Question Is there any program i can get to show me the battery level of my speaker?

[Aussie_Wolfhound]

I use just a normal cylindrical-shaped bluetooth speaker as my desktop's speaker and i get a decent sound from it... only thing is it's not connected via bluetooth but by line-in via a 3.5mm to 3.5mm cable. My PC was built by a friend like 10 years ago (still has an optical drive) and so it doesn't have a built-in bluetooth receiver. I do have a bluetooth dongle plugged in but i have my headphones connected to that.

Due to how i have my living room setup done (I have my PC in my room and then have a 10 meter high-speed HDMI cable and a 10 meter powered usb extension cable going up to the ceiling in my room, across the inside of the ceiling cavity and then down through another small hole in the ceiling of my living room to my little setup which is on a desk i sit infront of) the powered extension cable then plugs into a 7 port usb hub i have here for my keyboard and mouse and i also have a small usb-c cable connected to a usb power switch which then plugs into the speaker and the hub and although it charges slowly, it will charge it.

I try to just turn it on for a few hours each day just to make sure the battery always has a reasonable level of power in it (the reason i use a usb power switch incase anyone is wondering is i found if i just had it plugged in permanently then every once in a while it would make like a static sound when playing audio if the battery was full) however... i'm only human... i do sometimes forget and next thing i know the speaker is dead and it will take awhile to charge when i want to use it now.

I found a nice little 3rd party program that shows the battery level of my Xbox controller that's connected to my PC when it's on that sits in the taskbar tray... anyone know if there's something similar i can use for my speaker so i just know at all times what the battery level is? (I forgot to mention the speaker has no display, just buttons)

 

[Ralston18]

Make and model speaker?

Questions being does the speaker itself "know" the percentage charge and then, if so, is that charge discoverable or otherwise available via some utility.

On face value, as I understand your post, probably "no" to both questions.

= = = =

One immediate solution would be a simple timer that automatically turns on the power to the speaker at a certain time of day and then turns off the power a few hours later as applicable.

E.g. (not a product recommendation or endorsement):

Timer example

Depending on where you live (not asking), you would need to get a timer suitable for the electrical service provided to your residence.

 

[Aussie_Wolfhound]

Make and model speaker?

Questions being does the speaker itself "know" the percentage charge and then, if so, is that charge discoverable or otherwise available via some utility.

On face value, as I understand your post, probably "no" to both questions.

= = = =

One immediate solution would be a simple timer that automatically turns on the power to the speaker at a certain time of day and then turns off the power a few hours later as applicable.

E.g. (not a product recommendation or endorsement):

Timer example

Depending on where you live (not asking), you would need to get a timer suitable for the electrical service provided to your residence.

Pretty sure this is the speaker i have...

https://www.ourpureplanet.com/products/platinum-bluetooth-speaker

 

[Ralston18]

Based on the speaker link that you provided I do not see any indications that the battery's charge can be monitored in any manner.

The timer suggestion was based on my original belief that the speaker was being recharged via an independent charger connected to a wall outlet.

I.e.:

Wall outlet ----> Speaker Charger ----> Speaker charging port.

What I had in mind was:

Wall outlet ----> Timer -----> Speaker Charger ----> Speaker charging port.

Timers generally being mechanical based on a rotating dial that physically rotates one circumference during a 24 hour period. There are little adjustable clips that move with the dial and literally close or open a switch. Turning power on or off to to the charger depending on where the clips are positioned on the dial. Often used for turning on lights at dusk/night and then again off in the morning. Specific times being adjustable....

= = = =

As I now understand it, the speaker being charged via one of the host computer's USB ports - correct?

Likely that the USB port in question can be disabled in some manner via some script/code. And there could be some tool or utility app that does that in one way or another.

I found several possible ways to do so. However, the practicality and/or consequences of those means is an open question. May be more problematic over all.

What might be viable is:

Wall outlet ----> Timer -----> USB hub (independently powered) [ USB port] ----> Speaker charging port.

May require a specific cable between USB hub and Speaker charging port.

First test by using the USB hub and plug-in and unplug as you have been doing Hopefully you have or can borrow an independently powered USB hub.

If that works then the next step would be to incorporate the timer.

 

[Eximo]

There are USB volt meters out there, but they are not super cheap, maybe $20. If you note the voltage when the speaker dies you could then monitor it, but the voltmeter would draw power from the battery.

It would be somewhat expensive to actually wire up a coulomb meter just for a speaker, but it could be done. There are bluetooth chips and kits just for such things, but generally used for remote monitoring of large battery packs.

I think any money spent would be better spent on getting a different speaker that has the features you want without the static problem you are experiencing.

 

[hotaru.hino]

Devices connected via Bluetooth typically reports its battery life. It may be vague or unreliable though, as one of my devices reports 50% after a week of light use even though I installed a fresh battery in it (and I know it'll last for at least a year).

So I would check if the speaker does the same thing. You don't have to use audio over Bluetooth in Windows, you just switch the audio device where sound goes out of back to whatever you're using for line out.

 

[Aussie_Wolfhound]

Devices connected via Bluetooth typically reports its battery life. It may be vague or unreliable though, as one of my devices reports 50% after a week of light use even though I installed a fresh battery in it (and I know it'll last for at least a year).

So I would check if the speaker does the same thing. You don't have to use audio over Bluetooth in Windows, you just switch the audio device where sound goes out of back to whatever you're using for line out.

Sorry for the late response to you all (i've got friggen covid now and feel like crap!) What exactly did you mean in that last paragraph? I don't quite understand.