Sony X 5 Buttons Guide

The Sony X 5 Bluetooth mini speaker has six buttons across its top panel and one button on its back, and we cover each one in detail in this guide.

Sony X 5 Buttons Guide: Summary

Here we cover the entire compliment of buttons and touch pads on this portable Bluetooth speaker, and these include the following.

1. 1. Sound,
   2. Pairing,
   3. Audio In,
   4. Call / Phone,
   5. Volume UP and DOWN,
   6. Power,
   7. Reset.

In the paragraphs and pictures below, we show where each control is on the speaker, explain its meaning and function, what any button combination presses do, when to press them, and how to use the buttons to operate the speaker in general.

Sony X 5 Buttons Guide; Detailed Descriptions of Each Button

There are two rows of buttons on the top of the speaker. They all have a square shape, although only two of the controls are actually physical buttons. The other six are touch pads that you do not actually have to press to get them to register.  You just touch them.

Now we start with the front row of buttons on the speaker top, then the back row, and finally, we go around to the rear of the X 5 and discuss the single button found there.

The Sound Button Touch Pad

Find this button in the first position from the left in the front row of buttons, just to the right of center and to the left of the Pairing touch pad.

Tapping this touch pad expands the stereo soundstage as you listen, making instruments clearer.  Plus, their sounds seem to come from places further to the left and right of the speaker than the actual drivers are located.  It also appears to raise treble and mid range frequencies, and in so doing, effectively cuts the bass a bit.  On other Sony speakers, they refer to this as Surround mode.

Activating  Surround Mode

This function is normally OFF on a brand new X 5 or after a hard factory reset.

To activate the fuller stereo sound, briefly tap the Sound button touch pad.  Then the speaker goes silent for a short time, and when the audio comes back on, you’re hearing the Surround mode.  The Sound lamp, located just behind / above the Sound button also lights up solid white.

The Pairing Button Touch Pad

Find this button in the second position from the left in the front row.

When pressed, the X 5 goes into discovery mode.  Then, you can find and connect to the speaker on nearby Bluetooth source devices.  So this function lets you pair to the X 5, and play your music through it.

Activating Discovery Mode on the Sony X 5

With the speaker powered ON, you touch and hold the same touch pad until you hear two high beeps.  Then take your finger away.  The speaker is now in pairing mode, and the Pairing Status lamp pictured next begins fast flashing white. But when you actually connect to the X 5, this lamp stops flashing and glows a steady white.

You need to do this anytime you want to pair the X 5 with a never-before-paired Bluetooth source device.

When in this (a.k.a. Discovery) mode, the speaker sends out its name and other connection info over the Bluetooth air channels. Then, this allows nearby wireless devices to find and connect to it.

Note that touching this button pad starts up discovery mode whether or not the speaker is currently connected to a BT device.

Sony X 5 Buttons Guide: The Audio In Button Touch Pad

To Start Audio In Mode

Briefly press this button to switch the X 5 from Bluetooth to Audio Input mode.

In audio input mode, the speaker receives audio via the 3.5mm stereo audio input port on its back panel.

When Audio In mode is active, any BT connections with this speaker stops, the Pairing lamp goes out, and the Audio In lamp lights up white as we see in the next picture.

In this mode, you can connect an MP3 player, CD, or other non Bluetooth music source via an audio patch cord. Then the X 5 acts as an integrated stereo amplifier, letting you hear your device at room filling volumes.

To End Audio In Mode

To return the speaker to normal operation, where it accepts audio via a wireless Bluetooth connection, briefly press the Pairing button.  When you do this, the Audio In lamp goes out, the Pairing lamp begins blinking, and the speaker attempts to pair with any nearby BT device that appears in its recently connected devices list.

The Phone / Call Button

The Phone / Call button has an icon of an old style telephone receiver in it.  We find it at the fourth (rightmost) position in the front row of buttons. See it pointed out in the next picture.

Answer a Call with the  Call / Phone  Button

Press and release the  Call / Phone button quickly to answer a call when you have this unit paired with an iOS cell phone.

Disconnect a Call

Rapidly press it again to hang up the call, and resume playback. The item you were listening to pauses when you pick up the call, and resumes when you hang up.

