The front top view of the Sony SRS XB23 speaker.

Sony SRS XB23 Battery Indicator

The Sony SRS XB23 Bluetooth speaker has a simple battery level indicator LED on the button panel, just beneath the Power button, as shown in the pictures that follow.  This tells battery status. E.g. Whether it’s draining or charging, or whether it’s critically low or not when discharging.  But it neither reads out charging progress, nor precisely how full the battery is at a given time. But it does blink orange when the battery hits close-to-dead status. So in this post, we explain how to read this battery indicator LED on the XB23 speaker.

note that to obtain a more precise reading of battery percentage, see below.

Sony SRS XB23 Battery Indicator: How to Read the Light

1. When the Lamp is Dark 

The battery indicator lamp is OFF in the following scenarios:

    1. When you power down the XB23 with no charger connected.
    2. When the charger IS connected but the battery finished charging to full, as shown next.
    3. And finally, this light is OFF when the speaker itself is powered ON, but the battery is fuller than critically low. This light is dark as long as the battery does not yet need charging in this case.
The dark battery light on the Sony SRS XB23 speaker.
The Sony SRS XB23 speaker showing a dark battery lamp.

2. The Sony SRS XB23 Battery Indicator Lamp Flashes Orange

With the charger unplugged, the XB23 powered ON, and the battery having very low power left, this LED starts flashing orange.  The meaning here is that the speaker will shorty switch off due to a dying battery, and so, you should put it on the charge soon to avoid play interruption.





3. This Light Also Works as a Charging Indicator

This orange LED also lights steadily (no blinking) as the XB23 recharges, as we see in the next picture.  On this speaker, the light glowing is the only visual way of telling that charging is happening.  But it does not show how far along the recharging is, until the light actually turns OFF.

The orange glowing battery light on the speaker.
The battery lamp glowing orange.

Also note that this light should never blink on and off while charging the speaker.  If it does, then either your charger is not supplying enough (or any) power, your USB cable is defective, or you have some issue inside the speaker itself.

4. When the Light Goes Dark While Charging, Then the Battery is Full

As speaker charging progresses, the light keeps glowing,  But after a few hours, battery recharging finishes, and the lamp goes OFF to show this.  It is dark in this case whether the speaker itself is ON or OFF. Note that the light will go dark too, if you disconnect the charger before the charge cycle has finished.

5. The Sony SRS XB23 Battery Indicator Is Not a Charge Remaining Meter

When unplugged from the charger, this light becomes the battery charge left indicator.  Well sort of.  I.e. If it is dark when the speaker is ON, then the battery has some amount of play time left, although you cannot tell how much. If it flashes, then you can infer that the battery is almost dead.

Reading Battery Percentage

However, on this speaker, you can get a more precise reading on the percentage of battery charge left.

The -BATT- button on the Sony SRS XB23 speaker.
The Sony SRS XB23 speaker -BATT- button.

Just press and release the BATT button on the side button panel. This makes the speaker announce the remaining power percent value in a female voice.

Related Posts to Sony SRS XB23 Battery Indicator

    1. The Battery Indicator on the Sony SRS XB22 Speaker Discussed
    2. Sony SRS XB21 Battery Indicator Discussed
    3. Sony SRS XB20 Battery Indicator and How to Read It
    4. The SRS XB01 Sony Speaker Battery Indicator Light Explained
    5. Sony SRS X11 Battery Indicator Explained

Other Posts About the Sony SRS XB23 

    1. Updating Firmware on Sony SRS XB23 Speaker
    2. Sony SRS XB23 Factory Reset Instructions
    3. How to Connect the XB23 to an iPhone
    4. Sony SRS XB23 Buttons Explained
    5. How to Turn Off Sony SRS XB23 Wireless Speaker

References for Sony SRS XB23 Battery Indicator

    1. Sony SRS XB23 Official Product Page at Sony.com

Revision History

    • 2021-10-14: First published.