How to Pair Sony XB 12 with iPhone

iPadOS Bluetooth page, showing the Sony SRS XB12 portable speaker as connected.

This post shows how to pair the Sony XB 12 Bluetooth Extra Bass speaker with an iPhone, or other iOS or iPadOS based device.

How to Pair Sony XB 12 with iPhone

With your XB 12 switched OFF (power button is dark), run through these directions to pair it to your iPhone mobile device. We use an iPad Air computer for this demo, since we do not have an iPhone in shop right now. But the procedure is pretty much identical.

1. Go to the Home Screen on your Device

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

2. Find the Settings App

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

iOS Home Screen with Settings App Highlighted

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.

4. Go to the Bluetooth Settings Page to Continue with How to Pair the Sony XB 12 with iPhone

Our Bluetooth Settings screen displays as follows. Note that our Bluetooth is running here. But since our XB 12 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 our iOS device before.

5. Turn On your Sony XB 12

Turn on the XB 12 by quickly pressing its Power button. See this, pointed at by the green arrow, in the next picture.

Sony XB 12 portable speaker powered OFF, showing the -Power- button.

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

The speaker powered ON, showing the Status lamp lit.

Also, this lamp will blink in a slow flashing pattern to indicate that the XB 12 is ready to receive a Bluetooth pairing request.

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

But if it flashes quickly, in a three or four blinks per second, 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 like device does not know about this speaker, the XB 12 will not pair with it automatically.

6. Put the Speaker into Bluetooth Discovery Mode

Now, to see this speaker on your iPhone, place it into Bluetooth pairing mode if it’s not in that mode already (flashing quickly). To do that, press and hold the Power button, and release when the unit beeps, and the Status lamp begins its three-pulses-per-second flashing pattern.

Find the Power button as shown above, pointed at by the green arrow.

7. Find the Speaker on your Mobile Device to Continue with How to Pair Sony XB 12 with iPhone

See the screen shot next. We found our XB 12, as we point out with the green arrow.

iPadOS Bluetooth page, showing the speaker as discovered.

8. Pair with your XB 12

Tap the listed speaker in the discovered devices list.

Your mobile device then pairs with the XB 12.

I.e. The the mobile device’s Bluetooth Settings screen might then change to look something like the following. Note the now-paired Sony XB 12 entry, as pointed at by the green arrows in the next screenshot.

iPadOS Bluetooth page, showing the speaker as paired.