How does a tone clean a speaker?
It does not 'clean' in the soap-and-water sense. It vibrates the speaker diaphragm at amplitudes far higher than music normally produces, and that vibration loosens dust, lint, and crumbs trapped against the grill or inside the speaker chamber. After a minute of tone, you flip the phone and tap it; the loosened debris falls out. It is essentially a dry, ultrasonic-ish shake from the inside.
Which frequency is best for speaker cleaning?
165 Hz is the default because it sits in the resonant range of most phone micro-speakers, giving the largest cone excursion for the least amplifier strain. 60 Hz and 100 Hz are useful on larger Bluetooth and laptop speakers with bigger drivers. 200 Hz works better when you suspect debris is in front of the diaphragm rather than against the grill. The sweep mode walks through all of them so you do not have to guess.
Will this damage my speaker?
No, as long as you stay at the volumes your phone permits. The driver is rated for normal music output, which is louder and more broadband than a single sine tone. The main rule: do not loop the tone for hours. Two to three one-minute cycles is plenty. Stop immediately if you hear rattling that does not clear up — that means there is a debris item rubbing against the cone and you need to remove it manually.
How is this different from the water eject tool?
Same physics, different goal. The water eject tool runs a fixed 30-second cycle tuned to push surface water out through the grill. The speaker cleaner runs longer and offers multiple frequencies because dust does not have surface tension; it needs a wider vibration profile to dislodge. If your phone got wet, use water eject first, then speaker cleaner once it is dry.
Should I use compressed air instead?
Compressed air can push lint deeper into the speaker chamber instead of out. If you do use it, use short pulses from a distance, with the phone speaker facing down. The tone method is safer because it works the debris outward through the same path it entered. The best results come from running the tone first, then using a soft brush on the grill, then a final tone cycle.
My phone sound is still muffled. What now?
Three likely causes. One: the grill is clogged with hardened debris (oil, sunscreen, pocket lint) that vibration alone cannot move — use a soft toothbrush and isopropyl alcohol on a cotton swab. Two: the speaker driver itself is damaged from prior water exposure — no tone will fix this. Three: the bottom speaker is fine but the earpiece (top) speaker is the muffled one — try the /clean/earpiece tool.