All mobile phones, including smartphones, emit radio waves from their antennas in order to send/receive voice calls and data. Our body absorbs these waves and if they are too powerful, they will have negative effect on our health. The rate at which such radiation is absorbed by the human body is called Specific Absorption Rate (SAR) and is measured in watts per kilogram (W/kg). A mobile phone is approved for release only if its radiation level is below a certain threshold, which is 1.6 W/kg in the US and India and 2.0 W/kg in Europe. The lower the SAR value, the less radiation the phone emits. This article compares the SAR values of popular Android and iOS smartphones, so read on to find out which ones of them emit the lowest amount of radiation.
Each phone is categorized by two radiation level measurements - one at head level (SAR Head) and one at hip level (SAR Body). The table below shows the SAR values of many popular Android and iOS smartphones in W/kg using the US measurement method. I've chosen it over the European one because it imposes a lower SAR limit (1.6 W/kg instead of 2.0 W/kg). The table is sorted in ascending order by the average value of the head and body SAR, i.e. the smartphones that emit lower amount of radiation come first. You can use the check boxes below to hide and show smartphones from different vendors and years.
| Smartphone | Released | SAR Head | SAR Body | Average |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| LG G3 | 2014 | 0.39 | 0.48 | 0.435 |
| HTC One M9 | 2015 | 0.56 | 0.35 | 0.455 |
| Sony Xperia Z5 | 2015 | 0.55 | 0.59 | 0.570 |
| Samsung Galaxy S8 | 2017 | 0.44 | 0.75 | 0.595 |
| HTC 10 | 2016 | 0.66 | 0.55 | 0.605 |
| Samsung Galaxy Note 4 | 2014 | 0.37 | 0.88 | 0.625 |
| Huawei P9 Lite | 2016 | 0.88 | 0.53 | 0.705 |
| Google Pixel | 2016 | 0.89 | 0.56 | 0.725 |
| Samsung Galaxy S5 mini | 2014 | 0.63 | 0.82 | 0.725 |
| LG G4 | 2015 | 0.72 | 0.75 | 0.735 |
| Google Pixel XL | 2016 | 0.92 | 0.58 | 0.750 |
| Sony Xperia Z5 Compact | 2015 | 0.97 | 0.61 | 0.790 |
| Samsung Galaxy S8+ | 2017 | 0.67 | 0.97 | 0.820 |
| Motorola Moto Z | 2016 | 0.54 | 1.14 | 0.840 |
| LG G5 | 2016 | 0.52 | 1.24 | 0.880 |
| HTC One M8 | 2014 | 0.94 | 0.83 | 0.885 |
| Huawei P10 Lite | 2017 | 0.89 | 0.91 | 0.900 |
| LG G6 | 2017 | 0.65 | 1.23 | 0.940 |
| Motorola Moto X Style (Pure) | 2015 | 0.49 | 1.43 | 0.960 |
| Sony Xperia Z3 Compact | 2014 | 0.95 | 1.00 | 0.975 |
| Huawei P10 | 2017 | 0.96 | 0.99 | 0.975 |
| Motorola Moto X Play | 2015 | 0.80 | 1.23 | 1.015 |
| LG Nexus 5X | 2015 | 0.91 | 1.20 | 1.055 |
| Motorola Moto G3 | 2015 | 1.06 | 1.12 | 1.090 |
| Motorola Moto G | 2013 | 1.17 | 1.06 | 1.115 |
| Apple iPhone 6s Plus | 2015 | 1.12 | 1.14 | 1.130 |
| Apple iPhone 6s | 2015 | 1.14 | 1.14 | 1.140 |
| Motorola Moto X4 | 2017 | 1.12 | 1.16 | 1.140 |
| Samsung Galaxy J5 | 2016 | 1.14 | 1.16 | 1.150 |
| Samsung Galaxy S6 | 2015 | 1.15 | 1.16 | 1.155 |
| Sony Xperia X Compact | 2016 | 1.08 | 1.25 | 1.165 |
| Apple iPhone 6 | 2014 | 1.18 | 1.18 | 1.180 |
| Apple iPhone SE | 2016 | 1.17 | 1.19 | 1.180 |
| Apple iPhone 6 Plus | 2014 | 1.19 | 1.19 | 1.190 |
| Apple iPhone 7 | 2016 | 1.19 | 1.19 | 1.190 |
| Apple iPhone 7 Plus | 2016 | 1.19 | 1.19 | 1.190 |
| Samsung Galaxy S4 | 2013 | 0.85 | 1.55 | 1.200 |
| Huawei P9 | 2016 | 1.49 | 0.96 | 1.225 |
| Motorola Moto X Force | 2015 | 1.38 | 1.13 | 1.255 |
| Motorola Moto G4 Plus | 2016 | 1.09 | 1.48 | 1.285 |
| Motorola Moto Z Play | 2016 | 1.45 | 1.15 | 1.300 |
| Motorola Moto Z2 Play | 2017 | 1.46 | 1.24 | 1.350 |
| Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge | 2016 | 1.17 | 1.59 | 1.380 |
| Samsung Galaxy S5 | 2014 | 1.20 | 1.58 | 1.390 |
| Samsung Galaxy Note 5 | 2015 | 1.53 | 1.28 | 1.405 |
| Samsung Galaxy S7 | 2016 | 1.40 | 1.59 | 1.495 |
Sources: GSM Arena, Phone Arena, Device Specifications
The values in the table are the maximum values I was able to find for each phone. Fortunately, all of them are lower than the allowed limit of 1.6 W/kg, although some phones come close to the limit. Note that these are the maximum values and in most cases the SAR value of the phone will be lower. It depends on many factors such as network coverage, network type, exact phone model number and variation, distance from the head/body and so on.
The easiest way to reduce your exposure to radio waves from your mobile phone is to use headphones or simply hold your phone at a little distance from your ear while talking. The power of the emitted waves is affected by the inverse square law, so it decreases very fast when increasing the distance to the phone.
It's nice to see that you are back. Will you keep on blogging?
ReplyDeleteHi, yes I will. I have some ideas for new articles, so you can expect more interesting readings in the near future.
DeleteReally useful table. Thank you for posting. Samsung used to be the best but with the s7 they seem to have regressed.
ReplyDeletePavel,
ReplyDeleteI just checked your rating on Samsung galaxy note 5. It is completely out of mark. The highest has t-mobile, head 0.62 and body 1.07 ATT has 06.62 and 0.78 I do not know where did you take the numbers. Mine are from official Samsung website when you plug in a specific model number. You need to correct it.
Hi, I check the SAR ratings of each phone published on several websites and I publish in the table the largest values I have found. In the case of Galaxy Note 5 I have found the largest SAR values published on GSM Arena's website. It is possible for your smartphone when connected to your mobile network carrier, the SAR ratings to be lower than the ones published in the table of this article.
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