Sony XB32 Battery Indicator

The Sony XB32 has a simple battery level indicator LED in the back button panel, just above the power input port, 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 shows charging progress, nor exactly 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 discuss how to read this battery indicator LED on the XB 32 speaker.

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

Sony XB32 Battery Indicator: How to Read the Lamp

1. The Lamp is Dark

The battery indicator lamp is dark in the following scenarios:

1. When you shut down the XB32, and you have 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 has more charge left than a critically low amount. This light is dark as long as the battery does not yet need charging.

The Sony XB32 with a dark -CHARGE- light.

2. The Sony XB32 Battery Indicator Flashes Orange

With the charger unplugged, the XB32 powered ON, and the battery having very low power left, this LED begins blinking orange. The means that the speaker will shorty cut off due to a dying battery, and so, you should put it on the charge soon to avoid play interruption.

3. This LED Also Works as a Charging Indicator

This orange LED also lights steadily (no blinking) as the 32 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.

Picture of the -CHARGE- lamp glowing orange on the Sony XB32. — The Sony XB32 -CHARGE- light glowing orange.

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 delivering enough (or any) electricity, your USB cord is broken, or you have something faulty inside the speaker itself.

4. When the Light Goes Dark While Charging, Then Recharging is Done

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 XB32 Battery Indicator Is Not a Charge Remaining Meter

When unplugged from the charger, this light becomes the battery charge left indicator. Well kind of. I.e. If it is dark when the speaker is ON, then the battery has some play time left, although you cannot tell how much. If it flashes though, then you can deduce that the battery is just about to go dead.

Sony XB32 Battery Indicator: Reading the Battery Percentage

However, on this speaker, you can also get a more precise reading on the percentage of battery charge left, besides just by reading the battery indicator lamp.

Picture of the LIGHT-BATT button on the Sony XB32. — The Sony XB32 LIGHT-BATT button.

For that, just press and release the LIGHT-BATT button in the rear button panel, 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, and it speaks this in a female voice.

That’s it.

References

1. Official Sony XB32 Support Page
2. Where to Buy the Sony XB32

Revision History

- 2023-03-25: First published.