At the other end, there was a four-way tie between T-Mobile’s Dash 3G, Palm’s Pixi Plus, Nokia’s 2320 GoPhone, and LG’s Chocolate Touch, all at 1.47 SAR. Prominent phones that made the list included: the Motorola Droid in sixth place (in order from safest to least safe) at 1.49 SAR, the BlackBerry Bold eighth at 1.51, and three BlackBerry Curve models 13th,14th, and 15th at 1.54.
Elsewhere on its web site, CNET lists the iPhone’s SAR ratings, which are: 0.974 for the original iPhone, 1.38 for the 3G model, and 0.79 for the 3G S version.
SAR is measured in watts per kilogram and must be under 1.6 in the United States and Canada and less than 2 in Europe. CNET explained: “The SAR level listed in our charts represents the highest SAR level measured with the phone next to the ear as tested by the FCC. It’s possible for the SAR level to vary between different transmission bands (the same phone can use multiple bands during a call), and different testing bodies can obtain different results.” CNET also noted that the effects of cell phone radiation on the user’s health is unknown, with much contradictory research to be found.