Covers how to check the battery inside the Sony Extra Bass SRS XB23 cylinder speaker. We also describe how to know if the battery life is shrinking as months or years pass, and when you should replace that battery.
How to Check Sony XB23 Battery, Current Charge
1. First, Turn ON the XB23
You won’t be able to read battery charge status unless the speaker is ON.
To power up the speaker, press and release the Power button, pointed at by the green arrow in the last picture.
The little lamp on the front of the speaker should then light up, as shown next, and the speaker may make a two-beep sound and announce in a female voice that it has paired, if it has in fact, paired to a nearby device. But if no devices that it recognizes are in range, then it does not pair at turn on. In that case, you will hear no sound at all.
If the speaker does not turn on, then the battery could be completely dead. 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 XB23
Note that this speaker has no battery gauge to let you know exactly how much juice is left. But you can at least tell if the battery is on the cusp of dying by way of the CHG lamp. How? When the battery is not too 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.
How to Check Sony XB23 Battery, Overall Storage Capacity
When the speaker is new, and using a hefty charger, the recharge time is just over four (4.5) hours. And, the full battery should last for around twelve (12) hours before going dead. You’ll get this amount time when you play the unit at moderate volume level. Note though that you may experience less play time (perhaps ten (10) hours). This can occur when running at louder volume with the Extra Bass mode activated.
A sign of a failing battery, is that it goes dead too quickly. Or it takes too little or too much time to finish charging. So if your speaker consistently plays for under nine hours before dying, then its battery is likely the culprit. I.e. It is unable to hold as much power anymore.
If the SRS XB23 battery takes longer than six hours to recharge, this could also mean a failing battery. It might indicate too, that the charger you’re using is not powerful enough. E.g. It might not be able to recharge the speaker in the specified charge time of 4.5 hours because it does not output enough current. So try a different power adapter. But be certain to pick one that you know works well, to rule out the charger as the problem.
Also, slow charging can happen because your charge cord is too thin. So for best results, we recommend a full-current USB cable (one that easily carries 3 amps).
And finally, the speaker circuits that manage the battery may be defective. So in that case, your best bet is to just buy a new speaker. But please be sure to recycle the old one.
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References
Revision History
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- 2023-03-20: First published.