Samsung could be hit with a fine of up to $45 million over claims it secretly throttled the performance of Galaxy S21 and S22 phones while advertising them as its fastest ever. South Korea’s Fair Trade Commission will hold a plenary meeting on 14 October to rule on whether the company’s Game Optimization Service misled buyers. The Samsung GOS throttling fine would be one of the largest penalties of its kind ever imposed on a phone maker.
At the heart of the case is a feature called Game Optimization Service, or GOS, which runs silently in the background of Galaxy phones. Samsung says it keeps temperatures in check and smooths out long gaming sessions. But when the story broke in 2022, owners discovered that GOS was limiting performance whether they wanted it or not, and that Samsung had blocked the workarounds people were using to bypass it.
What the Samsung GOS throttling fine case is about
The investigators’ case is built on advertising. They argue Samsung promoted the Galaxy S21 and S22 ranges with promises of “highest-ever performance” on its website and in press materials, while failing to disclose that GOS could cut performance by more than half during heavy games.
The numbers behind the claim are striking. Regulators’ testing reportedly found the CPU held to just 46.8 percent of maximum output and the GPU to 42.8 percent while running the demanding game Genshin Impact. For buyers who chose their phone partly on its promised processing power, the investigators see that omission as deceptive.
They have put the relevant Korean revenue at around 4 trillion won and classified the violation as serious, with an estimated penalty ranging between 32.2 and 64.4 billion won. Samsung, for its part, argues that GOS is a safety feature and points out that owners of the affected high-end games make up less than 5 percent of its user base.
That defence may not carry much weight with the commission. Regulators tend to focus on what an advert promises rather than how many customers ever test the limits, and “highest-ever performance” is a bold claim to print next to a hidden speed cap. We will know the outcome after the 14 October meeting concludes.
What UK Galaxy owners should know
The ruling is a Korean one, but the implications travel well beyond Seoul. The Galaxy S21 and S22 were global flagships sold in the UK at prices from £769 and £769 respectively at launch, and GOS was present on the devices sold here too. A guilty verdict would strengthen the case for regulators elsewhere, including the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority, to take a closer look at phone performance claims.
UK owners of affected phones may also find the publicity useful. Key points worth remembering:
- The case concerns the Galaxy S21, Galaxy S22 and Galaxy Tab S8 ranges sold from 2021 onwards
- Modern Samsung phones still ship with Game Booster settings, which now offer more user control over performance
- If your phone feels slower in games than benchmarks suggest, check Game Booster or Game Launcher settings for performance limits
- A Korean ruling does not automatically create UK compensation, but it may prompt similar action here
For anyone still using an S21 or S22, the good news is that Samsung has gradually loosened GOS over successive software updates. The One UI 9 rollout now reaching UK Galaxy phones brought further refinements to game performance management, and checking that your phone is running the latest update remains the simplest way to keep performance at its best.
A wider reckoning for phone performance claims
The GOS saga has already changed how the industry talks about performance. Since the story broke in 2022, several phone makers have become more transparent about thermal throttling, and reviewers now routinely test sustained performance rather than just peak benchmarks.
There is also a consumer rights angle that matters for UK buyers. If the FTC finds that advertising “highest-ever performance” alongside hidden throttling was deceptive, it strengthens the argument that performance figures in phone marketing should reflect real sustained use, not just lab conditions. That principle applies well beyond Samsung.
The 14 October plenary meeting will be watched closely by the whole smartphone industry. A fine at the top of the estimated range would send a clear signal that misleading performance claims carry real consequences, while a lenient outcome would let phone makers keep the current grey areas. Either way, UK Galaxy owners will want to watch what happens next.
