Research Says Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge Safest Smartphone, iPhone 7 One Of The Worst
Research reveals that the Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge could be the safest smartphone in the market today. The iPhone 7, however, fares rather poorly.
The Samsung Galaxy S7 and S7 Edge released to a strong market in March of this year, despite the recent Samsung Galaxy Note 7 fiasco. With abysmal reception for the iPhone 7, the Galaxy S7 Edge is quickly becoming a cult favorite. Exceptional power, looks, and display really make both Samsung flagships a real bang for the buck. But if you’re still weighing your options between the Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge and the iPhone 7, then this information tidbit might just make the decision for you.
According to a research, the Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge is the safest smartphone in the market as of now, Inferse reports.
Every phone in the United States is monitored by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) so if the smartphone makes it to the market, then it meets the safety standards of the FCC (although that makes us ask what happened with the Samsung Galaxy Note 7, but that’s a different story). Smartphones all have electromagnetic emissions present in gadgets and the FCC measures these emissions via a unit called Specific Absorption Rate (SAR). To make sure that the smartphone does not pose health hazards to the consumer, the FCC sets a 1.6w/kg SAR as the maximum allowable amount of electromagnetic emissions. So the lower the SAR, the safer the phone. The higher the SAR, well that phone should have something to show for that kind of emission.
Electromagnetic radiation in cellphones take the form of radio waves, which are at the lowest on the electromagnetic spectrum (meaning they’re not as harmful as others such as Ultraviolet and Gamma-rays). The National Cancer Institute says that smartphones emit these electromagnetic energy from the antenna, which is absorbed by the tissues nearest to the antenna. While the NCI acknowledges that studies which explored the effects of exposure to such emissions through using a cellphone have not shown clear evidence that links cellphone use to cancer, there have been reported statistically significant associations for certain subgroups of people.
As of 2011, the International Agency for Research on Cancer has classified cellphones as “possibly carcinogenic to humans.” So although no research results directly correlates cellphone use to cancer, radiation produced by electronic devices such as the cellphone is still a concern, Android Authority notes.
So if you’re wondering how you can minimize your exposure to these possibly harmful electromagnetic emissions, without having to live under a rock, you’ll be pleased to know that picking up a Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge could be the first step. Tech Times lists, via French Internet information technology (IT) news media, PhonAndroid, the top 10 smartphones with the lowest SAR values. The Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge sits at the top, only emitting 0.264 W/kg SAR.
It’s good to know that apart from the Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge, a couple more Samsung Galaxy units make it to the top 10. In fact, three more Samsung Galaxy models have ranked in the top 10 safest smartphones list: the Samsung Galaxy A5 2016 at third, Samsung Galaxy S7 at sixth, and the Samsung Galaxy A3 2016 at 10th place. There have been no explanation as to why there is a significant difference in electromagnetic emissions between the Galaxy S7 Edge and the Galaxy S7 but since you’re paying a few more bucks for the Galaxy S7 Edge compared to the Galaxy S7, something more premium could be inside that “Edge-y” unit.
Below is the full list of safest smartphones in the market today.
Top 10 best SAR among popular smartphones:
Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge (0.264 W/kg)
Asus Zenfone 3 (0.278 W/kg)
Samsung Galaxy A5, 2016 (0.290 W/kg)
Lenovo Moto Z (0.304 W/kg)
OnePlus 3 (0.394 W/kg)
Samsung Galaxy S7 (0.406 W/kg)
HTC 10 (0.417 W/kg)
Sony Xperia XA (0.473 W/kg)
Honor 5X (0.560 W/kg)
Samsung Galaxy A3, 2016 (0.621 W/kg)
With the iPhone 7 a strong opponent for the Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge in 2016’s smartphone wars, it’s interesting to note that in terms of electromagnetic emissions, the iPhone 7 fares significantly poor against the Galaxy S7 Edge. Did you remember that the FCC will only allow at most 1.6w/kg SAR for smartphones to be released in the market? Well the iPhone 7 is cutting way too close. According to the research, the Apple iPhone 7 emits 1.38 w/kg SAR. That’s more than five times the electromagnetic emissions of the Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge!
In fact, three iPhone units make it the least safe smartphones, with the Apple iPhone 7 as the third least safe, the iPhone 7 Plus at fourth, and the Apple iPhone SE ties with the Sony Xperia X at ninth and 10th place. Even the new Huawei P9 fares badly, sitting at second place.
Top 10 worst SAR among popular smartphones:
Honor 8 (1.5 W/kg)
Huawei P9 (1.43 W/kg)
Apple iPhone 7 (1.38 W/kg)
Apple iPhone 7 Plus (1.24 W/kg)
Honor 5C (1.14 W/kg)
Sony Xperia X Compact (1.08 W/kg)
Sony Xperia XZ (0.870 W/kg)
LG G5 (0.737 W/kg)
Apple iPhone SE (0.720 W/kg)
Sony Xperia X (0.720 W/kg)
Although a lot of components really make up for how safe or how dangerous a smartphone can get (take the Note 7 as an example), it’s handy to take note of how Samsung is making sure they build their units such as the Galaxy S7 and the Galaxy S7 Edge to standards that will benefit the consumer.
Now this makes us wonder what the SAR rating of the Samsung Galaxy Note 7 was.
[Featured Image by Samsung]
