Which mobile phones emit the most radiation… and where iPhones come on the list

MOBILE users may think they have nothing to worry about when it comes to the amount of radiation being emitted when they are using their phones.

But the amount they emit can vary quite significantly.

The latest iPhones, including the 14 Pro Max and the iPhone SE, recommend to their customers that they “use a hands-free option, such as the built-in speakerphone, headphones or other similar accessories” to “reduce exposure to RF (radio frequency) energy”.

According to Germany’s Federal Office for Radiation, those radio frequency exposures, can be exceptionally high from some mobile devices, and Android phones top the list.

Joel Moskowitz, a researcher at the University of California Berkeley’s School of Public Health said: “People are addicted to their smartphones.

“We use them for everything now, and, in many ways, we need them to function in our daily lives.

“I think the idea that they’re potentially harming our health is too much for some people.”

Moskowitz and his colleagues published a review of 46 case-control health studies on the issue of mobiles and health in the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health in 2020.

He said: “Our main takeaway, is that approximately 1,000 hours of lifetime mobile use, or about 17 minutes per day over a 10-year period, is associated with a statistically significant 60 per cent increase in brain cancer.”

However, things may not be quite that bleak as the UN’s World Health Organisation currently says that, as yet, “no adverse health effects have been established as being caused by mobile phone use.”

Germany’s Federal Office for Radiation lists data on each mobile phone’s specific absorption rate (SAR).

SAR, is calculated in watts per kilogram of body weight and quantifies how much energy is absorbed per unit mass by the human body when it’s exposed to a radio frequency.

Usually, this is based on an absorption value recorded when you make a call with the phone to your ear.

In the EU, a SAR value of 2 watts/kg (w/kg) is allowed while in the US this is 1.6 w/kg.

The list was compiled by Digital Information World.

These five models emit some of the strongest radiation on the market: Motorola Edge ( 1.79 w/kg); OnePlus 6T (1.55 w/kg); Sony Xperia XA2 Plus (1.41 w/kg) Google Pixel 3 XL (1.39 w/kg); and the Google Pixel 4a (1.37 w/kg) in a tie with the Oppo Reno5 5G (1.37 w/kg).

Men are advised not to store your phone in your pant pockets while ladies should give them out of your bra.

Not too far behind, were the Google Pixel 3 (1.33 w/kg), Huawei‘s P Smart (1.27 w/kg) and the OnePlus 9 (1.26 w/kg).

These are the phones known to emit the least radiation: the Samsung Galaxy Note10+ 5G (0.19 w/kg); Samsung’s Galaxy Note10 (0.21 w/kg); the Samsung Galaxy A80 (0.22 w/kg); LG G7 ThinQ (0.24 w/kg); and the Motorola Razr 5G (0.27 w/kg).

As for iPhones, iPhone SE with that warning gives off a SAR or 0.98 w/kg.

It’s comparable to other popular models: iPhone 11 (0.95 w/kg); iPhone 12 (0.98 w/kg); iPhone 13 (0.99 w/kg); and iPhone 14 (0.98 w/kg).