Review | Field test: real-time, in-ear bilingual translator WT2 Plus impresses – but it may be overpriced
- Chinese start-up Timekettle’s algorithm-based interpreting app works well, giving free-flowing translation of a two-way conversation, but with a short time lag
- The manufacturer claims WT2 Plus handles 36 languages or dialects. We put it to the ultimate test – a simultaneous translation of slangy, informal Cantonese
There are plenty of mobile phone apps and portable “translators” that can interpret words spoken in one language to another. But, like Google Translate or iTranslate, these services can only handle one-way interpretation at a time – for example, English to Chinese – but not vice versa without changing settings.
Timekettle, a start-up based in Shenzhen, southern China, has developed a portable translator that promises to skip the set-up process – once the device is on, you and the other party can converse freely in your respective languages and interpretation takes place in real time for both sides. We put it to the test to see if it works as advertised.
Hardware and design
Timekettle’s device, the WT2 Plus, is essentially two Bluetooth earpieces with a pod-like charging dock. The earpieces’ elongated, oblong shape and all-white colour make them resemble Apple’s AirPods, albeit they are much chunkier. They can be fully recharged three times using the charging case before you need to plug the latter into a socket, and work for five hours on a full charge.