If you’re shopping for the lowest SAR phone in 2026, here’s the verified answer up front: among current US-market flagships, the Google Pixel 10 Pro and Pro XL report the lowest head SAR at 0.99 W/kg (per Google’s safety and regulatory guide), and the Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra reports the lowest body-worn value at 0.64 W/kg (per its FCC grant filing). Every iPhone 17 model reports 1.19 W/kg. All of them sit comfortably under the FCC’s 1.6 W/kg limit.
One caveat belongs right next to those numbers: the FCC — the agency whose database they come from — explicitly says a single SAR value can’t reliably rank one phone against another. This guide gives you the numbers we could actually verify at the source this week, shows you how to look up any phone yourself, and explains why your habits move your exposure far more than your hardware does.
On the charging pad or in your hand, every phone sold in the US must test under 1.6 W/kg. The published number is a worst-case ceiling, not what you absorb in daily use.
What SAR Actually Measures (In 30 Seconds)
Specific Absorption Rate (SAR) is the rate at which your body absorbs radiofrequency energy from a transmitting device, measured in watts per kilogram. For certification, each phone is tested at maximum transmit power, in every band, pressed against liquid-filled dummy heads and torsos, and the single highest reading goes on record. The US limit is 1.6 W/kg averaged over 1 gram of tissue; countries following the European approach use 2.0 W/kg averaged over 10 grams.
For the full story — the 1996-era test assumptions and why SAR is a compliance ceiling, not a safety score — read our companion piece on what SAR ratings really mean.
Verified SAR Values for 2026’s Major Phones
Every number below was pulled during research for this article, directly from the manufacturer’s published RF exposure page or the phone’s FCC equipment authorization. We’re only listing phones we could verify — not recycling numbers from other blogs. All values are from the US regime (1.6 W/kg limit, 1-gram averaging).
| Phone | Head SAR (W/kg) | Body-Worn SAR (W/kg) | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Google Pixel 10 Pro | 0.99 | 0.99 | Google safety & regulatory guide |
| Google Pixel 10 Pro XL | 0.99 | 0.99 | Google safety & regulatory guide |
| Google Pixel 10 | 1.18 | 0.99 | Google safety & regulatory guide |
| Samsung Galaxy S25 | 1.13 | 0.92 | FCC grant, ID A3LSMS931U |
| Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra | 1.26 | 0.64 | FCC grant, ID A3LSMS938U |
| Apple iPhone 17 | 1.19 | 1.19 | Apple RF exposure page (A3258) |
| Apple iPhone 17 Pro | 1.19 | 1.19 | Apple RF exposure page (A3256) |
| Apple iPhone Air | 1.19 | 1.19 | Apple RF exposure page (A3260) |
Three footnotes that matter more than the rankings:
- Body-worn tests use different gaps. Apple tests body-worn SAR at 5 mm separation; Google and Samsung test at 10 mm (1.0 cm), per each company’s stated test conditions. A closer test distance produces a higher reading, all else equal — so Apple’s body numbers faced a harder test than Samsung’s, and cross-brand body comparisons are shakier than they look.
- Cellular-only vs. everything-at-once. The Samsung values above are for cellular transmission alone. The same FCC grants list higher numbers when cellular and WiFi transmit simultaneously — 1.54 W/kg for the S25 and 1.59 W/kg for the S25 Ultra. Most “low SAR” lists quote whichever number is smallest and don’t mention the distinction.
- Apple publishes one number for everything. iPhone 17, 17 Pro, and iPhone Air all report identical values: 1.19 W/kg head and body under the 1-gram regime, and 1.49 W/kg under the 10-gram regime. That’s not a coincidence — Apple states it manages radio power in real time to stay within each limit, so its published figure behaves like a designed ceiling (roughly 75% of whichever limit applies), not a measurement that distinguishes one model from another. You cannot shop between iPhones on SAR at all. The same skepticism belongs on Google’s side of the table: three Pixel models reporting an identical 0.99 body value looks like a managed target too, not a measured difference worth shopping on.
