I'm considering getting an international phone like the Huawei Mate 8 but was wondering, since this phone is not tested by FCC for radiation level, what is the difference in radiation standards between US and China or other nations? Are there other types of safety related tests performed by FCC and so forth. Thanks!

Funny you should ask. Just right now I was reading up on requirements for cellular devices (including phones) that connect to networks in the US. In addition to the FCC, US carriers themselves also have certification requirements, which are different for each carrier. These cover things like transmission and reception power, pattern and sensitivity as well as regulating unintentional radiation within and outside of the allocated spectrum. Some carriers perform these certifications themselves and some require manufacturers to work with 3rd party testing labs.

Interesting. If you have some informative links on this please share. So what happens if you try to use an international phone on US networks that isn't tested by the carrier. Do the carriers care? Also, on a related note, not long ago I spoke to a representative of a phone manufacturer who said that some international phones, although their specs say LTE should work with a carrier, may only work temporarily as this capability can be disabled and then you will be limited to 2G. When talking to this person, I couldn't figure out if the phone shuts LTE down or if the carrier did this. Does this make sense to anyone?

Here's the article I was reading when I saw your post. It's more about non-phone devices connected to cellular networks than phones themselves. The author seems to strongly imply that while the same standards for certification apply to phones, they aren't enforced as stringently due to the profitability of selling phone service. (Presumably that's vs. a tiny data plan an online device would use. So I suspect that a network wouldn't disconnect your major brand world phone that your were paying to use on their service unless it was seriously misbehaving. But all that is my speculation, and not a fact of any kind)

Thanks! I guess the bottom line is I want to avoid frying my brain with these devices!

Yea phones not certified for America like the Jolla fry our brains, just look at this forum

Dang! That explains everything!

IIRC the allowed radiation levels are the same as in EU (CE approval) for examplele.