When people purchase a smartphone in this day and age, they often check both the specs and the benchmark scores. The latter isn’t really a true metric of real-world performance but it can give a statistical estimation of the device’s raw power. This is precisely the reason why the Samsung debacle is so controversial – its Game Optimizing Software limited the performance of around 10,000 of the most commonly used apps but conveniently left out benchmarking tools. Well, Geekbench is having none of it from Samsung.

This whole fiasco, if gone undetected, would have been a mild variation of fraud. The term is defined as “a thing intended to deceive others, typically by unjustifiably claiming or being credited with accomplishments or qualities” by the Oxford dictionary. Since most people who haven’t had time with a device make use of benchmark scores to come to a purchasing decision, these customers technically aren’t receiving the grunt they are paying for due to software limitations. The numbers in the benchmarks clearly inflate illusions of its real-world power that isn’t just there. The company should have taken an all-or-nothing approach in selecting the 10,000 apps here.

After performing an internal investigation, popular benchmarking software Geekbench has removed 4 years’ worth of Samsung phones from their rankings. The team states benchmark manipulation as the cause of this move. Affected devices include 4 generations of the flagship Galaxy S phones: namely the Galaxy S10, S20, S21, and S22 lineups.

Online users also requested that the Note series be tested. This makes perfect sense as this lineup was the pinnacle of the Samsung hierarchy for a moment in time. Thankfully, the company replied saying that there were no noticeable differences between GOS off and GOS on during the testing of these particular devices. Nothing has been said about their foldable devices such as the Z Fold and Z Flip, though.

While this may not be critical news for those happy with their Galaxy devices, may this fiasco be a stern reminder to all manufacturers that these kinds of acts won’t just slip under the radar. There are a lot of intelligent customers who tinker with their devices, so they would be better off not hiding anything that would make consumers doubt to maintain brand loyalty and trust.