Explains how to read the Sony SRS XP500 battery indicator lamp. We also discuss how get battery charge percentage numbers from the speaker itself. Plus you can see this in the Music Center app.
First, this speaker has a battery indicator LED on the top button panel. This displays battery status, sort of. 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 how full the battery is. However, it does flash when the battery reaches near-dead state.
But on this speaker, you can get a more precise reading of battery fullness. For that, press the battery level button on the back. Then the speaker speaks the battery percentage number. We cover both ways to find this out below.
Sony SRS XP500 Battery Indicator: How to Read the Lamp
1. The Light is OFF
The battery level / charging (CHARGE) lamp is dark in the following situations:
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- When you power down the XP500 without the charger connected.
- When the charger IS present but the battery finished recharging, as shown next.
- And finally, the CHARGE light is OFF when the speaker itself is ON. But the battery is not low. The lamp is dark as long as the speaker does not yet need charging.
Each of these light states gives you some indication of battery charge status.
2. The Sony XP500 Battery Indicator Light Blinks Orange
With the charger not present, the XP500 running, and the battery quite low, the CHARGE light starts flashing orange.
This means that the speaker will soon shut OFF. So you should put it on the charge soon to avoid this.
3. Sony SRS XP500 Battery Indicator Doubles as a Charging Light
The CHARGE lamp lights up orange (no flashing) as the XP500 charges, as we see in the next picture. On this speaker, this glowing light is the only visual means of knowing that recharging is going on. But it does not display how far along the charging is. To get this, use the battery percentage button in the button and port compartment on the back of the speaker.
Also note that this light should never flash during charging. If it does, then one or more of the following conditions exist.
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- The speaker is not receiving power.
- The charger is faulty.
- Or the speaker itself is defective.
4. When the Light Goes Out While Charging, Then the Battery is Full
As speaker charging continues, the light keeps glowing. But eventually, recharging finishes. Then the battery indicator lamp goes dark to show this. Indeed it turns off when the speaker is not ON. Furthermore, it stays OFF when the XP500 is ON.
5. The Sony SRS XP500 Battery Indicator Lamp Is Not Much of a Charge Remaining Meter
When unplugged from the charger, what was the charging indicator becomes the battery charge left indicator. Well again, sort of. If it is dark when the speaker is ON, then some play time remains. However you cannot tell how much just by looking at the battery indicator LED. But when the battery charge goes very low, this light slowly pulses orange. This lets you know that it’s time to recharge the speaker. These pulses speed up the closer to dying the speaker gets.
How to Get Audio Percentage from Sony SRS XP500 Battery Indicator
You can have the speaker “speak” to you the approximate percentage of battery power left in the 43.
1. Press the BATTERY / BATTERY CARE Button
Hear the female voice say this by pressing the BATTERY / BATTERY CARE button in the back of the speaker. Note that there are three buttons just above the ports compartment. Now the button to press is the second button from the left as you face back of the speaker.
When you press this BATTERY / BATTERY CARE button, the speaker will say back one of the following.
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- 91% – 100%: “Battery Fully Charged.”
- 81% – 90%: “Battery about 90%.”
- 81% – 90% (Battery Care mode): “Battery Care Mode, Fully Charged, Battery about 90%.”
- 81% – 100%: “Battery fully charged.”
- 71% – 80%: “Battery about 80%.”
- 61% – 70%: “Battery about 70%.”
- 51% – 60%: “Battery about 60%.”
- 41% – 50%: “Battery about 50%.”
- 31% – 40%: “Battery about 40%.”
- 21% – 30%: “Battery about 30%.”
- 11% – 20%: “Battery about 20%.”
- 1% – 10%: “Please Charge.”
Sony SRS XP500 Battery Indicator: How to See It in the Music Center App
Connect the speaker to a source device with the Sony Music Center app. Then you can see battery percentage in the app too.
1. Find the Music Center App
We find ours in in a custom folder that we set up on this test iPad.
2. Run the App
When you start Music Center, it finds the paired XP500. Then brings up the Home page for that speaker.
And on that page, the app shows you the current charge percentage.