Picture of the JBL Flip 4 alongside an Amazon Echo Dot 2 speaker.

How to Pair JBL Flip 4 with Amazon Echo Dot

This post demos how to pair the JBL Flip 4 with Amazon Echo Dot speakers.  These include the generation 1 and generation 2 Echo Dot Amazon speaker versions.  Since this linking happens between the JBL Flip 4 and the Amazon Echo Dot speakers, you need not turn Bluetooth on in the mobile device you’re using to set up this pairing.





How to Pair JBL Flip 4 with Amazon Echo Dot Speakers

First, with your JBL Flip 4 powered off (power button is dark), run through this routine to pair it to your Amazon Echo Dot. We’re using an iPad Air tablet to create this pairing.

1. Find the Alexa App on your Mobile Device

We found the app on our iOS iPad Air as shown in the next screenshot. In our case, the Alexa app is on the third home screen page. It’s pointed at by the blue arrow.

Screenshot of the iOS Home screen, showing the Amazon Alexa app Icon highlighted. How to Pair JBL Flip 4 with Amazon Echo.
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.

Screenshot of the Alexa app on iOS, showing its -Home- screen, with the hamburger control highlighted.
Alexa app on iOS, showing its -Home- screen, with the hamburger control highlighted.

3. Tap the Hamburger Control

Next, find the hamburger item in the top left corner of the screen. This is pointed at by the blue arrow in the last screenshot.

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

Screenshot of the Amazon Alexa app on iOS, showing its control menu, with the -Settings- option highlighted.
Amazon Alexa app on iOS, showing its control menu, with the -Settings- option highlighted.

4. Tap the  Settings  Option on the Main Menu to Continue with How to Pair JBL Flip 4 with Amazon Echo

The  Settings  option is pointed at by the blue arrow in the last screenshot.





This brings up the   Settings   screen, as shown in the next screenshot. From here, choose which Echo device you wish to pair with your JBL Flip 4 Bluetooth speaker.

Screenshot of the Amazon Alexa app on iOS, showing its -Settings- screen, with our -Bedroom Dot- speaker highlighted. How to Pair JBL Flip 4 with Amazon Echo.
Amazon Alexa app on iOS, showing its -Settings- screen, with our -Bedroom Dot- speaker highlighted.

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

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

In this demo, we’re pairing from our   Bedroom Dot   Echo Dot speaker to our Flip 4 speaker.

Screenshot of the Amazon Alexa app on iOS, displaying its -Settings- screen. This is for our -Bedroom Dot- speaker, with the -Bluetooth- option highlighted.
Amazon Alexa app on iOS, showing its -Settings- screen. This is for our -Bedroom Dot- speaker, with the -Bluetooth- option highlighted.

6. Tap the Bluetooth Item

Find the Bluetooth option pointed at by the  blue  arrow in the last screenshot.

This brings up the   Bluetooth Devices   screen, as shown next.

At this point, you’re ready to start a Bluetooth scan by your Echo Dot speaker. You’ve selected this Dot in the last step. So, that Dot will be the one that scans for Bluetooth devices.

But don’t press the   Pair a New Device   button just yet. We must first power up your JBL Flip 4 speaker and put it into pairing discovery mode.

Screenshot of the Amazon Alexa app on iOS, showing its Bluetooth Settings screen. This is for our -Bedroom Dot- speaker, with the -Pair A New Device- button highlighted.
Amazon Alexa app on iOS, showing its Bluetooth Settings screen. This is for our -Bedroom Dot- speaker, with the -Pair A New Device- button highlighted.

7. Turn On your Speaker, to Continue with How to Pair JBL Flip 4 with Amazon Echo

Put down your mobile device for a bit, and turn on the JBL Flip 4 by quickly pressing its  Power  button. See this circled in green, in the next picture.

Picture of the JBL Flip 4 speaker turned OFF, with its Power button circled.
JBL Flip 4 speaker turned OFF, with its Power button circled.

The speaker then powers up.

But since our Echo Dot does not know about this speaker, the Flip 4 will not pair with it automatically. Not yet anyhow.  Thus, the light that comes on in the power switch denotes this not-paired state by glowing solid white, as shown next.

Note that your Flip 4 may be flashing blue, especially if you’ve never paired it with a device since the last factory reset. In that case, skip the next step (Step 8) and pick up with Step 9.

Picture of the JBL 4 Flip series speaker, top view, powered ON. How to Pair JBL Flip 4 with Amazon Echo.
JBL 4 Flip series speaker, top view, powered ON.

8. Put your JBL Bluetooth Speaker into Discovery Mode

Now, to allow the Echo Dot to find your JBL Flip 4 speaker, place the speaker into Bluetooth discovery mode. To do that, press and release the Bluetooth button, as shown in the next picture.