Make a Call with Voice Assistant

When paired with a compatible phone and you’re not currently in a call, you may touch this button pad and request that a call be made.

Briefly press button. The voice assistant then chimes. Then, make your request via the X 5’s built in microphone. The assistant then places the call on the paired device, and then you’ll be able to hear the person you called via the speaker and talk to them via the X 5 microphone.

Find the mic on the front grill, near the top edge, near the upper left corner, as we picture next.

Please not that the behavior of this touch pad is largely determined by the type of mobile device you pair this speaker with.  So the comments in this section are not necessarily complete.

Sony X 5 Buttons Guide: The Volume Down and Volume Up Buttons

Now moving to the back row of top panel buttons, the X 5 also has volume controls. The Volume UP and Volume DOWN buttons occupy the first two positions in this row. Plus, they have minus and plus symbols embossed in their centers for easy visual identification. Find them pointed out in the next picture.

When pressed, these lower and raise the loudness respectively, by reducing or increasing the volume setting of the amplifier in the speaker itself, but they do not change the volume setting on the source device as some other BT speakers do.

How to Raise (Turn Up) and Lower (Turn Down) Sony X 5 Volume

With the speaker paired and playing, press the Minus Volume Down button to decrease its audio output level. Press the Plus Volume Up button to increase audio output.

Note that these loudness controls have no effect when the speaker is not paired. Also, the volume setting may change from paired device to paired device. That is, each paired device remembers its own volume setting. So you might need to re set the sound output when you unpair the speaker from one source device and pair it to another.

When You Hit Min and Max Volume Settings

No lights change on the speaker during volume adjustment, except when you reach the lower or upper ends of the volume range.  Then the Power lamp fast flashes a few times.  Moreover, no beeps or other accessibility sounds play when you change the volume.

Note that you can also change X 5 volume by adjusting the controls on your source BT device.  But be aware that this does not change the volume setting on the speaker.  This can cause some confusion if, for example, you set the volume on the speaker very low.  Then you turn up your source device to maximum and notice that the speaker isn’t playing nearly as loud as you expect.  When this happens, be sure to set the control higher on the speaker.

Sony X 5 Buttons Guide: The Power Button

The Power button is the last button on the right in the back row of buttons, as we point out with the green arrow in the next picture. Note power symbol shape embossed on it.

Turning the Sony X 5 ON and OFF

Press and release the button when the speaker is OFF, to power it on.  Press and release it again, to turn the X 5 back OFF.

The Power Status lamp lights up green when the speaker powers up.

Note that the X 5 makes no sounds when you turn it on or off.

Furthermore, when the speaker is OFF, no lights on it should glow, except in the case where you’re charging the unit.  When OFF in that scenario, the CHARGE lamp still glows solid orange.

Sony X 5 Buttons Guide: The Reset Button

Find this recessed button on the speaker back, just to the right of the Add button.  To work it, insert a paper clip end and gently press.

Now unlike reset buttons on many other speakers, this button does NOT restore the unit to its factory default state.  Instead, you press this only when the speaker becomes unresponsive or otherwise misbehaves.  E.g. It won’t power ON or OFF, or the other buttons do nothing when you press them. Thus, pressing Reset does not clear the stored Bluetooth pairings from memory.

It does appear however, to disconnect the speaker from its battery by brute force. So pressing it causes a hard shutdown to occur. Further, releasing it applies battery power again.  You can then turn the speaker on with the Power button.

The hope with this design is that the unit will again respond to other button presses when cold started after a Reset button press.

How to Use the Reset Button

Should the speaker lock up or become non responsive to button presses, press and release this button.  If the Power lamp is ON, it should shut OFF right away.

The Reset / Initialize Code Combination

Note that this is different from the Reset button described in the last section. This method is how to actually hard reset the X 5 to return it to factory default settings.  The Reset button described earlier does not do this though.  But it is possible to run a complete factory reset on this speaker, as follows.

With the speaker running, press and hold   Volume DOWN  and while holding that button down, press and hold the  Power button.  Hold them both  until the Power lamp starts fast flashing. See these buttons pointed at by the green arrows in the next picture.

