Picture of the front of the Sony SRS XB41 speaker glowing.

How to Tell if Sony XB 41 is Charging

How to tell if Sony XB 41 wireless BT speaker is charging?  This extra bass speaker has an orange LED light in the rear port and button panel, just above the charging port, 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 41 is charging,  check out this lamp as well.  We explain how to read it next.

How to Tell if Sony XB 41 is Charging, Step by Step

Connect your XB 41 to USB Power

Of course, you can be certain that the speaker is NOT charging with no power cord plugged into the speaker.

Check that the  CHARGE LED is Glowing Solid Orange

When the speaker is OFF, you can tell if the Sony XB 41 is charging if this light glows steady orange.  This lamp 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. Otherwise, it is OFF.

If the XB 41 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 41 is charging.

Sony XB 41 -CHARGE- lamp glowing.

Check Speaker Temperature

Additionally, the the XB 41 may warm slightly in the rear port area as the speaker charges. Moreover, most charger adapters you run it with will also heat up a bit.  This heating is a great sign to tell if the XB 41 is indeed charging.

As speaker charging advances toward finish, the CHARGE LED continues glowing.  But unlike some of the higher grade wireless speakers, the 41 gives no visual reading of just how far along its recharging is, just that the recharging is still in progress.

But you can hear how charging is progressing by pressing the BATT button, also located in the rear port panel. Pressing this button causes the XB 41 to speak the current percentage of charge in the battery, in a female voice.

Picture of the battery percent full announcement (BATT) button on the Sony XB 41.
The battery percent Full announcement (BATT) button on the Sony XB 41.

So as time passes during charging, you can press this button periodically to see if the battery is getting fuller.  If the percentage number announced increases over time, then this is another great indicator the the speaker is charging.

When the CHARGE LED Goes Out, Charging is Done

The battery charge cycle is finished when the CHARGE LED goes dark, as we see in the next picture.

The dark -CHARGE- light on the Sony XB 41.
Sony XB 41 dark -CHARGE- light.

Even with the charger cord still supplying power, and when the XB 41 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. If this light shuts off after several hours, then this is another hint that the XB 41 was indeed charging while the light was ON.

Related Posts to How to Tell if Sony XB 41 is Charging

    1. How to Tell if Sony XB32 is Charging
    2. How to Tell if Sony SRS XB43 is Charging

Other Sony XB 41 Posts

    1. Sony XB 41 Power Button Not Working
    2. How to Factory Reset Sony XB 41
    3. Sony XB 41 Bluetooth Pairing Routine
    4. Sony XB 41 Power Output Numbers
    5. Sony XB 41 Not Charging Problem

References

    1. Official Sony XB 41 Support Page
    2. Where to Buy the Sony XB 41

Revision History

    • 2023-04-09: First published.