Picture of the JBL Flip speaker, showing its Bluetooth button highlighted.
JBL Flip speaker, showing its Bluetooth button highlighted.

When you press the   Bluetooth Discovery Mode   button, the speaker makes a repeating single pluck guitar note sound several times. Also, the power button changes from a solid white glow to flashing blue. See this next.

Picture of the JBL Flip speaker in Bluetooth discovery mode. Showing the Power button, flashing blue, highlighted with the yellow arrow.
JBL Flip 4 speaker in Bluetooth discovery mode. Showing the Power button, flashing blue, highlighted with the yellow arrow.

9. Go Back to your Mobile Device

The screen with the blue   Pair a New Device   button should still be showing, as in the next screenshot.

Screenshot of the Amazon Alexa app on iOS, showing its Bluetooth Settings screen. This is for our -Bedroom Dot- speaker, with the -Pair A New Device- button highlighted.
Amazon Alexa app on iOS, showing its Bluetooth Settings screen. This is for our -Bedroom Dot- speaker, with the -Pair A New Device- button highlighted.

10. Tap the   Pair a New Device   Button

This starts your Echo Dot scanning for any nearby Bluetooth devices that are themselves in Bluetooth discovery mode.  Your Flip 4 is now in Bluetooth discovery mode.  So your Dot should find it.





After a short pause, you should see something like the screen we got.  Shown next.

Picture of the Amazon Alexa App on iOS, showing its -Bluetooth Setup- screen. Showing the -Toms Flip 4- JBL speaker that the app discovered, highlighted.
Amazon Alexa App on iOS, showing its -Bluetooth Setup- screen. Showing the -Toms Flip 4- JBL speaker that the app discovered, highlighted.

In our demo, the Alexa app found our JBL Flip 4 speaker, named  Tom’s Flip 4.

11. Find your JBL Flip 4 on the Discovered Devices List to Continue with How to Pair JBL Flip 4 with Amazon Echo

See the screenshot above. Our scan found two devices.  It found the JBL Flip 4 as well as our Roku player.  So, we located our Flip 4 speaker in the list, as pointed at by the blue arrow in that picture.

12. Finally, Pair your Amazon Echo Dot with your JBL Flip 4 Portable Speaker

Pair to the JBL Flip 4 by tappng the listed speaker in the  Bluetooth Setup   screen, shown in the last screenshot above.

The Echo Dot then pairs with the Flip 4 (“Tom’s Flip 4” in this demo). The Alexa App’s   Bluetooth Settings   screen then changes to look something like the following.

Picture of the Amazon Alexa App on iOS, showing its -Bluetooth Devices- screen with -Toms Flip 4- speaker paired and highlighted.
Amazon Alexa App on iOS, showing its -Bluetooth Devices- screen with -Toms Flip 4- speaker paired and highlighted.

Also, the JBL Flip 4 makes the   Speaker Paired  sound (the three ascending guitar notes).  Note that the Bluetooth symbol to the left of the listed speaker item turns blue in the last screenshot.

The speaker is now paired with your Echo Dot 2.  It’s power button glows solid blue to indicate successful pairing, as shown next.

Picture of the JBL Flip 4 Bluetooth speaker, top view, powered ON, paired, showing blue power lamp.
JBL Flip 4 Bluetooth speaker, top view, powered ON, paired, showing blue power lamp.

13. Done with How to Pair JBL Flip 4 with Amazon Echo !

We have now successfully paired our JBL Flip 4 portable speaker with our Amazon Echo Dot speaker device.  We can now ask Alexa to play music on this Dot, and those tunes will play on the excellent sounding JBL Flip 4.  Enjoy!

Related Posts to How to Pair JBL Flip 4 with Amazon Echo

  1. How to Pair Echo Dot with Bluetooth Speaker, Echo Dot 2
  2. How to Pair UE Wonderboom with Alexa Echo Speakers

Other Posts About Amazon Echo Dot

  1. How to Restart Amazon Echo Dot Speaker

Other Posts About the JBL Flip 4 Portable Speaker

  1. JBL Flip 4 Reset Instructions
  2. Review of the JBL Flip 4 Portable Waterproof Speaker
  3. JBL Flip 4 Specs, Specifications for this Speaker
  4. Pairing Instructions for Flip 4 JBL Speaker
  5. JBL Flip 4 Low Frequency Mode, How to Turn On

References for How to Pair JBL Flip 4 with Amazon Echo

  1. How to Pair your Amazon Echo Dot with a Bluetooth Speaker, from CNet
  2. Connecting Amazon Echo Dot to an External Speaker, from PC Magazine

Revision History

  • 2020-04-20: Added tags.
  • 2019-03-31: Shortened post URL to better match targeted key phrase.
  • 2018-05-25: First published.