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The Sony Ericsson Xperia X10 Mini Pro isn’t just a pretty face or a very long name. We discovered that it punches well above its weight when it comes down to radiation levels.
The X10 Mini Pro certainly crams plenty of tech into that tiny shell, but it may be releasing a little too much as well. Seeping out of the phone is 1.61W/kg of radiation — much less than the legal European limit of 2W/kg, but more than is allowed in the US. Check out our snazzy table for the full low-down.
Before you get all hot and bothered though, pause, take a deep breath and continue reading. There is no confirmed link between phone radiation and cancer. There are also no proven long-term side-effects from using mobile phones.
The World Health Organisation recently released its findings, which said using a mobile phone posed an unproven risk of cancer, putting it in the same category as carpentry and coffee drinking.
Phone radiation also only affects the area of the body within the vicinity of the electromagnetic field it produces, so a hands-free kit will help to protect your head from the radiation, and also keep your hands free, believe it or not.
If you’re a regular train or Tube user, it might be worth your while throwing your phone into airplane mode. When a phone is losing signal, it increases the strength of its connection to maintain your call quality. This means the phone is more likely to reach its maximum SAR levels, increasing your exposure.
Areas of high connectivity, such as towns and cities, will mean a phone doesn’t need to work as hard. Taking your phone into the wilderness and trying to make a call with low signal, however, will put the little guy through his paces.
Keeping call time to a minimum also decreases your exposure to radiation. On the plus side, texting and Web surfing doesn’t really affect you in any way, as the phone is nowhere near your face.
The phone’s official SAR is measured when the phone is operating at maximum. This means real life results will vary, and may never even reach this level. If you want to incorporate this information into your next phone-buying decision, make sure you consult our list.