You may wish to reinitialize the speaker to correct any weird behaviors you notice from it such as failing to pair, sound distortion, failure to power off when you press the  Power  button, pressing the Reset button does not solve your issue, and so on. Note that resetting invalidates any saved connection info about this speaker on your source Bluetooth devices. So you’ll have to forget those connections on these devices, and re pair the speaker after a reset in order to play your audio content through it once again.

Switching Sound Quality Options Combination

You can change the sound quality mode on the X 5, to prioritize sound quality over Bluetooth connection stability, or vice versa.  E.g. Connection stability over sound quality. The X 5 defaults to prioritizing stable connections (SBC) over sound quality when fresh from the factory or after a hard reset / initialization.

How To Change to Prioritize Sound Quality Mode

1. 1. Connect the X 5 to AC power.
   2. Tap and release the Power button to turn the X 5 on.
   3. Put the speaker into Bluetooth standby mode. In this mode, the power light glows orange. Do this by pressing and holding the Power button until the Power lamp turns orange and all other lights on the speaker go dark.
   4. Press the Volume UP (+) button, and then while holding that, press and hold the Power button.  Hold both buttons until the Pairing lamp flashes white three times. The speaker will now prioritize sound quality over connection stability the next time you stream music to it from a Bluetooth device.

How To Change Back to Prioritize Connection Stability Mode

1. 1. Once again, connect the Sony X 5 to AC power.
   2. Tap and release the Power button to turn ON the speaker.
   3. Put the speaker into Bluetooth standby mode. Do this by pressing and holding the Power button until the Power lamp glows orange and all other lights on the speaker go out.
   4. Then press the Volume UP (+) button, and then while holding that, press and hold the Power button.  Hold both buttons until the Pairing lamp flashes white two times. The speaker will now prioritize connection stability once more over sound quality the next time you stream music to it from a wireless device.

Summary of the Lights on the Sony X 5

Additionally, there are several lights in the button area. These lamps tell you what the speaker is doing as you work each of the buttons, as follows.

1. 1. The Sound lamp glows white when this speaker is in  Surround Mode. This light is OFF when the speaker is in standard sound mode, which gives it an essentially flat audio response.
   2. The Pairing Status lamp, found immediately above the Pairing button, flashes or glows solid white to tell of the speaker’s connection status. It glows steadily when a connection is in progress, and it blinks slowly when nothing is paired to the X 5. It flashes rapidly when the speaker is in discovery mode.
   3. The Audio In lamp glows white when the speaker is receiving input from the 3.5mm audio input port rather than via a Bluetooth connection.
   4. The Power lamp just above the button of the same name, lights solid green, to show that the speaker is ON. It also flashes when you change the volume. Finally, it glows orange when the X 5 is in Bluetooth Standby mode.
   5. The CHARGE lamp is on the top panel, just above the CHARGE label, above and to the left of the Volume Down button.  It behaves as follows.
      1. It glows orange when the X 5 is recharging and the speaker itself is powered OFF.
      2. Plus, it flashes orange when you’re not charging, and the speaker is ON, to tell you that the battery is pretty low and that you should charge the unit shortly.
      3. Note though that when you connect a power source, this lamp only glows steadily when the speaker is OFF.
      4. The light goes out, regardless of charge status, any time you power on the speaker.

Sony X 5 Ports Summary

Both ports on the X 5 we find on the back panel, near the bottom edge.

First, we have the USB DC output port as we see next.  It’s the rectangular port just to the left of the Reset button.

Next, we have the audio input port as we see next.  It’s the round port just to the right of the Reset button.

Finally, there’s the DC power input port just right of the Audio In port.

Other Sony X 5 Posts

1. 1. Sony X 5 Orange Light Stays On
   2. Sony X 5 Not Charging Issue
   3. How to Turn On Sony X 5
   4. How to Turn Off Sony X 5
   5. Sony X 5 General Specifications

Related Posts to Sony X 5 Buttons Guide

1. 1. Sony XB30 Buttons Guide
   2. Sony X 3 Buttons Guide
   3. Sony SRS XB30 Buttons Guide
   4. Sony X2 Buttons Guide
   5. Sony X11 Buttons Guide

References

1. 1. Official Sony X 5 Support Page
   2. Where to Buy the Sony X 5

Revision History

• • 2023-04-30: First published.