turns out, this isn’t a rare strategy. Samsung, in January this year, launched the Galaxy S25 ‘Edge’, which has about the same thickness as the iPhone Air. Six months later, it launched the Galaxy Z Fold 7—a foldable that is super slim and pocketable. Apple, as far as general understanding is concerned, is making similar preps, too.
Could the iPhone Air then be called a concept phone? In some ways, yes—the Air is a showcase of the kind of engineering that Apple is capable of. For instance, despite the slimness, Apple’s engineering is sophisticated enough to offer the same display as that of a Pro version of the iPhone 17 range. It also gets the same A19 ‘Pro’ chipset inside, making it capable of delivering every feature Apple has in store.
Gaming on the iPhone Air, as a result, is a rather pleasant surprise. Multiple 30-minute rounds of Mortal Kombat and eFootball—two fairly demanding games—made the phone’s chassis rather hot. However, there were no visible or disturbing amounts of stutters or interference in either, which stands testament to the iPhone Air not being a throttled overall iPhone experience. It is, to be sure, a thorough flagship.
All of this is topped off by how the iPhone Air feels in-hand. The slimness is evident, and while the phone may initially seem heavier than expected, the lightness and ease of usage comes into play gradually—especially on a heavy work day where using the phone for long hours does not lead to aching wrists and fingers. The added durability is assuring, and while some claim that the device doesn’t reflect any heft, the titanium frame, polished sides, matte glass on the back, and the entire setup in general ensure that the iPhone Air is every bit as sleek as the premium it commands in pricing.
Yes, there are compromises. The iPhone Air gets only one speaker to the upper end, which makes the audio output somewhat jarring especially since most flagship phones today offer stereo sound output as a standard feature. The camera limitations will catch up every now and then, and there’s very little chance of going out with the phone in the morning and coming back at the end of the day without plugging it in somewhere, for some time.
But, it is the design, coupled with the ergonomics and the top-notch performance, that make the iPhone Air a smartphone that many would want, even if they don’t need it. For a concept phone that as per analysts is only a build-up to a future generation of foldables, the iPhone Air is a success of engineering. Those buying it may even end up with a generational collectible, for there’s a good chance that the ‘Air’ makes way for the ‘Fold’ next year—although fans of engineering and design would truly hope that it survives to build a following of its own.
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