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To choose which smartphone to buy we can also consider the amount of radiation emitted, as well as price, design and other features. Not everyone knows that there is a certain difference between the different models in terms of radiomagnetic emissions that are absorbed by our body when we use the cell phone. There are also government institutes that test the models. The most famous is the “Federal Institute for Radiation Protection” of the German Government which offers a search engine with almost all the models sold so far (even those off the market). The data, as of August 2023, offers interesting elements for consumers who are particularly interested in these aspects.
To understand these data and their meaning, however, some notions must be introduced.
The values are called Sar (specific absorption rate), i.e. watts absorbed per kilogram of the body. A Sar of 2.0 W/kg is considered internationally to be the maximum safe limit for exposure to electromagnetic radiation emitted by smartphones. No model reaches these limits or even comes close (it is worth denying a table that is circulating at the moment where values of over 3 watts appear for some models; however, they do not correspond to the official German source, as can be verified on its website).
Sar are measured in the laboratory by holding the mobile phone half a centimeter from the head, when a connection is active. Other tests measure radiation on the torso, but here we are only referring to the radiation on the head, as suspicions of health dangers currently focus on the possible increased risk of brain tumors.
What health risks
It is important to note that there is no unanimous scientific consensus on the health risks associated with exposure to electromagnetic radiation. The International Agency for Research on Cancer has classified non-ionizing radiation, such as that emitted by smartphones, as “possibly carcinogenic to humans”. Other organizations, such as the Italian National Institute of Health, have concluded that there is insufficient evidence to say that electromagnetic radiation emitted by smartphones causes cancer.
Sar and smartphones, what to consider
Physics teaches us that the amount of radiation absorbed depends on many factors, including the power of the antenna, the type of frequency and proximity. Lower frequencies tend to penetrate more. Wi-Fi and Bluetooth are considered much safer than using a smartphone, both because those connections take place further away from us and because the power is much lower and the frequencies are higher. Good news: The German institute found a few weeks ago that modern mobile phones have an advantage over older models: they often transmit with the 4G or 5G standard. Both standards have a lower radiation level than the GSM standard when establishing a connection. The GSM transmits at maximum power to establish a call. The device then reduces the transmit power to the required level. The 4G or 5G mobile phone does exactly the opposite. Start the call setup with the lowest transmit power and then increase to the required power. “According to the current state of science and technology, mobile phones pose no health risks. However, the technology has not been in use long enough for a conclusive assessment of long-term effects. The Federal Office for Radiation Protection therefore supports further research in these areas,” we read in a report from October. The institute recommends looking for smartphones with a maximum Sar of 0.5 and estimates that 41% of devices on the market responds to this requirement. The bad news is that the most popular models exceed this limit and reach around 1 Watt. The cheaper and less well-known ones do better. However, the institute particularly recommends avoiding models with SAR higher than 1.6 watts.
The worst and best models for emissions
The LG 510W and LG-G512 models have the highest SAR values of 1.94 W/kg each. The Motorola Edge has a SAR value of 1.79 W/kg, followed by Xiaomi’s Mi A1 and its variant LTE Dual SIM with 1.75 W/kg each. Huawei P8 has a SAR value of 1.72 W/kg, while OnePlus 5T has a SAR value of 1.68 W/kg. Samsung has many models with low SAR values, such as the Gear 2 Neo, Gear 2 and Galaxy Note 10.1 Wi-Fi, with 0.01, 0.02 and 0.03 W/kg respectively. Motorola’s MPx 200 and Huawei’s Mate 8 also performed well with values slightly above 0.20 W/kg. The OnePlus 2 has the same value. Let’s see the models of the most popular brands, Samsung and Apple. The Samsung model with the highest SAR value is the Galaxy A23 5G (1.49 W/kg), while the lowest is the Galaxy A34 5G (0.55W/kg). Several more recent models, such as the Galaxy S23 Ultra and the Galaxy Z Flip 5G, have Sar values (slightly) lower than 1.0 W/kg, confirming a trend towards reduced radiation in the more recent models.The iPhone model with the highest value is the iPhone 7 (1.38 W/kg), while the lowest is the iPhone ).
Recommendations for calling and surfing
The institute, like the various international organizations, recommend making calls with headphones as much as possible and surfing using Wi-Fi. Bluetooth and Wi-Fi, as mentioned, have lower powers than cellular standards, in fact. Radiation to a minimum with the increasingly less used wired headphones. Finally, we read in the latest report from the German institute, “for children it is particularly important to reduce exposure to electromagnetic fields to a minimum. They are still in development and may therefore be more sensitive to health effects.” He advises them to deactivate their mobile data connection and let them surf only via Wi-Fi. Finally, the institute gives a recommendation that is known to experts but very little to everyone else: it is better not to use your cell phone when there is little reception. In these conditions, the device in fact keeps the power at maximum. We have little range when the operator’s antenna is far from us. Regardless of what the various “anti antenna” committees may think, science therefore gives us a good reason to allow an increase in the number of antennas on the territory – which, being far from the body, do not cause a large absorption of emissions but vice versa allow us to reduce those absorbed by cell phone use, as explained.