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Speaker cleaner sound

A speaker cleaner sound for any phone — Samsung, Pixel, OnePlus, Xiaomi, iPhone. Media volume up, speaker facing down, press Start: 45 seconds of 165 Hz pushes the water out.

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Hold the phone speaker-down. Media volume to maximum.

  1. 1. Media volume to max. The volume buttons while a video plays, or Settings → Sound. Ring volume does not matter.
  2. 2. Speaker facing down. Gravity does half the work. Hold it over a towel.
  3. 3. Run 45 s, repeat. Works best while the speaker is still wet.

Speaker cleaner sound on Android: the three things to check

  1. Media volume, not ring volume. Android keeps them separate. Press volume-up while something is playing, or open Settings → Sound & vibration and drag the media slider to full. This is the reason for nine out of ten “nothing happened” runs.
  2. Bluetooth. Earbuds in a pocket, a car, a smart speaker in the kitchen — if anything is connected, the tone goes there. Pull down the quick settings and check the media output.
  3. The case. Rugged cases with a small speaker cut-out muffle the sound and trap water against the grille. Take it off for the run.

Then hold the phone with the wet speaker facing the floor, over a towel, and press Start. Most Android phones have the speaker beside the USB-C port; the earpiece at the top is the other one, and it needs the phone held screen-down with the top edge angled down.

Some phones have a speaker cleaner built in

OnePlus, Realme and Xiaomi ship one in Settings — search “speaker” or look under Additional settings → Clear speaker. It plays a tone for about half a minute and does the same job as this page. Samsung and Google Pixel do not have one, and there is no Google mobile speaker cleaner in Android itself; that is why the search for a sound exists. If your phone has the built-in version, use it — it is the same physics. If it does not, this is the button.

What the sound cleaner does and does not clean

Honestly, in one line each:

  • Water in the speaker mesh: yes. This is what the tone is for, and it works on the first or second run in the large majority of cases.
  • Loose dust on the mesh: sometimes. You may see specks on the towel. Do not count on it.
  • Packed pocket lint: no. Sound does not move air. A soft dry toothbrush and a piece of adhesive putty do — the cleaning guide is written for iPhone but the grille is the same on Android.
  • The charging port: no. Nothing to vibrate. Unplug, tap it port-down, wait.
  • A blown speaker: no. Crackling on a dry, clean grille is a damaged diaphragm, and that is a part swap.

Three runs, then let it air-dry for half an hour. A dry diaphragm gains nothing from more tone.

Speaker cleaner sound — questions people ask

Does the speaker cleaner sound work on Android?
Yes, on every Android phone with a working browser: Samsung Galaxy, Google Pixel, OnePlus, Xiaomi, Motorola, Nothing, all of them. The speaker inside is the same kind of micro-driver as an iPhone’s, so the same frequency moves it. Turn the media volume up, hold the speaker down, press Start.
Where is the Google mobile speaker cleaner?
There is no Google-made speaker cleaner in Android itself. Some brands add one: OnePlus and Realme have it under Settings → Additional settings (or search “speaker” in Settings), Xiaomi under Settings → Additional settings → Clear speaker. Pixel and Samsung do not ship one, which is why people search for a sound instead. This page is that sound.
What is the best speaker cleaner sound?
A low tone near the speaker’s resonance, about 165 Hz, played at full volume with the grille facing down. That is what moves the diaphragm the furthest and what the Apple Watch and the OnePlus cleaner both use. Very high-pitched “cleaner” sounds on YouTube sound impressive but move the diaphragm less and clear less water.
Will a speaker cleaner sound remove dust?
Loose dust on the surface, sometimes. Packed lint, no — sound does not generate airflow and cannot pull fibres out of a hole. For dust the fix is a soft dry toothbrush and a piece of adhesive putty pressed on the grille. There is a straight answer on the speaker dust cleaning sound page.
My Android phone is silent when I press Start.
Almost always the media volume. Android has separate ring, alarm and media volumes; press volume-up while a video is playing, or open Settings → Sound and drag the media slider to full. Then check nothing is connected over Bluetooth. Do Not Disturb does not mute the browser, so that is not it.
Is the sound cleaner safe for my phone speaker?
In 45-second runs, yes. It is a tone at the volume the phone already plays music, and it stops on its own. The only way to cause harm is to loop it for many minutes on a speaker that is already dry, which is why this tool stops and asks you to test before running again.