Picture of the front of the Sony SRS XB41 speaker glowing.

How to Connect to Sony Bluetooth Speaker

This post shows how to connect to a Sony Bluetooth speaker from most any common Bluetooth mobile device.  Doing so gives you a much bigger, and arguably better sound when you stream music from said device to these speakers. So in this demo, we show how to do this on the Sony SRS-XB43 model, but this works in similar fashion on most of the other Sony Bluetooth speakers currently available.

How to Connect to Sony Bluetooth Speaker, Step by Step

With your Sony Bluetooth speaker switched OFF (power button is dark), run through these directions to connect to it to most any mobile device that supports Bluetooth. For this demo, we use an iPhone 12 Pro Max cell phone as the Bluetooth source device.

1. Go to the Home Screen on your Source 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

We found ours on the second page of the Home screen, as shown next.

The -Settings- app icon on the iPhone 12 Pro Max -Home- screen. How to Connect to Sony Bluetooth Speaker.
iPhone 12 Pro Max -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.

Screenshot of the -Bluetooth- option on the iPhone -Settings- page.
The mobile device’s -Settings- page, showing the -Bluetooth- option.

4. Go to the Bluetooth Option to Continue with How to Connect to Sony Bluetooth Speaker

Tap the Bluetooth item on the Settings page.

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

Screenshot of the -Bluetooth Settings- page on the mobile device.
The iPhone -Bluetooth Settings- page.

Note that our Bluetooth is running here. But since our test Sony Bluetooth speaker (the XB43) is currently powered down (is not in Bluetooth pairing mode). Thus 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 Sony Bluetooth Speaker

Turn on the speaker by quickly pressing its  Power  button. See this, pointed at by the green arrow, in the next picture.

Picture of a typical speaker -Power- button.
A common speaker, showing its -Power- button.

The speaker then powers up, and its status lamp glows, as seen in the next picture.

Picture of the Power lamp glowing. How to Connect to a Sony Bluetooth Speaker.
The Power lamp glowing.

Also, the Bluetooth lamp will blink in some pattern to denote that the speaker is ready to receive a Bluetooth pairing request, as we see in the next picture.

Picture of the flashing Bluetooth Status lamp on the speaker.
The blinking Bluetooth Status light.

If it blinks evenly, then it’s passively waiting for a Bluetooth connection request to come in.

But if it fast flashes or blinks in a pulse-pulse-pause, pulse-pulse-pause pattern, then it’s broadcasting its pairing information over Bluetooth so other devices can find it. I.e. The speaker is in pairing mode in this case.

Moreover, since our test iPhone does not know about this speaker, this Sony Bluetooth speaker will not pair with it automatically.





6. Put the Speaker into Pairing Mode

Now, to see this speaker on your iPhone, place it into Bluetooth pairing mode if it’s not in that mode already. To do that, press the Pairing button, and release when the unit beeps or speaks that it’s in pairing mode, and the Bluetooth Status lamp begins its rapid or pulse-pulse-pause, pulse-pulse-pause flashing pattern, as we see in the last picture.

7. Find the Speaker on your Mobile Device to Continue with How to Connect to Sony Bluetooth Speaker

See the screen shot next. We found our speaker, as we point out with the green arrow.

Screenshot of the mobile device -Bluetooth Settings- screen, showing a speaker as discovered but not connected
The iPhone -Bluetooth Settings- screen showing a speaker as discovered but not connected

8. Connect with your Sony Bluetooth Speaker

Tap the listed speaker in the Other Devices list.

Our test mobile device 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 Bluetooth speaker entry, as we point out with the green arrow in the next screenshot.

Screenshot of the iPhone -Bluetooth Settings- screen, showing the speaker as Connected.
The iPhone -Bluetooth Settings- screen, showing the speaker as Connected.

9. Done with How to Connect to Sony Bluetooth Speaker !

At last, we have now successfully connected the test speaker with a typical mobile device.

Other Posts About Sony Bluetooth Speakers

    1. How to Connect Echo Dot to Sony Bluetooth Speaker
    2. How to Reset a Sony Bluetooth Speaker
    3. Making a Sony Bluetooth Speaker Discoverable
    4. How to Reset Sony SRS X11 Personal Bluetooth Speaker
    5. How to Turn Off Sony SRS XB21 Bluetooth Speaker

Related Posts to How to Connect to Sony Bluetooth Speaker

    1. How to Connect Sony SRS XB21 to iPhone
    2. How to Connect Sony SRS XB22 Bluetooth Speaker to iPhone
    3. Connecting the Sony SRS XB31 Speaker to an iPhone
    4. How to Connect Amazon Alexa to WiFi
    5. How to Connect Sony SRS XB13 to iPhone

References for How to Connect to Sony Bluetooth Speaker

  1. Sony Bluetooth Speaker Product Page at Sony.com

Revision History

  • 2022-07-07: First published.