How to Connect Sony SRS XB21 to iPhone

An iPhone with a Sony SRS XB21 speaker.

This post shows how to connect a Sony SRS XB21 BT portable speaker to an iPhone smart phone. Doing so gives you a bigger, and distinctly better sound when you stream music from the iPhone to speakers like this one.

How to Connect Sony SRS XB21 to iPhone, Step by Step Procedure

With the XB21 switched OFF (power button is dark), run through this routine to connect it to your iPhone mobile device. For this demo, the test phone is an iPhone 12 Pro Max.

1. Go to the Home Screen on your Device

Firstly, press and release the side button (right edge of the phone) and enter your passcode or Face Id to bring up the Home screen.

2. Find the Settings App

Next, flip through the Home screen pages until you find the Settings app. We found ours on the second page of the Home screen, as shown next.

iPhone -Home- screen showing the -Settings- app.

3. Bring up the Settings App

Thirdly, tap the Settings app icon.

The smart device then shows the first page of its settings, as shown in the next step.

iPhone -Settings- page, showing the -Bluetooth- option.

4. Go to the Bluetooth Option to Continue with How to Connect Sony SRS XB21 to iPhone

Tap the Bluetooth item on the Settings page.

Then you get the Bluetooth Settings screen, as we show next.

The iPhone -Bluetooth Settings- page.

Note that our Bluetooth is running here. But since our test Sony SRS XB21 speaker is currently shut OFF (is not in Bluetooth pairing mode), it does not show up in the BT devices list. Also, we don’t see it since we’ve never paired this speaker with this iPhone before.

5. Turn On your Speaker

Turn on the XB 21 by pressing its Power-Pairing button. E.g. See this, pointed at by the cyan arrow, in the next picture.

Sony SRS XB21 -Power- button.

The speaker then boots up, and its status lamp glows white, as we see in the next picture.

The -Power- lamp glowing.

Also, the Bluetooth Status lamp will blink blue in some pattern to indicate that the speaker is ready to respond to a Bluetooth pairing request. Or it may glow solidly, meaning that the speaker paired with some nearby device upon startup.

The -Bluetooth Status- lamp blinking.

If this lamp flashes slowly, then it’s passively waiting for a Bluetooth connection request to come in.

But if it blinks in a fast flashing pattern, then it’s broadcasting its connection information over Bluetooth so other devices can find and link it. I.e. The speaker is already in pairing mode in this case.

Moreover, since our test iPhone does not know about this speaker since we’ve never connected the two together before, this test speaker will not pair with it automatically.

6. Put the XB21 into Discovery Mode

Now, to see this speaker on your iPhone, place it into Bluetooth pairing mode if it’s not in that mode by now. To do that, press the Power-Pairing button. Then release it when the unit emits a rising sequence of beeps and says, “Bluetooth pairing” in a female voice. Also, the Bluetooth Status lamp starts its rapid pulsing, as we saw in the last picture.

7. Find the Speaker on your Phone to Continue with How to Connect Sony SRS XB21 to iPhone

See the screen shot next. We found our speaker, as shown next.

The iPhone Bluetooth Settings page, showing the Sony SRS XB21 speaker as Discovered.

8. Connect with the SRS XB21

Tap the listed speaker in the Other Devices list.

The iPhone then pairs with the test speaker here.

I.e. The iPhone’s Bluetooth Settings screen might then change to look something like the following. Note the now-paired Sony SRS XB21 entry, as we point out with the green arrow next.

The iPhone Bluetooth Settings page, showing the Sony SRS XB21 speaker as Connected.