Top front view of the Sony SRS XB12 Extra Bass Bluetooth speaker.

How to Pair Sony Speaker SRS-XB12

This post shows how to pair Sony speaker SRS-XB12 with common portable devices, including the iPhone, iPod Touch, and the iPad line of Apple phones, media players, and tablets.

How to Pair Sony Speaker SRS-XB12, Step by Step

With this speaker powered OFF (power button is not glowing), run through these directions to pair it to your source BT mobile device. We’re using an iPad Air computer for this demo.

1. Go to the Home Screen on your Source Device

Firstly, press the Home button to reveal the smart device’s Home screen.

2. Find the Settings App

We then find ours on the second page of the Home screen.

Picture of an iPad Home screen, with the Settings app highlighted by an arrow.
iOS Home Screen with Settings App Highlighted

3. Bring up the Settings App

Thirdly, touch the Settings app icon.

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

4. Go to the Bluetooth Settings  Page to Continue with How to Pair Sony Speaker SRS-XB12

So our Bluetooth Settings screen appears as follows.

Note that our Bluetooth is ON here. But since the SRS XB12 is currently OFF, then it is not in Bluetooth discovery mode. Thus it does not show up in the BT devices list. Furthermore, we don’t see it since we’ve never paired it with our mobile device before.

5. Power Up the Speaker

Then turn on this Sony speaker by quickly pressing its  Power  button.

Picture of the Sony speaker SRS-XB12 -Power- button.
The -Power- button on the Sony speaker SRS-XB12.

The speaker then powers up, and its status lamp flashes blue, as we see in the next picture.  This means that it’s ready to answer a Bluetooth connection request. Note that if it slow blinks, then it’s passively waiting for a Bluetooth connection request to come in.  But if it’s fast-flashing blue, then it broadcasts its connection info over Bluetooth so other devices can find this Sony speaker.

But since our iPad does not know about this speaker, the speaker will not pair with it automatically.

Picture of the glowing -Status- lamp.
The glowing -Status- lamp.

6. Activate the Speaker Pairing Mode

Now, to see your SRS-XB12 on your device, place this Sony speaker into Bluetooth discovery / pairing mode. To do that, press the Power button. Then release when the speaker beeps twice and the Status lamp starts flashing rapidly.





7. Find the Speaker on your Mobile Device to Continue with How to Pair Sony Speaker SRS-XB12

Then we find our SRS-XB12.

Screenshot of the iPadOS Bluetooth page, showing the speaker discovered.
iPadOS Bluetooth page, showing the speaker discovered.

8. Pair with your SRS-XB12

Tap the listed speaker in the discovered devices list.

Your mobile device then pairs with the SRS-XB12.

E.g. The the mobile device’s Bluetooth Settings screen might then change to look something like the following.  Note the now-connected SRS-XB12 entry, as highlighted by the green arrows in the next screenshot.

Screenshot of the iPadOS Bluetooth page, showing the speaker as connected.
iPadOS Bluetooth page, showing the speaker as connected.

9. Done with How to Pair Sony Speaker SRS-XB12 !

Finally, we have now successfully connected our XB12 speaker with a typical mobile tablet device.

Other Posts About the Sony Speaker SRS-XB12

    1. How to Turn Off Sony Speaker SRS XB12

References for How to Pair Sony Speaker SRS-XB12

    1. Sony Speaker SRS XB12 Speaker Product Page
    2. Where to Buy Sony Speaker SRS-XB12