Before you clean, dry or repair a speaker, find out what is actually wrong with it. A few simple tests separate a blocked speaker from a damaged one, and they take less time than a trip to a repair shop.
Before you start
- Take the phone out of its case.
- Turn Bluetooth off, so sound cannot go to earbuds or a car.
- Turn off Silent or Do Not Disturb mode and set media volume to about 70%.
- Test in a quiet room.
Test 1: are both speakers working?
Most phones have a main speaker on the bottom edge and a second one in the earpiece. Play music you know well. Cover the bottom speaker with a fingertip, then the earpiece. The sound should change clearly each time. If covering one makes no difference, that speaker is silent.
The earpiece is always quieter and thinner than the bottom speaker. That is normal.
Test 2: low, mid and high tones
Open the frequency generator, choose the sine wave, and play these in turn:
| Tone | What a healthy speaker does | What a problem sounds like |
|---|---|---|
| 200 Hz | A clean, steady hum | Rattle or buzz: loose or damaged diaphragm, or water on the mesh |
| 1,000 Hz | A clear, loud tone | Quiet or dull: blocked grille |
| 8,000 Hz | A sharp, thin whistle | Very faint: dust or film on the mesh, which blocks high notes first |
High frequencies are the first to go when a grille is clogged. If the low tone is fine but the high one has almost vanished, clean the grille.
Test 3: a slow sweep
Start the generator at 100 Hz and drag the slider slowly up to about 5,000 Hz. The loudness should rise and fall smoothly. Listen for one pitch where the speaker suddenly buzzes or rattles. A rattle at a single narrow pitch often means something loose, such as a grain of sand on the diaphragm. A buzz across the whole low range points to damage.
Test 4: distortion at full volume
Play a song with clear vocals at maximum volume for a few seconds. Some harshness at 100% is normal on small speakers. Crackling, popping, or a voice that sounds torn is not. Drop to 70%. If the distortion disappears, the speaker is being pushed too hard but is intact. If it remains, the speaker is damaged or wet.
Test 5: built-in diagnostics
- Samsung: open the Samsung Members app, go to Support, then Phone diagnostics, and run the Speaker test.
- Other Android phones: many makers include a hardware test in Settings or in their support app.
- iPhone: Apple Support can run a remote diagnostic if you contact them through the Apple Support app.
Reading the results
- Quiet and dull, no rattling: blocked by water or dust. Run the water eject sound, then see how to clean speaker dust.
- Rattle or buzz that survives cleaning and drying: physical damage. It needs a replacement speaker.
- Bad on the speaker and on headphones: software or the audio chip. Restart, update, and reset sound settings.
- One speaker completely silent: a failed speaker or connector. Repair.