WT2 Edge Translator Offline

This is my first experience with an in-ear translator and the experience has been positive so far. I have used it to converse with coworkers from Mexico, Russia, France (oh yeah, really necessary!) and India. This gizmo can even recognize the lovely Indian accent and speak back to you in that accent! To use the simultaneous translation mode — of course, even a UN top translator cannot do pure simultaneous translation due to language semantic and grammatical differences not to mention the difficulties with idioms — you give one of the earbuds to the other party and wear the other one yourself. Your iPhone is not needed for picking up the speech but acts as the neural brain for the translation work. This may also explain why they decided not to include regular earphone functions as, alas, one of your buds will probably spend more time in other people’s ears, and not everyone cleans their ears regularly like you do. This mode is my favorite, but you need to be patient with the slight delays in translation; the speed seems to spend mostly on the speed of your Internet connection. I haven’t tried the offline mode yet even though I bought that version. The listening mode is good for watching foreign movies. It uses your iPhone’s mic to pick up the sound and then extract speech and translate. Depending on the audio quality of your TV or amplifier, the results can be inconsistent, but it works most of the time for me (I play videos mostly on my 16 inch MacBook Pro with its awesome speakers). It’s lots of fun. A mode called touch mode works like a pair of walkie talkies: you give one bud to the other person, then each of you taps the bud (like on the original AirPod) before speaking. You don’t hold the bud’s side when you speak, just tap and speak. This mode is great when you are in a noisy environment so the system knows when and who’s talking. There’s one speaker mode where you wear the bud(s) while the other person uses your iPhone running the TimeKettle app. This saves you from sharing your bud with someone who doesn’t wash often… As long as you have a strong Internet connection or have downloaded the offline content, and have a little patience, this gizmo works pretty well. It even works in noisy restaurants and bars for me. And yes, I set my end to Indian English. That alone is worth the price!

1-Star Review: Timekettle WT2 Edge/W3 Translator Device – A Disappointing Experience in France. I purchased the Timekettle WT2 Edge/W3 Translator Device (Offline Version) for a trip to France, hoping its promised bidirectional simultaneous translation and offline capabilities would make communication seamless. Unfortunately, it fell far short of expectations and felt grossly overpriced for its performance. Despite downloading the offline language pack for French, the device frequently failed to work without an internet connection, rendering it useless in areas with poor signal. The "real-time" translation was anything but—lagging by up to a minute and a half, leaving me struggling to keep up with conversations as they moved on. This made interactions frustrating and awkward, defeating the purpose of a translator. For a device priced at a premium (closer to $350), I expected reliability and speed, but it performed more like a $30 gadget. I’m deeply disappointed and wouldn’t recommend it unless significant improvements are made.

I purchased the WT2 Edge/W3 Translator Device for an upcoming trip to Spain. I was a little suspicious that these earphones would work, but a friend said I should try them. After using them for a week or two, here are my thoughts. My first attempt at using them was with an online video in Spanish. They worked okay but sometimes lost the conversation when it became too fast. I was worried at first, but then I tried them with my partner from Spain. Surprisingly, they translated her conversation with me with about 95% accuracy, maybe even 99%. Very impressive! So with this, I would say that these translators are perfect for one-on-one conversations. Not so much with groups of people or videos that may speak very quickly or have overlapping conversations, which makes sense for this type of product. I did find success with videos when it was one person speaking at a medium speed. For these reasons, I am giving it five stars. Not perfect, but it definitely exceeded my expectations and would allow me to have a conversation with a Spanish speaker with ease. As for customer service, I ordered the offline package. This package comes with a card with a code that allows you to download the offline content to use the product without wifi or Internet service. The card was either left out of my package or lost in the initial unpackaging of the translators. Either way, I called customer service late in the evening and received a message they were closed. I figured I would call back on Monday when they were open. On Monday morning, I received a call from a random number. Thinking it was a sales call about my car warranty, I ignored it. When I listened to the message, it was from a representative whose initials are GM (not sure if Amazon allows names in reviews) from Timekettle, the product maker. He was returning my call to see how they could help me. I told them my offline card was missing and that I would be traveling to Spain in a few days. GM took my name and order number and sent the card the very next day to ensure I had it before my trip! He even called again to make sure I received it. I was absolutely shocked that they returned my call so quickly and handled the issue within 24 hours. Awesome! I am looking forward to using these as I practice my Spanish and testing them with friends in Spain.

