Covers how to check battery life and level on the Sony Extra Bass SRS XB31 Bluetooth speaker, and also, how to tell if the battery life is shortening over time.
How to Check Sony SRS XB31 Battery Life, Current Charge
1. First, Turn ON the XB31
You won’t be able to read battery charge status unless the speaker is ON.
To turn on the speaker, press and release the Power button, pointed at by the green arrow in the last picture.
The little lamp just above that button should then illuminate, as we see next. Plus, the speaker may make a high-low beep sound if it pairs to a nearby device. If it does not turn on, then the battery could be dead all the way.
But as long as there’s some energy in the battery, the speaker should power up. When it does, move ahead to the next step.
2. Look at the CHARGE Lamp
Note that this speaker has no battery gauge that you can read visually to let you know exactly how much charge is left. But with a quick-glance you can tell if the battery is on the verge of going dead by looking at the CHARGE lamp. E.g. When the battery is not critically low, this lamp is dark. But when the speaker has very little charge left, the lamp slow-pulses orange. The next picture shows the lamp location. It’s just above the USB input port.
3. Have the Speaker Announce the Percentage of Charge Remaining
With the unit running, press and release the LIGHT-BATT button in the port compartment in the back of the unit. The speaker then says the percentage of battery power left in a female voice.
How to Check Sony SRS XB31 Battery Life, Overall Battery Condition
When the speaker is new, and using a full power USB charger, the battery charge time is about four and a half (4.5) hours. And, the fully charged battery should last for around sixteen (16) hours of play time before going dead again, when played at medium volume levels. This assumes that you run the party lights on this unit, and use the default Extra Bass mode. But you get significantly longer play if you turn both of these off.
A sign of an aging battery, is that it goes dead too fast, or takes less than four hours or more than six hours to recharge. So if you fully charge your speaker, but it only plays for under twelve hours before dying, its battery may be going bad, and unable to hold a full charge anymore.
It might mean also, that the charger you’re using is not strong enough to recharge the speaker in the specified charge time of 4.5 hours. So be sure to use a full-power USB charger, one that outputs 5 volts at up to 2.1 amps.
Also, slow (or no) charging might happen because your charge cord is frayed, or too thin. Thus for best results, we again suggest a full-current USB cable (one that easily carries 2.1 amps).
Finally, when all these checks pass, it may be that your speaker itself has gone bad.
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Change History
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- 2020-09-28: First published.