The Sony SRS XB31 battery indicator is a small LED lamp in the rear button panel. Find it just beneath the power input port. 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 shows charging progress, nor precisely how full the battery is at a given time. But it does pulsate orange when the battery hits close-to-dead status. So in this post, we explain how to read this battery indicator LED on the XB 31 speaker.
Note that to get a more exact reading of battery percentage, see below.
Sony SRS XB31 Battery Indicator: How to Read the Light
1. The Lamp is Dark
The battery indicator lamp is OFF in the following scenarios:
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- When you power down the XB31 with no charger connected.
- When the charger IS working but the battery is full.
- And finally, this light is OFF when the speaker itself is ON, but the battery is not low. This light is dark as long as the battery does not yet need charging.
2. The Sony SRS XB31 Battery Indicator Flashes Orange
With the charger unplugged, the XB31 powered ON, and the battery very low, this LED starts flashing orange. This means that the speaker will shorty switch off due to a dying battery. So, you should put it on the charge soon to avoid play interruption.
3. This Lamp Also Works as a Charging Indicator
This orange LED also lights steadily (no blinking) as the 31 recharges, as we see in the next picture. On this unit, the light glowing is the only visual means of knowing that charging is happening. But it does not show how far along the recharging is, until the light actually turns OFF.
Also note that this light should never flash on and off during recharging the speaker. If you see this, then either your power adapter is not working or your USB cord is defective. Or perhaps the speaker itself is faulty.
4. When the Light Goes Dark While Charging, Then Recharging is Complete
As speaker charging advances, the light stays steadily lit. no blinking. But after a few hours, battery charging finishes, and the lamp goes OFF to show this. It goes dark in this case whether the speaker itself is ON or OFF. Note that the light turns OFF too, if you disconnect the charger before the charge cycle completes.
5. The Sony SRS XB31 Battery Indicator Is Not a Charge Remaining Meter
When unplugged from the charger, this light becomes the battery charge left indicator. Well kind of. So if it is dark when the speaker is ON, then the battery has some playtime remaining. But you cannot tell exactly how much just by reading the battery indicator. But you can tell though if the battery is very close to dying. If the indicator flashes, then the battery is just about to go dead.
Reading Battery Percentage
However, on this speaker, you can also get a more precise reading of percentage of battery charge remaining.
For that, just press and release the BATT button in the rear button panel. Find it just above and to the right of the USB-A output port. This makes the speaker announce the power left in the battery as a percentage value. Furthermore, it announces this in a female voice.