A single feed, dual-band frequency tunable planar inverted-F antenna (PIFA) is presented for mobile handheld device applications. The proposed antenna is designed using the transmission line model. The dual-band frequency tunability is achieved by varying the capacitance of the varactor diode between 4.15 pF (0 V) and 0.72 pF (15 V). The measured impedance bandwidth of −6 dB is realized from 0.8 to 0.98 GHz for the lower band and 1.65 to 2.2 GHz for the higher band. The designed antenna provides the independent frequency tunability for both the bands without disturbing each other. The maximum antenna gain is estimated 2.64 dBi for the proposed PIFA. Also, it has a maximum efficiency of ~85% for the mobile handheld device. In addition, the proposed PIFA is investigated with SAM phantom model for head and hand, found to be within the acceptable SAR limit of 1.6 W/Kg. © 2020 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.