JBL Charge 5 Volume Control Explained

There are a few ways for how to set the JBL Charge 5 volume control on this Bluetooth speaker. These can depend on the app(s) you’re playing from. In fact, many apps offer volume controls for their sound output levels. Furthermore, this JBL BT speaker has two buttons for volume control too. Find these (the + and -) shaped buttons on its top. Note though, that you cannot change volume with the JBL Connect app.

How to Change Loudness Using the JBL Charge 5 Volume Control

You can set the volume without using any apps as follows.

1. Position the Speaker such that the Raised Controls Face You

See the correct speaker position shown next. There are six buttons in this row, which include the buttons inside the light panel. These include the Volume DOWN (-), and Volume UP (+), controls to the left and to the right of the lighted oval shaped panel in the center of the button row.

Top view of the JBL Charge 5 power bank speaker, showing the -Volume DOWN- and -Volume UP- buttons. — JBL Charge 5 power bank speaker, top view, showing the -Volume DOWN- and -Volume UP- buttons.

2. Change the JBL Charge 5 Volume Control by Pressing the – and + Buttons

Press the (-) button to decrease the volume. Tap the (+) button to increase the volume.

3. Done !

How to Set the JBL Charge 5 Volume Control with Siri Voice Commands on iOS

Picture of Siri prompting for voice command screen on iOS device. — Siri prompting for voice command screen on iOS device.

This speaker lets you actuate Siri by pressing the Play / Pause button (shaped like a right pointing arrow head) in the same row, when paired with an iOS or iPadOS device (iPhone, iPad, or iPod Touch). This function will not work though, until you change the assignment of the speaker’s Play / Pause button in the JBL Connect app. At any rate, assuming you’re set this function, go ahead and press that button. Then you get the screen on your iPadOS or iOS device shown in the last picture.

Commands to Siri

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

Picture of Siri changing volume to half (50 percent). Showing the screen when that happens. — Siri changing volume to half (50 percent). Showing the screen when that happens.

Then ask her to raise and lower the volume as follows.

Siri Response

Next is an example of Siri responding to a voice command to set the volume to FULL (100 percent).

Screenshot of Siri changing volume to full (100 percent). Showing iOS screen when that happens.. — Siri changing volume to full (100 percent). Showing iOS screen when that happens..

Siri currently understands one scale for volume adjustment: 0-100 percent. Example commands follow. 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 lowest and highest 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.]

How to Change the JBL Charge 5 Volume Control on Bluetooth Source Device

You can change the volume with the controls on the paired source device too.

Further, you can do the same with paired Android devices. But we find that volume changes on the speaker do not affect the volume setting on our Samsung Galaxy J7 Sky Phone Pro Android device. So for this device, the volume control on the speaker seemed to set the gain of the amplifiers on the speaker itself, and not the phone volume. We hear distortion in the speaker, when its volume is set to half while the phone volume is at full (100 percent). So, just be aware of this so you can avoid “over driving” the JBL Charge 5 with your Android device.

In this demo though, we’re playing YouTube content on our iPad Air, and streaming to the JBL Charge 5 via the Bluetooth connection.

1. Pair your JBL Charge 5 Speaker

2. Begin Playing a Music Source

Start streaming an internet radio station, a song from YouTube, Deezer, or Amazon Music for example, or an Audible book. In this demo, we stream YouTube audio to the speaker, as shown next.

3. Use your Source Mobile Device’s Volume Control Buttons to Set the Loudness of the JBL Charge 5

See this done in the next picture.

Picture of the YouTube app on iOS, as seen during adjusting the volume while playing a video. — YouTube app on iOS, as seen during adjusting the volume while playing a video.

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

Again, we’re not explaining here how to set volume for specific apps. So, we leave figuring out how to do this as a reader exercise.

Also note that the volume change you hear on the speaker lags by a second or more, due to the latency (delay) of the commands going across the Bluetooth airwaves.

References

JBL Charge 5 Connect+ Speaker Official Product Page at JBL.com

Revision History

2021-08-03: First published.