Will an airport express USB port charge a Bluetooth speaker?

[giggles]

Following up from this historic thread which still pops up in Google:

https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/will-an-airport-express-power-a-pair-of-usb-speakers.1127587/

I have a further question: sometimes a Bluetooth speaker with AUX IN is preferable to usb speakers even for full time use (and of course Airplay is vastly superior to single user Bluetooth audio), like a JBL Clip2 nested inside the branches of a Christmas tree (yeah...yes) or other situations where space is limited.

So I’d like to know if it’s possible to do this kind of setup:
- aiport express wifi N (wall wart model)
- micro USB long cable (3m) from USB port of the AEX to the charging port of a small compact BT speaker
- AUX long cable (3m) from the audio out of the AEX to the AUX IN of the bt speaker

Basically a self contained airport express audio setup like some of you have with desktop usb speakers but now with bt speakers (that have the advantage of coming in many shapes forms weighs and with clips/lanyards). (Some of them are also cheap enough to be disposable so I don’t care about degrading the battery with this kind of always-charging-topping use).

 

[waw74]

what you're asking is basically the exact thing specified in that thread, except your speakers would have (unused) bluetooth and battery.

as i said in the other post, there's no wattage spec given, so it may or may not be enough to run the speakers

you could also use this
https://www.twelvesouth.com/product/plugbug-world

as the old style airport and the mac power supply use the same swappable plugs.

 

[bartvk]

It's probably fine... It probably supplies 500 mA at 5 volts, i.e. 2.5W. With such a long cable, the voltage will drop a bit, but it won't matter much. The speaker has its own battery so even if it's not fully powered via USB, it'll draw from the battery.