Picture of the Charge 3 JBL speaker, front view, fully charged with all battery gauge lamps OFF and circled.

How to Tell if JBL Charge 3 is Charging

How to tell if JBL Charge 3 is charging?  Well, this Bluetooth speaker with power bank has a lone row of small LED lamps across its front. These display battery charge status.  To tell if charging is happening, just look at these. Details follow.

Picture of the JBL Charge 3 while charging.
The JBL Charge 3 while charging.

How to Tell if JBL Charge 3 is Charging: Step by Step

Connect your JBL Charge 3 to AC Power

Obviously, you can be sure that this speaker is NOT charging when there is no cord connection.





Check the Battery Status Lamps

There are five lamps that light in succession as charging advances. You can tell if the JBL Charge 3 is charging if you see one of these lamps flashing white.  When the battery inside is  dead all the way, the light on the far left blinks white while charging.  Then as the battery fills, that lamp switches to a steady white glow.  At that time, the next lamp to the right starts blinking white.

Picture of the battery status gauge showing an eighty percent full charge.
The battery status gauge showing an eighty percent full charge.

Also, the speaker heats up a bit during charging as does its USB charger.  This warmth is an excellent way how to tell if the JBL Charge 3 is charging.

When All Lamps Light Solid, Charging is Close to Finished

As speaker charging persists, more of the lamps light up solid. And the flashing moves further to the right, until it reaches the last lamp.  This next-in-line lighting is another indication that the JBL Charge 3 is in fact charging.

This next picture shows the speaker just before wrapping up a charging cycle. Note that all the lamps in the battery status meter glow.  But the last one goes on blinking for several minutes.  When one light blinks white, a working charger is present. This is another way that the speaker tells us that it is charging.

Picture of all battery gauge lamps glowing show a full charge.
All battery gauge lamps glowing show a full charge.

The battery recharge cycle finishes when all charge status gauge lamps go dark, as shown next. Thus, the battery is no longer recharging when all lamps are OFF. Even with the charger cord still plugged in, no lamp glows when battery is full.  The speaker no longer charges when the battery reaches this state.

Picture of all battery gauge lamps OFF.
All battery gauge lamps OFF.

Finally, Unplug the JBL Charge 3 and Turn it On

If the battery gauge reads full, this tells you that the speaker did indeed charge when connected to AC power.

Other Posts About the JBL Charge 3

    1. Updating Firmware on JBL Charge 3
    2. How to Turn Off
    3. JBL Charge 3 Charger Watt Rating
    4. Turning On This Speaker
    5. How to Connect to an iPhone

References

    1. JBL Charge 3 Official Product Page