Timekettle X1

These earbuds, advertised as “X1 AI Interpreter Hub,” come with a dedicated device desiged for business meetings, social gatherings, international calls, and more. With X1, you get 40 languages and 93 accents as well as 8 languages in the offline mode. Users can upgrade their experience by buying more intepreter hub devices.

But this is where the catch is. Actually, when having one Interpreter Hub device, you can only use features for conversations between 2 people. To take advantage of the multi-person features such as voice call translation, you need to buy 2 devices or more. The price for a single Interpreter Hub device is around 700 dollars. 2 devices cost around 1400 dollars, and 3 devices cost 2100 dollars. So this is pretty expensive. And you only get 40 languages, which is not a big numer, compared to other, less expensive earbuds on the market. Another disadvantage would be that the producer does not include any charging devices in the set.

Also, there’s no SIM card provided with the Internet. Users have to take care of the connectivity themselves. Even though there’s an offline mode available, it covers only 8 languages. The lack of a SIM card in any translator device is a big disadvantage as Internet connection is necessary for modern translators to work.

On the plus side, the Listen & Play Mode seems pretty nice. It’s like having a personal interpreter in your ear during meetings and international conferences. It works like this: you can wear the earbuds that overhear what people say during meetings, speeches, or any other occasion, and translate it. This mode is also available when you have only one Interpreter Hub device.

It is also worth mentioning that X1 can work as a handheld translator device. For this, you should use the Ask & Go mode. Although, it is not clear from the producer’s website if the earbuds are actually necessary for this to work. In the video presentation of the feature, the person using X1 does not wear the earbuds - she only uses the Interpreter Hub device. However, the description of the functionality says that you need to wear the earbuds while using this functionality.

What’s also an advantage is the translation subnet. You can connect up to 20 devices with one another and converse in your native tongue.