How to Check Sony SRS XB33 Battery Life

Covers how to check battery life and level on the Sony Extra Bass SRS XB33 Bluetooth speaker, and also, how to know if the battery life is shortening over time.

How to Check Battery Life on the Sony SRS XB33, Current Charge

1. First, Turn ON the XB33

You won’t be able to read battery charge status unless the speaker is ON.

The -Power- button on the Sony SRS XB33 speaker. How to Check Sony SRS XB33 Battery Life. — Sony SRS XB33 speaker -Power- button.

To turn on the speaker, press and release the Power button, pointed at by the yellow arrow in the last picture.

The status lamp on the top of the speaker should then light up, as shown next, and the speaker may make a two-beep sound as well as announce in a female voice if it pairs to a nearby device. If it does not turn on, then the battery could be completely dead.

Picture of the -Power- lamp lit up. — The -Power- lamp lit up.

But as long as there’s some energy in the battery, the speaker should power up. When it does, move on to the next step.

2. Look at the CHG Lamp on the XB33

Note that this speaker has no visual battery gauge to let you know exactly how much charge is left, although you can get an audio readout of that percentage of battery capacity.

But you can at least, tell if the battery is on the verge of going dead by way of the CHG lamp. When the battery is not critically low, this lamp is dark. But when the speaker has very little charge left, the CHG lamp flashes orange-red. The next picture shows the lamp location. It’s the closest light to the charging port door.

Picture of the glowing -CHARGE- lamp. — The -CHARGE- light lit up.

How to Check Battery Life on the Sony SRS XB33, 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 to reach a full charge.

And, the fully charged battery should last for around twenty-four (24) hours of play time before going dead, when played at moderate volume levels. You’ll get around fourteen (14) hours of play per charge when running at higher volumes and with the Extra Bass mode activated.

A sign of a bad battery, is that the speaker goes dead too fast, or takes too few or too many hours to completely charge. So if you fully charge your speaker, but it only plays for under twelve hours before dying, its battery may be bad, and unable to hold enough charge anymore.

If the SRS XB33 battery takes longer than six hours to fully recharge, this could also mean a failing battery. It might mean too, that the charger you’re using is not strong enough to recharge the speaker in the specified charge time of 4.5 hours. To be sure, try a different charger that you know to be good.

Also, slow charging can happen because your charge cord is too thin. So for best outcomes, we recommend a full-current USB cable (one that easily carries 3.0 amps).

References for How to Check Sony SRS XB33 Battery Life

1. Sony SRS XB33 Speakers Product Page at Sony.com

Change History

- 2020-09-22: First published.