Screenshot of the Alexa app on iOS, displaying its Settings screen. Showing a JBL Flip 3 speaker paired and highlighted.

How to Pair Echo Dot with Bluetooth Speakers

Not only can you use your Amazon Echo speaker as a Bluetooth speaker, but you can also connect it to another Bluetooth speaker, and hear Alexa audio through that external Bluetooth speaker wirelessly. So we demonstrate here how to pair Echo Dot with Bluetooth speaker.  For this demo, we use the JBL Flip 3 splashproov speaker.

Note that you must connect your Alexa speaker to the internet and link it to your Amazon account to pair it with a Bluetooth speaker. Our demo here assumes that all those logistics have been taken care of.





How to Pair Echo Dot with Bluetooth Speaker

1. Find the Alexa App on your Mobile Device

We’re running this demo on an iOS based iPad Air as shown in the next screenshot. In our case, the Alexa app is located on the third home screen page of apps, as pointed at by the blue arrow.

Screenshot of the iOS 11 home screen, showing the Amazon Alexa app Icon highlighted. How to Pair Echo Dot with Bluetooth Speakers.
iOS home screen, showing the Amazon Alexa app Icon highlighted.

2. Run the Alexa App

The app displays its home screen as shown in the next screenshot

Picture of the Amazon Alexa app Home screen on iOS, with the main menu button highlighted.
Amazon Alexa app Home screen on iOS, with the main menu button highlighted.

3. Tap the Hamburger Control

Find the hamburger item in the top left corner of the screen, as pointed at by the green arrow in the last screenshot. This brings up the Alexa app’s main menu, as displayed in the next screenshot.

Picture of the Amazon Alexa app on iOS, showing its main menu, with the Settings option highlighted.
Amazon Alexa app on iOS, showing its main menu, with the Settings option highlighted.

4. Tap the Settings Option on the Main Menu

The Settings item is pointed at by the green arrow in the previous screenshot.





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

Picture of the Alexa App on iOS, showing its Settings screen, with the Device Settings option highlighted.
Alexa App on iOS, showing its Settings screen, with the Device Settings option highlighted.

5. Tap the Device Settings Item

Find the Device Settings option on the Settings screen, as pointed at by the green arrow in the last picture.  Tapping this menu item brings up the Device Settings screen, as shown next.

Screenshot of the Alexa app on iOS, displaying its All Devices screen, with my Thomas's Office Echo Dot 2 speaker highlighted. How to Pair Echo Dot with Bluetooth Speakers.
Alexa app on iOS, displaying its All Devices screen, with my Thomas’s Office Echo Dot 2 speaker highlighted.

From this screen, you can select which Echo device currently set up on your Amazon account, you wish to pair with your Bluetooth speaker.

5. Tap the Echo Dot Device you wish to Pair to your Bluetooth Speaker

Here, we tap the Thomas’s Office Echo Dot 2 entry.

This takes you to the device-specific settings screen for the Echo Dot speaker you chose.  As shown next for our scenario here, we get the Device Settings screen for the Thomas’s Office Echo Dot 2 speaker.

Picture of the Alexa app on iOS, displaying its Device Settings screen with the Bluetooth Devices option highlighted.
Alexa app on iOS, displaying its Device Settings screen with the Bluetooth Devices option highlighted.

6. Tap the Bluetooth Devices Item

Find the Bluetooth Devices option pointed at by the green arrow in the previous screenshot.

This brings up the Bluetooth Devices screen, as shown next. At this point, you’re now ready to initiate a scan by the Echo Dot speaker you’ve selected in the previous step for available Bluetooth devices.

Screenshot of the Alexa app on iOS, displaying its Settings-->Bluetooth Devices screen with the Pair A New Device button highlighted.
Alexa app on iOS, displaying its Settings–>Bluetooth Devices screen with the Pair A New Device button highlighted.

However, don’t press the Pair a New Device button just yet. We must first power up your external Bluetooth speaker and put it into pairing mode.





7. Power up your External Bluetooth Speaker

In this demo, we’re pairing with a JBL Flip 3 Bluetooth speaker, as pictured next. To turn this speaker on, press and release the Power button on the Flip 3.

Picture of the JBL Flip 3 splashproof Bluetooth speaker, top view, showing power button highlighted. Speaker is OFF.
JBL Flip 3 splashproof Bluetooth speaker, top view, showing power button highlighted. Speaker is OFF.

