“Ultra” in this context usually means ultrasonic, and conflating ultrasonic cleaning with speaker tones is one of the most persistent confusions in this category.
For a complete overview, see why low frequencies clear speakers.
What ultrasonic cleaning actually is
An ultrasonic cleaner submerges an object in a liquid bath and drives transducers at 20–80 kHz. The
energy creates cavitation — microscopic bubbles that form and collapse against the object's surface, lifting
contamination away. It is genuinely effective, and repair technicians use it on corroded circuit boards.
Why a phone cannot do this to itself
Three reasons, each sufficient on its own. There is no liquid bath — cavitation requires immersion. There
is no transducer — a phone speaker is not built to produce ultrasonic output. And a phone speaker cannot
reproduce 20 kHz and above at any useful level, because both the driver and the amplifier are designed
for the audible band.
The opposite end of the spectrum
Speaker tone cleaning works by low frequency diaphragm displacement pumping air — the exact
opposite of ultrasonic frequencies. The two methods sit at opposite ends of the range and share no
mechanism.
What files labelled ultrasonic actually contain
Either nothing audible and nothing effective, or a low-frequency tone playing under a misleading name. If
you cannot hear a clear low hum, nothing useful is happening.
When ultrasonic is the right answer
If your device has genuine corrosion — green or white residue near a port, a tripped liquid contact
indicator, audio that recovered then degraded over following days — a technician's ultrasonic bath is exactly
the correct treatment. That requires disassembly and immersion, and no tone substitutes for it.
What to use at home
120–400 Hz, 70–80 percent volume, grille facing down, short cycles.