How to Connect JBL Go to Alexa

An Echo Dot 4 clock speaker beside a JBL Go 1 BT speaker

This post shows how to connect the JBL Go tiny Bluetooth speaker to Alexa smart speakers. Since this pairing happens between the JBL and Echo devices directly, you need not turn Bluetooth on in the mobile device you’re using to set up this connection.

How to Connect JBL Go to Alexa, Step by Step

With your JBL Go 1 powered OFF (status lamp is dark), run through this routine to connect it to your Alexa Echo, Show, Studio, Input, and Dot models. We use an iPad Air tablet to set this up.

1. Find the Alexa app on your Mobile Device

We found the app on the iPad Air as shown in the next shot. In this exercise, the app is in a customized folder that we set up called Smart Speakers, and pointed at by the green arrow.

The Alexa App Icon in Folder on iPadOS.

2. Run the Alexa App

The app displays its Home screen as we see in the next screenshot.

The More Option on the Alexa App Home Screen on iPadOS in 2022.

3. Tap the More Item to Continue with How to Connect JBL Go to Alexa

Find the hamburger item in the lower right corner of the screen. We point at this with the green arrow in the last screenshot.

This brings up the Alexa app’s main menu, as shown in the next screenshot.

The Settings item on the Alexa app main menu on iPadOS.

4. Tap the Settings Option on the Main Menu

The Settings option is pointed at by the green arrow in the last photo.

This brings up the Settings screen, as shown in the next screenshot.

The Device Settings item on the Settings Page of the Alexa App on iPadOS.

5. Tap the Device Settings Option

Touching Device Settings brings up the All Devices page, as shown next.

An Echo Dot 4 entry on the All Devices page of the Alexa app on iPadOS.

From here, choose which Echo device you wish to pair with your Boombox 1 speaker.

6. Tap the Alexa Device you Wish to Connect

This takes you to the device-specific settings screen for the speaker you chose.

In this demo, we’re pairing from our Thomas’s 2nd Echo Dot 4 speaker to our JBL Boombox, and so, its device specific settings screen looks as follows.

The Connect a Device item on the Echo Dot 4 Settings page of the iPadOS Alexa app.

7. Tap the Connect a Device Item

Find the Connect a Device option pointed at by the green arrow in the last screenshot.

This brings up the Setup screen, as we show next.

The Pair Bluetooth Device Setup page on the Alexa app on iPadOS.

At this point, your Alexa device scans for nearby Bluetooth devices that are in pairing mode. Here, we selected an Echo Dot 4 earlier. So, this speaker will be the one that scans for BT devices.

Note that our Dot speaker found no devices so far. But it will in the next steps, when we turn on the JBL Go and put it in pairing mode.

8. Power Up the Go 1

Bring your speaker close to your Alexa device to pair, and power up that speaker by pressing and releasing the Power button as we show in the next picture.

The -Power- button on the JBL Go speaker.

9. Place the Go 1 into Pairing / Discovery Mode

Put your Bluetooth speaker into pairing mode by pressing and releasing the Pairing button, as illustrated in the next picture.

The Bluetooth button on the JBL Go speaker.

10. Find the JBL Go on the Alexa App SETUP Page

When you put the speaker into discovery mode, it should then appear in the Alexa app, on the Pair Bluetooth Device… page, as we see next.

A JBL Go speaker discovered on the Setup page in the Alexa App on iPadOS.

Note that if your speaker does not show up on this page at this point, then try moving it very close to the Alexa speaker, closing and restarting the Alexa app, and then repeating steps 3 through 7 along with step 9 above. We usually find that this gets the speaker to appear here as it should.

11. Find your Go 1 on the Discovered Devices List

See the last screenshot above. Our test speaker is there.

12. Finally, Pair your Alexa with your Go Speaker

Pair to the speaker by tapping its corresponding entry on the Pair Bluetooth Device… screen, we see in the last screenshot above.

Your Alexa speaker then pairs with the JBL Go.

The app then takes you back to the Thomas’s 2nd Echo Dot 4 screen, which looks something like the following.

The JBL Go speaker connected to an Echo Dot 4 on the Device Settings page in the Alexa App on iPadOS.

Note that our Bluetooth speaker now shows as connected. Also, the Go JBL speaker makes the Speaker Paired sound (the three ascending guitar notes).

This speaker is now connected with your Alexa smart speaker. Its Bluetooth light glows solid white to signal that successful pairing is in effect.

13. Done with How to Connect JBL Go to Alexa !

We can now ask Alexa to play music or news, and those programs will come out of the Go 1. Be sure though, to speak to the Echo speaker when making requests, and not the Bluetooth speaker. Even though the Go is now paired with Alexa, the Echo is still the speaker that hears your voice commands through its internal far field microphones.