How to Check the SAR Value of Your Phone: 6 Easy Methods (with Step-by-Step Instructions)

Your Phone Already Knows Its SAR. You Just Need to Ask.

Every smartphone legally sold in Europe or the United States has been tested, certified, and assigned a Specific Absorption Rate (SAR) value — the figure that tells you how much radiofrequency (RF) energy your body absorbs when the device transmits at full power. The catch? Manufacturers rarely advertise it. You won’t see it on the box at the shop, and most users never look it up. EverythingRF

The good news is that this information is public, free, and only takes a minute to find. Below are six reliable ways to check the SAR value of any modern phone — from a hidden dialer shortcut to the official FCC and EU regulatory databases. Pick whichever method is easiest for your device.

Before you start, remember the legal limits:

Any phone sold legally in your market is below these thresholds — but knowing the exact number lets you compare models and choose the lowest-emitting option. sarlist

Method 1 — The Hidden Dialer Code: *#07#

This is the fastest method and works on most modern phones, both Android and iPhone.

1. Open the Phone (dialer) app as if you were going to make a call.
2. Type *#07# on the keypad.
3. On most Android phones, the SAR information page appears instantly. On iPhone (iOS 14 and later), the dialer opens an “RF Exposure” screen — tap it to see your model’s Head and Body SAR values, plus a link to the full report on Apple’s regulatory site. GizArena

The code is a standardised GSM USSD shortcut, originally introduced to surface device information for service providers. Not every manufacturer supports it — if nothing happens when you press the call button, simply move to Method 2.

Method 2 — The Settings Menu (No Code Needed)

Every major phone OS exposes the same data inside the operating system. The path differs slightly between brands.

iPhone (iOS 17 and later): Settings → General → Legal & Regulatory → RF Exposure Apple confirms that “the SAR limit is 1.6 watts per kilogram in countries that set the limit averaged over 1 gram of tissue, and 2.0 watts per kilogram in countries that set the limit averaged over 10 grams of tissue,” and links to the exact tested values for your model. EMF Academy + 2

Samsung Galaxy: Settings → About phone → Legal information → Safety information → RF exposure RestingTech

Most other Android phones (Xiaomi, OPPO, Google Pixel, Realme, etc.): Settings → About phone → Legal / Regulatory information → SAR or RF exposure

If you can’t find it, search inside Settings for the word “SAR” or “RF” — the search bar will jump you straight to the right screen.

Method 3 — The Manufacturer’s Official Website

Every manufacturer is required by the FCC and EU regulators to publish SAR data online in a consumer-friendly format. These pages are the most authoritative single source for an individual model:

• Apple: support.apple.com/rf-exposure and the per-model pages on regulatoryinfo.apple.com
• Samsung: samsung.com/sar — enter the model number and your country to get certified Head and Body values.
• Other brands (Xiaomi, Sony, Huawei, Motorola, OnePlus, Google, Nothing, etc.): a Google search for "<model name> SAR" will bring up the brand’s own support page in the first few results. Always click the link from the manufacturer’s domain rather than third-party sites.

This method is the most accurate when you already know your exact model number — which you can find on the back of the device, on the original box, or in Settings → About phone → Model number.

Method 4 — The FCC ID Database (United States)

If your phone was certified for sale in the US, its complete test report — including SAR for the head, body, and any hotspot mode — is published in the FCC’s Equipment Authorization Database.

1. Find the FCC ID on your device. On modern phones, it’s usually shown in Settings → About phone → Regulatory information or printed in tiny text on the back of the device or inside the SIM tray.
2. Go to the FCC’s official tool at fcc.gov/oet/ea/fccid.
3. Split the FCC ID into two parts: the first 3–5 characters are the Grantee Code; everything after is the Product Code. Enter them in the matching boxes and search.
4. Open the Grant of Equipment Authorization. The maximum SAR values are listed in the comments section, and the full SAR test report is available as a downloadable exhibit.

This is the same primary source SARList.org uses to verify entries in its database.

Method 5 — The EU Regulatory Sources

In Europe there is no single equivalent of the FCC database, but reliable sources include:

• Germany’s Federal Office for Radiation Protection (BfS) publishes a regularly updated list of commercially available phones with their SAR values, sortable by manufacturer (bfs.de).
• France’s ANFR (Agence nationale des fréquences) publishes test results from market-surveillance checks of phones sold in France, including any models found to exceed the 2.0 W/kg limit (data.anfr.fr).
• The EU Declaration of Conformity that comes with every new device (often a leaflet in the box, or a PDF on the manufacturer’s site) is also required to include SAR data.

These sources are particularly useful for European-market variants of phones, which can have slightly different SAR values from their US counterparts because of different cellular bands.

Method 6 — The Original Box and User Manual

It sounds old-fashioned, but if you still have the packaging, flip the box over: the SAR value is usually printed in small text near the IMEI sticker, often labelled “SAR (head)” and “SAR (body)” with values in W/kg.

The same data appears in the printed safety leaflet included with every new phone, and in the digital user manual, which you can download from the manufacturer’s support page. Open the PDF and use Ctrl + F (or ⌘ + F on Mac) to search for “SAR” — you’ll land on the correct page in seconds.

Reading the Numbers: What Should You Actually Compare?

Once you’ve found a value, keep these points in mind so you compare like with like:

• Head SAR vs Body SAR. Head SAR is measured with the phone held against the ear; Body SAR is measured with the device worn on the torso (typically with 5 mm of separation, though some manufacturers test at up to 15 mm). Both should be checked — a phone with a low Head SAR isn’t necessarily low for Body SAR. AppleSaferemr
• EU values are not directly comparable to US values. EU figures are averaged over 10 g of tissue, US figures over 1 g, and the same phone will report different numbers in each market. Compare EU-to-EU, US-to-US. Wikipediasarlist
• Lower is not automatically “safer.” Every legally sold phone is below regulatory limits, and SAR represents the maximum possible emission, not real-world exposure. It is, however, a useful relative benchmark when choosing between two devices. sarlist
• Real-world exposure depends on how you use the phone. Signal strength, distance from your body, and the use of speakerphone or wired headphones all change actual absorption far more than the difference between two compliant SAR values. The World Health Organization and the US FDA both note that operation at maximum power is infrequent.

Frequently Asked Questions

Why didn’t *#07# work on my phone? Some manufacturers — especially budget Android brands — don’t implement the standard USSD shortcut. Use the Settings path or the manufacturer’s website instead.

My phone shows a different SAR than the manufacturer’s website. Why? You may be looking at a regional variant (US vs EU model) or at a different “tested position” (head vs body, with different separation distances). Match the region and position before comparing.

Is a phone with a SAR of 1.5 W/kg unsafe? No. Anything below the 2.0 W/kg EU limit (or 1.6 W/kg in the US) is considered compliant. SAR is a tool for informed comparison, not a pass/fail health verdict.

Where can I compare hundreds of phones at once? That’s what this site is for. Once you’ve checked your current phone’s SAR with one of the methods above, head to SARList.org’s database to see how it ranks against the rest of the market — and to check the next phone you’re thinking of buying before you spend your money.

The Bottom Line

Your smartphone’s SAR value isn’t a secret — it’s printed in your settings, hidden behind a three-character code, and published in plain text on the FCC’s and the manufacturer’s websites. Five minutes of curiosity is enough to find it. And once you know it, you can compare, choose more wisely, and adopt a few simple habits (speakerphone, headsets, distance from the body) that make far more difference to your real-world exposure than any single specification on a datasheet.

Know your phone. Know your exposure. That’s the whole idea behind SARList.org — and now you have every tool you need to start.