JBL Xtreme Bluetooth speaker, front view, held in hand.
Here, we offer JBL Xtreme firmware update routine for this great sounding portable Bluetooth speaker. This update can take up to thirty minutes depending on the speed of your internet connection. Plus, you cannot easily reverse it. You won’t be able to downgrade to the earlier firmware version once you complete this software upgrade. So, be sure that you truly wish the upgrade, considering all its potential gotchas before proceeding.
We were unable to update our JBL Xtreme firmware when we received this speaker at the time of this writing. Why? Because the firmware there was already at the current version. So, we borrowed some pictures below from the firmware updates we did on our JBL Charge 3 speaker. We used pictures of the Xtreme speaker where we could however. The firmware update processes are similar for both speakers. Finally, if or when we receive an actual firmware update notification for our Xtreme, we’ll update these photos then.
You’ll need an internet connection, a smart source device, and the JBL Connect app, as well as the speaker itself.
So, get your mobile device connected to the internet and install the Connect+ app if you haven’t already.
Connect your Xtreme to AC power. Why? Because we don’t want its internal battery going dead during the firmware update. This mishap could leave corrupted firmware in the speaker’s memory, and thus, render it useless and not repairable.
Then, pair your phone or tablet with the Xtreme JBL speaker.
You are now ready to begin the firmware updating process on that JBL Bluetooth speaker.
We found ours on the fourth home page in our Apple iPad Air, as shown next.
The app takes a few seconds to show you some nifty animations when you first start it. But then it finds your paired JBL Xtreme speaker and shows you its status screen, as shown next.
Note the explanation point inside the orange circle in the top right corner of the speaker’s picture. We point this out with the dark green arrow. This means that there are important messages about this speaker pending.
Now if no current messages about this speaker, then you will see no explanation point. Also, while this applies to the Charge 3, the process is similar to how it’s done with the JBL Xtreme.
Tapping the Important Messages (!) circle brings up the first IMPORTANT NOTICE screen about the available firmware upgrade, as shown next.
This screen gives details about the available firmware update. In this case, it tells us to update to enable JBL Connect+ functionality on our speaker. Specifically, this firmware update enhances the speaker operation. How? It lets it join a group of up to a hundred JBL Connect+ compatible speakers. Then they will all stream the same content. You would do this when you wish to blanket a large area with music for dancing for example.
This page warns us that this particular speaker firmware cannot be undone. Once done, we cannot undo. It also says that after this update, the speaker will no longer connect with older speakers. These include the JBL Flip 3, JBL Pulse 2, JBL Xtreme, JBL Boost, and Cinema 5B450.
Another left flick brings up the JBL Xtreme firmware upgrade confirmation prompt screen, as shown next.
This prompt again warns us. We won’t be able to fall back to the old firmware version once this upgrade finishes. It then asks us to decide whether to install the new firmware or to cancel the operation. We’re going ahead, in the next step.
Touching the INSTALL button brings up the Upgrade Speaker screen as shown next.
This page tells us to connect our speaker to AC power if we’ve not done so already. You would have already done this if you were following the instructions in the preliminaries above.
We connected our Xtreme to an AC outlet in the preliminary firmware update steps above.
Next, go back to the JBL Connect+ app running on your mobile device, and tap the OK button. See this button in the last screenshot picture above.
The JBL Xtreme firmware update then begins. First it downloads the new firmware update file from the internet, to the speaker via Bluetooth. See this in the next screenshots.
Copying the file from the internet to the speaker is the slowest part of the firmware upgrade process. But as we see in these screenshots, the JBL Connect app shows you a progress pie-chart. Then, this gradually becomes more orange as the firmware file transfer proceeds.
This was probably around fourteen minutes into the firmware update at this point in the process.
The next screenshot shows the upgrade file transfer at 65.7 percent complete.
The next screen shows that the firmware file transfer to the speaker has finished (100 percent done). The pie chart is completely orange now.
Once the app copies the upgrade file to the Xtreme speaker, you get the Upgrade Successful screen, as shown next.
However, note that the JBL Xtreme is still upgrading to the new firmware for nearly a minute. Thus, this screen warns that our speaker will restart automatically after it installs the new firmware. It then asks us not to unplug the Xtreme while it’s running the update process.
Watch the power light on the speaker, as shown next.
Eventually it will go dark, as shown next, pointed at by the green arrow.
The Xtreme may or may not turn itself back on again after the upgrade. Ours did not. So if, like ours, yours did not come back up, then go ahead with the next step (Step 10). But if yours did come back online though, then skip Step 10 and pick up with Step 11.
Press the dark Power button to turn this Bluetooth speaker on again. It should again pair with your mobile device where you’re running the JBL Connect Plus app. The Power button turns solid blue with your speaker has successfully paired again.
With your Xtreme successfully paired to the JBL Connect app again, press the green Done button there. See this in the last screenshot above.
The app then displays the JBL Xtreme speaker status screen once again. However, this time, note that there’s no longer the orange circled explanation point (!), as shown next. This indicates that the firmware update succeeded and that the speaker is now running the current firmware version.
You’re now successfully updated the firmware to the current version in your JBL Xtreme Bluetooth speaker. Enjoy the new multi speaker connectivity features.
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