Stereo sound test
Play the left and right speakers separately to find out which one is quiet.
The spoken clips are not available, so the test has switched to Tone.
Did you hear left, then right, in that order?
Stereo is working correctly.
If you have more than two speakers, try the surround sound test.
One speaker is quiet or silent.
Follow the phone speaker checklist. If the quiet side might be blocked by water, run the water eject tool with that speaker pointing down.
The result is unclear.
Work through how to test phone speakers in five minutes.
This browser cannot play the test sounds. Web Audio is unavailable or was blocked. Try a current version of Safari, Chrome or Firefox.
To clear a wet speaker without sound: take the case off, hold the phone with the speaker pointing down, tap it gently against your palm, dab the grille with a dry cloth and leave it in moving air for a few hours.
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There is no play limit. Run the test as many times as you need.
How to run the test
- Hold the phone sidewaysTurn it the way you would to watch a video, with the volume at about half. For headphones, put both sides on.
- Play each sidePress Play left, then Play right. Each should come from one side only, at a similar loudness.
- Run Auto-alternateIt plays left then right once and asks what you heard, so you get a plain verdict.
What the result means
| You hear | Likely cause | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| Left, then right | Stereo is working. | Nothing. If music still sounds wrong, check the equaliser. |
| Right, then left | The phone is upside down, or headphones are on the wrong ears. | Rotate the phone or swap the earbuds and run it again. |
| One side quiet | A blocked or wet grille on that side. | Clean it, or run the water eject tool with that speaker down. |
| Both sides from the middle | Mono audio is on, or the phone has one speaker. | Switch off mono audio in accessibility settings. |
| Nothing | Sound is going to another device, or media volume is at zero. | Switch off Bluetooth and raise the volume while a sound plays. |
Why one speaker goes quiet
Most phones have two speakers: one on the bottom edge and one in the earpiece. They rarely fail together, so when one side is weaker the cause is usually local to that grille.
The commonest cause is a blocked mesh. The earpiece collects skin oil and the bottom grille collects pocket lint, and both muffle the sound gradually. Water does the same thing suddenly, sitting on the mesh until it is shaken out or dries.
Settings come next. A left/right balance slider that has drifted off centre, or mono audio switched on, changes what each side plays in every app. Hardware faults are the least likely cause and show up as silence or crackle that survives cleaning and a restart.
Related guides
More tools
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Guides by problem
Thirteen guides in four groups. Each group has one to start with.
Water damage
These guides are for the moment after a phone has been splashed, dropped in a sink or caught in the rain.
4 guides
Start with: Water Eject Sound: How It Really WorksCleaning
Most speakers that have gone quiet over time are dirty rather than broken.
2 guides
Start with: How to Clean Phone Speakers Without DamageDevice-specific
The cause of a quiet or silent speaker is often a setting that differs from one device to the next.
5 guides
Start with: Fix My Phone Speaker: Step-by-Step ChecklistSound problems
Before fixing a speaker it helps to know exactly what is wrong with it.
2 guides
Start with: How to Test Phone Speakers in Five Minutes