Phone too quiet on calls: is it the speaker or the microphone?

During a call, several parts in your phone work together, and each one sits in a different place. The earpiece is at the top edge of the screen, where you put your ear. The loudspeaker is at the bottom and takes over as soon as you switch to speakerphone or play music.

On a normal call, your voice is picked up by the microphone at the bottom of the phone. For videos and on speakerphone, the iPhone also uses microphones in the upper part, as Apple describes in its own guide.

This gives you the first distinction. If you hear the other person badly, it is the earpiece or the loudspeaker. If people struggle to understand you, one of the microphones is affected, and the search continues at the bottom of the phone.

Most of the following steps come from Apple's guides and work in much the same way on Android phones. Go through them in order, because the first ones take the least effort.

If the microphone works on a normal call and in a voice memo, but not in WhatsApp or another app, the part itself is fine. In that case, the app is usually missing permission to access the microphone. On an iPhone you will find this under “Settings”, then “Privacy & Security” and “Microphone”, where the app has to be switched on. On Android, the same permission is listed in the permissions of the app in question.

The opposite case happens too. If only normal calls sound bad, but a video call over the internet sounds perfect, that points more towards the mobile network. For crackling and noise, Apple explicitly names reception as a possible cause and advises calling again later or from a different place.

A part only becomes suspicious when the fault shows up everywhere, that is on calls, in voice memos and in every app alike.

Dust and lint from your pocket like to settle in the grilles and make the sound muffled. For the speaker and earpiece, Apple recommends a small, soft-bristled brush that is clean and dry. Use it to gently brush over the grille without pressing.

Needles and toothpicks have no business in the grille. Behind it are delicate parts, and a pointed object tends to push the dirt deeper or damage them. You also shouldn't use compressed air; Apple explicitly advises against it in its cleaning guide. Liquid doesn't belong in the openings either.

On many iPhones, the bottom microphone sits right next to the charging port, and the same dirt often collects there. How to carefully clean the port is explained in the article about cleaning the charging port. If the dirt is stuck, it is better to bring the phone in than to keep scraping.

If the sound is still bad after all the tests even though the grille is clean, the part itself is damaged. That happens, for example, after a drop or when water has got into the phone. A speaker that distorts or crackles is then replaced, and so is an earpiece that barely produces any sound even at full volume.

With the microphone, it depends on how the phone is built. On many iPhones, the bottom microphone and the charging port form one shared part, and then this unit is replaced as a whole. Which design your model has, we see at the diagnosis.

The diagnosis is free, even if you decide against the repair afterwards. Most repairs are done in under an hour. How long it takes for your phone, we tell you after the diagnosis.