# Bluetooth earbuds and headsets

> Class 2 Bluetooth transmits about 2.5 mW — roughly 1/80th of a phone's cellular uplink maximum — but does so a centimetre from the head, so the relevant metric is again SAR rather than power density.

- Canonical URL: https://emfbase.com/emitters/bluetooth-earbuds
- Collection: Sources & emitters
- Record id: `emitters:bluetooth-earbuds`
- Status: verified
- Last verified: 2026-08-12
- JSON: https://emfbase.com/api/emitters/bluetooth-earbuds
- Also known as: wireless earbuds, AirPods radiation, BT headset

## Key values

- **Category:** radiofrequency
- **Emission bands:** 2.4 GHz ISM
- **Environments:** home, workplace, vehicle
- **Transmit power:** 0.0025 W EIRP — Regulatory value — legally enforceable — 2.5 mW is the Class 2 Bluetooth maximum used by most earbuds; Class 1 devices reach 100 mW. [fcc-part15]
- **Duty cycle:** Continuous while streaming audio; low-rate connection maintenance when idle.

## Field strength by distance

- **5 cm:** 79,600 µW/m² — Computed estimate — S = EIRP / (4πd²) with EIRP = 0.0025 W, d = 0.05 m — Near-field geometry; treat as indicative. Manufacturer SAR filings are the authoritative figure at this range. [fcc-part15]
- **30 cm:** 2,210 µW/m² — Computed estimate — S = EIRP / (4πd²) with EIRP = 0.0025 W, d = 0.3 m [fcc-part15]

## Mitigations, most effective first

- **Use wired earphones for long calls, or keep one earbud out.** — Eliminates the near-head transmitter entirely.
- **Compare the earbud's published SAR against the phone's; the phone is usually the larger contributor.** — Prioritises the dominant source instead of the most-discussed one.

## Measure with

- Broadband RF power-density meter

## Related records

- [Smartphone (cellular uplink)](https://emfbase.com/emitters/smartphone): Handsets transmit up to about 200 mW (23 dBm) on cellular uplink and are used against the head, so exposure is governed by SAR — 1.6 W/kg over 1 g in the U.S., 2 W/kg over 10 g under ICNIRP — not by power density.
- [FCC SAR limit for phones and portable devices](https://emfbase.com/limits/fcc-sar-limit-phones): 1.6 W/kg averaged over any 1 gram of tissue — the number quoted on U.S. phone SAR sheets — plus 0.08 W/kg whole-body.

## Sources

- `fcc-part15` U.S. Government Publishing Office (eCFR). *47 CFR Part 15 — Radio Frequency Devices (unlicensed transmitter power limits)*. https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-47/part-15 — regulation, link checked 2026-08-12
- `fcc-eas` Federal Communications Commission. *Equipment Authorization Search (FCC ID lookup, includes SAR test reports)*. https://www.fcc.gov/oet/ea/fccid — government, link checked 2026-08-12

Data licence: CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). Dataset version 2026.08.1. Retrieved from EMFBase, https://emfbase.com.

This record is reference data, not medical or legal advice. Regulatory limits, scientific guidelines and precautionary values are labelled separately and answer different questions.