JBL Bluetooth Speaker Volume Control Described

Left front view of the JBL Xtreme 2 portable Bluetooth speaker.

There are a few ways for how to set the volume control on a typical JBL Bluetooth speaker described. These depend on the app(s) you’re playing from mostly. But many apps also provide volume controls. Then too, most JBL speakers have two buttons for this. Find these (the + and -) buttons on the top or side of most models. So we have lots of ways to set the volume.

JBL Bluetooth Speaker Volume Control Described: How to Change Loudness

First, you can set the volume without using any apps as follows.

1. Lay Out the Speaker such that the Raised Controls Face You

So there are four buttons in this row, which is we find just above the light panel. Further, these include the Volume DOWN (-), and Volume UP (+), controls in the center of this row.

The JBL Bluetooth speaker volume control buttons.

2. Work the JBL Bluetooth Speaker Volume Control by Pressing the – and + Buttons

Then press the (-) button at the left center of the speaker to reduce the volume. Tap the (+) button at the right center of the speaker to increase the volume.

3. Done !

JBL Bluetooth Speaker Volume Control Described: How to Set with Siri Voice Commands

Siri prompting for voice command screen on iOS device.

Many JBL Bluetooth speaker models let you call up Siri. For that, press the Play / Pause button. However, you need to pair with an iOS device for this function to work. But first, change the role of the Play / Pause button in the JBL Connect app to the Assistant button. Then try it. Press the Play / Pause button. Then this will get Siri’s attention.

Give Siri a Command

Next is an example of giving Siri a voice command to set the volume to half (50 percent).

Siri changing volume to half (50 percent).

At any rate, once you change the Play / Pause button into a Siri control button, briefly press that button. This now gets Siri’s attention. Then ask her to raise and lower the volume as follows.

Seri Responds

Here’s an example of Siri responding to a voice command to set the volume to FULL (100 percent).

Siri changing volume to full (100 percent).

Siri currently understands one scale for volume adjustment: 0-100 percent. So here are some example commands. Thus, say these after you’ve pressed the Play / Pause to wake her up.

- Set volume 0 [muted].
- Volume 0.
- Set volume 10 [Ten percent].
- Set volume 10 percent.
- Volume 10.
- Set volume 76 percent.
- Volume 76.
- Set volume 100 [One hundred percent, full volume].

There are also shortcut commands for minimum and maximum volume setting, as in:

- Mute. [Sets the volume to zero percent, minimum, muted state.]
- Half volume. [Adjusts volume to fifty percent, or half of full.]
- Set volume full. [Sets speaker volume to maximum, 100 percent.]
- Set volume max. [Sets speaker volume to maximum, 100 percent.]
- Volume half. [Adjusts volume to fifty percent, or half of full.]
- Volume minimum. [Sets the volume to zero percent, minimum, muted state.]

JBL Bluetooth Speaker Volume Control Described: How to Change on Source Device

You can raise and lower the volume with the controls on the source device too. E.g. You can do the same with Android devices as well. But we find that changing the adjustments on the speaker does not change it on our Samsung J7 Galaxy. For this phone, the speaker controls seem to set the gain of the speaker’s amplifiers, but not the phone volume. We hear distortion with speaker volume at half while the phone volume is at full (100 percent). So, just be aware of this so you can avoid “over driving” the speaker with your Android device.

In this demo though, we play YouTube content on our iPad Air. Then we stream that audio to the JBL Bluetooth speaker.

1. Pair your Speaker

2. Begin Playing a Music Source

Start streaming an internet radio station, a song from YouTube or Spotify for example, or an Audible book. In this demo, we stream YouTube audio to the speaker.

3. Use your Source Mobile Device’s Volume Control Buttons

Then adjust the volume and see the little box appear in the middle of the screen.

YouTube app on iOS, while adjusting the volume during a video.

Note the purpled arrowed volume setter square with a speaker inside of it in the last picture.

Also note that the volume change you hear on the speaker lags by a second or so. Why? Because of the latency (delay) of the commands going across the Bluetooth airwaves.

Finally we do not cover here how to set volume for individual apps. So, we leave figuring that out a reader exercise.