Timekettle Fluentalk T1 Handheld Translator GBAtemp review
Hardware
Product Information:
- Official Store: https://fluentalk.com/
Do you plan to travel the world one day? Perhaps you’re a busy businessperson with clients from all walks of life? Or, most likely, you just want to play 100+ hour long JRPG’s that have no English translation. The Fluentalk T1 Language Translator is here and promises to solve all those problems, and more. However, the question is whether this little offline translator can get the job done. That is the question that this review will attempt to answer.
For reference, I am a traveling lawyer by day and hopeless PlayStation Platinum trophy hunter at night—so I often run into situations where I need to communicate with others that may not speak English as a native language. That’s why I jumped at the opportunity to test the Fluentalk T1 to see if it would provide exactly what I needed to communicate with people who speak different languages.
The T1 Translator can work offline or online via Wi-Fi or a sim card. Initially, I was surprised that the device asked me to insert a sim card because, well, I didn’t have one that I could dedicate to this device. Luckily, it didn’t take long for me to figure out that I could simply skip that step and connect the device to Wi-Fi. When the device is connected to the internet, it an translate in 40 languages and with 93 different accents. What is unique to this device when compared to other translators is that this one can be used offline as well as online. When used offline, it can still translate 13 of the world’s most popular languages including English, Spanish, Chinese, Japanese, Korean, French, Russian, and German.
What I consider to be probably the most unique feature of this translator is that it features image translation on it’s 4-inch screen. In essence, that means that you can take a picture with the device’s camera of a text image and it will try its best to accurately translate it to one or more of 40 other languages. To test the screen recognition, I took a couple of screenshots of the loading tips for Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp in English and then translated those images to Spanish with the T1 Translator. I then took screenshots of the official Spanish translation of each of those loadings tips to compare. See the below screenshots for reference.
Wanting to test the accuracy of a less-common language, I employed GBAtemp’s very own AlanJohn to speak to me in his native language of Ukrainian to see if we could hold a conversation. While there were certainly some kinks in the quality of the translation, I was able to understand the general idea of what he was trying to get across.
I found that in general the quality of the translations are at least on par with Google translate. There is also a slightly hidden feature of the device that lets you select commonly said phrases and it will speak it in your chosen language at the push of a button. With this feature, you will always be able to find a bathroom.
Device Specifications
| Size |
4.59 x 2.30 x 0.01 in (116.8 * 58.6 * 11.2mm) |
| Weight |
0.25 Lb (115g) |
| CPU |
Quad-core ARM 14nm 2.0GHz |
| Storage |
3GB Ram, 32GB Rom |
| 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) |
| Wireles Network Technology |
2G/3G/4G LTE |
| Continuous Translation Time |
3.5 hours |
| Standby Time |
96 hours |
| Charging Time |
210 minutes |
The device is a bit pricy at $300 on Amazon, however at the time of writing this review I was able to find it on sale via Fluentalk’s website for $225. I would say that the price is worth it for those who expect to regularly use its features. While you can get a lot of similar functionality out of a smartphone, I would argue that it is better to use a dedicated device with dual speakers like the T1 since you just know that it works.
Purchase Link
Amazon: https://a.co/d/bPZwNi1
Verdict
- Offline functionality makes it easy to communicate in the world's top languages from anywhere
- Can connect to internet via wi-fi or nano-SIM card
- Great translation accuracy for most languages
- Photo translation feature distinguishes it from much of the competition
- One-click translation is fast and user-friendly
- Translations for less popular languages can be iffy
- A bit pricey at its retail value of $300
- Conversation mode can overwhelm the device before long. You're better off using one-click translation mode
