I ordered these because it claims it does "real time" translations from 164 languages. The term "real time" appears in almost every bullet point on its amazon description page. When asked what "real time" means in the AI assistant for this product it says "Real-time, in the context of these translation earbuds, means that the translation happens instantly as the conversation occurs, without any noticeable delay."
Instantly. To me, that means the translation happens immediately – without delay (or a noticeable delay, per the AI definition).
Before I ordered them, I asked the AI assistant if they could help learn a language and the response I got was "Yes, these AI translator earbuds can assist with language learning." That's literally why I ordered them.
They came in the other day and I went to set it up. The instructions are on a small sheet and in very small print, which was challenging to read, but I got it all set up. I downloaded and installed the "free app" to make them work and linked / paired them to a phone whose only purpose is to track information that comes through on my smartwatch.
Then, I tried to use them. You have to use your phone and it asks you if you authorize it recording the call / conversation. You do have the option to refuse to allow it to record but if you do, you can't use it as a translator in any way.
I thought this must be wrong so I reached out to the manufacturer. It took two attempts at explaining the situation – that I wanted to use the "real time" translations without having it record. The response I got is as follows (cut and pasted):
Every Bluetooth Headphones if you use it to reveive or start a phone call, It will record you voice and send out. But in the translation APP, in order to make the translaton more accurately, It need record in your cellphone and then it translate, then change the languages and send out.
Now all translation earbuds use this principle, so It can't work if you pass this .Some may use certain hidden protocols, so you don't need to agree to this recording option—they default to using and agreeing to it automatically.
Bottom line, they advertised – repeatedly – that this is a REAL TIME translator for 164 languages but it turns out that it's not REAL TIME translating but rather, delayed translation that requires a recording be made of whatever it is you want translated. I also don't see how it can help you learn any language, despite it's AI assistant saying it can. As such, they are a waste to me and not something I can use. I didn't need earbuds as I already have some (see link below) that are paired with the phone and my tablet and they were a LOT cheaper ($17 compared to $130). So, from a price point perspective, these earbuds are overpriced, in my opinion. It might be different if they did do the real time translations and helped with learning a language as promised but they do neither of these things.
I do not recommend this product.
https://www.amazon.com/TOZO-A1-Headphones-Light-Weight-Waterproof/dp/B0D4DXPPN8/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_product_top?ie=UTF8&th=1
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