Voice Translate

Summary

Smartphones can do most things these days, so why not take over interpreting, too? Voice Translate is an application that promises to put a virtual interpreter in your very own trouser pocket.
But just how reliable is this interpreter? Find out in our review.

Test device: 
-Samsung Galaxy Nexus 4.1.1

The app is geared towards interlingual communication—and that's all it does. The speech recognition buttons are located near the bottom of the display and can be used when translating from one language into another.
Having the text translated is child's play: press the button, speak, press the button once more and hey presto! your text is displayed in your target language. If this sounds too good to be true—it's because it is. In truth, the app doesn't always recognise speech correctly, especially when speakers have a regional accent. We tested it at the office and found that the app was most accurate when speakers spoke in the "standard" form of your language (e.g. RP or General American).

That said, even when the app recognises what it is you are saying it, the translations it provides usually aren't very accurate.

Once a text has been translated you can listen to it repeatedly, copy it and share it.

Access language settings via the button in the top right corner. The languages currently available are: Danish, Dutch, English (AUS, UK, US), French (CA, EU), German, Chinese (Cantonese, Mandarin), Italian, Japanese, Korean, Norwegian, Polish, Portuguese (BR, EU), Russian, Spanish (EU, US) Swedish,Taiwanese (Mandarin).

In the settings the duration of the recording can also be selected (either long or short). I tried both options but could not tell a difference between them.

Bottom line:

As you've no doubt surmised, Voice Translate is a tool that can be used to translate the spoken word into another language. In order to get the most out of this app we suggest speakers try to lose regional accents and enunciate as best they can. However, even when doing so the app is likely to make mistakes here and there.

The app does not provide an option for entering text via typing, which is a drawback as typing automatically guarantees more accuracy.

Overall, I don't see the app having any major advantages over Google Translate. The contrary is true, as a matter of fact: Google Translate has an “enter text via typing” option and there are more languages to choose from. Also, Google Translate is free.

Voice Translate is not busting at the seams with features which makes it nice and simple to use. The design is good, too.

Voice Translate runs well, both in terms of speed and overall stability. Translated texts are displayed instantly and you won't have to wait much longer to hear the audio.

Voice Translate is available for EUR 0.99 from the AndroidPIT App Center or Google Play. There are no ads.
In comparison to the Google Translate app: Google Translate is free and provides users with a broader feature spectrum.