The JBL Flip 6 wireless mono speaker has several buttons and lights across its top and side panels. The Power button lights solid when the speaker is ON. and the Bluetooth button glows or flashes to denote current pairing status. Plus, an oval ring around these buttons lights up during reset or changes in speaker operational mode. So here, we explain the JBL Flip 6 buttons. We further show you where to find them on the speaker with pictures, give some button codes and combinations, and we describe when to press them.
JBL Flip 6 Buttons, Each One Detailed
The Power Button
There are two rows of buttons on the JBL Flip 6, and in the first row of two buttons, each button is a round depression as we see in the next picture.
Pressing this button turns the speaker ON and OFF. Plus, it glows when the unit is running, and it can blink during firmware updates. Finally, it goes dark when the speaker is OFF.
Bluetooth Discovery, Pairing Mode Button
Next in this row of buttons, we have the Bluetooth pairing mode button, as pointed at by the green arrow in the next picture. Note its squiggly shape.
With this wireless speaker switched on, press this button to place this Bluetooth speaker into discovery mode. When in discovery mode, this button rapidly flashes white, and the speaker transmits its name and other connection information over the Bluetooth airwaves. This allows other nearby Bluetooth devices to discover it and connect to it.
JBL Flip 6 Buttons: The Volume Down and Up Buttons
The JBL Flip 6 volume controls are near the center of the speaker, in the second row of buttons. These controls are is in the shapes of the minus and plus symbols. And when pressed, they lower and raise the output volume by reducing or increasing the volume setting on the paired source Bluetooth device. See the volume buttons, pointed at by the green arrows in the next picture.
With the JBL Flip 6 paired and playing, press the minus button to decrease audio output level from the speaker. Press the plus button to increase audio output.
Note that the volume controls have no effect without pairing the speaker.
Also, the volume setting may change from paired device to paired device. That is, each paired device remembers its own volume setting. So you may have to readjust the sound output when you unpair the speaker from one Bluetooth device and pair it to another.
The Play-Pause Button
The Play / Pause button looks like a left-pointing arrow and we find it closest the left side of the speaker, as pointed at by the green arrow we drew in, in the next picture.
Use Play / Pause to Stop and Resume Music Playback
Press this to pause audio play. Press again to resume audio play. Note that this is not a mute button. That is, pausing playback 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 as the source device (your phone, tablet, or computer) remembers where the content left off, so it resumes playback at that spot when you press the play pause button again.
When paired with an Apple device, 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.
Move Back and Fourth in a Playlist with the Play / Pause Button
Finally, you can skip forward to the next song, or back to the previous song in a playlist with the Play / Pause button on the Flip 6. As the song plays, do the following…
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- To advance to the next song, quickly press and release this button twice. Upon doing that, your source device advances to the next song in the current playlist.
- To move back and play the previous song again from the beginning, quickly press and release this button three times. When you do that, your source BT device jumps back one song from the current one in the current playlist, and plays that song from the beginning.
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The Party Boost (Infinity) Button
Use the Party Boost button to connect two or more JBL Party Boost compatible speakers together, in “party mode”. When paired in this way, that they all play the same audio. Similar to speakers in Amazon’s multi room music groups, all speakers participating in Connect+ play the same audio at the same time.
You press this button on each Bluetooth speaker you wish to add to the party group. This button looks like an infinity symbol, as we see in the next picture, pointed at by the green arrow.
JBL Flip 6 Buttons Combinations and Codes
All Lights On Mode
Entering the All Lights ON mode appears to power down the speaker, since it makes the falling guitar sound. It also clears the Bluetooth source devices from the speaker’s memory. This means that you’ll have to re-pair the speaker to the device(s) you want when you activate this mode.
When this mode is active, the Power and Bluetooth buttons light, along with the oval ring around those buttons the next time you boot the speaker. And, these lights stay on until you power down the speaker.
To Turn On All Lights ON Mode
To enter this mode, press and hold the Play-Pause and Volume DOWN buttons that we highlight in the next picture. Hold in for around ten seconds, until you hear the speaker power down and see the lights on the control panel go dark.
To Turn Off All Lights ON Mode
To get out of this All Lights ON mode, you have two options.
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- You can press the Party Connect button twice with about a second between each press. This enters the speaker into Party Boost mode, and then takes it back out of that mode again while turning off this All Lights On mode.
- Or you can reset the 6 by pressing and holding the Play-Pause and Volume UP buttons, pointed out in the next picture, until the speaker powers down. At this point, reset has occurred and the next time you boot the speaker, the panel lamps will go back to their original states and All Lights ON mode will be inactive.
Reset Button Combination, Combo
You can reset the JBL Flip 6 to factory default settings and state by pressing the Volume UP and Play / Pause buttons at the same time, and holding them in until the hard reset occurs. See these buttons inside the oval in the next picture.
Service Only Mode Button Combination, Combo
When in this (sometimes called ‘weird’) mode, the JBL Flip 6 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. And then, it powers off without pressing the Power button.
Also, none of the buttons seem to work when the speaker is in this state. E.g. You can’t activate discovery mode. So the speaker won’t pair with any devices or other speakers. Furthermore, as mentioned, the Power button does not switch it off.
To Activate Service Only Mode
To turn on this mode on the 6, press the Bluetooth and Play-Pause buttons at the same time, until the speaker powers OFF. This takes ten seconds or so. Find these buttons pointed out in the next picture. Note that you can enter this mode as long as the speaker is ON. Note that it doesn’t matter whether you connect the unit to external power or not.
To Deactivate Service Only Mode
But once you activate Service Only, then to turn off this mode, you must connect USB power. Why? Because the unit won’t come on without external power. And, you can’t change modes without powering it up first.
So, with the Flip 6 attached to external power and the Power button glowing, you press and hold the Bluetooth and Play-Pause button combination for ten seconds or so, until the unit powers off. The normal speaker operation returns thereafter. So you can disconnect it from the charger and turn it on and play it as you normally would.
Firmware Version Voice Announcement
When the speaker is running, you can hear what firmware version it is currently hosting by pressing and holding the Volume DOWN and Party Connect buttons. See these buttons in the next picture.
Hold them in until you hear a female voice announce the firmware version in a sequence of four digits. For instance, when we did this, our speaker said, “0 5 2 0”.
Force Abort
Sometimes the speaker may enter a “hosed” state where none of the buttons respond. When that happens you can make it abort whatever it’s stuck in, and shut down.
To force abort the speaker, press and hold the Power and Play-Pause buttons until the speaker shuts off. They try powering on the speaker once more, and the locked-up symptoms will likely disappear.
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References for JBL Flip 6 Buttons Explained
Revision History
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- 2022-09-20: First published.