Pocketalk Plus Voice Translator Review: Multilingual Miracle

Let’s start cautiously flirting with the idea of ​​traveling once more – at least in regions where Covid-19 cases are not increasing – a young man’s fantasy turns into thoughts of visiting foreign lands where he speaks nothing of his native language. My recent review by Ambassador Interpreter revealed an opportunity to go where you don’t have lingua franca, but requiring each speaker to wear special Bluetooth headphones makes it a little awkward, especially if you’re just trying to figure out what’s in the soup.

Pocketalk Plus offers the same concept – real-time, voice-based, two-way translation – but in a simplified package. Instead of headphones and a telephone intermediary, each person simply speaks directly into a device the size of a small mobile phone. In fact, for all intents and purposes, Pocketalk Plus is mobile phone, only one with a completely unique purpose.

The rectangular device – 5 by 2.5 inches in size and 4.4 ounces in weight – offers a color touch screen, side volume controls and an “action” button at the bottom of its plastic body. The system includes Wi-Fi and global cellular radio, which allows it to connect to the Internet in over 130 countries. This is crucial because Pocketalk relies on the cloud to do its translations; it does not have its own true intelligence. It is also important to note that the included SIM card is only valid for two years after activation. On the back there is also a camera that you can use to take a photo of the text and get a returned printed translation. Charging is via USB-C port.

Using the chat device is simple: select two languages ​​and hold down the button to speak. Release the button and the system quickly converts what you say into the other language, displaying the translation both in text on the screen and playing it aloud. When the other party is ready to respond, simply tap an icon on the screen to reverse the direction of the translation and repeat the process. This leads to a bit of a stopping conversation, but with a little practice it becomes quite natural. In any case, it surpasses the attempts to point out and the pantomime of attempts to convey information.

The standalone nature of the system makes it much easier for Ambassador to use, although I’ve found that Pocketalk sometimes confuses who speaks, reverses the direction of translation, or, say, translates Spanish back to Spanish – even when the interface says otherwise. There’s also a beta feature that should allow you to translate between two languages ​​without having to press a button, but it was obviously not ready for prime time and sometimes didn’t work at all during my testing. The unresponsive touch screen (800 x 480 pixels) and low-resolution camera are obsolete, and while the device claims a battery life of 192 hours, I managed to control only about two-thirds of that.

The good news is that Pocketalk Plus works well when things go well, and supports an incredible number of languages ​​- currently 61 in audio and text and 21 in text alone, including some surprising features such as Marathi, Sundanese and Esperanto. With software updates, that number continues to grow, along with other upgrades. If you are packing to two or more foreign countries, it seems pointless to include it in your bag.

This, of course, unless you use a mobile app on your phone, does the trick. An increasing number of applications can perform limited voice translation, but they will cost you an annual subscription fee in the range of $ 40 per year. You will also need to organize an international cellular service to use them. None of the available apps seem to have the breadth of language support that Pocketalk offers, but they’re probably good for, say, two weeks in Central Asia.

Given the alternatives, the $ 299 price tag for Pocketalk Plus costs a lot – and in two years you’ll have to pay another $ 50 a year to renew your SIM card. This is a difficult economic proposition, especially with the improvement of application-based translators, although the convenience, simplicity and language breadth of the Pocketalk device are definitely big pluses.

I guess the calls aren’t cheap after all.