Fluentalk T1 Handheld Translator Device Review Rating
Summary
Fluentalk T1 has a great universal translator. Its stand-out feature is its offline translation.
There are pros
- Translations are quick and easy with just one click. The interface is extremely user-friendly.
- This is a huge advantage over other devices because it allows for offline translation
Cons
- It could be more effective to use conversation mode/listening mode
- Expensive vs competing devices (and Google Translate)
Timekettle has previously provided me with a review of a few universal translation translators. All of these in-ear devices aim to offer a seamless and discrete translation experience.
I have then reviewed competing solutions such as the Pocketalk S Voice Translator and Langogo, which are handheld Android For translation, powered devices offer an easier way than using your phone’s Google Translate or Google Translate.
Timekettle now offers the Fluentalk T1, the same idea as Langogo and Pocketalk S. One of the biggest advantages this device has is its ability to perform offline translation. This gives you assurance that people can still communicate with you even when there’s no or little mobile coverage.
Fluentalk T1 available for purchase
There are many languages available
Timekettle Fluentalk T1 is a great option.
- 8 languages available in offline mode, including:
- Chinese ⇆ English, Japanese, Korean, French, Spanish, Russian, German
- English ⇆ Chinese, Japanese, Korean, French, Spanish, Russian, German
- There are 40 languages total, with 93 accents.
- Arabic / Bulgarian / Cantonese / Catalan / Chinese / Croatian / Czech / Danish / Dutch / English / Finnish / Fillipino / French / German / Greek / Hebrew / Hindi / Hungarian / Icelandic / Indonesian / Italian /Japanese / Korean /Malay / Norwegian / Polish / Portuguese / Romanian / Russian / Slovak / Slovenian / Spanish / Swedish / Tamil / Telugu / Thai / Turkish / Ukrainian / Urdu / Vietnamese
- You can translate images into 36 languages, including the following:
- Chinese Simplified, Chinese Traditional, English, Spanish, German, Korean, Japanese, French, Italian, Russian, Thai; Portuguese, Turkish, Dutch, Vietnamese, Polish, Czech, Romanian, Ukrainian, Hungarian, Greek, Slovak, Finnish; Swedish, Bulgarian, Norwegian, Indonesian, Croatian, Danish, Lithuanian, Slovenian; Serbian, Catalan, Azerbaijani, Uzbek, Malay
Device Specification
| Model Number | Fluentalk T1 |
|---|---|
| Size | 4.59 x 2.30 x 0.01 in (116.8 * 58.6 * 11.2mm) |
| The Weight | 0.25 Lb (115g). |
| CPU | Quad-core ARM 14nm 2.0GHz |
| Storage | （RAM）3G （ROM）32G |
| Operating System | Android 10 |
| Screen Size | 4.0″Oncell 540*1080 |
| Camera | 8 megapixels |
| Microphone | Multi-channel microphone |
| Speaker | Two speakers |
| Charging | Type-C 5V⎓1A |
| Batteries | 1500mAh |
| Technology Connectivity | WiFi/Nano-sim/E-sim(built-in) |
| Wireless Network Technology | 2G/3G/4G LTE |
| Continuous Translation Time | 3.5h |
| Standing by Time | 96h |
| Charging Time | 210mins |
For use
Just one click translation
In an attempt to try and see how accurate this device was, I tested playing a YouTube video called “8 YouTube Channels in Spanish”. The presenter is speaking in Spanish with English subtitles.
The performance was excellent, I thought. The translations were more accurate than the ones in the subtitles. It even picked up the spoken words.
Listening Mode
This is the hands-off mode that listens to both speakers and attempts to translate. Using the same test as above, I didn’t find this to be quite as useful, but I prefer the one-click translation.
The screen displayed Spanish translations that were missing from what it was saying.
Although this feature appears to be working in offline mode it is not perfect. It is slow to recognize words in offline mode and can miss the majority. While it seems to be fine when speaking slowly and clearly the translation may fail to translate properly if that is your intention.
Translate Image
When travelling, I consider image translation very important. I love food, and that’s one of the main reasons why I like to travel. While tourist areas will have English-language menus in most cases, it is more difficult to find English-language material if you go off-the-beaten path.
You can take a photograph of the text to use the image translation. It then processes the photo. It is possible to save this image later.
It works great. It performed well when compared to Google Translate. Google is able to automatically detect languages. This is the main difference. Google’s interface used to frustrate me, but I have found it to be more intuitive over time.
Online Translation
Timekettle devices provide offline translations, making them one of few available. This feature is a major selling point of FluentalkT1 in comparison to other similar devices.
This option can translate only to or from English/Chinese and seven additional languages. This should make it still useful to many people.
You do however get 2 years of free data, you can’t always be guaranteed to be in a place with reliable data or public WiFi access.
By disabling my mobile data and my WiFi, I was able successfully to translate English into Spanish
Prices and other options
Fluentalk T1 available for purchase
Amazon US has The Timekettle Fluentalk T1 for $300. It is currently not available at Amazon UK.
Fluentalk can sell it for you at $300 free Shipping worldwide, estimated delivery time 8-14 days
At the time of writing $300 is £265.
The Pocketalk S is priced at £210 on Amazon
The Langogo Summit is £280
The older Langogo Genesis AI is £200
While the competing options claim to translate a variety of languages, they each overestimate their numbers by adding local dialects which I find confusing. Fluentalk at least has the courage to admit that they can translate 40 languages in 93 languages.
In general
Fluentalk T1 has a great universal translator. Its standout feature is its offline translation.
These handheld devices are much more convenient than the Timekettle in-ear headphones. It feels much more natural for me to use a handheld device as I’m a casual traveller. Image translation can also be very useful when reading menus and other information.
Although the conversational translation was good, I preferred the one-click option.
This is a more costly product, but I still prefer it to the Pocketalk S. I find it easier to use, and I feel that it’s better priced.
Also, I think that the extra cost of offline translations is worth it.
Last Update on 2022-11-16. Affiliate links/Images from Amazon Product Advertising API
