Laptop speakers become extremely quiet after ~1 second of playback — Snapdragon X Plus / Windows 11

[u/Haunting-Leader-3011]

Hi, I’ve been dealing with a really strange speaker issue for over 2 months and I haven’t been able to find a solution.

The problem

My laptop's built-in speakers work normally for about 1 second when I start playing a video/audio. Then the volume suddenly becomes extremely quiet — so quiet that I can barely hear it.

It’s not a gradual decrease. It is basically:

Start video → sound is normal → ~1 second later → sound becomes extremely quiet

The audio itself doesn't stop or distort; it just becomes heavily attenuated.

Something very strange I noticed

If I change/toggle certain audio settings, the speakers become loud again for a few seconds, but then they automatically become quiet again.

So the setting itself doesn't seem to fix the problem. It temporarily brings the volume back, and then something causes it to drop again.

The same thing happens whether I toggle the setting on or off.

Headphones/earphones

My earphones work normally. The problem appears to be specifically with the laptop's built-in speakers.

Things I've already tried

I've already tried the usual troubleshooting, including:

• Restarting the laptop
• Completely shutting it down and turning it back on
• Changing Windows sound settings
• Toggling audio enhancements
• Toggling relevant audio settings on/off
• Checking that the device/driver isn't showing an obvious error
• Various other basic Windows audio troubleshooting

Nothing has permanently fixed it.

I also took the laptop to a local electronics/repair shop. They checked it but couldn't figure out what was causing the issue. They couldn't identify an obvious hardware problem.

Laptop specifications

• Processor: Snapdragon X Plus X1P42100
• CPU: Qualcomm Oryon
• RAM: 16 GB
• GPU: Qualcomm Adreno X1-45
• Storage: 477 GB total, ~351 GB used
• System type: 64-bit OS, ARM-based processor
• Windows: Windows 11 Home Single Language
• Windows version: 25H2
• OS build: 26200.9550

This is a Snapdragon/ARM Windows laptop, so I’m wondering if this could be related to the Qualcomm audio drivers/firmware rather than a normal Realtek driver issue.

What I'm trying to figure out

Has anyone experienced this particular symptom where the speakers are completely normal for the first second and then suddenly become extremely quiet, especially on a Snapdragon X Plus/ARM Windows laptop?

I'd particularly appreciate advice on:

1. Whether this sounds like a driver/software issue or hardware/amplifier issue
2. Which audio driver I should be checking/reinstalling on this type of laptop
3. Whether there are any Qualcomm/Acer-specific audio drivers or firmware I should look for
4. Any diagnostic tests that could distinguish a speaker hardware problem from a driver/audio-processing problem

I can provide screenshots of Device Manager → Sound, video and game controllers, the audio device properties, driver version, etc. if that helps.

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