Let’s start with a certainty: the instant translationhas improved tremendously over the past decade. Especially with regard to the most popular languages, the result of translations based on artificial intelligence you can’t say perfect yet, but it sure is reliable. In many cases it must be revised and corrected, because it has gaps or incorrect terms, but certainly the text translated by a software is an excellent starting point, especially for those who are struggling with a totally unknown language.
In the panorama of free software, Google Translate is certainly one of the reference points for diffusion, accuracy and reliability. Just download the app on your smartphone and choose the language A to translate in lingua B. It’s easy, and it works with both written and spoken sentences: a phrase is recorded and then listened to again in a different language. There is a very funny scene in the new Netflix movie with Adam Sandler, Hustle, where the main character uses this function to make himself understood by a basketball champion who speaks Spanish.
That said, we all potentially have a instant translator (and free), there is really a need for other mobile devices that do the same thing, maybe to a very high price? We must ask ourselves, necessarily, when we find a product like the Basque M3a device that bears the name of a rock star and vaguely resembles an old iPod nano in shape.
The Vasco M3 is an instant translator with a small LCD (touch) screen that promises to translate from Italian – or from another language, of course – to more than 70 different languages, including the most popular in the world: English, Spanish, French, German, Chinese for example. This small object costs 300 euros. He gets along well with translation, even if it is not the best of reactivity: we tried it with English, of course, but also with Spanish, Romanian, French and Chinese. The result was always satisfactory. Of course Vasco does best with short sentenceswhen dealing with prepositions, he struggles a bit, according to those who obviously know both Italian and the language into which it was translated.
There is also the option of translate a written text by taking a photo, but it is not recommended for those with low vision: the translator does his job very well, but the tiny display returns very small characters. In short, it is also fine here for a short sentence, certainly not for a page of a book.
The fact is, as we said, that everything the Vasco M3 does is also capable of Google Translate. So why spend more money? For the same reason that in a large electronics store you will find cellphones that are not smartphones, clamshells or with large keyboards. There is a large slice of consumers, in fact, who are not accustomed to technology: he does not use smartphones, he does not know what Google Translate is and he does not know how to use it. These people need to simple objects. And the Vasco M3 is.
In view of a trip, or a business meeting, or a lunch with a person who speaks a different language, those who use it – if fasting technology – will only have to ask for a hand to set the two languages they need. And then it’s all very easy: press the button with the ring illuminated in white, speak and wait for the translation that comes out with a more or less high volume (it is adjusted with analog buttons on the side).
Not only that: to translate smartphones – often, especially if you do not plan to download a particular dictionary – need a data connection, therefore a wi-fi or a SIM, which obviously has a cost. The Vasco M3 is equipped with a Integrated Simwhich works ‘for life’ – so says the manufacturer – which allows access to the translation even when there is no wi-fi signal nearby.
What we like
The simplicity of use
The small size
Reliability (on short sentences)
What we don’t like
The excessive price
The imprecise translation on long sentences
The (almost) illegible text on the display