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Search Your AddressWhy “Lowest SAR” Is the Wrong Shopping Question
Yes, we just gave you a ranked table. But an honest SAR guide has to say it: the FCC itself warns that a single SAR value “does not provide sufficient information” to reliably compare phone models. Its consumer guidance is blunt — people mistakenly assume a lower-SAR phone is safer, and the agency says the small differences between models are an unreliable guide to your real-world exposure. Here’s why.
The number is a worst case you rarely experience
SAR is measured with every radio at maximum power. Real phones spend almost all their time transmitting at a small fraction of that — the FCC notes that phones constantly adjust to the minimum power needed to hold the connection, and Samsung’s own SAR page makes the same point: actual operating levels run well below the certified maximum, especially near a cell tower. A “high-SAR” phone with excellent antenna efficiency can expose you to less RF in daily use than a “low-SAR” phone that has to shout to stay connected.
The same phone carries two official numbers
Under US rules, the iPhone 17 is a 1.19 W/kg phone. Under 10-gram rules, the identical device is a 1.49 W/kg phone. Neither number is wrong — they’re answers to different questions, measured over different amounts of tissue against different limits. This is the trap behind most viral “lowest radiation phones” lists: they paste European 10-gram values (often for phones never sold in the US, sometimes discontinued years ago) next to American 1-gram values and rank the mixture. The comparison is meaningless — and it’s why long-discontinued budget handsets keep topping “safest phone” lists for 2026.
Distance swamps everything
RF exposure falls off with the square of distance. Moving a phone from your cheek to arm’s length on speakerphone cuts the energy reaching your head by orders of magnitude — a far bigger change than the roughly 0.3 W/kg separating the highest and lowest head values on our table. We walk through the inverse-square math in our cell tower vs. phone radiation comparison; the punchline is that the transmitter in your hand dominates your RF exposure precisely because it’s in your hand.
None of this means SAR is useless. It’s a real compliance measurement that keeps worst-case exposure bounded, and whether the underlying 1996 limits are still the right ones is a live controversy — a federal court ordered the FCC to revisit them, as we covered in our look at the outdated FCC limits. It just means the rating is pass/fail, not a precision instrument.
How to Look Up Any Phone’s SAR Rating
Phones launch faster than any article can track. Here’s the method that works for whatever device you’re holding — the same one we used for the table above.
1. Check the manufacturer’s RF exposure page
- Apple publishes a page for every model at apple.com/legal/rfexposure — pick your model and you’ll get head and body values under both the 1-gram and 10-gram regimes, plus the test separation used.
- Google lists SAR in each Pixel’s “Safety & regulatory guide” on support.google.com.
- Samsung runs a lookup tool at samsung.com/sar — search by model number (e.g., SM-S931U for a US-market Galaxy S25).
2. Use the FCC ID database
Every transmitting device sold in the US has an FCC ID — printed on the device or its packaging, or shown in the phone’s electronic regulatory label in Settings. Then:
- Go to fcc.gov/oet/ea/fccid.
- Split the ID into its grantee code (the first characters — “A3L” on Samsung devices) and the product code (the rest).
- Search, open the grant of equipment authorization, and read the notes — per the FCC, the highest reported SAR values are usually listed right in the grant comments.
Worked example: searching grantee A3L + product SMS931U returns the US Galaxy S25’s grant, which reports head 1.13, body-worn 0.92, hotspot 1.08, and simultaneous-transmission 1.54 W/kg.
3. Read the fine print
Whatever source you use, check three things before comparing: which averaging regime (1 g or 10 g — never compare across them), which use case (head, body-worn, hotspot, simultaneous transmission), and what separation distance the body test used. If a list of “low radiation phones” doesn’t state those three things, it isn’t comparing anything.
