Back view of the Sony SRS XB13 speaker box carton.

How to Tell if Sony XB 13 is Charging

How to tell if Sony XB 13 wireless BT speaker is charging?  This extra bass speaker has an orange LED light on its side panel, near the bottom, as shown in the following picture.  This light that Sony labels as the CHARGE light flashes orange when the battery is nearly dead. So it tells battery level (to a degree).  When the speaker is not on the charge and this lamp blinks, it means to CHARGE the speaker because the battery will soon go dead.  But also, to see if the XB 13 is charging,  check out this lamp as well.  We explain how to read it next.

Picture of the Sony XB 13 charging.
The Sony XB 13 charging.

How to Tell if Sony XB 13 is Charging: Summary

    1. Connected and working power cable is present.
    2. The CHARGE light glows steadily.
    3. The speaker and charger typically heat slightly.
    4. The CHARGE lamp eventually goes out.
    5. This lamp does not flash after a charge, which means that some level of charging did take place.




How to Tell if Sony XB 13 is Charging: Procedure

Connect your XB 13 to USB Power

Of course, you can rest assured that the speaker is NOT charging with no power cable making contact with the speaker.

Check that the  CHARGE LED is Glowing Solid Orange

When the speaker is OFF, you can tell if the Sony XB 13 is charging if this light glows steady orange.  This continuous glow occurs while charging, when the speaker is either ON, paired, or, OFF. When no charger is present, this light blinks when the battery has about run entirely out of power.

If the XB 13 CHARGE lamp flashes when the power cord is connected, then the speaker is likely NOT charging.  So you should check that your USB cable, adapter charger, and power source are in working order.  Try a new adapter or a known good cord.  You want this light glowing solid to know for sure that the XB 13 is charging.

The glowing CHARGE lamp on the Sony XB 13.
Sony XB 13 CHARGE lamp glowing.

Additionally, the sides the Sony XB 13 may warm slightly as the speaker charges. Moreover, most charger adapters you run it with will also heat a little.  This heating is a great sign to tell if the speaker is indeed charging.

As speaker charging advances toward finish, the CHARGE LED continues glowing.  But unlike some of the higher grade wireless speakers, the XB 13 gives no reading of just how far along its recharging is, just that the recharging is still in progress.

When the CHARGE LED Goes Out, Charging is Done

The battery charge cycle is finished when the CHARGE LED goes dark.

Dark Charge lamp on the Sony XB 13.
Sony XB 13 Charge lamp is OFF (dark).

Even with the charger cord still supplying power, and when the XB 13 is OFF or ON, the CHARGE lamp stops glowing when the internal battery is full. We see this in the last picture above.  The speaker indeed no longer recharges when the battery reaches full charge condition and this light shuts off.





Finally, Unplug the Sony XB 13 and Turn it On

With the USB cable disconnected, we cannot know just by reading the CHARGE or Status LEDs, just how much the XB 13 actually recharged, only that it did charge some. It probably did recharge to full though, as long as we waited until the CHARGE lamp stopped glowing  before unplugging the charger. Note that if the CHARGE lamp does not flash when you next turn on the speaker, then the battery likely did charge.

Other Sony XB 13 Posts

    1. Sony XB 13 Charger Type
    2. Sony XB 13 Blinking Orange Light
    3. Sony XB 13 Charge Time
    4. Sony XB 13 Battery Indicator
    5. How to Connect Sony XB 13 to Alexa

Related Posts to How to Tell if Sony XB 13 is Charging

    1. How to Tell if JBL Boombox 2 is Charging
    2. How to Tell if Wonderboom 2 is Charging
    3. How to Tell if Sony XB 40 is Charging
    4. How to Tell if Sony SRS XB20 is Charging
    5. How to Tell if Sony XG 500 is Charging

References

    1. Official Sony XB 13 Support Page
    2. Where to Buy the Sony XB 13

Revision History

    • 2023-04-14: First published.