How to Turn ON Lights on Sony SRS XG500

The -Light- button on the Sony SRS XG500 portable speaker.

This speaker comes equipped with a set of party LED lights on the ends that, by default, blink, change color, and pulsate to the beat of whatever you play on the speaker. But someone may have switched these lamps off, and now, you wonder how to make them work again to enhance the atmosphere at your next party. So we show here how to turn ON the lights on the Sony SRS XG500 speaker, for just this circumstance.

The Sony SRS XG500 right end view, showing the dark party lights.

To turn ON the party lights, you need to find the LIGHT button. We find this control on the back of the speaker, inside the ports compartment on the back of the speaker.

The -Light- button.

There are four buttons in the single buttons row inside the ports compartment. The LIGHT button is the third button in from the left in that row.

The party lights glowing red.

The lights turn on immediately upon pressing the LIGHT button.

How to Turn On Lights on Sony SRS XG500, Using Buttons on the Speaker

These lamps, which light the left and right passive radiators of the unit, are set to display their party patterns by default.

They work either when fresh out of the box, or after a factory reset. If they’re not glowing when the speaker is running, you can turn them ON as follows…

Turn the party LEDs ON by pressing and releasing the LIGHT button. Doing so may run out the battery power a bit faster. So do not do this if you want to maximize battery life per charge. But when you do do this, the lights immediately start their lightshow after the button press.

Then when you want to turn them back off, simply repeat what you did above. I.e. Press and release the LIGHT button. Then the party lamps will go dark again.

How to Turn Lights OFF Using the Music Center App, Step by Step

1. Pair XG500 with Mobile Device That Has Sony Music Center App

Power up the speaker and pair it with your mobile device.

The Sony SRS XG500 BT speaker showing as Connected on an iPad.

2. Open the Sony Music Center App

The Home page for the XG500 comes up.

The Sony SRS XG500 -Home- Page in the Sony Music Center app.

3. Scroll Down to the Settings Option

Next, swipe up until you see the Settings item at the bottom of the screen.

The -Settings- item on the Sony SRS XG500 -Home- page.

4. Tap the Settings Option

Then touch that item. This brings up the Settings page for the 500.

The -Illumination- item in the -Settings- area.

Next, find the Illumination option as we see in the last picture.

5. Tap the Illumination Item

Doing so brings up the Illumination page for our test speaker.

The lighting mode set to -Light OFF- on the -Illumination Settings- page.

Note that the Lighting Mode option is set to LIGHT OFF, which means that the lights are switched OFF. So they will not glow when this setting is in effect.

6. Tap the Lighting Mode Item

Tapping that link brings up the Lighting Mode screen for the XG500.

The -Delightful- Item on the -Lighting Mode- page.

Next, find the DELIGHTFUL option, near the top of the list of lighting patterns. Note though that you can choose any of the patterns from the list including Delightful, Rave, Chill, Strobe, Hot, Cool, Cute, Fresh, or Calm Daylight. But here’ we’re going to pick DELIGHTFUL.

7. Tap the DELIGHTFUL Option

Doing this moves the brown check mark from the LIGHT OFF option to the DELIGHTFUL item.

The -Done- item with the -Delightful- mode set on the -Lighting Mode- page.

8. Tap the Done Link

Find the Done item near the top right corner of the screen.

Doing this sends the command to turn the party lights ON to the speaker, and the lights should immediately start glowing, changing colors and flash patterns.

Then the app takes you back to the Illumination page.

The -Lighting Mode- item Set to -Delightful- on the Illumination- page in the app.

Note now that the Lighting Mode option value is now set to DELIGHTFUL.

9. Done with How to Turn ON Lights on Sony SRS XG500 Using the Music Center App

You now know how to turn on the party lights on this speaker using either the Light button on the speaker itself, or doing it in the Sony Music Center app.