After realizing that my smartphone speaker wasn’t loud enough to use in the shower, I looked for easy ways to boost the volume without having to dish out any money on real speakers.

    Through a few internet searches, I discovered that there were countless methods to accomplish this goal, most of which involved some kind of tube to amplify sound.

    The first method I found used an empty toilet paper roll. In the image, the toilet paper roll was placed on its side, with a hole cut on top. A phone sat snugly inside, while two plastic cups were stuck on both sides of the roll.

    This method looked promising, so I went ahead and gave it a try. Luckily, a toilet paper roll in my bathroom was almost out anyway, so I took it and cut a slit just wide enough for my phone on its side. Then, I took two red plastic cups sitting around my house, cut circular holes in them, and fit them onto the sides of the roll.

    Next came the first sound test. I placed my phone inside the slit and played a random YouTube video. Surprisingly, I noticed the difference in sound almost immediately. The makeshift speaker really amplified the audio, although the sound was a bit muffled.

    I looked for an alternative that didn’t have the same muffling effect while maintaining the boost in volume. After a few more minutes of searching online, I found from many sources that the best method was just to place the phone in a glass cup.

    Most cups around the house weren’t big enough to fully fit my phone, but eventually I found one lying around the kitchen and I gave it a shot.

    I was shocked that I didn’t even need to do anything to make this setup work. The time I spent on the last makeshift speaker all went to waste, because the simple glass cup did its job in boosting the volume without detracting from sound quality.

    I found my solution to enhancing my phone’s built-in speakers without spending a single penny. Now a large glass cup sits in my bathroom, dedicated to the sole purpose of acting as a speaker.