The French regulator in terms of waves intervened to lower the transmission power of three smartphones, including the Galaxy Note 10+ from Samsung.
Owner of a Galaxy Note 10+? Your smartphone has undergone a discreet update to adjust its wave emissions, which were a little too intense. This is what the National Frequency Agency (ANFR) announced on July 11 in a press release. The fix reduced the transmit power by half.
The Galaxy Note 10+ was measured at 4.33 W/kg. This index constitutes the SAR, the specific absorption rate. Expressed in watts per kilogram, it indicates the part of energy transported by electromagnetic waves which is absorbed by the human body. The higher this value, the greater the energy. The challenge is therefore to keep it low enough.
Three regulatory thresholds exist for SAR: for the trunk, the head and the limbs. In the case of Samsung, it was at the member level that a concern was raised: the limit is 4 W/kg, but the emission of the Galaxy Note 10 Plus was measured at 4.33 W/kg. The smartphone update brought this score down to 2.05 W/kg.
Two more patched smartphones
The intervention of the ANFR also made it possible to regularize two other smartphones: the GS290 from Gigaset and the Infinity H30 from HiSense. For the phone marketed by HiSense, it is also the SAR for members that was excessive: it went from 4.30 to 2.04 W/kg. As for the Gigaset mobile, the concern lay in the SAR of the trunk: it was reduced to 0.779 W/kg, instead of 2.94.
These other two phones have also received a software update, which does not require owner intervention. It is done automatically, as soon as the phones in question are connected to the Internet, via Wi-Fi or on the mobile network. Owners can, however, force an update check, if in doubt.
Gigaset, Samsung and HiSense had been given formal notice by the ANFR to settle these excessive wave emissions. This kind of intervention by the authority is not so rare: it happens punctually and the manufacturers are then led to adjust the power of their devices. This work is part of its mission to ensure the reasonable degree of exposure of the public to the airwaves.
