Yes, it’s fully wireless Bluetooth speaker. You charge it up and it’s internal battery lasts for 20-30+ hours on a full charge, depending on how loud you play it and if you use it to charge other devices (it’s got USB ports that make this like a portable charger as well) so no, it does not need to be plugged in to turn on, as it’s fully portable. You use one of the 3 dials on top to turn it on/off (the volume knob; turn it all the way down and it clicks when it turns off/of)