Review: Vasco Translator E1

When devices like the Waverly Labs Ambassador Interpreter and Pocketalk Plus Voice Translator hit the scene, the world took some of its biggest steps to date toward universal translation technology, all thanks to gadgets that could listen to two people talking and translate the audio in real time, both ways.

Those products emerged just four years ago, and the world of real-time language translation has made incredible strides since. Already, we can look back at devices like these as quaint and useful but limited. In the case of the Pocketalk, the handheld gizmo was good for only two years—after that, you had to buy a new SIM card for $50 each year. Baby steps.

You can thank advancements in artificial intelligence for the push forward: Real-time language translation has been a major proving ground for the technology, and I was able to witness how far we’ve come by testing the latest in real-time translation hardware, the Vasco Translator E1.

Language Buds

The design of the Vasco E1 is similar to that of the Waverly Interpreter, taking the form of two looping-over-the-ear earbuds designed to be shared between you and another person—one who’s speaking a different language. Each earbud comes with a magnetic case, both of which snap together (also magnetically) like a triangular sandwich. Only one of the cases has a USB-C charging port, so when the two cases are connected, they both charge. All of Vasco’s earbuds are designed to fit over the right ear. Battery life is listed as 3 hours per earbud, with 10 days of standby available. The case also has its own battery—good for “multiple charges” per Vasco.

Photograph: Christopher Null

The idea behind the Vasco Translator E1 is that you put on one earbud, your friend puts on another, and you start talking in whatever language suits you, while the E1 translates your pal’s voice into your lingua franca. Up to 10 E1 translators can be paired, making multi-language group chats possible. A total of 51 languages (by my count) are available in the app, though that includes several regional variations of English, like UK, US, Indian, and Australian. Each earbud has a physical volume control, and unlike some translation systems, no subscriptions are required.

Vasco has done significant work to make the translation process as easy as possible, mostly involving its Vasco Connect mobile app. To get started, you pair each earbud to the app on your phone—a straightforward process—assign it a name, a color for its small LED (helpful for keeping earbuds straight), and a default language that is output through its speaker. All of this can be changed as needed.

In Earbuds mode, you tap the side of your earbud—something like Star Trek’s Picard doing a “tap to talk” on his badge—which depresses a button on the E1 that rests against your ear. This puts your earbud into talk mode, at which point you’re free to say your peace. When a pause is detected, the translation is delivered in a few seconds to the other earbud(s) you have paired, in the language that earbud has assigned in the app. The other party can then tap the side of their head to do the same thing, in reverse. So it’s tap, talk, listen; tap, talk, listen. And on and on.

Photograph: Christopher Null

It works well, though there’s a learning curve to figure out how all of this works, and my early tests sometimes had me receiving a translation in the wrong language due to user error. As with all live translation tools, you need to talk reasonably slowly, take a break every sentence or two, and enunciate as clearly as possible. Following these rules may be easier said than done, particularly as you add more people to the conversation. But on the whole, I was astonished by the accuracy of the translations—again, provided you speak very clearly and exercise patience.

You can also slip the E1 into a “touchless” version of Earbuds mode, where you don’t have to tap anything and the system just translates everything on the fly. This adds convenience and may be easier for novice users who won’t quickly master tapping the side of their head every time they talk, but in my testing it made for a less accurate translation, if only slightly.

Speaker Buds

The other main mode of the E1 is called Loudspeaker mode. This uses your phone to listen for audio in a language you choose in advance, then it pipes a translated version to all connected earbuds. The problem with Loudspeaker mode is that you have to tap a button on your phone’s screen every time you want to translate something and each time a new phrase is uttered. You can’t just drop your phone in front of Telemundo and expect an uninterrupted English translation in real time, as the subject of the translation has to speak slowly and pause in between each translated phrase.

However, this mode is good if you’re talking to someone who doesn’t have an earbud. Just hold your phone up to a shopkeeper in Greece and you can understand what they’re trying to tell you—though you won’t be able to reply in their native tongue.

None of this works unless you have the Vasco Connect app up and running on your phone, because the app is what’s doing all the work. The app does have a handy additional feature—it keeps a running text log of the conversation, in multiple languages (depending on the mode).

Screenshots courtesy of Christopher Null via Vasco Translator E1 app

I’ve previously tested Vasco’s Translator V4, a handheld version of this concept that forgoes the earbuds, using a dedicated phone-like device that plays all translated audio over its speaker instead of relying on your phone. It’s handy in a pinch—similar to the Loudspeaker mode on the E1—but less effective for sustained conversations, although I found its translations nearly as accurate. Alas, in taking it on a recent trip to Norway, I realized toting yet another handset around just wasn’t convenient. Though the E1 is bulky with its case, it is at least a reasonably lightweight solution that can slip easily in a purse or pocket.

The $389 price isn’t cheap, but the sting is lessened a bit because Vasco’s products don’t require a subscription plan. The endgame for devices like these is easy: Someday you’ll stick an earbud in your ear and everything you hear will be translated into your native language; and you’ll never have to do anything else except keep the battery charged. We’re not there yet, but the E1 takes us one more baby step toward what feels like an eventuality that could perhaps be here by the end of the decade. Until then, I’ll comfort myself with the ability to tap, talk, listen, and repeat.