This device has an earbud defect that I have experienced with five (5) wt2 devices. The earbud volume becomes quiet for no reason at all. None of the settings in the app or the cell phone can correct this issue. It has worked great for 3 months and then the volume level dies. So it is similar to renting this device for $100 a month because you have buy a new one that will last 3 months. It is the best device to use for all of your translating needs. So I have to keep buying this item due to my needs. The functionality is the best, but the longevity of use is short. I want to give it 5 stars on one hand and 1 star on the other hand. They did replace mine at one time but I am tied of asking for replacements. if you want the best for special encounters and meetings for a 3 or 4 month period, then buy it. Because it is simply the best technology. If you are budget hawk on repeat purchases, then I am sure you will pass this gem up. For me, my business and personal interactions offset the multiple purchases required. Nothing is perfect in this world. Leveraging imperfect things for your ultimate benefit is sometimes the best approach. "It is the price of success and happiness". Remember, the translation and transcribing is superior to other brands I have tried. It does give great service until it dies in 3 or 4 months.

Bought black pair and white pair. The black pair works just fine. Seems to translate well

Update: About 2 months after I purchased these, the case stopped charging. I got in contact with TimeKettle customer service through Amazon's customer service portal and TimeKettle had me send the broken headphones back to their factory (I paid the postage first and then they reimbursed the amount to my Amazon account) then they sent me a new set, free or charge. They understood that I needed these ASAP as I was already overseas so they express mailed the new headphones to my overseas address. I get them 2 days later. I'm super impressed by the level of customer service and their willingness to work with me. Original: I got these for traveling around Japan and have tested these out with Japanese, Filipino, and Chinese and they do work. The translations aren't perfect but even human translators aren't perfect so that's no big deal for me. It definitely gets the information/meaning across and work wonderfully for one on one meetings. Background noise does make a difference in the translation accuracy so it's best used in an ambient environment. I've tested these out in restaurants and hotels as well and they work fine. The translation software sometimes has issues translating if the word sounds the same (see vs. sea). But again, very understandable as the software isn't all knowing. Definitely worked better than I expected.

I tried to use these on a trip to Germany but they did not work well. If you are on on one in a quiet room they worked ok but you had to wait a few seconds for the translation after each person spoke. Even then the translation was 50% accurate. I even tried Bluetooth mics but that did work well either.

UPDATE: I stand by all my positive assessments posted in the original review but I would like to address the factors attributed to my previous downsides. The Timekettle Service Team did eventually reach out to me seeking a solution to my software and/or hardware defect. The result is that they did send me a new earbud relatively quickly. Although, I did not have insurance on the product, they did stand by their product/service and made me whole. Based on this action and my original assessment that the translating technology is awesome, I am changing my review to 5 stars! My recommendation for users is to purchase insurance protection, it’s worth it!!!! Original review: I wanted to let people know that I purchased for Polish/English conversations and the translations are great. The downside is that the earbud stopped working shortly after purchase and customer support it not helpful. I have made many attempts to work with support and they are nice but after a couple of simple attempts to address the issue, they then say that they will call me back and if cannot be fixed at that point that they will escalate the issue. Not sure what that means??? They never call back!😝 when I purchased there was not a 3 year insurance option. If you purchase this product you MUST get the insurance!!!!! That may have helped the situation… in this case, I would need to spend another $350 but I think I may wait until another product comes along…. A shame!!!!!