JBL Flip 6 Buttons Not Working

The dark -Power- button on the JBL Flip 6 speaker.

When the buttons on your JBL Flip 6 speaker are not working, several issues could be to blame. First, your speaker might be defective. Or the battery is dead and needs recharging. Or, your speaker is in service mode a.k.a. secret or weird mode. So, assuming that the speaker is still okay, we cover here the last possibility. Thus, we cover the last possibility: How to turn off service mode, and restore proper operation.

Left front view of the JBL Flip 6.

JBL Flip 6 Buttons Not Working: Causes

The Battery is Dead

When this happens, pressing the Power button does not turn on the speaker. So none of the other buttons seem to work either. Indeed, you may have noticed prior to this, that the battery meter flashed red. This means that the battery was about to run out of power. But as is often the case, folks continue playing the speaker without recharging it. Eventually then, it runs completely out of power. So now, the speaker does not power up at all.

The red light flashing.

To fix this, simply recharge the Flip 6. Almost immediately after connecting the charger, the battery meter starts flashing white. Then soon after that, punching the Power button does indeed activate the speaker.

The Battery Has Failed

After roughly a thousand charge-discharge cycles, the battery begins losing its ability to hold a charge. And its capacity shrinks a lot. So much in fact, that it can no longer power the speaker, even for a short time. Thus again, you may see that the buttons stop working.

So to fix this problem, replace the battery.

The Charger or Cable is Defective

Anything that prevents the speaker from charging will cause the buttons not to work. So the lights won’t come on, nor will you hear the signature startup sounds. One cause for this includes a faulty charger. Indeed, if you can’t recharge the speaker, then it will not power it up. Therefore the buttons will not work.

The solution here is to try a different charger and / or cord that you know are both good.

The JBL Flip 6 is in Service Mode

First, when in this mode, the speaker does not power ON without external power. So it will not run on the battery while in Service mode. Furthermore, with outside power, it powers up without you pressing the Power button. I.e. It comes on as soon as you apply power.

Further, you cannot turn off the Flip 6 while it is in Service mode. Not unless you disconnect the external power. And then, it powers off without pressing the Power button. So when this mode is active, the Power button does nothing.

Indeed, none of the buttons seem to work in Service mode, except for the ones needed to exit it. E.g. The speaker won’t pair with any devices or other speakers. And as mentioned, the Power button does not switch it off either.

How You Might Have Accidently Turned On Service Mode

This is what you may have done at some point just prior to your speaker’s buttons not working… To turn on this Service mode, power up the speaker first. Then press the Bluetooth and Play-Pause buttons at the same time. Hold them in until the speaker powers OFF. This usually takes ten seconds or so.

Note that you can enter this mode as long as the speaker is ON. It doesn’t matter whether external power is present.

The -Play-Pause- and -Bluetooth- buttons.

How to Turn off Service Mode

Now you can restore proper operation by deactivating this mode. So let’s say that this Service mode is in effect. Then to switch it back off, you must connect external power again. Why? Because when in Service mode, the speaker won’t come on without it. And you can’t change modes without powering up the unit first. So, you need a USB-C power adapter to make this fix.

1. So, connect your speaker to external power. Next, the speaker comes on.
2. Then, with the speaker Power button glowing, you press the Bluetooth and Play-Pause button combo. Hold them in for ten seconds or so. And finally, release them when the unit powers off.
3. At last, the next time you power up the speaker, normal operation should return.

Finally, at this point, all buttons should work again, whether or not you connect the AC adapter.

The Speaker is Defective

Finally, the electronics inside the Flip 6 may have failed. In this case, unless you have skill repairing Bluetooth speakers, your best bet is just to get a new one.