Sony SRS XP500 Charging Indicator

Sony SRS XP500 Charging Indicator on the -Home- Page in the Sony Music Center app on iPadOS.

Explains how to read the Sony SRS XP500 charging indicator lamp. We also discuss how get charge percentage numbers from the speaker itself. Plus you can see this in the Music Center app.

First, this speaker has a Charging Indicator LED on the top button panel. This displays power 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 speaker is. However, it does flash when the battery reaches near-dead state.

But on this speaker, you can get a more precise reading of charge fullness. For that, press the battery level button on the back. Then the speaker speaks the charge percentage number. We cover both ways to find this out below.

Sony SRS XP500 Charging Indicator: How to Read the Lamp

1. The Light is OFF

The charging (CHARGE) lamp is dark in the following situations:

When you power down the XP500 without the charger connected.
When the charger IS present but the speaker finished recharging, as shown next.
And finally, the CHARGE light is OFF when the speaker itself is ON. But the speaker 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 speaker charge status.

The dark Charge lamp on the Sony SRS XP500 speaker.

2. The Sony XP500 Charging 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 Charging 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.

Shows the Charge lamp glowing on the Sony SRS XP500 speaker top.

Also note that this light should never flash during charging. If it does, then one or more of the following conditions exist.

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 Speaker is at Full Charge

As speaker charging continues, the light keeps glowing. But eventually, recharging finishes. Then the Charging 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 Charging Indicator Lamp Is Not Much of a Charge Remaining Meter

When unplugged from the charger, what was the charging indicator becomes the 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 Charging Indicator LED. But when the remaining 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 Charging 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 unit.

The -Battery-Battery Care- button on the back of the Sony SRS XP500 speaker.

When you press this BATTERY / BATTERY CARE button, the speaker will say back one of the following.

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.”