This speaker may automatically enter pairing mode when it’s first powered on. It will, that is, if it’s never been paired with a device since its last hard reset.  You’ll know it’s in pairing mode when the blue pilot lamp blinks rapidly. Find the pilot light on the front, to the right of the Bluetooth on-off switch.

In the next picture, we’ve turned on the Flip 3, and the pilot lamp is blinking blue.

Picture of the JBL Flip 3 battery powered Bluetooth speaker, showing its power button flashing blue. How to Pair Echo Dot with Bluetooth Speakers.
JBL Flip 3 battery powered Bluetooth speaker, showing its power button flashing blue.

If the pilot lamp blinks a slow white, then you’ll need to manually place the Flip 3 into Bluetooth pairing mode.  For pairing mode, press its Bluetooth button, as shown next.

Picture of the JBL Flip 3 wireless speaker. Showing its Bluetooth pairing button highlighted.
JBL Flip 3 wireless speaker. Showing its Bluetooth pairing button highlighted.

Pressing the Bluetooth button should start the pilot lamp flashing blue. When it does, proceed to the next step.

8. Next, Tap the Pair a New Device Button

Once your Bluetooth speaker is powered up and in pairing mode, go back to the Alexa app on your mobile device, and tap the blue Pair a New Device button, discussed in Step 6 above.

This then starts a scan by your Echo Dot speaker for any in-range Bluetooth devices.

After a short pause, Alexa then lists any Bluetooth devices that the Dot speaker found on the next screen.

Screenshot of the Alexa app on iOS, displaying its Bluetooth Setup screen, showing the devices found during scan list. The JBL Flip 3 speaker entry is highlighted. How to Pair Echo Dot with Bluetooth Speakers.
Alexa app on iOS, displaying its Bluetooth Setup screen, showing the devices found during scan list. The JBL Flip 3 speaker is highlighted.

In our case, our Dot 2 speaker found two devices during its scan; our Roku player and our Tom’s Flip 3 (JBL Flip 3) Bluetooth speaker. That speaker is pointed at by the blue arrow in the last screen shot.

9. Tap the Found Bluetooth Speaker to Pair with your Echo Dot Speaker

We’re pairing ours with the Tom’s Flip 3 entry (the JBL Flip 3 Bluetooth speaker).

Doing this adds the speaker to the previously paired devices list for the currently selected Echo smart speaker.  The app then displays this list as shown in the next screenshot.  And then it tries to connect to the Bluetooth speaker.

Screenshot of the Alexa app on iOS, displaying its Settings screen. Showing a JBL Flip 3 speaker paired and highlighted. How to Pair Echo Dot with Bluetooth Speakers.
Alexa app on iOS, displaying its Settings screen. Showing a JBL Flip 3 speaker paired and highlighted.

You should now hear any audio that would normally come from the Echo Dot just paired, from the Bluetooth speaker. Alexa tells you that you’ve successfully paired with your Bluetooth speaker for the first time.  She also says that you can now unpair by saying, “Disconnect my speaker”. You may also unpair by powering off the Bluetooth speaker itself.

Once your Bluetooth speaker is in the previously paired devices list, your Echo Dot connects to it any time it detects it.  Detail: It detects it when that speaker is turned on and in Bluetooth range. With our JBL speaker, we just turn the speaker on. Then it reconnects to our Office Echo Dot 2 by itself. We don’t have to do anything else in the Alexa app.





Related Posts to How to Pair Echo Dot with Bluetooth

  1. How to Pair Ultimate Ears Wonderboom Speaker
  2. Pairing Amazon Echo Dot Gen 2 Smart Speaker as Bluetooth Speaker
  3. How to Connect Alexa to WiFi Internet
  4. Use Echo Dot as Bluetooth Speaker, How To
  5. Pairing JBL Flip 3 to Google Home Original Mini Max Speakers, How To, Bluetooth Pairing Instructions

References for How to Pair Echo Dot with Bluetooth

  1. You can Finally Pair the Amazon Echo with Bluetooth Speakers, from CNet
  2. Connect Your Echo Device to Bluetooth Speakers, from Amazon Help

Revision History

  • 2020-03-10: Added more tags.
  • 2019-04-20: Added tags and tweaked the targeting.
  • 2018-12-10: First published.