How to Fix Phone Speaker Crackling Sound

Is your phone’s speaker making buzzing sounds that ruin your music or make calls hard to hear? Many smartphone users face this problem. Luckily, you can fix it at home with easy steps. Start by cleaning your speaker, updating your phone, and adjusting the volume setting. Then, check for app issues and restart your phone. If it doesn’t work, try resetting your phone’s settings. However, if these solutions don’t work, professional repair services are the best option to ensure your phone functions properly.

6 Tips To Fix Phone Speaker Crackling Sound

Here are a few tried-and-true ways to fix the crackling sound from your phone speaker and get your sound back to normal.

1. Clean Your Speaker Grill

Dirt and dust are often to blame for popping sounds coming from phone speakers. Over time, the speaker grill can get clogged with dust, lint, and even tiny bits of food, affecting the sound.

To clean the grille on your speakers:

• Brush away obvious dirt gently with a soft-bristled toothbrush.
• Use compressed air to eliminate the dust (hold the can upright and about 6 inches away).
• Use a cotton swab with a little isopropyl alcohol to remove dirt.
• Never apply water directly to the speaker holes.
• Be gentle so you don’t push more dirt inside.

2. Update Your Phone’s Software

Outdated operating systems can sometimes cause sound problems, like crackling audio. Phone makers regularly release updates that fix bugs and make the phone run better, including fixing problems with sound.

To find out what’s new:

• On Android: Click on System > Software Update in the settings menu.
• On the iPhone: Click on Settings >General > Software Update.

Before you start the update, make sure your phone is charged and connected to Wi-Fi. After the update, turn your phone off and on again, and then test the speaker to see if the buzzing is gone. 

3. Adjust the Volume and Equalizer Settings

Sometimes, the popping sound happens because the volume is too high, distorting the sound. Try making these changes:

First, turn down the sound to about 70% to 80% of its highest level and see if the crackling stops. When pushed to their limits, many phones make unclear sounds.

Next, check your equalizer settings:

• On Android: Go to Settings > Sound > Audio Effects or Sound Quality.
• On iPhone: Go to Settings > Music > EQ.

If you have a custom equalizer setting, change the presets or lower any too-high levels. Most of the time, a balancing equalizer setting improves sound clarity and reduces distortion.

4. Check for App or Media Player Issues

The issue might not be with your phone’s hardware but with certain apps or video files. Your speaker might not be the problem, but bad audio files or streaming services that don’t work right could be.

To find out if this is true:

• Play songs from different music players and test your speaker with different apps.
• Play a few different songs or audio files.
• If you use streaming services, try downloading material to watch when you’re not online to see if that helps.
• If media apps are glitching, try clearing their cache or data.

If the crackling only happens with certain apps or files, you’ve greatly cut down the problem. 

5. Restart Your Phone

It might seem too simple, but restarting your phone can resolve many audio issues — including speaker crackling. Restarting removes temporary files and stops any background processes that might prevent sound from working properly.

How to properly turn your phone back on:

• For Most Android Phones: Select “Restart” from the list of choices that show up when you hold down the power button.
• For iPhones with Face ID: Hold the side and volume buttons until the power slider appears. Drag it to turn off your phone.
• For Older Models of iPhone: Hold the side or top button until the slider appears. Then, slide it to turn it off. Press and hold the side or top button to turn it back on after it’s been turned off.

Play music or call your speaker to see if the buzzing has stopped after you restart it. 

6. Reset Your Phone’s Settings

If none work, you can fix audio problems by resetting your phone’s settings (but not a full factory restart). This keeps your data safe and resets all your settings to their original values.

For Android:

• Go to Settings > System > Reset options > Reset all Settings.
• Confirm and enter your PIN if prompted.

For iPhone:

• Go to Settings > General > Transfer or Reset iPhone > Reset > Reset All Settings.
• Enter your passcode and confirm.

After resetting the device, you’ll have to change some settings, like Wi-Fi connections and display settings, but your apps and personal info will still be there.

Why Do My Phone Calls Sound Crackly?

Buzzing sounds on the phone might be a different problem than problems with your speakers. Often, crackling phone calls are caused by interference with the wires in your phone or problems with the signal. You most likely have static interference if you hear popping, buzzing, humming, or hissing, even when no one is talking. Some common reasons are:

• Not enough cell signal strength.
• Traffic on the network.
• Not being far enough away from electrical tools or equipment.
• Having trouble with your carrier’s service where you live.
• Internal parts of the earpiece speaker are broken.

If your calls keep buzzing no matter where you are or who you’re talking to, the issue may be with your phone’s hardware. 

Why is My Phone Speaker Making a Static Sound?

Phone sounds that don’t change speakers can be very annoying, and there are several reasons why this might happen. Crosstalk, loose connections, damage to the speaker, software problems, poor audio file quality, or water damage could cause static noise on your phone speaker. Let’s break these down:

1. Interference: In the same way that call static can affect your phone’s speaker, close electronics can also cause interference. Get away from gadgets like routers and microwaves.
2. Loose connections: Over time, parts inside your phone can come loose, especially if you drop it. The speaker wires need to be reseated by a professional.
3. Speaker damage: If the speaker gets damaged, it can cause static for a long time. Usually, this needs to be fixed by a professional, or the speakers need to be replaced.
4. Software issues: Static can be caused by broken audio drivers or bugs in the operating system. These are usually easy to fix by updating or resetting.
5. Poor quality audio: Audio files with a low bit rate naturally sound worse and may have artifacts that look like fuzz.
6. Water damage: Even small amounts of water can make speakers less effective. If your phone has gotten wet lately, this could be the problem.

Conclusion

It can be annoying when your phone speaker makes popping sounds, but there are many easy fixes you can try at home. First, try simple things like cleaning the speaker grill, updating your software, and changing the volume. Next, check certain apps, restart your device, or change the settings if those don’t work. If you keep having problems with your speakers and these tips don’t help, you should get professional help. CellNtech can fix many different kinds of audio problems on smartphones. Come in or call us right now to set up a quick repair.