What you need to know
- Owners of Samsung’s Galaxy S22 series phones in South Korea have created an online community to initiate a class-action lawsuit against the tech giant over the throttling of apps and games.
- Samsung’s older phones with the game optimizing service are also affected.
- South Korea’s Fair Trade Commission is expected to soon launch an investigation to determine whether Samsung “exaggerated the performance” of its Galaxy phones.
South Korean antitrust watchdog, the Fair Trade Commission, could soon launch an investigation into Samsung Electronics over complaints that it “exaggerated the performance” of its new Galaxy S22 series phones. Additionally, the FTC’s investigation will also look into whether Samsung concealed information while advertising the flagship phones.
Last week, South Korean netizens posted a list of 10,000 apps and games that Samsung is throttling with its Game Optimizing Service (GOS). In addition to the Galaxy S22 series, the app also comes preinstalled on several other Samsung phones — including some of its best budget Android phones.
Samsung issued a statement a day later, promising that it would roll out a software update to give users greater control over the Game optimizing service. The South Korean tech giant has also posted a FAQ on its South Korean support website with more details on the issue.
Samsung’s advertisements for the Galaxy S22 series phone use the phrase “best performance ever,” which is only partially true. Samsung also claimed that the Galaxy S22 series phones’ have a refresh rate of 120Hz to deliver smoother motion and transitions. However, the GOS prevents the screen from refreshing at 120Hz while gaming for “safety reasons.”
As per Yonhap News, owners of the latest Galaxy S22 phones in South Korea have created an online community to “bring together people” to join a class-action lawsuit against Samsung. The owners apparently plan to file the suit seeking KRW 300,000 (about $242) in compensation from Samsung for each person.
