'ZDNET Recommends': What exactly does it mean?
ZDNET's recommendations are based on many hours of testing, research, and comparison shopping. We gather data from the best available sources, including vendor and retailer listings as well as other relevant and independent reviews sites. And we pore over customer reviews to find out what matters to real people who already own and use the products and services we’re assessing.
When you click through from our site to a retailer and buy a product or service, we may earn affiliate commissions. This helps support our work, but does not affect what we cover or how, and it does not affect the price you pay. Neither ZDNET nor the author are compensated for these independent reviews. Indeed, we follow strict guidelines that ensure our editorial content is never influenced by advertisers.
ZDNET's editorial team writes on behalf of you, our reader. Our goal is to deliver the most accurate information and the most knowledgeable advice possible in order to help you make smarter buying decisions on tech gear and a wide array of products and services. Our editors thoroughly review and fact-check every article to ensure that our content meets the highest standards. If we have made an error or published misleading information, we will correct or clarify the article. If you see inaccuracies in our content, please report the mistake via this form.
WT2 in-ear wearable translator review: Accurate translation across 36 languages
WT2 Wearable Translator
pros and cons
- 30 minutes to fully charge
- Almost real-time translation
- Over 90 percent accuracy
- Auto mode needs a quiet environment
I love the idea of an in-ear language translator that will translate without an agonising wait, and it appears that this handy little pair of ear buds from WT2 will deliver exactly what I need.
The WT2 Language translator will translate 36 languages and 84 accents. WT2 claims that the languages cover 85% of the world's population. I was really impressed with how well this worked for me for only two of these languages.
This compact translator is packed into an egg-like container that comfortably fits into the palm of my hand. The container is the charger for both ear buds which are magnetic and easily slot into the charging station.
The pod is charged by USB-C charging cable and takes about 30 minutes to fully charge.
I tested the WT2 with a native Norwegian and a native Cantonese speaker.
I have long wanted an effective way to communicate in Cantonese during my trips to Hong Kong where I quickly realise how limited my Cantonese is apart from ordering food.
Both of my my bilingual friends were really impressed with the accuracy of the translation, each saying that the accuracy was well over 95% during our conversations.
Top ZDNET Reviews
Of course we used simple language between us, and spoke slowly and clearly to make sure that in all modes we had the best experience possible.
The translator ear buds work with an app to give the best translation experience.
Download the WT2 Plus app from the Play Store or the App store.
Charge the earbuds in the pod and connect each earbud to the app using Bluetooth and select the language for bi-directional translation.
There are three options for use: Auto mode which is hands-free between both parties in quiet environments, Touch mode where you touch the ear piece for the duration of your sentence, and Speaker mode which uses the phone speaker to speak the translation. You do need to set both languages using the app.
Speaker mode means that the translated language will be read out by the device so more than one person will be able to understand what has been said. This is very useful if there are a group of people who need to hear the translated words.
Speak clearly -- either by pressing the icon on the phone, or touching the ear piece if in a noisy environment and your guest will receive the translated phrase almost immediately.
The company has received support from Google, Microsoft and Tencent AI Lab for its services to deliver almost real-time translation across a range of scenarios. Auto voice detection and pick up means you can have an almost realistic conversation across languages.
The translator also has dual noise reducers and adaptive noise cancellation to deliver the best possible voice experience without the distraction of background noise. Bluetooth allows audio transmission for up to 20 feet.
The translator will support iOS 11.1 and above and Android 7.0 or above and it will not play music or receive phone calls through the translator. However, this translator is intended for a specific function -- translating speech from other languages.
For under $230 this is certainly cheaper than hiring a professional translator -- and if other languages are not your forte, but you need to be able to communicate effectively in other languages, this is certainly the device for you.
If you get frustrated when you are travelling, cannot speak the language, and cannot get a decent cup of coffee made exactly to your specifications, buy the WT2. I wish I had owned one years ago.