JBL Go Buttons

An iPhone in front of the JBL Go 1 Bluetooth speaker.

The JBL Go line of highly portable wireless speakers features several buttons on the right side, one lamp on the front grill, a set of ports on the left side. The status lamp lights in two colors and flashing patterns to show speaker pairing and battery status. Now we explore all JBL Go Buttons on this first version of the Go speaker line. We show where they are on the unit, explain what each button does when pressed, and when to depress them to accomplish various tasks. We also discuss the status lamp as well as the two input ports below. Enjoy!

JBL Go Buttons: Functions, Descriptions, and Where to Find Them

The Power Button

First off, in this JBL Go 1 buttons list, the Power button switches the system ON and OFF. Note that there is a separate two-colored status lamp, on the speaker’s front grill, that shows speaker status when you turn on the speaker. When the speaker is ON, this lamp glows or flashes, depending on speaker pairing or battery recharge state.

The -Power- button.

Bluetooth Discovery Pairing Mode Button

Then, we have the Bluetooth discovery mode button, as circled in the next picture. Note the squiggly Bluetooth logo embossed on the button.

With this wireless speaker powered on, press the Bluetooth button to place it into discovery / pairing mode. When in pairing mode, the Go sends out its name and other connection info over the Bluetooth airwaves. This allows nearby Bluetooth devices to find it and then connect to it.

The -Bluetooth- button.

JBL Go Buttons: The Volume UP and DOWN Buttons

The Go has volume controls too. What portable speaker doesn’t? 🙂 Find these near the center of the the speaker’s buttons panel. The buttons in the shapes of the minus and plus symbols, when pressed, lower and raise the speaker volume. See the volume buttons, circled in green, in the next picture.

JBL Go Volume Buttons

The Phone Button A.K.A. The Play / Pause Button

The Phone button looks like a telephone receiver, and is the last button on the right end of the buttons panel.

The -Phone- button on the JBL Go.

How to Pause the Music

Press this button to pause audio play Press again to resume audio play. Note however, that this button has no effect when you’re playing the speaker via its AUX input port. This button only works when the JBL Go 1 is paired via Bluetooth to your media player device. So for AUX play, you have to pause playback strictly on the source player.

Move Ahead in a Playlist with the Play / Pause Button

You can skip forward to the next song in a playlist with the Play-Pause button on the Go 2. As the song plays, do the following…

To advance to the next song, quickly press and release the Play-Pause button twice. Upon doing that, your source device advances to the next song in the current playlist.

Work the Speaker Phone Feature With This Button

When a call comes in on the device to which you have the Go paired, the music automatically pauses, and you hear the ring tone. Answer the call by pressing this button once.

Then to hang up the call and resume music play, press this button once, quickly.

JBL Go Buttons: The Reset Button Combination

Pressing the Bluetooth and Volume UP buttons together with the speaker turned on triggers a factory reset of the JBL Go speakers. See our JBL Go Hard Factory Reset Instructions for JBL Go and Go 2 Speakers for further details on how to use this button combo.

The -Pairing- and -Volume UP- buttons.

The Speaker Status Lamp

This LED light is dark when the speaker is OFF and not charging. When powered ON, the status lamp slowly flashes white when the speaker has not yet been paired but is not advertising itself available for pairing. It rapidly flashes white when the speaker is in Bluetooth discovery mode and advertising itself as available to make a Bluetooth connection. The lamp glows solid white when the JBL Go is currently paired successfully with a Bluetooth source device. See this white glow in the next picture.

The blue glowing status light on the front.

Next, the status lamp glows steady red when the JBL Go is charging. With an energized power cord inserted, this lamp lights red regardless of whether the JBL Go is powered on or off.

The red light glowing.

If you power down the JBL Go during charging, then the red lamp goes off when charging finishes. Also, the lamp blinks red when the battery is critically low in power, while the speaker is playing.

The dark status lamp when the unit is OFF.

But if it was powered up, then the status lamp returns to the state it was in prior to the start of speaker charging, either blinking or steady white glow.

JBL Go Buttons: The Ports Panel

The USB Power and AUX input ports are open on this model. Not behind any seal.

The micro USB DC input port on the right side of the JBL Go.

The USB Power Input Port

This is a micro USB female plug, where your AC or car charger cord connects to recharge the battery.

The Auxiliary (AUX) Input Port

The JBL Go AUX input port accepts a 3.5mm jack with line or headphone level audio signals. Then the speaker amplifies this audio to room filling sound. See the AUX input plug next.

The AUX In port.

The AUX port allows you to play non Bluetooth enabled devices (like our iPod Touch pictured below) through the Go.

An iPad playing through the JBL Go via an AUX cable.

Note that the JBL Go has no Connect+ button. Further, the Connect app does not recognize this speaker. So you cannot control it beyond setting the volume from any smart device.