Is the SAM phantom conservative for SAR evaluation of all phone designs?

The specific anthropomorphic mannequin ( SAM ) phantom was designed to provide a conservative estimation of the actual peak spatial specific absorption rate ( SAR ) of the electromagnetic field radiated from mobile phones. However, most researches on the SAM phantom have been based on early phone models. Therefore, we numerically analyze the SAM phantom to determine whether it is sufficiently conservative for various types of mobile phone models. The peak spatial 1‐ and 10‐g averaged SAR values of the SAM phantom are numerically compared with those of four anatomical head models at different ages for 12 different mobile phone models (a total of 240 different configurations of mobile phones, head models, frequencies, positions, and sides of the head). The results demonstrate that the SAM phantom provides a conservative estimation of the SAR for only mobile phones with an antenna on top of the phone body and does not ensure such estimation for other types of phones, including those equipped with integrated antennas in the microphone position, which currently occupy the largest market share.