How to tell if JBL Flip 5 is charging? Well, the Flip 5 features a bar of lights on its top panel. This reports battery status. In short, look at this battery level meter to check charging progress.

How to Tell if JBL Flip 5 is Charging: Step by Step
1. Connect your Flip 5 to AC Power to Start Charging
See our How to Charge JBL Flip 5 piece for more details on the adapter. There we discuss how to choose the correct adapter, and how to connect the charge cable.
2. Look at the Battery Status Gauge
There are five lamps that light in succession as the speaker battery charging progresses. You can tell if the JBL Flip 5 is charging by checking out this gauge. If you see at least some of this bar blinking white, then charging is happening. When the battery is completely dead, the light on the far right flashes white while charging. Then as charging progresses, that part stops flashing, and assumes a steady glow. At that point, the next portion of the bar, to the left, begins blinking.
Note though that you may see the bar flash red. This does not mean that charging is proceeding. Instead, this means that the speaker battery is critically low. So you should recharge it straight away. It only blinks red when the battery is nearly dead and AC power is not present. But when you supply adequate USB power, this red flashing light begins blinking white. This light never flashes red while correct charging is happening.

3. When The Whole Gauge Lights Solid, Charging is Nearly Complete
As speaker charging continues, more of the battery gauge bar lights up solid. Also, the flashing moves further to the left, until the glowing area fills the entire meter bar.
Battery charging is almost complete when all but the last part of the gauge glow solid. The last segment continues to blink for several minutes more.
This next picture shows the speaker just before completing a full charge cycle. Note that all the lamps in the battery status meter are glowing. However, the last one continues to blink.

The battery recharge cycle finishes when the entire battery gauge goes dark, as shown next. So, the battery is no longer charging when the gauge goes out. Even with the AC charger still attached, the gauge is all the way OFF when the battery is full.
