This post gives JBL Flip 4 Alexa pairing directions. That is, it shows you how to pair the Flip 4 Bluetooth speaker with some of the popular Amazon Alexa speakers, specifically, the Echo Dots. These include the generation 1, 2, and 3 Echo Dot speaker versions. Since this pairing occurs among the Flip 4 and the Echo Dot devices, you need not turn Bluetooth on in the mobile device you’re using to set up this Bluetooth pairing.
JBL Flip 4 Alexa Pairing: Step by Step
With your JBL Flip 4 powered off (power button is dark), run through this routine to pair it to your Alexa Echo Dot. We’re using an iPad Air tablet to set up this pairing.
1. Find the Alexa app on your Mobile Device
We found the app on our iOS iPad Air as shown in the next screenshot. In our case, the Alexa app is on the third home screen page. It’s pointed at by the blue arrow.
2. Run the Alexa App
The app displays its Home screen as shown in the next screenshot.
3. Tap the Hamburger Control
Find the hamburger item in the top left corner of the screen. This is pointed at by the blue arrow in the last screenshot.
This brings up the Alexa app’s menu, as shown in the next screenshot.
4. Tap the Settings Option on the Main Menu to Continue with JBL Flip 4 Alexa Pairing
The Settings option is highlighted by the blue arrow in the last screenshot.
This brings up the Settings screen, as shown in the next screenshot. From here, choose which Alexa device you wish to pair with your JBL Flip 4 Bluetooth speaker.
5. Tap the Alexa Device you Wish to Pair to your Bluetooth Speaker
This takes you to the device-specific settings screen for the Alexa speaker you chose.
In this demo, we’re pairing from our Bedroom Dot Alexa Dot speaker to our Flip 4 speaker.
6. Tap the Bluetooth Item
Find the Bluetooth option pointed at by the blue arrow in the last screenshot.
This brings up the Bluetooth Devices screen, as shown next.
At this point, you’re ready to start a Bluetooth scan by your Alexa speaker. You’ve selected this speaker in the last step. So, that one will be the smart speaker that scans for Bluetooth devices.
But don’t press the Pair a New Device button just yet. We must first power up your JBL Flip 4 speaker and put it into pairing discovery mode.
7. Turn On your JBL Flip 4
Put down your mobile device for a bit, and turn on the JBL Flip 4 by quickly pressing its Power button. See this circled in green, in the next picture.
The speaker then powers up.
But since our Alexa Dot does not know about this speaker, the Flip 4 will not pair with it automatically. Not yet. Thus, the power switch light denotes this not-paired state by glowing solid white, as shown next.
Note that your Flip 4 may flash blue, especially if you’ve never paired it with a device since the last factory reset. If so, then skip the next step (Step 8) and pick up with Step 9.
8. Put your Flip 4 Into Discovery Mode
Now, to allow the Dot Alexa speaker to find your JBL Flip 4, place the Flip Four into Bluetooth discovery mode. To do that, press and release the Bluetooth button, as shown in the next picture.
When you press the Bluetooth Discovery Mode button, the 4 makes a repeating single pluck guitar note sound several times. Also, the power button changes from a solid white glow to flashing blue. See this next.
9. Go Back to your Mobile Device
The screen with the blue Pair a New Device button should still show, as in the next screenshot.
10. Tap the Pair a New Device Button
This starts your Alexa Dot scanning for any nearby Bluetooth devices that are themselves in Bluetooth discovery mode. Your Flip 4 is now in Bluetooth discovery mode. So your Alexa speaker should find it.
After a short pause, you should see something like the screen we got. Shown next.
In our demo, the Alexa app found our JBL Flip 4 speaker, named Tom’s Flip 4.
11. Find your JBL Flip 4 on the Discovered Devices List
See the screenshot above. Our scan found two devices. It found the JBL Flip 4 as well as our Roku player. So, we found our Flip 4 speaker in the scan results list, as pointed at by the blue arrow in that picture.
12. Finally, Pair your Alexa Dot with your JBL Flip 4 Bluetooth Speaker
Pair to the JBL Flip 4 by tapping the listed speaker in the Bluetooth Setup screen, shown in the last screenshot above.
Alexa then pairs with the Flip 4 (“Tom’s Flip 4” in this demo).
The Alexa App’s Bluetooth Settings screen then changes to look something like the following.
Also, the JBL Flip 4 makes the Speaker Paired sound (the three ascending guitar notes). Note that the Bluetooth symbol to the left of the listed speaker item turns blue in the last screenshot.
The speaker is now paired with your Alexa speaker. Plus, the Flip’s power button now glows solid blue, which means successful pairing, as shown next.
13. Done with JBL Flip 4 Alexa Pairing !
We have now successfully paired our JBL Flip 4 portable speaker with our Alexa speaker. So we can now ask Alexa to play music via that smart speaker, and those tunes will play on the excellent sounding JBL Flip 4.