JBL Charge 3 portable waterproof speaker, top view, showing its control panel buttons.
sThe JBL Charge 3 features several buttons and lamps across its top. There are also a battery charge status lights across the front bottom. Furthermore, the Power button lights in either white, blue, or both, to show Bluetooth speaker status. There’s also an port access panel on the back bottom of the unit. This hides the USB charge in and out as well as the auxiliary (AUX) in ports. But here, we offer our JBL Charge 3 Buttons Explained list. We show you where the control buttons are on the speaker. We detail what each button does, when to press each one, and how to use them in general.
There is one row of buttons on the JBL Charge 3. Each button in that row has a unique shape. First, we have the Bluetooth discovery mode button. Find it near the left side of the speaker top. See it in the next picture. Note its squiggly shape.
You’ll need this button anytime you’re pairing the JBL Charge 3 with a never-before-paired Bluetooth button. So, with this wireless speaker powered on, press this button to place this Bluetooth speaker into discovery mode. When in discovery / pairing mode, the Charge 3 transmits its name and other connection information over the Bluetooth airwaves. This allows other nearby Bluetooth devices to discover and connect to it.
The JBL Charge 3 also features volume controls. These buttons are in the shapes of the minus and plus symbols on either side of the center button panel. When you tap them, these lower and raise the output volume. They do thi reducing or increasing the volume setting on the paired source Bluetooth device. See the Volume Down and Up buttons pointed at by the green arrows in the next picture.
With the JBL Charge 3 paired and playing, press the minus shaped button. This decreases the audio output level from the speaker. Likewise, press the plus (+) button to increase audio output. Note that the volume controls have no effect when the speaker has no connection with any source device. Also, the volume setting may change from paired device to paired device. That is, each device remembers its own volume setting. So you may have to readjust volume when you pair this speaker to another.
The Play / Pause button looks like a right-pointing arrow. We find it near the right side of the JBL Charge 3. See its location on the speaker in the next picture.
Note that this is not a mute button. That is, pausing play in this way suspends sound playback on the source Bluetooth device. So, you won’t miss any content when you pause the speaker. Why? Because the source device (your phone, tablet, or computer) remembers where the content paused. So it resumes playback at that spot when you tap this button again.
When using an Apple source, press and hold the Play / Pause button to get Siri’s attention. Note that you must enable Siri on the source device (phone, tablet) for this feature to work.
Finally, you can skip forward to the next song in a playlist with this button on the Charge 3. As the song plays, do the following…
The Power button not only switches the JBL Charge 3 on and off. But it also contains a multi-colored light to indicate speaker status.
Quickly press and release the Power button to turn the speaker ON or OFF.
Also, the Power button lights up in different ways to indicate various speaker states. First, it flashes blue when the speaker has no current connection, and is in Bluetooth discovery mode. It glows solid blue when it has a connection with a Bluetooth source device. See this blue glow in the next picture.
The power button glows solid white when the speaker is not in a pairing session. This is standby mode, where the unit is awaiting a pairing request from a source Bluetooth device. See this button glowing white in the previous picture.
Finally, the Power button glows a pale blue-white while the speaker is resetting.
Use the Connect button to connect two or more JBL Connect+ compatible speakers together, in “party mode”. This way, they all play the same audio content. Similar to speakers participating in Amazon’s multi room music groups. E.g. All speakers participating in Connect+ play the same audio at the same time. No echoes or delays in sound between them.
You press this button on each Bluetooth speaker you wish to add to the Connect+ group.
The picture above shows the JBL Charge 3 not participating in Connect+, because the Connect+ button is dark. However, the Connect+ button lights up when you join the speaker to a Connect+ group.
To reset, press the Volume UP and Play / Pause buttons at the same time. Then hold them in until the hard reset occurs. See these buttons we point out in the next picture.
You may wish to reset the speaker to correct any erratic or strange behaviors you see from it. These problems include failing to pair, sound distortion, failure to power off, and so on. Note that resetting seems to invalidate any saved connection information to this speaker on your source Bluetooth devices. So you’ll have to forget those connections and re pair the speaker after a reset. Then you should be able to play your audio content through it once again.
When in this mode, the JBL Charge 3 does not power on unless you connect the external USB power source. And then, it powers up without you pressing the Power button. Further, you cannot turn it off in this mode unless you disconnect the external power source. Also, none of the buttons seem to work in this mode. The speaker won’t pair with any devices or other speakers. Plus, as we mention earlier, the Power button does not switch it off.
To turn on this mode, press the Connect and Volume UP buttons at the same time. Then hold them in until the speaker powers OFF. This usually takes ten seconds or so. You can enter this mode as long as the speaker is ON. Note that it doesn’t matter whether you connect it to external power or not.
But to turn off this mode, you must connect USB power, since the speaker won’t come on without it. Then, with the speaker power button glowing, press and hold the Connect and Volume UP button combination. Hold for ten seconds or so, until the unit powers off. Then this returns normal speaker operation.
This speaker also comes with numerous lights. These indicate Bluetooth pairing status, power on, and, the amount of charge currently in the battery.
When the internal battery is full, all five battery charge level lamps glow white. As the power bank discharges, fewer of the lamps glow. In the next picture, w show the speaker at between 60 and 80 percent charge. Note that four lamps are glowing in this situation.
As the battery further discharges, more battery level lights go out. This continues until the charge amount reaches between 0 and 20 percent. In the case here, only one lamp, the one on the far left in the last picture, glows.
Finally, when the battery discharges to critically low levels, the far left battery light blinks. Speaker shutdown is imminent when this occurs. So, recharge it immediately for continued musical enjoyment.
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