Langie S2

The Langie S2 is marketed as a handy device, though in reality its strange dimensions make it anything but handy. It’s disproportionately expensive for what it offers, which is unfortunately evident in both build quality and available features. The device supports 53 languages online, but only 33 of these have the pronunciation feature; the rest offer text-only translations. In the offline mode, just 13 languages are available - mainly pairs with Chinese. Also, the SIM card is not included and must be purchased separately for $57.50 or $46, which is a major disadvantage. What’s worse, the package renewal prices are exorbitant - from $10 to $100 for a limited data package. All this, combined with average translation quality and a microscopic screen, makes it difficult to justify purchasing this device at this price.

Review

The Langie S2 is a device that’s difficult to recommend even to less demanding users. After an intensive month-long test across various European countries, it turns out that for the high price of around $500, we receive very limited capabilities.

Design and Build Quality

The Langie S2’s design definitely stands out from the competition, but it’s hard to consider this an advantage. While the casing looks solid, it’s impractically large, making the device uncomfortable to use. The biggest drawback is the touchscreen with a microscopic 1.08-inch diagonal. Trying to read longer translations on such a small display is extremely frustrating and requires constant scrolling. Moreover, operating such a small touchscreen is nearly impossible - precisely selecting menu options or entering text becomes a challenge even for people with slender fingers.

Features and Operating Modes

The Langie S2 offers a range of features that are standard in this category of devices; unfortunately, most of them work averagely or even poorly:

Online translation (53 languages) – The number of supported languages is limited compared to competitors, which often offer over 100 languages. Importantly, of the 53 claimed languages, only 33 have pronunciation (audio) feature; the rest offer only text translation, significantly reducing the device’s usefulness. Translation quality is very inconsistent – simple, standard phrases are translated correctly, but more complex statements sometimes contain errors.

Offline translation (13 languages) – The number of languages available offline is limited, and additionally, these are mainly language pairs with Chinese. This feature is of little use because, as the manufacturer openly admits in their materials: the device in offline mode merely ""recognizes your voice and can translate short phrases or simple words"" - points for honesty!

Group translation – This feature only works with other Langie translators, which in practice means that all conversation participants would need to have the same device – a highly unlikely scenario, especially considering the niche nature of this product. Equally useless is the Language Club feature, allowing users to share translations with other Langie users – which has minimal application in real market conditions.

Voice search – A feature theoretically allowing image search using voice. In practice, it works mediocrely – speech recognition is quite good in quiet surroundings, but results displayed on the microscopic screen are almost unreadable. It’s hard to imagine practical applications for this feature in daily use.

Multimedia features – The manufacturer has added a range of features whose usefulness in a translator we leave to our readers’ judgment: photo browser, video and music player, radio, alarm, voice recorder, language learning option. We’ll only comment on video playback on a 1.08-inch screen - it makes no sense.

Translation Quality and Usefulness

The manufacturer boasts that the Langie S2 uses 7 online translation engines, supposedly ensuring high-quality translations. Unfortunately, reality verifies these promises - translation quality is average at best, and their limited quantity suggests that Langie uses a single free Chinese engine, which is commonly utilized by other Asian translators. During tests in various European countries, we observed that simple tourist phrases (""Where is the bathroom?"", ""How much does this cost?"") are translated correctly. However, more complex statements containing idioms or specialized vocabulary are often translated in incomprehensible or misleading ways. Translation in noisy environments (at a train station in Madrid, in a crowded café in Rome) works much worse than in quiet rooms, despite the manufacturer’s claims about ""technology for use in noisy environments."" An additional hindrance is the aforementioned microscopic screen, which makes it difficult to verify translation accuracy, especially for longer statements. While trying to translate a guide’s explanations at a museum in Athens, the need for constant scrolling on the small screen made it practically impossible to keep up with the narrative. The built-in dictionary includes only a few language pairs: English-Spanish, English-French, English-German, English-Russian, and English-Japanese.

Connectivity and Internet

The Langie S2 doesn’t come with a SIM card included in the basic package - which is a significant drawback. You need to purchase one separately, choosing between two options: the ULTRA LANGIE SIM for $57.50 with 500 MB of data valid for 10 years across 150 countries (which raises serious doubts about whether such a modest data allowance could last a full decade), or the LANGIE SIM for $46 with unlimited data for translations, but only valid for 2 years and working in just 70 countries.

In our testing, the data packages ran out much faster than advertised - with regular use, the ULTRA LANGIE SIM could be depleted within months rather than years. Making matters worse, topping up the card after the data package is exhausted or the card expires comes with steep costs: 150 MB (valid for 7 days) costs $15, while 5 GB (valid for 30 days) runs a hefty $95.

Langie’s offering performs very poorly compared to the competition. Other device manufacturers not only provide unlimited lifetime Internet and include the SIM card in the package, but their devices also work in nearly 200 countries. A theoretical advantage of the Langie is its ability to create a Wi-Fi hotspot (which the manufacturer calls a ""3G HOT SPOT""), but given the very limited data packages, using this feature would likely burn through your available data almost instantly.

Battery and Usability

The manufacturer claims the device can operate for up to 5 days in standby mode or 5 hours of continuous operation, which is an average result for this type of device and was true. The ""press and hold while speaking"" functionality often fails due to delays in registering button presses and releases, leading to cutting off the beginning or end of statements.

Summary

The Langie S2 is an electronic translator that, for the steep price of $458.85, offers only 53 languages online (of which just 33 have voice functionality) and a mere 13 languages in offline mode (mostly pairs with Chinese), where the offline function is severely limited - it only translates short phrases and simple words. The microscopic 1.08-inch screen makes the device difficult to use, especially for the additional features that the manufacturer so grandly describes. A significant drawback is the lack of an included SIM card - you have to purchase one separately for $46-57.50, which further increases the total cost of the device. Internet connectivity works in a limited number of countries (70-150, depending on the purchased card), and once the time limit or data allowance expires, you need to buy additional data packages ranging from $10 to $100.

The rather bulky dimensions and outdated design, combined with mediocre translation quality, complete the picture of an expensive device that tries to compensate for its shortcomings with additional multimedia features. For the same price, or even slightly less, you can find much more modern and functional translators that offer more languages, better translation quality, a more user-friendly interface, and an included SIM card with unlimited Internet.