How to Tell if JBL Go 3 is Fully Charged

Showing the dark status light on the JBL Go 3 Bluetooth speaker.

Here, we explain how to tell if the JBL Go 3 is fully charged. This way, such that you get maximum playing time from it when you take it on little jaunts around town. It would be handy to know this though, to avoid losing speaker power while on your jaunt.

Now the unit has no battery meter per se. But you can still see if it is full by checking out the speaker status lamp as it recharges. Sadly though, we know of no way to tell if the battery actually has full charge without using a charging adapter and USB-C cable.

Front view of the JBL Go 3.

Now the Go 3 JBL BT speaker has a single LED on the side panel, as we see in the following pictures. This displays charge state, whether it’s draining or charging, or whether it’s very low or not while the speaker plays.

But this lamp does not show charging progress beyond the fact that progress is happening. E.g. How full the battery is at a given time while charging. Nor does it show how much power the battery has left when discharging, although it does change color when the battery reaches near-dead state.

How to Tell if JBL Go 3 is Fully Charged, Step by Step

1. When the Battery Status Lamp is OFF

When you power down the Go 3 and disconnect the power cord, this lamp, that also doubles as a pilot light, is dark. Also, with the charger connected, this LED is also dark when the battery reaches fully charge status, as shown next.

Showing the dark Status light on the JBL Go 3.

2. This Lamp Shows Battery Recharging Progress, in a Very Coarse Way

The status lamp lights up red (no flashing) while the speaker charges, as we see in the next photo. Here, the glowing light is the only visual means to know that charging is going on. Indeed, the battery is not yet full as long as this lamp glows red while charging the speaker.

Right side of the JBL Go 3, showing the Status lamp glowing red.

3. Check Battery Status Using a Charger

You can tell if the speaker has full charge by connecting a power adapter to it, and watching the status lamp. First, turn off the speaker. Then connect the charger. The lamp should come on red. And then it goes out again within a minute or so. This short recharging is a good indication that the Go 3 is full.