After a year of isolation, cabin fever is taking a toll, and you’re probably counting the days until it’s safe to travel. If you haven’t spent the past year brushing up on your foreign language skills in anticipation of future journeys, not to worry: Sourcenext’s Pocketalk S ($229) has your back. This simple but capable mobile translator handles 82 languages with ease and comes with two years of free data. The $329 Pocketalk Plus is our Editors’ Choice winner for its larger screen and longer battery life, but the Pocketalk S is a good alternative for frequent travelers looking for something even smaller and more affordable.
Small But Mighty
Of the Pocketalk trio—which includes the Pocketalk Classic ($249) and the Pocketalk Plus—the Pocketalk S is the smallest. It measures 3.6 by 2.1 by 0.5 inches (HWD) and weighs just 2.6 ounces, and it can easily slide into your pocket or backpack. All three devices are much smaller than a typical smartphone.
Two years of basic LTE and 3G connectivity in 130 different countries and regions are included in the price—a slight improvement over the Pocketalk Classic’s compatibility in 120 countries. After those two years, you can easily add service via the eSIM or with a Sourcenext SIM; unfortunately, the Pocketalk S doesn’t work with pre-paid regional SIMs. There’s also dual-band Wi-Fi.
On the front of the translator you’ll find a 2.8-inch touch screen with a single illuminated button below it. Simply select your desired output language on the screen and hold down the button; it will automatically detect the language spoken.
The left side of the translator is home to a SIM slot; the volume rocker and power button are on the right. You’ll find a pair of microphones and a 3W speaker at the top of the Pocketalk S, and a USB-C charging port on the bottom. The back has a camera for print translation, along with Pocketalk and Sourcenext branding.
The Pocketalk S has a sturdy plastic chassis and backplate and a small glass display. It’s available in black, gold, and white. Though there’s no IP rating, we used the translator in the rain without any problems. Cases are available on the Pocketalk website if you want extra protection.
Fast and Accurate Translations
Setting up the Pocketalk S is simple. Turn it on, give it a few minutes to find a cellular network, select your native tongue, and read through the User Agreement. The display is small but bright and crisp. It works great for basic spoken translations, which will be read aloud in most languages, but it feels a little crowded compared with the Pocketalk Plus when you’re doing print translation and currency conversion.
The interface is simple to use. To select an output language, simply tap the option on the screen and scroll through the language list, then hold down the button and speak. The touch screen is responsive, though the small size requires some accuracy when tapping icons.
The dual microphones easily pick up your voice. With a peak volume of 100dB, the speaker is loud enough to hear on a busy street or in a cafe.
Unlike with Google Translate and some other portable translators, there’s no way to download languages and use the Pocketalk S offline, but with so many connectivity options, that will rarely be an issue. It’s also worth noting that offline translation tends to be much less accurate. Some portable translators only translate single words, while Google Translate uses neural machine translation on your phone for somewhat better results, but nothing compares with Sourcenext’s.
Battery Life Sacrificed for Size
We consider three main factors when testing translation devices: translation quality, connectivity, and battery life. In early 2020, we tested the Pocketalk S in the Czech Republic, France, Norway, Spain, the United Kingdom, and the United States. We had a perfect connection in all of these locations, though we only tested it in urban centers. In rural areas, coverage may not be as good.
To assess overall accuracy, we performed word and sentence level translations in Czech, English, French, German, Hindi, Norwegian, Romanian, Russian, Spanish, and Ukrainian. It’s important to note that although the Pocketalk S can translate up to 30 seconds of speech, it works best if you give it one sentence at a time; it can’t accurately adjust grammar and usage rules at a paragraph level.
Overall, the Pocketalk S did an excellent job of translating words and sentences. We encountered a few minor issues with verbs when translating from Czech and Russian, but it was still easy to understand the meaning within the context of the sentence.
The Pocketalk S and Pocketalk Plus have text translation and currency conversion features, which the Pocketalk Classic does not. We tested the Pocketalk S’s print translation in several languages and had decent success with single sentences. Translations weren’t always perfect, but they gave you the gist of what was written. The biggest problem with print translation and currency conversion is reading them on the small screen. If you plan to use these features frequently, the Pocketalk Plus’s larger screen will be easier on your eyes.
The 1,200mAh battery got us through three days of light use with only about 30% drain, but it’s only about half the capacity of the 2,200mAh battery on the Pocketalk Classic. Sourcenext claims you’ll get about 4.5 hours of translation time and 2.5 days of standby time with the Pocketalk S; that seems a little conservative according to our tests, but you certainly won’t see anything like the Pocketalk Classic’s 10 days of standby. Charging the battery from drained to full took about 1 hour 40 minutes.
In a country with limited cellular service, you’ll likely see the battery drain much faster as the device constantly searches for stronger signal. If you’re really worried about running out of juice, you’ll want to check out one of the larger Pocketalks or pick up a good power bank.
Why Buy a Portable Translator?
You may be wondering why you should spend over $200 on a translation device when there’s a translation app on your phone. The biggest reason is the included connectivity, which will pay for itself with frequent use. It can be hard to buy SIMs in some countries, and international roaming gets very expensive, very fast. Many smartphones also have regional band support and may get poor data speeds outside the US.
Also, not all translators are the same. Pocketalk devices use custom translation software that’s among the best we’ve tested—we found it superior to both Google Translate and Microsoft Bing—and it’s updated with impressive frequency. Niche devices like this are often left to sink or swim, but Sourcenext is a huge company that puts a lot of resources into keeping its Pocketalks up to date.
An Excellent Value
If you’re a globetrotter, $229 for the Pocketalk S is money well spent. It improves on the Pocketalk Classic with an even smaller design, text translation, and currency conversion, all without breaking the bank. We could wish for better battery life, but that won’t be an issue unless you’re going truly off the grid. If you need a bigger screen, consider upgrading to the Pocketalk Plus; if not, you’ll be glad to take this capable translator just about anywhere in the world.