Want Lower Exposure? Behavior Beats Hardware
If you’re choosing between two phones you like and one reports lower SAR — fine, take the tiebreaker. But if the goal is actually reducing RF exposure, the FCC’s bottom line matches ours: distance and hands-free habits do far more than the gap between any two models.
- Get it off your head. Speakerphone, wired headphones, or low-power Bluetooth done sensibly turn a 0 mm exposure into a 30+ cm one.
- Get it off your body. A desk or bag instead of a front pocket is the body-worn version of the same win — remember, even the official body tests assume 5–10 mm of separation you don’t get with a phone against your skin.
- Mind your signal. Phones transmit hardest when coverage is weak. A long call at one bar in a basement means sustained high power; the same call on strong signal runs at a fraction of it.
- Text when it’s trivial. A message held at arm’s length beats twenty minutes against your cheek.
- Skip the shielding case. Most EMF-blocking phone cases can backfire — anything that muffles the antenna can push the phone toward higher transmit power, and Apple specifically cautions that metal-containing cases can change a phone’s tested RF behavior.
- Park it at night. Across the room or in airplane mode. Your sleeping brain doesn’t need to be 10 cm from a transmitter that’s checking email.
Your phone is one source among many. If you want the full picture — towers, WiFi, bedroom setup, the works — take our free EMF exposure quiz and get a personalized read on where your real exposure comes from.
The Bottom Line
The lowest-SAR current flagships we could verify in 2026 are the Pixel 10 Pro and Pro XL (0.99 W/kg head), with Samsung’s Galaxy S25 (1.13 head) and S25 Ultra (0.64 body-worn) close behind and every iPhone 17 model at a uniform 1.19. All are well under the legal ceiling, all were tested at maximum powers you’ll rarely sustain, and the differences between them are smaller than the difference between holding any of them to your ear and putting any of them on speakerphone. Buy the phone you want — then change how you carry and use it. That’s where the exposure actually moves.
Frequently Asked Questions
What phone has the lowest SAR rating in 2026?
Among current US flagships with source-verifiable numbers, the Pixel 10 Pro and Pro XL report the lowest head SAR at 0.99 W/kg (per Google’s safety and regulatory guide), and the Galaxy S25 Ultra reports the lowest body-worn value at 0.64 W/kg (per its FCC grant). Older or regional models may show lower figures, but those often come from the incompatible 10-gram European test regime.
What is a good SAR rating for a phone?
Every phone legally sold in the US already tests at or below 1.6 W/kg — the FCC treats anything under that ceiling as compliant, full stop. There’s no evidence-based threshold below the limit where a phone becomes meaningfully “safer,” and the FCC explicitly cautions against ranking phones by small SAR differences. For context, the current US flagships we verified all report head values between 0.99 and 1.26 W/kg.
How do I find my phone’s SAR rating?
Three ways: check the manufacturer’s RF exposure page (Apple and Google publish per-model pages; Samsung has a lookup tool at samsung.com/sar), search the FCC database at fcc.gov/oet/ea/fccid using the FCC ID printed on your device or shown in its regulatory settings screen, or check the safety section of your phone’s manual.
Why are European SAR values different from US values?
Europe averages absorption over 10 grams of tissue against a 2.0 W/kg limit; the US averages over 1 gram against 1.6 W/kg. The same phone gets two different official numbers — the iPhone 17 is 1.19 W/kg under US rules and 1.49 W/kg under the 10-gram regime, per Apple’s own RF exposure page. Never compare a number from one regime against a number from the other.
Does a lower SAR phone actually reduce my radiation exposure?
Not reliably. SAR is a worst-case ceiling measured at maximum transmit power, while real-world exposure depends mostly on signal strength, how long you’re transmitting, and how far the phone sits from your body. The FCC’s own guidance says distance and hands-free use cut absorbed RF far more than the SAR gap between models ever could.
Go deeper: what SAR ratings really measure, cell towers vs. phones — where your exposure really comes from, and whether EMF-blocking cases help or hurt.