Galaxy S23 series still has Samsung’s infamous ‘GOS’ enabled by default

Ben Schoon | Feb 3 2023 - 9:26 am PT

In 2022 Samsung was hit with outrage from fans over “GOS,” a tweak to how Galaxy phones worked that throttled performance to an extent. A year later, that “feature” is still in place, but on the Galaxy S23, “GOS” is at least optional.

When “GOS” was first discovered, it was explained as an optimization in Samsung’s software which would hold the CPU/GPU back when playing games. The idea behind that was to prevent phones from overheating while playing games by only giving them the resources they actually needed to run. While many found that idea acceptable, the main problem folks took issue with was that the optimization couldn’t be turned off.

In response, Samsung issued an update that allowed users to turn off “GOS” via the Game Booster settings.

On the Galaxy S23 series, some expected Samsung to just do away with “GOS” optimizations entirely. After all, the entire series ships with the “Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 for Galaxy” on a global scale, the fastest chip available on Android today and presumably with some of the best thermals too. Samsung even greatly increased the size of the heat-controlling vapor chamber.

Yet, “GOS” lives on.

As first spotted by Android Authority and confirmed on our own Galaxy S23 Ultra unit here at 9to5Google, the “GOS” toggle still lives in Settings on Samsung’s latest. As pictured below, the toggle appears under “Game Booster Labs” and is turned off by default. This means that “GOS” optimizations – or at least some form of optimization – is enabled by default. Enabling the toggle comes with the warning that, while it may improve performance, it may also lead to a hotter overall device.

At the very least, it’s nice that Samsung users won’t have to wait on an update to unlock the full performance of their device, but it really is a head-scratcher why this is even in place at all given the generational improvements.

Pre-orders for the Samsung Galaxy S23 series are open now. Buyers get a $100 credit with their pre-order, and an additional $50 by clicking our special link here. Samsung is offering trade-in values up to $750. We’ve also broken down carrier deals here so you can get the best value.