Timekettle WT2 Edge AI Translation Earbuds Review: Edging Closer to a Universal Translator, but Still Needs Work

Timekettle WT2 Edge AI Translation Earbuds Review

From Star Trek to Doctor Who, science fiction promised universal translation as an aspect of the future. Star Trek’s Universal Translator leveraged models of language drawn from across the galaxy to not only translate known languages for those who did not speak them but to quickly translate new languages encountered as explorers pushed boundaries.

Universal translation is not the first Star Trek technology to inspire products. The iPad, including its name, was inspired by Star Trek’s PADDs. An XPRIZE was awarded Final Frontier Medical Devices $2.6M for their prototype Tricorder (see my GeekWire article here). But universal translation, based on large machine learning language models, is having a moment.

Several companies are now coming after universal translation, including Shenzen-based Timekettle, with their portfolio of AI translation earbuds. We were offered the Timekettle WT2 Edge earbuds that translate 40 languages with 93 accents. They work online or can store up to eight languages offline.

The basic, online-only version of the Timekettle WT2 Edge earbuds runs $299.99 online, and offline translation increases the price to $349. Other options combine accessories, including the company’s FluentTalk handheld translator ($648.99).

Our evaluation concluded that while not perfect, the Timekettle WT2 Edge earbuds will work well for travel and many business situations, but they probably should not be the source of subtlety and nuance required for business negotiations, diplomacy, or legal proceedings.

What we like

The light, compact Timekettle WT2 Edge earbuds look similar to Apple’s basic AirPods. The case is a bit larger and opens up horizontally rather than vertically, making the earbuds easier to remove than Apple’s AirPods. Their balanced design keeps them in the ear even better than Apple’s buds.

The Timekettle WT2 Edge earbuds deliver several modes of simultaneous translation designed to fit different situations.

Simultaneous Translation, or SIMUL Mode, works by sharing an earbud with someone during a face-to-face conversation. As the speakers converse, they hear the translation with as little as a .5 second delay.

Touch Mode invokes the translation engine when the wearer touches an earbud. Touch mode works best with shared earbuds (see our note on earbud sharing in the What could be improved section below).

Speaker Mode simply translates phrases from the earbud wearer into computer-generated speech in the target language. This is the best mode for occasional encounters and quick questions.

Listen Mode translates incoming conversations and captures them as a transcript for review or sharing. This is great for lectures or when a loved one is ranting in another language.

Like many earbuds, the WT2s include adaptive noise cancellation, with a neural network and beamforming technology to help the software focus on the intended speaker’s voice. Once speaking, the earbuds lock in and automatically translate new phrases as they are spoken.

The review version of the WT2 headphones included the ability to download up to eight languages for offline use. This feature will prove particularly useful when traveling, either because of poor connections or due to in-country restrictions around access to the Internet. (Unfortunately, I lost the Fish Card that supplies the “coins” for offline language activation.)

One of the most impressive features from Timekettle is translating not just languages but accents, which is a major issue in several languages, including English. Timekettle supports 14 different English accents. They also support various versions of Spanish and Portuguese.

The flexibility makes the WT2s more useful than some other technologies like the earlier reviewed Lingolet. Lingolet, however, while not the ideal universal translator, does shore up translation with backup human interpreters should that be required (and that service is paid for by the subscriber). Timekettle does not offer a human-based translation option for times when the AI can’t understand well enough to provide value.

Timekettle, does, however, maximize its language accuracy by using several language models (DeepL, Google, Microsoft, iFlytek, AmiVoive, Hoya) and its own. Timekettle translations converge on consensus translations and use distributed computing to decrease response time.

The Timekettle WT2 Edge earbuds will take on 3 hours of continuous translation and up to 12 hours when topped off from the charging case.

So how accurate were Timekettle WT2 earbuds?

So far, I have tested my Timekettle WT2 earbuds with Hindi, Argentinian Spanish, Hebrew, Mexican Spanish, Portugal Portuguese, and traditional Mandarin. The opinions from native speakers were best summed up by a Portuguese colleague, who said, “She is trying very hard.” However, my student from Argentina was more generally impressed. He said he was “amazed” that the translation just “got it right.”

All of the native speakers said the translations used formal rather than vernacular or less formal speech. They all agreed that “no one speaks like that.” But they also agreed that if I showed up with the Timekettle WT2s in any of their countries, the translations would be understood. And that’s really the point of a tool like this.

My student from India said that Hindi translations often missed the cultural norm of finishing sentences regardless of formality.

I plan on bringing the WT2s to CES 2023 in January to test them in a wider range of circumstances. I will also be working with the company to figure out how to test the remote group chat feature. 

What could be improved

I could not test the offline feature of the Timekettle WT2 Edge earbuds—not because the feature was disabled in my evaluation unit, but because by the time I got to that feature, I no longer had the card that provided the code to activate the feature. I’ve been going paperless and recycling thousands of scanned pages. Sometimes something not scanned ends up unintentionally recycled. Those buying the WT2 Edge with downloadable languages will likely know to look for the card. Timekettle may want to consider a less physical or non-recoverable option than a card in the box.

I’m not sure about the technical hurdles, most of which are likely software, but adding traditional earbud features would make the Timekettle WT2 Edge even more useful by eliminating the need to switch headsets from listening to music or video conferencing to translation. Direct integration with video chat services would also be useful with the audio feed from Zoom, for instance, going through the earbuds.

I am not a fan of the shared earbud, especially with people you don’t know—and that often includes colleagues, who you may “know” but not in the “share my ear wax” kind of way.

I think TimeKettle needs to consider selling single earbuds for enterprise clients who need simultaneous translation but need to minimize the issues of sharing and sanitation related to shared earbuds. A single earbud would eliminate the need to figure out who used which earbud last. They could be assigned to people without the need for sharing.

For travelers, I would never share an earbud, but Timekettle includes other interaction modes that will work in most situations.

I would also like to see Timekettle adopt wireless charging.

Timekettle WT2 Edge AI Translation Earbuds: The Bottom Line

Based on my preliminary evaluation, the Timekettle WT2 Edge earbuds will make a good travel companion where Wi-Fi exists. Based on the quality of the connected experience, I am sure the local translation will prove adequate, but until I can test it, I cannot confirm that opinion. The lack of general audio support means switching earbuds between content consumption and translation. At this price point, wireless charging should be a feature.

Timekettle provided the WT2 Edge AI Translation Earbuds for review. Images courtesy of Timekettle.

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