Gadgets

A Real-Life Translation Gadget Gets an Upgrade — the Timekettle W4 Pro Interprets in Real Time

Hi, I’m Hide — tech journalist and part-time house-husband. Those real-time translation earbuds are back, and better.

The Timekettle W4 Pro is a pair of earbuds that lets you talk across languages — kind of like Doraemon’s “translation konjac” gadget. I was already impressed when I reviewed the older Timekettle M2, and this time it’s even more convenient.

The case doubles as a charger, and they’re great as regular earbuds too — especially recommended if you talk with overseas business partners a lot.
The case doubles as a charger, and they’re great as regular earbuds too — especially recommended if you talk with overseas business partners a lot.
**Official site: [Timekettle](https://www.timekettle.co/ja-jp)**

Where to buy: Timekettle W4

For my articles, I sometimes receive products on loan or as samples from companies, within the bounds of Yahoo! News’ rules. However, if a product doesn’t meet my standards for writing about it after actually using it, or if its downsides significantly outweigh its good points, I return it and don’t write about it. I don’t receive any payment from companies.

Translates speech almost in real time

The Timekettle W4 Pro breaks speech into small chunks and starts translating right away, so you hear the translation while the other person is still talking. There’s some lag, but you can reply without making them wait long — a real breakthrough.

More languages are supported than before, and the processing power is up too, so it holds up in more real-world situations.
More languages are supported than before, and the processing power is up too, so it holds up in more real-world situations.
It’d be especially handy when traveling somewhere English doesn’t get you anywhere.

Works for meetings and phone calls too

As before, each person wears one earbud for two-way interpretation. Our household is a bit unusual — my daughter speaks almost only English and my wife almost only Japanese — so we tried it out. Home conversations are casual, so they could understand each other to a decent degree, but I felt it’d be even more useful for business.

Handy not just for meetings but for watching overseas YouTube, too
Handy not just for meetings but for watching overseas YouTube, too
For meetings, the app looks especially useful: it transcribes in real time. There are lots of AI transcription gadgets these days, but the Timekettle W4 Pro lets you roughly understand what’s being said on the spot while keeping a record, so it wins there.

You can also register technical terms to customize it. Every profession has its own jargon, so being able to add custom words for your industry to improve accuracy is really useful.

What I think will be most useful is phone calls. I suspect a lot of Japanese people are **more confident speaking than listening, and get nervous on the listening side.**
What I think will be most useful is phone calls. I suspect a lot of Japanese people are **more confident speaking than listening, and get nervous on the listening side.**
This feature translates the other person’s voice in real time, making calls much easier to follow. Talking to someone over voice alone, without seeing their face, is a big hurdle, but with the W4 Pro you can talk without bracing yourself.

It also comes with 300 free minutes a month of overseas media translation, so you get more sources to gather info yourself. With so much going on overseas lately — the US presidential election, China, Russia — being able to get information straight from local media is valuable.

Stylish enough for everyday use

The design changed from the old white to a professional-looking gray and black, so it’s great for business people’s daily use.
The design changed from the old white to a professional-looking gray and black, so it’s great for business people’s daily use.
There are now three mics, so your voice comes through clearer than before. If you use them as everyday earbuds, the translation is right there when you need it.
There are now three mics, so your voice comes through clearer than before. If you use them as everyday earbuds, the translation is right there when you need it.
## Not ideal if you understand a little of the other language?

The W4 Pro is now really convenient, even handling major languages offline. But if you understand a bit of the other person’s language, it might get confusing.

There’s a one-phrase time lag, so when words you recognize pop up here and there, the translation and what you understood in your head can clash, and you go “wait, what?”

That said, I’m bilingual, so I may have felt that especially with English. As I mentioned, if it’s a language you don’t understand at all, a one-phrase lag isn’t a problem.

AI translation has gotten really accurate lately, but a solution that both keeps a record and translates speech in real time is rare. I plan to keep using it for gathering info and for calls with companies outside the English-speaking world.

This story was originally published (in Japanese) on Yahoo! News Japan Expert.

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